DEPARTMENT: Police
DEPARTMENT HEAD: William P. McManus, Chief of Police
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT: Office of National Drug Control Policy 2015 HIDTA Grant Modification
SUMMARY:
An ordinance authorizing the acceptance of an additional $72,015.00 funds from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) grant. The additional funds would increase the total grant award to $2,083,906.00, and establish an increase to the San Antonio Police Department HIDTA Task Force Budget for the grant period January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2016.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The HIDTA mission is to reduce drug trafficking in the San Antonio metropolitan area by instituting innovative narcotic enforcement investigations and the seizure of illegally obtained assets in an effort to reduce the profitability of narcotics trafficking.
The San Antonio HIDTA Initiative, a multi-agency task force, performs drug interdiction operations designed to enhance the Police Department's narcotics enforcement efforts. This program allows the unit to use task force concepts which provides the capability to cross jurisdictional boundaries by employing law enforcement officers from local, state, and federal levels. The program targets narcotics organizations by focusing on the middle to upper level traffickers, and investigates the distribution of narcotics and related enterprises. Members of this unit are trained to investigate money laundering, asset structuring, financial auditing, and to apply surveillance techniques necessary to develop intelligence and make arrests.
The South Texas HIDTA Intelligence Center has a two-fold responsibility. The center will respond to inquiries from San Antonio and surrounding counties' criminal justice agencies by providing timely intelligence reports gathered from databases of the respective member agencies. Secondly, the center will act as a de-confliction unit for South Texas, which covers an area from Bexar County, south to Brownsville, and west to Del Rio. This section of the center is of paramount importance to the safety of officers in the field. It is responsible for maintaining up to date information gathered from all law enforcement agencies operating in South Texas. With information provided by these agencies, the unit will identify potential conflicts involving officer safety and immediately notify the affected agencies of the potential conflict in order to avoid possible tragic and disastrous consequences.
Grant Year 2015 is the twenty-second year (22nd) that this grant has been awarded to the San Antonio Police Department. This grant serves the law enforcement agencies for San Antonio and the surrounding counties.
ISSUE:
This ordinance continues City Council's policy of seeking intergovernmental financial assistance for City crime prevention and enforcement programs, specifically addressing drug crime activity. The program from ONDCP will enhance the City's efforts in dealing with drug trafficking.
ALTERNATIVES:
City Council could choose not to accept the additional grant funds. However, that alternative would require the General Fund to absorb $6,000.00 in Fringe; $20,000.00 in Overtime; $36,015.00 in Services; and $10,000 in Fees to Professional Contractors directly related to the San Antonio Police Department HIDTA Task Force. The benefits of shared intelligence among multiple agencies would be hindered, and the loss of funding for de-confliction center functions could jeopardize officer safety.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total proposed re-program budget would increase the grant award of $2,011,891.00 to $2,083,906.00, increasing the San Antonio Police Department HIDTA Task Force budget to $766,129.00. A General Fund cash match is not required.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the acceptance of additional grant funds from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area grant as additional awarded funds are not often given to agencies.