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sr-112310-3hCity of ®'~~ ®®~®®\o'I ^\~r® Santa Monica City Council Meeting: November 23, 2010 Agenda Item: ,~'}'~ To: Mayor and City Council From: Timothy J. Jackman, Chief of Police Subject: Acceptance of 2008 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Grant Funds. Recommended Action Staff recommends that the City Council: 1) Authorize the City Manager to accept a grant award in the amount of $60,000 from the 2008 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI). 2) Approve the budget changes outlined in the Financial Impact and Budget Actions section of this report. Executive Summary In 2008, $60,000 was awarded to the City of Santa Monica Police Department as a part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency's UASI grant. Funds were requested to purchase the following items for the Police Department: 1. License plate reading systems which capture images of all license plates that come into view of vehicle mounted license plate reading cameras. The systems then query criminal databases to compare the scanned license plates with those entered into the databases as wanted or stolen vehicles. 2. Computer server systems and hardware to store data retrieved by the license plate readers. Discussion The UASI program focuses on enhancing regional preparedness in major metropolitan areas. The UASI program directly supports the national priority on expanding regional 1 collaboration in the national preparedness guidelines and is intended to assist participating jurisdictions in developing integrated regional systems for prevention, protection, response, and recovery to natural or man-made disasters. The UASI grant program was created to support large, "core" cities and those other cities with contiguous borders to the core city. The UASI grant program is 100% federally funded from the Department of Homeland Security to the State of California. The City of Los Angeles acts as the core city for the UASI grant and allots funds to the City of Santa Monica. The City of Santa Monica has directly received over $3 million of Department of Homeland Security no-match grant funds since 2001. These funds have purchased necessary equipment, supplies, and training in direct support of overall regional goals to promote effective information gathering, sharing, and response to threats and/or acts of terrorism. Currently the Police Department operates one license plate reader which is mounted to a patrol vehicle. By purchasing additional license plate reading cameras, computer server systems and hardware the City of Santa Monica's regional preparedness and participation in the region's anti-terrorism license plate reading program will be greatly enhanced. The additional license plate reading cameras will be mounted to patrol vehicles which will allow for additional coverage throughout the City. The new servers and hardware will allow the Santa Monica Police Department to connect with other regional partners and share collected data and information. Financial Impacts & Budget Actions The following FY2010-11 budget changes will be necessary: 1) Establish a revenue budget in the amount of $60,000 at account number 20304.406794. 2) Appropriate $60,000 in operating account number 20304.555394. 2 The UASI grant program pays 100% of eligible project costs. No local match is required. Prepared by: Kevin McGowan, Assistant to the Chief of Police Approved: Forwarded to Council: Timoth .Jackman Rod Gould Chief f lice City Manager 3