Vehicle barriers like these are on SPD’s shopping list (Image: AML Risk Management)
The Seattle City Council this week approved Seattle Police’s use of $2.325 million in funding from the United States Department of Homeland Security to purchase equipment including advanced body armor, vehicle barricades, “tactical robots,” and new surveillance and night vision technology, plus tactical training for Seattle and area law enforcement.
The approval follows a previous authorization for the Seattle Fire Department to accept $750,000 in Homeland Security funding as the Seattle City Council last year delayed approving SPD’s use of the funds “until the members of the Council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee could conduct a more detailed analysis of SPD’s plan to spend the UASI funds,” according to the council’s brief on the decision.
The spending will cover “program management and sustainment; citizen preparedness and outreach; contract analysts; equipment and training to respond to acts of terrorism; and mass care shelter planning with the Human Services Department,” according to the council’s brief on the approved proposal.
“All new technologies that meet the criteria for surveillance are subject to review by City Council under the Seattle Surveillance Ordinance (SMC 14.18),” SPD’s report on the line items reads. “All new technologies must also undergo a privacy assessment to ensure that the City is following it’s privacy principles and privacy policy, to incorporate the appropriate privacy practices into daily operations and build public trust.”
A full roster of the spending plan is below.
