New DHS resource guide and mail screening poster
New resource guide. Take a look at DHS’ new resource guide, Security of Soft Targets and Crowded Places. It’s essentially a one-stop table of contents for DHS’s free materials, including links for help on identifying suspicious activity, access control and screening, active assailants (they’re not just shooters anymore) and bomb threats. Follow the supplied links for an introduction to facility security that can serve as a good first step for houses of worship, schools and other soft targets. Resources include fact sheets, guidance, and online training and education courses.
Mail screening poster. Thanks to the world’s leading geopolitical intelligence platform, Stratfor, for its timely reminder about mail and package screening after an attempted bombing.
- While many questions remain in the case of a parcel bomb sent to a Mexican senator, the largest is why the mail of such a high-level official was not screened.
- While politicians and large corporations clearly must take significant measures to screen their mail, even ordinary people (and Jewish organizations) should open their mail cautiously.
- Simple steps can help everyone from the largest entities to the average citizen.
Note that Cesar Sayoc, 57, admitted in court to having mailed 16 explosive devices to a variety of officials and to CNN’s offices in October 2018. He allegedly said he would “eradicate the Jews” if he had the power to, along with lesbians, black people and Hispanic people.
We urge you to download the tips found on the Stratfor graphic and share it with your staff and others.
Security at the Celebrate Israel Parade
Remarks by
Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence & Counterterrorism
John Miller
May 23, 2019
The Celebrate Israel Parade is an important, annual event in New York City. The NYPD and our law enforcement partners work with the parade’s producer, the Jewish Community Relations Council, to try to ensure that every participant and spectator will be safe. There will be a large detail of NYPD officers protecting the participants and spectators, supported by an array of counterterrorism tools and measures designed to ensure everyone’s safety.
The NYPD works with the FBI and has over a hundred detectives assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The NYPD closely monitored the progress of the Jonathan Xie investigation, culminating with his arrest Wednesday in New Jersey. I can add that as of this time, there are no known, specific, or credible threats to New York City, the parade, or the Jewish community.
NSGP: Updated JCRC-NY Tutorial
From NY DHSES
- FY 2019 NSGP Request for Applications Updated
- FEMA Clarification on Contracted Security Personnel New
- FY 2019 NSGP Investment Justification
- Vendor Responsibility Questionnaire (pdf / doc)
- FY 2019 NSGP E-Grants Tutorial
- AEL List
- NSGP FAQs – Updated
Click here for the JCRC-NY updated Investment Justification tutorial.
From the NY DHSES FAQ’s
Question: What makes a strong Investment Justification?
Answer:
- Clearly identified risks, vulnerabilities and consequences;
Description of findings from a previously conducted vulnerability assessment; - Details of any incident(s) including description, dates, etc.;
- A brief description of any supporting documentation (such as police reports or photographs) that is submitted as part of the application, if applicable;
- Explanation of how the investments proposed will mitigate or address the vulnerabilities identified from a vulnerability assessment;
- Establish a clear linkage with investment(s) and core capabilities (See National Preparedness Goal); see http://www.fema.gov/national-preparedness-goal for information on core capabilities;
- All activities proposed in the application are allowable costs per the FY 2019 NSGP RFA;Realistic milestones that consider the Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation (EHP) review process, if applicable; and
- Description of the project manager or managers’ level of experience.
NYC School Security Guards Reimbursement: bridge loans
Qualifying New York City nonpublic elementary and secondary schools with an enrollment of more than 300 can be reimbursed for the cost of certain security guard services (see the Final Adopted Rules for the program). They must “prequalify” online using the HHS Accelerator. Eligible schools should have already received a notice from NYC.
Note: The NPS Program 2019-2020 application filing period is open as of March 1, 2019 and will close on May 15, 2019.
New! Worried about cash flow? Interest-free financing is available for NYC-area projects/expenses covered by security grants, including this program. These loans are are intended to ensure that cash flow timing issues do not prevent qualified organizations from applying for security grants. For more information, see: https://hfls.org/loan-
Do not delay. After completing the HHS Accelerator you will be contacted about signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). A qualified nonpublic school will not be eligible to apply for reimbursement for any security services until an MOU has been signed by the school and registered with the Comptroller. Only expenses incurred after the signing of the MOU will be reimburseable.
Please reach out to the DCAS Nonpublic School Security Reimbursement Program at 212-386-0040 or ContactDCAS@dcas.nyc.gov if you have any questions.
Contact Information
Mailing Address:
New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services
Attn: Nonpublic School Security Reimbursement Program
1 Centre Street, 17th Floor North
New York, NY 10007
Telephone:
Schools: 212-386-0040
Security Vendors: 212-386-0428
Fax #: 646-500-7142
Email:
You can email the Nonpublic School Security Reimbursement Program for more information.
NSGP: More on contracted security guards
Updated April 25, 2019| U.S. DHS posted its Fiscal Year 2019 Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). We are reviewing the materials and have identified two key changes:
- Grant amount. The maximum award this year will be $100,000.
- Stacking the deck for new applicants. This year 10 bonus points will be added to the scores of organizations that never received NSGP funding. This effectively gives a serious advantage to newbies.
- Security guards. Hiring of contracted security personnel is now allowed under this program (see the FEMA update here).
- Note: Recipients of NSGP funding may use the grant to pay for contracted security personnel over the entire three year period of the grant. However, grantees should not assume that they will be successful applicants (you might not win a grant or this program may not exist in coming years) so you must be able to sustain this capability in future years without NSGP funding.
- NSGP funds may not be used to purchase equipment for security guards. These costs should be classified as organization costs.
- Subrecipients (grantees) may not use NSGP funding to hire full or part-time employees that will be placed on a nonprofit’s payroll.
- Rob Goldberg of JFNA reports after speaking with FEMA, that the blanket waiver WILL be in place and interested subrecipients may now request up to 100% of their total award towards the cost of contacted security personnel.
- JCRC comment: Make a case for security guards through an identified vulnerability included in your assessment (e.g., failure to review or monitor CCTV recordings for possible instances of hostile surveillance, inadequate access control measures, and or the lack of security guards during all hours of operation) and add “Contracted security guards” as an “Item to be purchased” in IV. Target Hardening (Note: there is no AEL number for Contracted security guards).
A case can readily be made for additional contracted security guards, additional hours or an upgrading replacement (e.g., unarmed to armed) of the existing guards.
Finally, we think that it is appropriate to remind you that security guards are no panacea. Security planning should entail a well-considered mix of personnel, plans, procedures, training, drills and exercises and security hardware. The judges tend to look at your assessments to see if you are addressing the most important vulnerabilities.
- Investment Justification. At first glance we don’t see any changes in the 2019 Investment Justification. Download it here.
- Timing. We estimate that the submission deadline for NY organizations be mid-May. We will be producing and posting our tutorial material this week, but will schedule a webinar — with an opportunity for questions –after Pesach.
The New York Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (NY DHSES) posted its New York-specific Request for Applications here. Check their site and ours for updates.
The guidelines and the paperwork seems to closely track the FY 2018 guidelines (with the exception of security guards), so if you have been drafting your applications based our existing help you will be in very good shape.