Anti-Terrorism Grant to Fund Upgrades, New Projects

The D.C. area will use a major anti-terrorism grant to upgrade its bomb squads and provide law enforcement with new intelligence analysts and computer systems -- including one dubbed "Google for cops," authorities said yesterday.

Those were among the details released by state and local officials, who met this week to carve up a recent $61.6 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The funds are a 30 percent increase over last year's award to the region, but still far less than the $140 million officials had sought.

"It's very frustrating to know that there are needs out there, and we can't meet them all immediately," said Robert P. Crouch Jr., Virginia's top homeland security official. "But that doesn't mean we don't take a chunk out of them every year."

The area's eight state and local bomb squads will receive $7.3 million to bring them to the top rating under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's guidelines. None is currently at that level. The money will be spent on equipment such as robots and high-tech bomb suits, officials said.

An additional $8 million will go toward intelligence and information-sharing efforts benefiting law enforcement. That money will be used to hire six analysts for intelligence "fusion centers" in the area, and help link police databases in a network dubbed "Google for cops," among other projects. The money will also be spent on a fingerprint-sharing system for police.

Officials decided to spend $3.2 million for rescue equipment for the Metro rail system, and $1.9 million to enable Metro to complete a system allowing its officers in tunnels to communicate by radio.

About $1.5 million will go toward a push to persuade people to sign up for a regional emergency text-messaging system. And $7 million will be spent on emergency planning -- a 400 percent increase over last year. Crouch said that money would go toward hiring additional personnel to beef up planning for evacuation, health care and other effects of a catastrophe.

"That's something we've identified as a deficiency," he said.

Programs championed by the area's medical community failed to make this year's cut. The region's grant application had sought $16.5 million for equipment and planning for mass-casualty response, and millions more for an electronic system to locate and track hospital patients in an emergency. None of that was funded.

Robert Malson, president of the District of Columbia Hospital Association, criticized the distribution of the grant money, saying it went disproportionately to efforts aimed at preventing attacks -- rather than responding to them.

"As we learned here in 9/11 and the anthrax attacks, when we do have an event of a major nature, the hospitals are the first line of response," Malson said. "So we have to continue to enhance our ability to respond."

Peter Lavine, chairman of the board of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, said he was dismayed that no money was provided for the volunteer Medical Reserve Corps. "It seems a little shortsighted not to fund those types of areas," he said.

Authorities said they wanted to concentrate on fewer, high-impact projects rather than sprinkle the money over numerous areas. Darrell Darnell, the District's homeland security director, said officials will try to draw up "more of a focused proposal" on strengthening emergency medical care, and aim to do that with next year's grant.

The money for the bomb squads came after their leaders expressed concerns that they lacked equipment to deal with emergencies, particularly simultaneous attacks.

"We're very pleased," said James H. Schwartz, the Arlington County fire chief, who heads a regional first-responders group that includes the squads.

Bomb attacks are "one of the greater threats, based on what we've seen across the world. So building the capacity for those bomb teams is a big step forward," he said.

Various projects will receive the rest of the grant money. About $6 million, for example, is earmarked for training. About $12 million will be spent on maintaining equipment bought with funds from previous anti-terror grants, officials said.

The District, Maryland and Virginia will each get about $3 million for their own projects.