The Sheriff and staff recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve the request to submit a regional grant application for the State Homeland Security Grant Program, in which Spotsylvania County would be the fiscal agent for a regional partnership between the Sheriff’s Office, the Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management (FREM) and other localities in the purchase and use of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS).

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) is to support state and local efforts to prevent terrorism and other catastrophic events and to prepare the Nation for the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk to the security of the United States. The SHSP provides funding to implement investments that build, sustain, and deliver core capabilities essential to achieving the National Preparedness Goal of a secure and resilient Nation.  The SHSP supports the core capabilities across the five mission areas of Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery.  As the State Administrative Agent, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) is offering a competitive sub-award opportunity to assist local preparedness activities that address high-priority preparedness gaps where a nexus to terrorism exists.  All supported investments are based on capability targets and gaps identified during the Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment process and assessed in the State Preparedness Report.

VDEM is prioritizing applications that include a collaborative approach to addressing the threat of terrorism, as they want to see demonstrations of agreements and partnerships between multiple jurisdictions. For the purpose of this application, Spotsylvania County will be the fiscal agent.  Both the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office and FREM will be involved with this project.

If approved, the application will request funding for the purchase of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which can assist in numerous operations including surveillance of illegal activities, gathering visual intelligence, collection of evidence, monitoring of special events, traffic, search and rescue operations, responding to fires and hazardous material incidents, and damage assessments. The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office already has two FAA licensed UAS pilots, but does not yet have a UAS.   The UAS will be housed at the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office for quick response to any potential threat within the County and to the partnering jurisdictions.

The grant would require:

• A comprehensive multi-department program that will include policies and procedures that address operational deployment, training, UAS remote pilot proficiency, maintenance, airworthiness, data storage and documentation,

• A Blanket Public Agency Certificate of Authorization from the FAA,

• All remote pilots in command will be required to be certified by the FAA under 14 CFR Part 107 and possess a Remote Pilot Airman Certificate,

• All UAS operators will be trained in Incident Command System operations to ensure safe operation during emergency incidents,

• A list of all UAS operators will be provided to VDEM and updated as needed,

• All federal, state and local laws, regulations and rules pertaining to privacy, UAS operations, and UAS data storage will be adhered to,

• The necessary insurance for liability in case of accident involving the UAS will be acquired,

• The UAS will be registered in accordance with all applicable federal aviation administration regulations (14 CFR Part 47 and 48) and registration information will be provided to VDEM and the Department of Aviation, along with aircraft type, payload capability and contact information, and

• If the UAS is used for law enforcement purposes, all laws and requirements for criminal investigation, surveillance and data storage shall be followed.

                   

VDEM has tentatively listed the application deadline date as May 5, 2017.

This is a request to submit a grant application; therefore, there is no financial impact at this time.  If the application is approved, the grant award would need to be reviewed and recommended for approval by County Administration, the County Attorney’s Office and the Finance Committee before being submitted to the Board of Supervisors for their action.  The Board of Supervisors can accept or decline the award.

Captain Roger Harris II, Sheriff’s Office; Chief Jay Cullinan, FREM;                                   Division Chief Matthew Embrey, FREM;Jane Reeves, Information Services;          Annette D’Alessandro, Finance        

At this time, the Sheriff’s Office is still working to obtain the costs associated with this program and finalize the regional partners that will be involved in the application.  It is anticipated that this information will be available by the date of the Finance Committee on April 20, 2017.

Failure to apply for this grant opportunity will mean that Spotsylvania County’s Sherriff’s Office and FREM, as well as their regional partners will lose the opportunity to collaborate on the purchase and use of an UAS using grant funding.