TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: Peter D. Lear, CPA, CGMA, City Manager
TITLE: Application to The Harry Shapiro Charitable Foundation Grant in an amount of up to $20,000 for Explosive Detection Equipment.
Recommended Action
Approve the application to the Harry Shapiro Charitable Foundation Grant funding in an amount of up to $20,000, for the purchase of non-budgeted police equipment for explosive detection equipment and authorize the City Manager to sign the application and accept funding. If awarded, the grant funding would require a budget amendment to purchase all equipment.
Background Information
The Harry Shapiro Charitable Foundation would like to donate up to $20,000 to the North Port Police Department to be utilized for explosive detection equipment.
Members of the Harry Shapiro Charitable Foundation asked staff what the Police Department needed for equipment that was not in their FY 2020 budget.
With the increase in attendance at City signature events and the opening of the Atlanta Braves Spring Training Facility, explosive detection resources are now required by North Port Police Department to be adequately prepared for safety and security at large scale events. In Fiscal Year 2019, the Police Department received a K9 through a charitable donation and reclassified an existing School Resource Officer position to a K9 handler. This K9 unit is dual purpose in that the dog is trained for the detection of explosives as well as apprehension.
With the grant funding from the Harry Shapiro Charitable Foundation, North Port Police Department intends to purchase the necessary explosive detection equipment to outfit and train this K9 unit. Due to budgetary constraints, this equipment and training was not requested in the FY2019-2020 budget request, which would have required the Department to rely on local partnerships with surrounding agencies for storage and maintenance for training devices. These grant funds will al...
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