Title
Adopt a Resolution to Authorize the City Manager to Accept Grant Funds in the Amount of $35,504.00 from the 2022 Department of Justice’s Edward J. Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) and to Authorize the City Manager to Execute all Documents Pertaining to this Resolution to Fund the Purchase and Administration of the Axon Enterprise Software and Hardware for Police Interview Rooms and to Appropriate $31,953.60 in Account 150-21-059-5311 for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 expenditures related to this grant program
Staffreport
COUNCIL PRIORITY
• Public Safety
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends City Council adopt a resolution to accept a grant award of $35,504.00 from the 2022 Department of Justice’s Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) and to authorize the City Manager to execute all documents and funding to fund the purchase and administration of the Axon Enterprise Software and Hardware for Police Interview Rooms.
BACKGROUND
The Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance (JAG) Grant Program (42 U.S.C. 3751 (a)) is the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions. The Byrne JAG Program is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs and was created in 2005 by merging the Edward J. Byrne Memorial Grant Program (Byrne) with the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Program (LLEBG). Byrne JAG funding can be used to support a broad range of state and local government projects, including those designed to prevent and control crime and to improve the criminal justice system.
To ensure that each state and territory receives an appropriate share of JAG funds, allocation to state and local governments is based on a formula using population and crime statistics in combination with a minimum allocation. Funds are split 60/40 between state and local recipients within states. Municipal governments, tribes, and community-and faith-based groups are eligible to receive Byrne JAG funding. Historically, funding for the JAG Program in California had been allocated directly to counties through a non-competitive process.
The JAG Program supports seven “Program Purpose Areas” designated by federal statute. These include the following:
(1) Law enforcement programs.
(2) Prosecution and court programs, including indigent defense.
(3) Prevention and education programs.
(4) Corrections and community corrections programs.
(5) Drug treatment and enforcement programs.
(6) Planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs.
(7) Crime victim and witness programs (other than compensation).
The JAG funding must be spent according to certain federal guidelines, including the following:
(1) Byrne JAG funds must be used to supplement existing funds for program activities and cannot replace, or supplant, nonfederal funds that were appropriated for the same purpose.
(2) Byrne JAG funds cannot be used to fund security enhancements or to purchase equipment by nongovernmental entities not engaged in criminal justice or public safety directly or indirectly.
(3) Byrne JAG funds cannot be used to purchase vehicles (excluding police cruisers), vessels (excluding police boats), or aircraft (excluding police helicopters); luxury items; real estate; or for construction projects, other than penal or correctional institutions.
(4) Byrne JAG funds can be used for state and local initiatives, technical assistance, training, personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, and information systems for criminal justice for any one or more of the following purpose areas:
1. Law enforcement programs;
2. Prosecution and court programs;
3. Prevention and education programs;
4. Corrections and community corrections programs;
5. Drug treatment programs;
6. Planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs; and
7. Crime victim and witness programs (other than compensation).
Analysis
Currently, the Police Department utilizes a video recording system that requires upgrades for current witness interview rooms. The Department plans to utilize Axon software and hardware to provide staff with a congruent means of capturing evidence. This grant will allow the Department to replace its antiquated in-house and unreliable recording system.
The current system is antiquated and presents recording and storing issues for vital A/V interviews such as homicide, rape, violent assaults, and other crimes. Currently, the interviews are recorded, stored to a hard drive and copied to a DVD-R CD. The DVD-R CD’s are then physically submitted into the Property Section as evidence. When video surveillance becomes encapsulated in the hard drive, the Department needs to contact the vendor to recover the video. This is not operationally feasible, especially when time is of the essence. There is also not a “cloud function” in the event of a catastrophic power failure that results of evidence loss or spoliation.
Axon provides a centralized source for collecting data with encrypted upload storage and live streaming. Axon data from the interviews is captured on local, redundant servers and uploaded to a cloud. The Department can share video, remotely and real-time to its key partners such as the Public Defender’s Office, District Attorney, defense attorneys, and law enforcement partners. In the event of power failure, data is in the cloud, allowing for safe extraction later. Axon is also used for the Department’s body worn cameras and works in the same ecosystem for smooth interface.
This grant will fund a five-year Axon contract for software and hardware for the Department’s two interview rooms for a total amount of $49,470.50.
1. Total grant award is $35,504.00
2. Alameda County Sheriff administrative fee is $3,550.40 (10% grant oversight/support)
3. 2022 Byrne JAG allocation for San Leandro PD is $31,953.60
The department recommends the City Council appropriate the 2022 JAG funding to purchase this Axon software application and associated Axon hardware that satisfies the “technology improvement program” purpose area listed above.
Environmental Review
Not required.
Legal Analysis
The City Attorney reviewed the quote provided by Axon (Exhibit A), along with the grant documentation (Exhibit’s B-G).
Financial Impacts
This Grant Fund (F150) project will cost $49,470.50 for a five-year contract. This requires increasing the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2023 Budget by the same amount ($31,953.60) and will be funded by a grant that will increase revenues through an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office reimbursement deposited into the City’s Federal Grants Account, 150-3608.
The grant award of $35,504.00 (minus $3,550.40) is fully reimbursable and has no matching requirement. The remaining $17,516.90 for the contract will be funded from 010-21-006-5311 in FY (2025-2026 & 2026-2027)
A request to increase appropriations to 010-21-006-5311 for FY 2025-2026 & 2026-2027 will be made during the budget development process for the aforementioned fiscal years.
Staff recommends funding the program as follows:
Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Year #1 Total: $9,894.10
- $9,894.10 from fund 150-21-059
Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Year #2 Total: $9,894.10
- $9,894.10 from fund 150-21-059
Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Year #3 Total: $9,894.10
- $9,894.10 from fund 150-21-059
Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Year #4 Total: $9,894.10
- $2,271.13 from fund 150-21-059
- $7,622.80 from fund 010-21-006-5311
Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Year #5 Total: $9,894.10
- $9,894.10 from fund 010-21-006-5311
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Resolution Accept JAG Grant Funds and Fund Axon Interview Room Project
Attachment B: Axon Quote
Attachment C: Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Award Letter
Attachment D: Fiscal Year 2022 Byrne JAG Grant Allocation
Attachment E: Fiscal Year 2022 Signed Addendum to Memorandum of Understanding
Attachment F: Fiscal Year 2022 Byrne JAG Budget Narrative
Attachment G: Fiscal Year 2022 Byrne JAG Certifications and Assurances
Attachment H: Press Release - Alameda County
PREPARED BY: Lieutenant Matthew Barajas, Criminal Investigations Commander, Police Department