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$8.8M to fight terror is on way

The Tampa Bay area gets fewer federal dollars than agencies expected, but local leaders aren't unhappy.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published June 1, 2006

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay area will receive $8.8-million in antiterrorism funds from the Department of Homeland Security - a bit more than Omaha, Neb., and slightly less than Charlotte, N.C.

Wednesday's announcement left local emergency officials with mixed feelings.

"We felt very good about the award," said Pinellas County sheriff's Capt. R. Scott Stiner, the agency's disaster preparedness coordinator.

But, he added, "I would have liked for us to have received more."

After all, this is the U.S. headquarters of the global war on terror.

The money is part of the $740-million divided by the Homeland Security Department among urban areas throughout the country.

The top local priority is ensuring that emergency workers from different agencies can communicate in a disaster, according to Stiner and Tampa police Chief Steve Hogue.

The grant money isn't enough to pay for the $12-million project, but it's a start, Hogue said.

The region's share falls short of the $21-million local agencies requested.

The area got less money than Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville or Fort Lauderdale.

Still, local leaders weren't sure the area would get anything.

Officials said they were concerned the Homeland Security Department didn't put enough emphasis on potential targets, such as the Port of Tampa, the Sunshine Skyway and MacDill Air Force Base, home to Central Command.

"We still feel that we're certainly vulnerable," Stiner said.

But Stiner said he doesn't mind that other Florida cities got more of the money.

"Florida as a whole is at risk," he said. "Other cities have larger gaps that need to be filled."

The money comes as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative, a program developed after Sept. 11, 2001, to help urban areas prepare for terrorist attacks. The grant money would support all emergency workers - including law enforcement, public health and medical services - throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, Stiner said.

"We presented one of the best strategies for homeland security in the nation," Stiner said.

Since 2003, grant money has bought new technology for local law enforcement, devices agencies tested during this year's Gasparilla parade.

They include:

n E-Sponder, Web-based software that allows agencies to coordinate before and during an event or disaster.

n Site Profiler, a tool that allows law enforcement to respond quickly to certain types of venues.

n CopLink, nicknamed "Google for law enforcement," a search engine that links data from different agencies.

n Avalex, a digital mapping system that allows pilots to take pictures of disaster areas.

The purchases made with the grant money aren't just for terrorist attacks, Stiner said. They're used for disasters, and in the Tampa Bay area, that means hurricanes, too.

"It's not just something that gets put on the shelf, waiting for some terrorist event that we hope never comes," he said.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 813 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 1, 2006, 10:25:09]