Cuts to the region’s federal homeland security funding could jeopardize a plan for $25 million in communications infrastructure to allow emergency responders from one part of the area to understand what’s happening in another, local officials say.
Building the communications infrastructure would let the region add several applications that were in its security plans. It would allow law enforcement agencies to check warrants and fingerprints from other jurisdictions, said Edward Reiskin, Washington’s deputy mayor for public safety.
“It’s the old balancing act trying to put 70 pounds of prevention into a 40-pound bag,” said Gordon Aoyagi, Montgomery County’s homeland security director.
The National Capital Region has about two months to decide where to pare back.
After getting $77 million last year, officials learned last Wednesday that the region will receive $46 million, a 40 percent reduction, while metropolitan areas such as St. Louis, Omaha, Neb., and Louisville, Ky., saw increases. Washington-area officials had asked for $190 million.
Another possible cutback could be $10 million for mass care shelters to house people displaced from their homes in emergencies.
The money would have allowed each jurisdiction to house about 1,000 people in case of disaster, attack or pandemic flu. Right now, most jurisdictions can’t even handle that, Aoyagi said.
The region had asked for $2.5 million for its Citizen Corps to enhance volunteer capacity; $4 million for evacuation planning for special needs; $5 million for shelter planning; and $3 million to respond to weapons of mass destruction or a biochemical attack on the Metro.
Other projects include radiation detection equipment and fusion centers staffed by state, local and federal agencies that analyze anti-terrorism information.
Grant breakdown
» The Department of Homeland Security awarded the National Capital Region 7 percent of its grants for urban areas.
» The region includes 12 jurisdictions, Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, all three branches of the federal government, more than 2,000 nonprofit organizations and more than 4 million residents.
