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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ANNOUNCES GRANT GUIDANCE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011 PREPAREDNESS GRANTS

WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced the release of FY 2011 grant guidance and application kits for 12 DHS grant programs totaling $2.1 billion to assist states, urban areas, tribal and territorial governments, non-profit agencies, and the private sector in strengthening our nation's ability to prevent, protect, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies. In FY 2011, DHS grants were reduced by $780 million from the FY 2010 enacted level, nearly a quarter of FY 2010 DHS grant funding.

"In today's tight fiscal environment, we are maximizing limited grant dollars by setting clear priorities and focusing on the areas that face the greatest risk," said Secretary Janet Napolitano. "The FY 2011 homeland security grants are focused on mitigating and responding to the evolving threats we face."

The grants announced today focus on the highest risk cities that continue to face the most significant threats, while continuing to provide dedicated funding to law enforcement throughout the country to prepare for, prevent and respond to pre-operational activity and other crimes that are precursors or indicators of terrorist activity. The 9/11 Commission recommended that homeland security funds be allocated "based strictly on an assessment of risks and vulnerabilities" to focus limited funding in the highest risk areas.

The grant guidance also incorporates feedback from DHS' state, local, tribal and territorial and private sector partners and includes specific steps undertaken by DHS to improve the ability of state and local partners to apply for and utilize grant funding.

Preparedness Grant Program Allocations for Fiscal Year 2011:
Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP)—$1.2 billionfor states or urban areas to build capabilities critical to security. HSGP consists of five programs:

State Homeland Security Program (SHSP)—more than $526 million to support the implementation of state homeland security strategies to build and strengthen preparedness capabilities at all levels. The 9/11 Act requires states to dedicate 25 percent of SHSP appropriated funds to law enforcement terrorism prevention-oriented planning, organization, training, exercise and equipment activities.

Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI)—more than $662 millionto enhance regional preparedness and capabilities in 31 high-threat, high-density areas. In order to focus limited resources to mitigate and respond to evolving threats, the 11 highest risk areas (Tier 1) will be eligible for more than $540 million, while the remaining 20 urban areas, designated Tier II will be eligible for more than $121 million. The 9/11 Act requires states to dedicate 25 percent of UASI appropriated funds to law enforcement terrorism prevention-oriented activities.

Operation Stonegarden (OPSG)—more than $54 millionto enhance cooperation and coordination among federal, state, territorial, tribal and local law enforcement agencies to jointly enhance security along the United States land and water borders.

Metropolitan Medical Response System Program (MMRS)—more than $34 million, to enhance and sustain comprehensive regional mass casualty incident response and preparedness capabilities, divided evenly among 124 MMRS jurisdictions.

Citizen Corps Program (CCP)—more than $9 millionto engage citizens in community preparedness, planning, mitigation, response and recovery activities.

Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program (THSGP)—$10 millionto eligible tribal applicants to implement preparedness initiatives to help strengthen the nation against risk associated with potential terrorist attacks and other hazards.

Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP)—more than $18 million to support target-hardening activities at non-profit organizations at high risk of a terrorist attack and located within one of the FY2011 UASI-eligible urban areas.

Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP)—more than $14 millionto enhance catastrophic incident preparedness in high-risk, high-consequence urban areas and their surrounding regions and support coordination of regional all-hazard planning for catastrophic events, including the development of plans, protocols and procedures to manage regional planning for terrorist attacks and other catastrophic events.

Transit Security Grant Program—more than $200 million to owners and operators of transit systems (including intracity bus, commuter bus, ferries, and all forms of passenger rail) to protect critical surface transportation and increase the resilience of transit infrastructure.

Freight Rail Security Grant Program (FRSGP)—$10 million to freight railroad carriers and owners and offerors of railroad cars to protect critical surface transportation infrastructure from acts of terrorism and increase the resilience of the freight rail system.

Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak) Program—more than $19 million to protect critical surface transportation infrastructure and the traveling public from terrorism and increase the resilience of the Amtrak rail system.

Intercity Bus Security Grant Program (IBSGP)—more than $4 million to support security measures including plans, facility security upgrades and vehicle and driver protection for fixed-route intercity and charter bus services that serve UASI jurisdictions.

Port Security Grant Program (PSGP)—more than $235 million to help protect critical port infrastructure from terrorism, enhance maritime domain awareness and strengthen risk management capabilities in order to protect against improvised explosive devices and other non-conventional weapons.

Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Grant Program—more than $14 million to support the construction or renovation of Emergency Operations Centers to improve state, local or tribal emergency management and preparedness capabilities to ensure continuity of operations during disasters.

Driver's License Security Grant Program (DLSGP)—more than $44 million to help states and territories improve security of state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards in order to prevent terrorism, reduce fraud and enhance the reliability and accuracy of personal identification documents.

Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG) Program—more than $329 million to assist state and local governments in enhancing and sustaining all-hazards emergency management capabilities.

Transit Security Grant Program applications are due no later than July 5, 2011. All other preparedness grant applications are due no later than June 20, 2011. Final submissions must be made through the Non-Disaster Grants (ND Grants) system located at https://portal.fema.gov.

Further information on DHS's preparedness grant programs is available at www.dhs.gov and www.fema.gov/government/grant/nondisaster.shtm

Vancouver Adding More Bus Cameras To Their Fleet

METRO VANCOUVER -- TransLink is adding more cameras to its bus fleet, claiming those already installed in its downtown trolley buses have not only improved bus driver safety but are helping to solve high-profile crimes.

The cameras, initially placed in 244 trolley buses in 2006, include five or six situated inside the buses to keep an eye on both the passengers and driver, with one facing the street. Another 600 are being installed in the rest of the trolleys as well as the diesel and hybrid buses, at a cost of $6.5 million.

The intent is to deter and investigate driver assaults, protect transit users against violent incidents and to help determine claims in road collisions or on-board incidents.

And so far they seem to be working, TransLink said. The cameras are being used to adjudicate 136 bus-related collision claims, while the number of bus driver assaults has dropped 20 per cent since 2009 from 44 assaults to 35 on the trolleys alone. By comparison, on non-trolley buses — those without cameras — the number of assaults also dropped, from 82 in 2009 to 76 in 2010.

The cameras have also been used to help catch criminals using the transit system.

Earlier this year, a man who was following women as they got off the Main Street bus was caught by police after they surveyed the front-facing cameras from the No. 3 bus, TransLink spokesman Drew Snider said. In another incident last year, a group of robbery suspects was caught on tape dividing up their loot in the back of the bus.

"They have been a great improvement in the system overall," said Catherine Melvin, spokesman for Coast Mountain Bus Co.

Melvin said it's too early to tell how much money is being saved in accident collision claims as a result of the cameras because many of those cases are still going through ICBC. But, she said, "it is something we are starting to track."

Don MacLeod, president of the Canadian Auto Workers Union which represents bus drivers, said the cameras have aided drivers in situations where they might otherwise be held liable.

For instance, if a bus is cut off by a vehicle or a jaywalker, he said, drivers are often forced to brake suddenly, which could result in some passengers falling forward or being injured if they aren't holding on.

The cameras act as a witness, documenting both what happened in the front of the bus as well as inside it. When an incident occurs that a driver believes should be recorded, he or she can press a button and the video is "captured" — from three minutes before the incident until three minutes after.

Video tagged in this way can be held for up to 30 days, or longer if a police investigation or a court case requires the video record.

"They can be a fair witness; sometimes it comes down one person's word against another," Snider said. "A whole lot of things can be determined."

The trolleys were chosen for the first phase of the camera program because they are all the same and cover areas with a high concentration of transit users. The first phase of the project, which cost $3 million, included the infrastructure needed for the entire bus fleet.

ksinoski@vancouversun.com

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