Committee hears plan to accept FEMA-donated surveillance trailer and police software via grants budget amendment

New Castle County Public Safety Committee heard a presentation Sept. 9 on an ordinance to amend the grants budget to accept federal funding and take ownership of donated equipment purchased through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Delaware Emergency Management Agency.

Chris Hodgson, coordinator of emergency management, told the committee the county submitted two projects to capture leftover fiscal-year funding from the state terrorism working group administered by DEMA. “One is a mobile surveillance camera, and one is a force matrix, software system for the police department,” Hodgson said. He described both items as donated to the county through an MOU after purchase with federal funds.

Hodgson said the mobile surveillance trailer has already been delivered and is being finalized for county use. He told the committee the projects must be completed by the September deadline and that staff expect to finish on time.

Councilman Smiley asked whether the county was buying equipment from FEMA or receiving a donation. Hodgson replied that DEMA purchased the equipment with FEMA funds and is donating it to the county under a memorandum of understanding.

The ordinance cover sheet read aloud at the meeting described an appropriation of federal funding from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA for receipt of donated equipment; a dollar amount appears in the spoken agenda text but is unclear in the transcript. The transcript does not record a subsequent committee vote on the ordinance.

No members of the public spoke on the item during the meeting.

If the ordinance moves forward to a later vote, committee members and the public will expect the formal ordinance text to specify the exact grant amount, any MOU terms, and operational rules governing use and data retention for surveillance equipment.