AgdaPkt 2012-03-19 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7.A. - Page 1 REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager March 19, 2012 SUBJECT Proposed use of fiscal year 2011 -2012 Citizens Option for Public Safety /Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Funds (COPS /SLESF) grant by the Redwood City Police Department RECOMMENDATION Conduct a Public Hearing, and by resolution, approve the recommendation of the Police Chief to expend $125,578 in Fiscal Year 2011 -2012 COPS /SLESF grant funding towards police equipment and training. BACKGROUND In 1996, the State of California established the Citizen's Option for Public Safety (COPS) Grant Program. The level of this grant funding has decreased over the years and it is anticipated that this funding will cease after this current fiscal year. The 2011- 2012 grant awards for the Redwood City Police Department is $125,578. These funds may only be used to support "front line" municipal police services, by providing funding towards personnel, equipment, training, or programs. This funding must be used to supplement existing services and may not be used to supplant any existing funding for law enforcement services. Additionally, the requests from the Police Chief for expenditure of these grant funds must be considered separate and apart from the process applicable to proposed allocations of the City's general fund, i.e., separately from the general budgetary process. State law requires that the City Council hold a public hearing to consider written requests by the Police Chief for the expenditure of this funding. The allocated funds must be expended or encumbered by June 30, 2013. It is the Police Chief's recommendation that this grant funding be allocated for the purchase of police equipment (including handgun lights and holsters, portable audio surveillance equipment, mobile fingerprint readers, portable robbery and burglary alarms, technological equipment, and police tactical equipment) and police training. ANALYSIS The proposed use of these grant funds will allow the department to benefit from modern technology and state of the art equipment to become more efficient and more effective. For example, the department recently utilized grant funds to replace aging duty weapons assigned to all officers. Adding flashlights to these weapons would enhance officer safety and allow the officers to accomplish their duties more effectively. Other