Homeland Security revises city grants

WASHINGTON – Chastened by complaints about poor federal cooperation and by controversy over its slashing of aid to New York City and Washington last year, the Department of Homeland Security will reserve about $100 million of the $747 million it will dole out to U.S. cities this year to pay for police counterterrorism operations in six metropolitan areas, officials said Friday.

In announcing changes in style and substance to the Urban Area Security Initiative program, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff cited a “secretary’s prerogative to sometimes inject common sense” into grant calculations based on the risk of terrorism and a subjective rating of the effectiveness of local anti-terrorism programs. The process was ridiculed by Congress and private analysts last year for slighting the two areas struck in the 2001 terrorist attacks.

“This is going to be an amazing admission for a public official in Washington: We actually listen to people,” Chertoff said, adding that DHS will collaborate more closely with applicants in deciding upon a total of $1.7 billion in state and local grants in 2007.

For the first time, DHS designated six high-risk urban areas – New York City and northern New Jersey; the Washington, D.C., region; Los Angeles-Long Beach; Chicago; the San Francisco Bay Area; and Houston – which will be allowed to spend up to 25 percent of their grants for personnel and operations, not just overtime during heightened national terrorism alerts. Chertoff cited the threat of “homegrown terrorism” in encouraging the funding of law enforcement-led domestic intelligence “fusion centers.”

The six will compete for $411 million, or 55 percent of the UASI funds. Another 39 cities will compete for the remaining $335 million.

Repeating past assertions, Chertoff said the change reflected risk, not politics. However, the high-risk areas will receive nearly $30 million more than last year, but their percentage of the UASI budget will remain about the same.

Chertoff declined to say if specific cities would get a boost when grants are announced by summer, saying only that he was confident that New York City would “do well” because it has worked closely with DHS.

Senate leaders were critical, noting that DHS will still use subjective peer grading of recipients.

“Amazingly enough, DHS insists on using the same process again,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., the chamber’s third-ranking Democrat. He added that New Yorkers “have every reason to be skeptical” of the results because the city is now joined with suburban New Jersey for grant award purposes.