Explanation
BACKGROUND: The Division of Police has been awarded a FY2024 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Act grant in the amount of $52,713.55. This is a federal grant program from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. The Division of Police has been awarded a Forensic Science Improvement Act grant annually since 2003 to fund forensic lab personnel training, lab equipment purchases, and overtime costs to process casework. The City must be a subgrantee to the State of Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services to participate in this program according to the federal grant guidelines. Therefore, the Mayor is required to sign a subgrantee award to accept this grant on behalf of the City. The official City contact authorized to act in connection with this grant is Crime Lab Manager, Angela Farrington. The grant program provides funds to improve forensic crime lab activities. This FY2024 award will fund travel and training opportunities for at least 13 lab employees and at least 2 analysts in the Drug Identification Section. The Drug Identification Section will also be using grant funds to upgrade existing systems, such as the LabX software, which will allow them to electronically capture the weight of evidence items and to purchase supplies such as barcode scanner docking stations and an updated designer drug mass spectral library.
Emergency Designation: Emergency legislation is necessary to make the funds available as soon as possible for the grant award, effective as of January 1, 2025.
FISCAL IMPACT: This ordinance authorizes the acceptance and appropriation of a grant in the amount of $52,713.55 from the Federal government to fund equipment, supplies, and training and travel costs for the City's Crime Lab personnel. The City was awarded Forensic Science Improvement Act grant funds in the amount of $53,746.23 in 2021 and $51,078.39 in 2022, and $53,787.33 in 2023. All funds appropriated are ...
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