Urban securitySan Diego to receive $16.9 million in DHS funding
Some cities see DHS cutting its funding for their terrorism-related programs, but other cities see such funding increasing. A case in point is San Diego, which will receive $16.9 million in DHS funding to strengthen the city’s security against terrorist attacks.
Some cities see DHS cutting its funding for their terrorism-related programs, but other cities see such funding increasing. A case in point is San Diego, which will receive $16.9 million in DHS funding to strengthen the city’s security against terrorist attacks.
The San-Diego Union Tribune reports that the funding comes from the Urban Area Security Initiative program, which funds similar programs in twenty-five U.S. urban centers. The program was started in 2003, and San Diego has received $120 million through the program in the last ten years.
The cities which are part of the program are divided into two tiers, depending on the risk they face from a terrorist attack. Tier one includes Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Houston, and Dallas.
Tier two includes Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, and Atlanta among other cities.
John Valencia, program manager at the Homeland Security office in San Diego, said that in order to receive the funding, a city must apply, then be approved by a panel of local representatives comprising one person from eighteen cities in the region and the unincorporated county in accordance with the department’s overall national security guidelines.
Valencia added that the funding must go to projects which will benefit the region as a whole.
Law enforcement training, infrastructure security upgrades, and public safety radio communications are just a few of the projects that could receive funding from the grant. Funding also typically goes to equipment for law enforcement, such as camera upgrades for Sheriff’s and San Diego Police departments’ helicopters, and equipment for bomb and arson squads.
