An imposing facade greets visitors to the ROIC. (Staff photo by Diccon Hyatt.)

LeInside, Sean Cordrey watches over Delaware River bridges with multiple camera angles. (Staff photo by Diccon Hyatt.)

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Technically, the building is called the Regional Operations Intelligence Command. For short, those who work there call it the ROIC, pronounced, “The Rock.”

And what better name for a building that looks more like a fortress than an office, where, during emergencies, government agencies from the Army Corps of Engineers to amateur radio operators hunker behind hurricane-proof windows and vehicle barriers to act as the nerve center for all government response to the crisis.

The ROIC, located on the campus of the state police headquarters in Ewing, got its first real test Aug. 28, when Hurricane Irene struck the state.

State Police Capt. Christian Schulz, the executive officer of the state Office of Emergency Management, said more than 100 people from various state, local and federal agencies stayed on station during the storm. Gov. Chris Christie was there too, meeting officials and making decisions at a table overlooking the ROIC’s cavernous Support Room.

The Support Room resembles a command center from a movie, with computer monitors everywhere and giant screens at the front of the room.

Schulz said as the hurricane approached, officials kept a close eye on the forecast, and ordered the evacuation of coastal towns. As the situation developed, Army Corps flood mapping specialists helped them realize more problems were going to occur at inland rivers. High-water rescue vehicles and the elite urban search and rescue team were dispatched to where they were most needed. The rescue team ended up saving 300 people from flood waters.

It was a success for the inter-agency approach to emergency response that was developed in the wake of 9/11, when first responders discovered police officers, firefighters and other responders couldn’t even talk to one another on the radio, much less work efficiently together.

Days before the hurricane, agents from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, county governments and other officials were at The Rock getting ready for the hurricane.

“That’s a big part of operations,” Schulz said. “Having everything in place prior to the event.”

The building itself makes this coordination possible. It was designed to resist any disaster. Mary Goepfert, External Affairs Liason for the state OEM, said the building was built to the standards of overseas embassies. The ROIC replaces the OEM’s old building in the State Police headquarters basement, which flooded during Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Unlike most states, in New Jersey, the OEM is a branch of the state police.

The new ROIC boasts backup power generators with a generous reserve fuel supply, rooftop solar panels, redundant Internet connections and construction built to resist an earthquake.

Visitors to the building have to make their way up one of two ramps that wind their way between blocky brutalist concrete statues. The front doors are opened from the inside by a security guard. Once inside, people can only get between rooms by swiping ID cards.

A huge radio tower outside the building is the nexus of a statewide radio network that lets all emergency services talk to one another.

But the building itself is only part of the story.

“The idea of an emergency ops center, we’ve always had,” Schulz said. “We had an emergency ops center, but it was very small and very limited … when Nine-eleven came, we introduced the concept of the intelligence and information sharing.”

Even when no emergency is taking place, intelligence officers from the police, the FBI, the ATF and other agencies are at work gathering and sharing intelligence on criminal activity and terrorism. They wouldn’t let a reporter from the Observer see that part of the building.

The ROIC is also home to several other year-round activities. Any 911 call in the state made via cell phone goes to operators at the ROIC. When operators receive a call, a map pops up on a computer screen showing them exactly where the call is coming from, allowing them to transfer the call to the appropriate local agency.

In the same room, employees of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission keep an eye on the bridges between New Jersey and Pennsylvania with cameras on constant watch, allowing them to quickly dispatch first responders in case of an accident or security threat. The morning of Sept. 12, DRJTBC employee Sean Cordrey was researching footage from the previous night to help police solve a hit-and-run accident.

Across the room, operators answered 911 calls. Somewhere in the building, intelligence analysts were evaluating terrorist threats to the state.

It was just another day at The Rock.