DEPARTMENT: San Antonio Police Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Chief William McManus
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Office of National Drug Control Policy 2021 HIDTA Grant submission and application
SUMMARY:
The San Antonio Police Department will provide the Public Safety Committee with a briefing to authorize the submission of a grant application and acceptance of funds upon award in an amount up to $2,173,086 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 for the period of January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022. This grant includes funding of seventeen (17) positions which are currently funded through past HIDTA grant awards.
This item is scheduled for City Council consideration in “A” Session in April 2021.
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 to reduce the profitability of narcotics trafficking.
The San Antonio HIDTA Initiative consists of eight segments:
1. San Antonio Police Department HIDTA Task Force
2. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) HIDTA Task Force
3. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) HIDTA Task Force
4. South Texas HIDTA Intelligence Center
5. HIDTA Information Technology Initiative
6. HIDTA Support Services Initiative
7. HIDTA Financial Crimes Initiative
8. Director's Administrative Support Office
The San Antonio HIDTA Initiative, DEA Task Force, and Homeland Security Investigations multi-agency task force perform 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 and Information Technology Initiative have 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.
The Support Service Initiative supports and manages the building space occupied by SAPD, amenities, and training facilities. The training facility is managed by the HIDTA Executive staff and is utilized by the HIDTA Task Force, San Antonio Police Department, and surrounding Law Enforcement Agencies to conduct training and provides additional meeting space for briefs and board meetings.
The South Texas HIDTA Financial Crimes Initiative is a cooperative partnership of Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies encompassing Bexar and Travis counties in south and central Texas. The task force is collocated with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the San Antonio Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio and focuses on mid-to upper-level Mexican drug trafficking organizations, Transnational Criminal Organizations, terrorist organizations and money laundering organizations operating in the South Texas HIDTA area of responsibility with ties to Mexican transnational criminal organizations. The initiative leads and jointly investigates money laundering targets involved with specified unlawful activities consistent with money laundering activities.
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. Funds will also be utilized for the rental of facilities in the HSI, Support Services, and Financial Crimes Initiatives.
Fiscal Year 2021 is the 28th year that this grant has been awarded to the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD). The FY 2021 HIDTA Budget, if awarded, will not exceed $2,173,086, however, the ordinance also authorizes the acceptance of supplemental funding in the amount up to 20% that may come available during the grant period. In FY 2020, the SAPD was awarded supplemental funding of $54,680 for the HIDTA Initiative in addition to the initial grant award of $2,138,932.
The table below provides the results of this program for calendar year 2020:
ISSUE:
This item provides a briefing on the submission of a grant application and acceptance of funds upon award from the in an amount up to $2,173,086 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).
ALTERNATIVES:
This item provides a briefing on a grant application.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total proposed program budget of $2,173,086 is divided into eight (8) related segments as follows:
A General Fund cash match is not required. The grant will fund seventeen (17) authorized positions: four (4) Detectives, two (2) Sergeants, one (1) Administrative Associate, four (4) Crime Analysts, three (3) Sr. Crime Analysts, one (1) Client Service Analyst, one (1) Systems Administrator, and one (1) Management Analyst. The Management Analyst funding is split between the grant and General Fund.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Public Safety Committee forwards this request to submit a grant application and acceptance of funds to full City Council for approval and acceptance. This item is scheduled for City Council consideration in “A” Session in April 2021.