Council hearing highlights community concerns over UASI funding, BRIC data sharing and surveillance

The Boston City Council Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice held a hearing March 27 on docket 0413 to review federal grants administered by the Office of Emergency Management, focusing on the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and how the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC) uses grant funds and shares information.

City and police officials described how BRIC uses UASI money for personnel, training and analytic technology; community groups and civil‑liberties organizations warned that BRIC-funded analysis and information sharing risked enabling federal immigration enforcement and expanded surveillance of lawful protest activity.

Council Chair Henry Santana convened the hearing, saying the committee would examine "all City of Boston grants administered by the Office of Emergency Management, including the Urban Area Security Initiative grant and emergency management performance grant." (Henry Santana, March 27). The BRIC’s director told the committee the center received roughly $2,000,000 from last year’s UASI award and that personnel accounted for most of that funding. Ryan Walsh, director of the BRIC, said, "Approximately 3 quarters of this money went towards personnel, funding a total of 12 full and part and 1 part time position" and described the funds as supporting analysts, a privacy officer and technology projects.

Why it matters: community groups and civil‑liberties advocates told the council that, under the current federal…