DEPARTMENT: Police
DEPARTMENT HEAD: William P. McManus, Chief of Police
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT: Office of National Drug Control Policy 2019 HIDTA Grant submission and application
Summary
An Ordinance authorizing the submission of a grant application and acceptance of funds upon award in an amount up to $2,136,824.00 including the acceptance of additional grant funds up to a limit of 20% of the grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) grant and establishing a budget and personnel complement for the San Antonio HIDTA Initiative, which consists of the San Antonio Police Department HIDTA Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) HIDTA Task Force, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) HIDTA Task Force, the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) HIDTA Task Force, the South Texas HIDTA Intelligence Center, HIDTA Prevention and Support Services, and the Director's Administrative Support Office for the grant period January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2020, and maintains funding of seventeen (17) positions.
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, 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.
The Director's Administrative Support Office is responsible for the overall administration and operation of the South Texas HIDTA program. Funds will be utilized for the rental of facilities for the director's office.
Fiscal Year 2019 is the twenty-six year (26th) that this grant has been awarded to the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD). The FY 2019 HIDTA Budget, if awarded, will not exceed $2,136,824.00, however, the ordinance also authorizes the acceptance of supplemental funding in the amount up to 20% of the grant that may come available during the grant period. In FY 2018, the SAPD was awarded supplemental funding of $185,535.00 for the HIDTA Initiative in addition to the initial grant award of $1,988,146.00.
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 pursue this grant funding. However, that alternative would require the General Fund to absorb two (2) Police Sergeant and four (4) Police Detective Investigator positions which are currently paid by the grant. A decision on whether to retain the eleven (11) civilian staff positions would have to be made as well. 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
This ordinance authorizes the submission of a grant application and acceptance of funds upon award, not to exceed $2,136,824.00. The total program budget of $2,136,824 is broken up into seven (7) related segments as follows: the San Antonio Police Department HIDTA Task Force $752,504.00; the DEA HIDTA Task Force $205,860.00; the HSI HIDTA Task Force $204,620.00; the DPS HIDTA Task Force $47,982.00; the South Texas HIDTA Intelligence Center $617,576.00; the Director's Administrative Support Element $88,100.00; and the HIDTA Prevention and Support Services $220,182.00. A General Fund cash match is not required. The grant will continue to fund the seventeen (17) authorized positions.
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the submission, and if awarded the acceptance, of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area grant.