The CAPCOG Executive Committee and its Homeland Security Task Force prioritized 40 projects that requested funding from the Texas Office of the Governor State Homeland Security Program. The state program will award funding in August 2019 using CAPCOG’s prioritization as a recommendation. CAPCOG anticipates between 16 and 20 of them will receive some level of funding based on previous years’ awards.
“Projects that received a high prioritization were those that strengthened the region’s ability to provide a coordinated regional response to terroristic events to which a single jurisdiction could not respond,” said Martin Ritchey, CAPCOG homeland security director. “As every year, CAPCOG relied on the expertise of emergency managers and first responders to help prioritize these projects.” The projects ranged from planning and training projects to purchasing specialized equipment for professional response teams and additional resources for volunteer recovery teams.
The Homeland Security Task Force reviewed and ranked each project based on its nexus to terrorism; its core capability to fill gaps as identified in the regional State Preparedness Report; their ability to demonstrate a regional approach to preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation; and their ability to either sustain, build, or expand existing homeland security programs. In previous years, CAPCOG area projects have received between $1.3 million and $1.6 million in funding from the grant program. During the 2019 application process, applications for requested projects totaled more than $6 million.
