Executive Order  No. 24: Travel by authorized persons during civil defense alerts

WHEREAS, it is necessary to authorize certain persons to travel during a Red Alert, as defined in Executive Order No. 14, who are not presently authorized so to travel; and

WHEREAS, it is necessary to make certain changes in the identification system established by said Executive Order No. 14; and

WHEREAS, it is necessary to confer certain additional powers upon the State Director of Civil Defense relative to the movement of vehicles and persons:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Christian A. Herter, Governor of the Commonwealth, acting under the provisions of Acts of 1950, Chapter 639, as amended, and all other authority vested in me, do hereby issue this order as a necessary preparatory step in advance of actual disaster, and as part of the comprehensive plan and program for the Civil Defense of the Commonwealth.

1. Executive Order No. 14, issued August 28, 1951, is hereby amended by adding to section 2 at the end thereof the following paragraph:

The provisions of this section shall not apply to a vehicle displaying an identification device bearing the official Civil Defense insignia and the word "Emergency" in white letters on a red background. The State Director is authorized to determine the size and form of such identification device and to issue, or authorize the issuance of, said device to any person whose presence at a control center is necessary to the operation of such control center, whether or not such person is a duly enrolled volunteer member of a Civil Defense organization. The person for whose use such device is issued shall carry appropriate personal identification as prescribed by the State Director and shall display such identification to authorized traffic control personnel upon request.

2. Executive Order No. 14 is hereby further amended by adding to section 2, as amended, at the end thereof the following paragraph:

The provisions of this section shall not apply to a vehicle displaying an identification device bearing the official Civil Defense insignia, the shield of the United States with the title "Federal Civil Defense Administration" and the words "Official Vehicle" thereon. The person for whose use such device has been issued, as indicated thereon, shall display appropriate personal identification to authorized traffic control personnel upon request.

3. Executive Order No. 14 is hereby further amended by adding to section 2, as amended, at the end thereof the following paragraph:

The provisions of this section shall not apply to a vehicle displaying a yellow or white plate with the words "FBI, U.S. Department of Justice", or words to that effect thereon. The person driving such vehicle shall carry and display to authorized traffic control personnel upon request, credentials captioned "Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Department of Justice", signed by the Director of said Bureau.

4. Executive Order No. 14 is hereby further amended by striking out section 6 thereof and substituting therefor the following section:

• 6. For the purpose of minimizing or combating the effects of disaster or catastrophe, actual or imminent, in any part of the Commonwealth, the State Director is hereby authorized to order any area in the Commonwealth affected or threatened thereby evacuated or closed to public use and travel, or to order any public or private street or way essential to the movement or operation of Civil Defense or military forces closed to public use and travel, for so long as is reasonably necessary to minimize or combat the effects of such disaster or catastrophe. The State Director is hereby further authorized to establish regulations governing the presence in or admission to, any area ordered evacuated or closed by him under the authority of this section, of such persons as he shall deem necessary or appropriate; to make provision for appropriate notice to the public of the closing of any street or way; and to establish regulations to govern the use of any street or way so closed by abutters thereon and such other persons as he may deem appropriate.
• The term "public use and travel" as used in this section, shall not include use and travel by vehicles or personnel of the armed forces of the United States, National Guard, State Guard or similar military organization should such be formed, police or fire department vehicles or personnel, ambulances or ambulance personnel, vehicles or personnel of the United State Post Office Department, vehicles or personnel identified in accordance with the provisions of section 2 as amended, and Civil Defense vehicles or personnel as defined in the following paragraph.
• Civil Defense vehicles shall be identified by an identification device bearing the official Civil Defense insignia and the word "Emergency" in red letters on a white background. The State Director is hereby authorized to determine the size and form of such identification device and to issue, or authorize the issuance of, said device to any member of a Civil Defense organization or to any person performing a Civil Defense function for use on a vehicle to be employed in carrying out a Civil Defense function including the transportation of Civil Defense personnel. The person for whose use such device is issued or the driver of the vehicle upon which such device is displayed shall carry appropriate personal identification as prescribed by the State Director and shall display such identification to authorized traffic control personnel upon request.
• Other Civil Defense personnel shall be identified as prescribed by the State Director.
• Police and military authorities shall have discretion to permit any vehicle to be operated in, or any person to remain in or be admitted to, any area, street or way ordered closed by the State Director under the authority of this section, where necessary for the preservation of life or property.

5. Executive Order No. 14 is hereby further amended by adding section 11 as follows:

The issuance of an identification device authorized by this order and the affixing or display thereof on any vehicle shall impose no liability on the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions for any act or omission of the owner or operator of such vehicle.

6. Executive Order No. 14 is hereby further amended by adding section 12 as follows:

Any person who willfully issues or delivers an identification device issued under authority of this order to any person not authorized to receive or use same, or any person who shall by misrepresentation of fact obtain issuance of or delivery of such identification device, or any person who shall, without being authorized so to do, use such identification device to obtain admission to an area or to remain in an area or to travel on a street or a way, closed to public use and travel under the authority of this order, shall be punished as provided in Acts of 1950, Chapter 639, Section 8, or any act in amendment thereto or succession thereof.

7. The State Director is hereby authorized to fix the date after which stickers issued under the provisions of Executive Order No. 14, section 6, shall have no further effect or validity.

GIVEN at the Executive Chamber in Boston this ninth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the one hundred and seventy-ninth.

By His Excellency the Governor, Christian A. Herter

Leo M. Harlow
Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth