How did 9/11 Impact You?

Editor's Note: With the approach of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Emmaus Patch asked various members of the local community to talk about how the events of that tragic day impacted them. We will run the responses we received throughout the week leading up to Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011. 

Emmaus Police Chief David A. Faust recalls where he was on 9/11 and the actions of the immediately following the terrorist attacks. In terms of the effects of 9/11 on the department, he sites funding as one of the biggest changes in the last decade, pointing out that such changes are not all a direct result of Sept. 11.

Immediate Response

"I can still remember where I was standing when the first tower was hit on 9/11," he says. "I was walking into the manager's office for a staff meeting.

"The rest is history, however, and American society hasn't quite been the same since.

"One of the initial and immediate actions we took that day was to meet with the command staff and develop a strategy for 9/11 and beyond.  

"Our first response was to insure that our patrols were out and visible so the Emmaus residents would have a sense of security that we were out there, visible and available for calls for service," he says.  

Funding

"One of the impacts that has occurred over the past 10 years is funding," Faust says.

"There has been less grant funding available for community and neighborhood policing. However, that funding seemed to shift more toward equipment and terrorism awareness, which is not a bad thing.  

"In terms of Emmaus, we are still being requested to perform the same services. However, budgets seem to be tighter, and I blame that more on the economy right now than terrorism."