$1.5M for terrorism fight
Orlando’s federal money will be shared among area law-enforcement agencies
Nearly two years after the Pulse nightclub shooting, Orlando will receive $1.5 million from the federal government to fight terrorism, Orlando officials announced Monday.
“We’re very excited about that,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said about the grant money from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “This is going to provide needed funding for training and equipment to keep this community safe.”
U.S. Rep. Val Demings called it “an exciting day” when she learned that Orlando will receive the money, considering that the region attracts millions of visitors a year as a tourist destination and hosts large events nearly every weekend. Orlando had been denied the anti-terrorism funding every year since 2014. The city was even turned down last year, less than a year after one of the worst shooting massacres in the United States.
“I am gratified that Orlando is back on the list to get the vital anti-terror funding we need and deserve,” Demings’ said. “My number one goal was to have this funding restored. I have argued that because of our large targets and high visitor counts, Orlando should be placed higher on the list when distributing anti-terror funding.”
Demings said her “bipartisan work” as a member of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee — which oversees funding for the Department of Homeland Security — helped Orlando secure the federal dollars.
Known as the Urban Area Se-
curity Initiative, the money is doled out through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to “high-threat, high-density” cities and urban areas to help pay for anti-terrorism training, purchasing equipment and responding to a terrorist attack.
In total $580 million was awarded to 32 cities across the country, including $6 million to the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area and $3 million to the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.
After receiving the funding, the city will then divvy it up among the surrounding counties — including Orange, Seminole, Lake, Osceola and Volusia, Mina said.
Public safety organizations within those counties will then put together a wish list of equipment — such as firearms, bomb squad materials and active shooter kits. However, the funds cannot be used to hire more people or pay salaries.
“We have a long list of needs that we want, and the million and a half won’t cover it all,” Mina said. “But it will cover some of that. So we’re happy for that. It will help us respond to a terrorist event.”
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, DWinter Park, was also pleased that Orlando will receive the federal funding.
“As one of the nation’s most popular destinations, Orlando needs and deserves federal support to keep residents and visitors safe,” Murphy said in a written statement.
U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, DKissimmee, also said the funds will help the region be better prepared.
“These federal funds are critical to strengthen public safety in Central Florida,” Soto said in a written statement.
In 2014, Orlando was awarded $1 million. Since then, the city had not received a dollar; even in 2017, nearly a year after Omar Mateen burst into the Pulse nightclub in June 2016 and killed 49 people and wounded dozens more.
FEMA said last year that the formula for distributing the funds is based on “relative threat, vulnerability and consequence factors from acts of terrorism by each [urban area],” along with “targeted infrastructure that terrorist are deemed more likely to attack” and border crossings.
Mina and Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings even traveled to Washington, D.C., to press federal officials and members of Congress to reassess the formula used to decide which communities deserve funding. They also pointed out that the Central Florida region draws more than 68 million visitors a year, making it a highly likely target for a terrorist attack.
“Our community has personal experience with tragedy,” Demings said Monday. “Every one of us, and every visitor to Central Florida, should feel safe while enjoying a day of fun, a night of entertainment, a morning of worship, or in the workplace. We never should have been taken off that funding list.”