Title
Resolution to Amend the Fiscal Year 2020 Council Approved Budget and Accept and Appropriate the FY19 State Homeland Security Program Grant ("SHSP Grant") Funding Awarded by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to the City of Hampton, Virginia
Purpose
PURPOSE/BACKGROUND:
The Virginia Department of Emergency Management ("VDEM") has awarded the City of Hampton Police Division ("HPD") $83,000 to acquire 16 spectroscopic personal radiation detectors (“SPRD-GNs”) to expand the radiation detection and adjudication capabilities of the Virginia Peninsula as a sub-award through grant from the US Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency. In order to maintain regional interoperability, HPD will retain four of the devices, and distribute 12 to neighboring jurisdictions. In instances of threat detection, such as routine police patrols, new SPRD-GNs will allow officers to more efficiently detect and adjudicate radiological threats. HPD officers do not have any secondary screening equipment that would allow them to adjudicate any alarms, resulting in lengthy delays calling in another jurisdiction for assistance. Neighboring jurisdictions currently possess radiation detection equipment that is more suited for methodical investigations. The SPRD-GNs will allow jurisdictions on the peninsula to gather spectroscopy quickly and efficiently. New SPRD-GNs will have the ability to locate targets and identify the radiological item, allowing officers on scene to adjudicate it.
Discussion:
The City of Hampton (“City”) is an independent city located in Virginia. It is on the southern end of the Virginia Peninsula, bordering the Chesapeake Bay. The City has a total area of 136.2 miles; 51.8 miles of it is land and 84.4 miles of it is water, with an approximate population of 137,436. Surrounded by water, the Hampton Roads region relies heavily on underwater tunnels and bridges to connect the Virginia Peninsula with the Southside transportation routes. Currently, HPD has no equipment for adjudicating radiological threats. From the point of requesting additional jurisdictions to respond for adjudication, an hour or more may pass, which significantly diminishes the possibility of successfully addressing a threat. The current practice also limits the ability of HPD to address multiple threats and prevents HPD officers from conducting larger numbers of scans due to the time adjudication requires. HPD’s Marine Patrol Officers are well trained for adjudication and this can be completed in a relatively short amount of time with the addition of these new SPRD-GNs. The personal radiation detectors (“PRDs”) the officers currently use are beginning to have maintenance and operability issues, due to their age. Several of the units are out of service and there are trained officers not carrying the equipment due to their maintenance issues. Without new SPRD-GNs, infrastructure will continue to go unchecked, leading to areas with unknown levels of risk associated with them. The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (Interstate 64) alone transports nearly three million vehicles each month and more than 100,000 vehicles per day during tourist season. A single attack on one of the region’s bridges or tunnels would severely disrupt the flow of commerce throughout the East Coast as well as the risk for loss of life. The Hampton Police Division, and Hampton Roads region overall, needs to enhance awareness in the port channel to minimize the threat of harbor mining, UWIEDs, and CBRNE devices.
Additionally, new SPRD-GNs will assist with the detection of transportation of illicit sources on Hampton Roads’ waterways and roadways. The Marine Patrol Officers not only carry these detectors when patrolling our waterways, but also keep them in their vehicles while driving on our roadways. If these new SPRD-GNs are acquired, the remaining PRDs that are still in service will be turned over to other certified officers to create an even bigger force multiplier in the detection of illicit radiological sources.
The total funding for this project is $83,000, with no local match.
Impact:
The FY19 SHSP Grant will provide a level of safety for the City's, and the Peninsula's, officers that they do not currently have available to them. These SPRD-GNs will allow the safe, efficient screening of critical infrastructure both as a systematic plan of preventative screening of critical infrastructure and areas of concern. The SPRD-GNs will also be used as a reactive tool for calls related to identification of items of concern such as suspicious packages in sensitive areas. The acquisition of the SPRD-GNs will allow HPD to reduce incident resolution rate and help to ensure the safety of our Officers. Through mutual aid and regional interoperability, these devices would also ensure the safety of officers across the peninsula. The SPRD-GNs will cost approximately $83,000 to purchase, and with no local match required, will have no fiscal impact on the city.
Recommendation:
Rec
It is the recommendation of the Hampton Police Division that the City Council of the City of Hampton accept and appropriate the FY19 State Homeland Security Program Grant in the amount of $83,000 for the implementation of the sub-award.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Hampton Police Division has been sub-awarded the Virginia Department of Emergency Management's FY2019 State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) Grant in the amount of $83,000;
WHEREAS, the FY2019 SHSP grant requires no local match; and
WHEREAS, the FY2019 SHSP grant sub-award covers the period of October 1, 2019, to June 30, 2021.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia hereby amends its Fiscal Year 2020 Council Approved Budget to accept and appropriate the FY2019 State Homeland Security Program Grant sub-award through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management; as a pass-through grant from the US Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in the amount of $83,000, and any supplemental funding to the Grant Fund for use in accordance with the grant agreement.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia authorizes the City Manager, or her designee, to take any and all actions necessary to implement this grant award.