911 ResponsAbility

COPS Technology Grant Now Open

The COPS Technology Program received $170,223,000 for agencies specified in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117). COPS Technology grants provide funding for the continued development of technologies and automated systems to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in investigating, responding to, and preventing crime. This funding will allow recipients the opportunity to establish and enhance a variety of technical equipment and/or programs to encourage the continuation and enhancement of community policing efforts within their jurisdictions.

Please Note: Only agencies specified in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117) are eligible to submit an application under the COPS Technology Program. 

If your agency is eligible for this grant and would like to apply please contact me at amy.freeman@interact911.com

COPS Community Policing Development Grant Now Open

Community Policing Development (CPD) funds are used to advance the practice of community policing in law enforcement agencies through training and technical assistance, the development of innovative community policing strategies, applied research, guidebooks, and best practices that are national in scope. The COPS Office, a federal provider of innovative, customer-focused resources that address the continuing and emerging needs of those engaged in enhancing public safety through community policing, has designed the CPD solicitation to address critical topics in the law enforcement field by building on the principles of community policing.

Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime. Community Policing is comprised of three key components:

Partnerships
Collaborative partnerships between the law enforcement agency and the individuals and
organizations they serve to develop solutions to problems and increase trust in police.

Organizational Transformation
The alignment of organizational management, structure, personnel, and information
systems to support community partnerships and proactive problem solving.

Problem Solving
The process of engaging in the proactive and systematic examination of identified
problems to develop and evaluate effective responses.

The 2010 CPD grant program has been established to fund projects related to one of the
following topic areas:

• Role of Law Enforcement in Homeland Security (COPS-CPD-2010-1)
• Recruitment and Hiring (COPS-CPD-2010-2)
• Offender Re-Entry and Alternatives to Incarceration (COPS-CPD-2010-3)
• Ethics and Integrity (COPS-CPD-2010-4)
• Drugs (COPS-CPD-2010-5)
• Urban Violence (COPS-CPD-2010-6)
• Children Exposed to Violence (COPS-CPD-2010-7)
• School Based Policing (COPS-CPD-2010-8)
• Tribal Policing (COPS-CPD-2010-9)
• Open (COPS-CPD-2010-10)

In addition, the COPS Office asks that each applicant identify the specific goals that they hope to achieve in one or more of the following categories: developing knowledge, increasing awareness, increasing skills and abilities, increasing practice, and/or institutionalizing practice.

For this program to have the maximum impact, the COPS Office requires that proposals
be national in scope. Initiatives that primarily or solely benefit one or a limited number of
law enforcement agencies or other entities will not be considered for funding. Application narratives are limited to a maximum of 15 double-spaced pages.

All applications for the Community Policing Development Program must be submitted online by June 30, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.  For more information visit, http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=2450

Please contact me if you are interested in applying for this grant at amy.freeman@interact911.com

COPS Secure Our Schools Grant Open

Secure Our Schools Program Overview A COPS Secure Our Schools (SOS) grant provides funding to state, local, or tribal governments to assist with the development of school safety resources. This funding will allow recipients the opportunity to establish and enhance a variety of school safety equipment and/or programs to encourage the continuation and enhancement of school safety efforts within their communities. The COPS Office is optimistic that this grant program will help place agencies at the forefront of innovative school safety developments. Funding under this program may be requested for such things as: * Placement and use of metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures * Security assessments * Security training of personnel and students * Coordination with local law enforcement * Any other measure that may provide a significant improvement in security.

Please Note: There will be two deadlines for the FY 2010 Secure Our Schools program. Priority consideration will be provided to those applicants that submit complete and accurate applications by the first deadline. The deadline for priority consideration will be June 21, 2010, and the second and final deadline will be July 2, 2010.

For more information visit:  http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=2368

Please contact me if you have any questions at:  amy.freeman@interact911.com

InterActPocketCop Kudos

Just came across these interviews done at WES 2010 by the Mobile Industry Review on the deployment of InterActPocketCop on 2,080 BlackBerry devices by the Baltimore Police Department.

First, Gayle Guidford, Director of MIS for the Baltimore Police Department.

Download M4V Video | Subscribe to Podcast | Embed video

Second, Sgt. Sheree Briscoe talks about some of the benefits to officer safety and fighting crime that InterActPocketCop software on BlackBerry smartphones provides front-line officers.

Download M4V Video | Subscribe to Podcast | Embed video

And thanks for the kudos and glowing InterActPocketCop review, Ewan!

And another review by Toni Ahonen on his blog.

Emergency Notification and the Cell Phone

Hate to say "I told ya' so" - but I did.

I saw a news article this morning about how some people in Eugene, OR did not receive a call from the county's emergency notification system about a tense situation on the streets outside their homes because the calls only went to land lines - not cell phones, and (despite them not mentioning this in the article) not VoIP phones either (e.g., Vonage).

Land lines are disappearing rapidly and there is currently no way for emergency notification systems to send messages to anything BUT land lines...unless of course residences and businesses are provided with a method of "opting in" to receive alerts by providing their community with their cell or VoIP phone number. And some communities do this, like the University of Oregon campus as mentioned in the video portion of the article I mention above.

But that solution has it's challenges, too. First of all, you have to educate people about the ability to register their other phone numbers. Then, what happens if/when they change their number and that number is reassigned to someone else who doesn't live in the same area? You have to assume that the registrant is going to forget they  registered and thus forget to un-register. So now you have a bunch of bogus numbers you are trying to notify that clog a taxed cellular network even further. And based on various studies I have seen, chances are the messages won't get delivered to most of the cell phones anyway...

And just because my mobile phone is now associated with the location of my house, I could easily be somewhere else when a situation arises. Not that I wouldn't want to be notified that something was happening in my backyard...in fact, it might be helpful to know that there is a guy with a gun running around my neighborhood even if I am not home. Perhaps I am on my way home, and thus need to know that it's probably not a good idea for me to turn into my subdivision. If the EN system only calls my house line, I'm not going to know about it until I get home. This, in fact, happened to me last year.

And this brings up another point about location. I may be interested in receiving alerts about emergency incidents in more locations than just where my house is located. I want to know if something critical is going on around my child's school, my elderly aunt's home, my workplace, my route to work, etc. Now you're talking about needing a very complex system that can manage multiple phone numbers associated with multiple locations that I doubt taxpayers will want to pay for since they already gripe about fees for basic 9-1-1 service.

Regretfully, I don't have a solution. But it does bother me slightly every time I hear about some town purchasing an emergency notification system.

Emergency Notification and the Cell Phone

Hate to say "I told ya' so" - but I did.

I saw a news article this morning about how some people in Eugene, OR did not receive a call from the county's emergency notification system about a tense situation on the streets outside their homes because the calls only went to land lines - not cell phones, and (despite them not mentioning this in the article) not VoIP phones either (e.g., Vonage).

Land lines are disappearing rapidly and there is currently no way for emergency notification systems to send messages to anything BUT land lines...unless of course residences and businesses are provided with a method of "opting in" to receive alerts by providing their community with their cell or VoIP phone number. And some communities do this, like the University of Oregon campus as mentioned in the video portion of the article I mention above.

But that solution has it's challenges, too. First of all, you have to educate people about the ability to register their other phone numbers. Then, what happens if/when they change their number and that number is reassigned to someone else who doesn't live in the same area? You have to assume that the registrant is going to forget they  registered and thus forget to un-register. So now you have a bunch of bogus numbers you are trying to notify that clog a taxed cellular network even further. And based on various studies I have seen, chances are the messages won't get delivered to most of the cell phones anyway...

And just because my mobile phone is now associated with the location of my house, I could easily be somewhere else when a situation arises. Not that I wouldn't want to be notified that something was happening in my backyard...in fact, it might be helpful to know that there is a guy with a gun running around my neighborhood even if I am not home. Perhaps I am on my way home, and thus need to know that it's probably not a good idea for me to turn into my subdivision. If the EN system only calls my house line, I'm not going to know about it until I get home. This, in fact, happened to me last year.

And this brings up another point about location. I may be interested in receiving alerts about emergency incidents in more locations than just where my house is located. I want to know if something critical is going on around my child's school, my elderly aunt's home, my workplace, my route to work, etc. Now you're talking about needing a very complex system that can manage multiple phone numbers associated with multiple locations that I doubt taxpayers will want to pay for since they already gripe about fees for basic 9-1-1 service.

Regretfully, I don't have a solution. But it does bother me slightly every time I hear about some town purchasing an emergency notification system.

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program FY 2010 Local Solicitation

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs' (OJP) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is pleased to announce that it is seeking applications for funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. This program furthers the Department’s mission by assisting state, local, and tribal efforts to prevent or reduce crime and violence.

All applications are due by 8:00 p.m. eastern time on June 30, 2010

For more information go to:  http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/10JAGLocalSol.pdf

Assistance to Firefighters Grant opens Today April 26th

Fiscal Year 2010 Assistance to Firefighters Grants

The Department of Homeland Security has posted the FY 2010 Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) Program Guidance on the AFG Web site. The application period is scheduled to begin on Monday, April 26, 2010, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET). Applications for these grants must be received by Friday, May 28, 2010, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).

Nationally, the AFG awards, which will be distributed in phases, will ultimately provide approximately $390 million to fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical service organizations throughout the country. AFG awards aim to enhance response capabilities and to more effectively protect the health and safety of the public with respect to fire and other hazards. The grants enable local fire departments and emergency medical services organizations to obtain training, conduct first responder health and safety programs, and buy equipment and response vehicles.

An applicant tutorial is available at www.firegrantsupport.com. The tutorial provides valuable grant information and will walk you through the preparation and submittal of competitive applications. In addition, the applicant tutorial will provide an overview of the funding priorities and evaluation criteria.

The AFG Program is administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Grant Programs Directorate in coordination with the U.S. Fire Administration.

Applicants who have questions regarding the Assistance to Firefighters Grants opportunity should contact the help desk at 1-866-274-0960 or at firegrants@dhs.gov. During the application period, the help desk will operate Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (EDT), but is prepared to revise hours of operation based on volume and demand.

For access to the FY 2010 Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program Guidance or FAQs visit www.firegrantsupport.com/afg/.

If you have questions please contact me at amy.freeman@interact911.com

Recovery Act—Assistance to Rural Law Enforcement to Combat Crime and Drugs Along the Northern and Southern United States Borders

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the landmark American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “Recovery Act”). As one of its many elements, the Recovery Act provided the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with funding for grants to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement (including support for hiring), to combat violence against women, to fight internet crimes against children, to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system, to assist victims of crime, and to support youth mentoring. DOJ is committed to working with our national, state, local and tribal partnerships to ensure this funding invests in the American workforce.

Nearly 100% of the funds provided to DOJ under the Recovery Act were awarded in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. Under this solicitation, BJA will make FY 2010 Recovery Act awards to provide assistance to rural law enforcement agencies located along the Northern and Southern United States Borders to combat crime and drugs in those areas, using the remaining unallocated Recovery Act funding under this program. A Rural Law Enforcement solicitation was released in FY2009, and BJA made 212 awards, leaving a balance of $0. However, as these 212 awards underwent budget review by the Office of Justice Programs, approximately $1 million was recovered as a result of revised budgets and other factors. BJA is now making the remaining funds available to interested and eligible jurisdictions.

Those eligible to apply are limited to state and local (including county) and tribal law enforcement agencies located along the Northern or Southern border of the United States (as those terms are defined below) in “rural areas,” as that term is defined below. In addition, Northern or Southern border state law enforcement agencies that are from “rural states” or that provide assistance to one or more “rural areas” are eligible to apply.

For more information:  www.ojp.usdoj.gov/recovery/solicitationrequirements.htm

If your agency is interested in applying for this grant please contact InterAct at amy.freeman@interact911.com for assistance.

State Justice Administration Grants (JAG) are being announced check on your state deadline

Many states are in the process of announcing their State Justice Administration Grants (JAG).  Each states guidelines and deadlines will be different to learn more information on your specific state JAG grant please check your State Administrating Agency Website for detailed information.

If you have any questions or would like assistance in applying for your State JAG grant please contact me, Amy Freeman, at amy.freeman@interact911.com