March 10, 2010

Governor Bob McDonnell announced Wednesday the awarding of $4.9 million in State Homeland Security Program grants to local police and sheriffs’ departments all across Virginia. These funds will be used to acquire equipment crucial to fight crime and deter terrorist acts.

The Albemarle County and Charlottesville City police departments were included in the terrorism grants, receiving $17,000 and $302,000 respectively.

Speaking about Wednesday’s announcement, Governor McDonnell remarked, “The foremost obligation of government is public safety. It is critical that all localities have the tools they need to protect citizens from threats to their communities. These funds represent the latest in a multi-phase plan to fill gaps in regional response and deterrence resources among local law enforcement agencies.”

The State Homeland Security Program provides funds to help build capabilities at the state and local levels through planning, training, exercise activities and purchase of needed equipment. Equipment scheduled for purchase with these grants includes incident response vehicles, personal protective equipment, automatic license plate readers and bomb squad gear. Potential recipients and equipment needs were identified through an analysis conducted annually by local law enforcement leaders, the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association, and the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police.

Based on the needs analysis, project proposals were developed and submitted through the Governor’s Office to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for review and approval. Once DHS approved, the grants were issued by the Department of Criminal Justice Services, the administrative agency in Virginia for law enforcement grants under the SHSP program.

Click Here for a complete of the 45 departments receiving funds and the amounts awarded.