Summary: |
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 working with the Sheriff Offices from the Counties of Caroline, Louisa and Orange. 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 two unmanned aircraft systems (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 located at two separate locations within Spotsylvania County for quick response to any potential threat within the County and to the partnering jurisdictions.
The grant would require:
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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,
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A Blanket Public Agency Certificate of Authorization from the FAA,
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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,
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All UAS operators will be trained in Incident Command System operations to ensure safe operation during emergency incidents,
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A list of all UAS operators will be provided to VDEM and updated as needed,
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All federal, state and local laws, regulations and rules pertaining to privacy, UAS operations, and UAS data storage will be adhered to,
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The necessary insurance for liability in case of accident involving the UAS will be acquired,
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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
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If the UAS is used for law enforcement purposes, all laws and requirements for criminal investigation, surveillance and data storage shall be followed.
The Code of Virginia §19.2-60.1 stipulates that use of a UAS by a local government agency is limited to those circumstances in which a search warrant or an administrative or inspection warrant has been issued pursuant to law. A UAS may be deployed without a warrant in the following circumstances:
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Amber Alert (an emergency response system for a missing person (usually a child),
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Senior Alert (an emergency response system for a missing senior citizen),
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Blue Alert (an emergency response system to speed the apprehension of criminals who kill or seriously injure local, state, or federal law enforcement officers).,
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Where use of an UAS is determined to be necessary to alleviate an immediate danger to any person such as search and rescue,
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Training exercises related to law enforcement uses, or
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If a person with legal authority consents to a warrantless search.
In addition, the warrant requirement does not apply when an UAS is utilized to support the Commonwealth for purposes other than law enforcement, including damage assessment, traffic assessment, flood stage assessment and wildfire assessment.
If approved, the grant application would request a total of $45,150 in federal funds. Of this amount, $41,150 would be used to pay for the two UASs, the associated accessories, and shipping. The remaining $4,000 would be used for travel and training costs associated with either having additional personnel certified as a pilot and/or to send the current pilots to specialized training. There is no local match requirement for this grant; however, there would be ongoing costs associated with this project after the grant award expires to include costs for insurance, data storage and maintenance. At this time, the Sheriff’s Office is still working on obtaining an estimate for these annual costs that will not be covered by the grant.
The application deadline date has been extended until June 16, 2017. Final decisions are anticipated to be made on July 31, 2017 with awards expected by October 2017.
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