COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

SHERIFF’S OFFICE

DATE:

March 10, 2005

BOARD MEETING DATE:

March 29, 2005

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Four-fifths vote

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Sheriff Don Horsley

SUBJECT:

RTTAC Grant Positions & Funding

RECOMMENDATION:

1)

Adopt an ordinance amending the salary ordinance adding three unclassified Crime Analyst positions (B010) in the Sheriff’s Office; and

2)

Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request moving already budgeted grant funds into Salary and Benefit Accounts for the positions, and other approved grant allocations.

VISION ALIGNMENT:

This item is aligned with Vision 2010 to ensure basic health and safety for all through goal number 7: Maintain and enhance the public safety of all residents and visitors, as well as the commitment of responsive, effective and collaborative government in goals number 20 and 22: Government decisions are based on careful consideration of future impact, rather than temporary relief or immediate gain; and, County and local governments effectively communicate, collaborate and develop strategic approaches to issues affecting the entire County.

BACKGROUND:

On April 6, 2004, your Board approved resolution number 066589 regarding the submission of a grant application seeking to secure the two-year ‘04 Homeland Security Grant that consisted of federal Department of Homeland Security monies, filtered through the State Office of Homeland Security, in which the Sheriff’s Office was to act as the fiduciary for the administration of the grant funds. Those funds included one initiative, referred to as Project T, intended to provide one-million dollars per year, for a two-year period, for the establishment of a task force based operation to be known as the Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center (RTTAC). The RTTAC mission was projected to include the development of collaborative relationships among regional federal, state and local entities relative to terrorism. Specifically, with regard to the disciplines of law, fire, public health and emergency medical services, to improve terrorism preparedness and information sharing. During the Summer of 2004, the State Office of Homeland Security provided notification of the approval of that grant funding, including Project T, and the RTTAC was thereby created. A September Budget change established the RTTAC grant within the Sheriff’s Office budget.

DISCUSSION:

The RTTAC is co-located within the Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) space in the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco. Benefits from utilization of the existing HIDTA infrastructure include centralized policy oversight, cross-training of HIDTA and RTTAC analysts to make the best of the power of exponential numbers to provide sufficiently robust analytical resources to handle times of surge demand.

Current RTTAC staff consists of the HIDTA Director (an Assistant Chief from the California Department of Justice), a Deputy Director for the RTTAC (a Sheriff’s Lieutenant) and an officer dedicated from the Contra Costa Area Office of the California Highway Patrol. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department dedicated a Senior Deputy Sheriff to the RTTAC in January 2005. Negotiations are currently underway with the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department, Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, San Jose Police Department, San Francisco Police Department and the San Francisco Department of Public Health to identify the staffing that they may each be able to contribute to the RTTAC.

The ‘04 Homeland Security Grant Project T proposal includes reimbursement funding for the creation of three analytical positions to support the mission of the RTTAC. Those three positions are included in this request to amend the salary ordinance, adding the three unclassified Crime Analyst positions to the Sheriff’s Office. The costs incurred in the addition of these positions are reimbursable through the now approved grant and are anticipated to match the two-year grant duration. The filling of these positions by contract was originally considered, but recruitment for these specialized positions is highly competitive, and unclassified positions were a more appropriate vehicle to meet the need. The ATR additionally realigns existing grant funds into categories which will match the planned RTTAC expenditures for the duration of the grant.

FISCAL IMPACT:

This action will have no net fiscal impact to the County General Fund. The grant funds being realigned through the ATR are already budgeted funds, added as a September Budget Change in the FY 2004-05 Budget. The ‘04 Homeland Security Grant will provide reimbursement for the costs incurred in the addition of these three (3) positions.

The recommended salary ordinance amendment has been reviewed by Employee and Public Services.