Council Meeting
November 12, 2024
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Tony Batalla
City Administrator Director, Information
Technology Department
SUBJECT: DOJ COPS Tech & Equipment:
Grant Acceptance
DATE: October 15, 2024
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Accept And Appropriate Grant Funds In An Amount Of $963,000.00 From The United States Department Of Justice To Fully Reimburse The City’s Cost To Replace Aging Public Safety Network Infrastructure And Enhance Public Safety Network Cybersecurity Protections For The Period Of October 31, 2024, Through Project Completion.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff Recommends that the City Council adopt the proposed resolution authorizing the City Administrator to accept and appropriate grant funds in the amount of $963,000.00 from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), COPS Technology and Equipment Program (TEP) Invitational Solicitation to reimburse the City’s cost to replace critical infrastructure components within the City’s public safety network that have reached end-of-life and also implement additional cybersecurity protections across the City’s networks, including public safety.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
On May 1, 2024, the Department of Information Technology (ITD) was notified by DOJ that the City was named in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-42) as a grant
funding recipient under the FY 2024 COPS Technology and Equipment Program (TEP).
Funding was designated in the amount of $963,000 to the City of Oakland for the following technology project: “Cyber Security Enhancements to Public Safety Systems.” This federal grant was the result of a recommendation put forth by the Office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee. A full grant proposal, as required, was submitted by ITD by the deadline of July 2, 2024.
DOJ’s TEP program provides funding to state, territorial, local, Tribal, and other entities to develop and acquire effective law enforcement equipment, technologies, and interoperable communications that assist in responding to and preventing crime.
On September 30, 2024, ITD was notified that the City’s project had been awarded in the amount requested of $963,000.00. The City now has the requisite forty-five (45) days to officially accept the DOJ funding.
Jestin Johnson (Oct 29, 2024 13:45 PDT)
Oct 29, 2024
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: DOJ COPS Tech & Equipment Grant Acceptance
Date: October 15, 2024 Page 2
Council Meeting
November 12, 2024
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The City of Oakland's public safety network infrastructure has reached end-of-life and is no longer under support or warranty. The City of Oakland IT Department plans to address this weakness by upgrading public safety network infrastructure, specifically distribution and edge switches. This will enable the Oakland Police Department (OPD) to perform its duties and services using a highly reliable and secure technology environment to perform all law necessary enforcement related operations, including computer-aided dispatch, records management, reporting, crime analysis, and day to day functions such as back-office and administrative functions, and more. The grant will also allow ITD to review and implement additional cybersecurity protections across the City’s network.
Upgrading the City's distribution and edge switches includes replacing existing public safety network infrastructure with new hardware and management software that is under warranty and fully supported by the vendor. A distribution layer facilitates the routing of traffic on the network and will be configured with security features such as access control policies and virtual local area networks (VLANs) to create a high-speed backbone. Edge switches connect client devices such as laptops, desktop workstations, printers, and IP phones. These devices are required in a modern law enforcement agency. Additionally, enhanced cybersecurity measures will be investigated and deployed across the network.
The City of Oakland IT Department will coordinate closely with the OPD and Oakland Fire Department (OFD) to implement the project, including upgrading the network infrastructure distribution and edge switches and configuring appropriate security policies.
Collectively, the network infrastructure and security systems proposed in this application support the Citywide priority of Public Safety and Violence Prevention by enabling OPD to perform its duties and services, including community policing initiatives and partnerships maintained by the City of Oakland.
FISCAL IMPACT
Grant funds in the amount of $963,000.00 have been awarded to the City of Oakland to upgrade and replace end-of-life public safety network infrastructure and further enhance cybersecurity protections across the City’s network, including public safety.
The DOJ grant funds will be recorded in the Information Technology Department Grant Fund (2112), Network Security and Maintenance Organization (46471), Project (TBD), and Technology Management Program (IP62).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
The community has expressed a strong desire to strengthen public safety and cybersecurity within the City of Oakland through technology upgrades, enhancements, features, and functionality to ensure that the City of Oakland has modernized and highly secure technology infrastructure. Upgraded network infrastructure and security systems will enable the OPD to perform its duties in the most efficient, secure, and reliable manner possible.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: DOJ COPS Tech & Equipment Grant Acceptance
Date: October 15, 2024 Page 3
Council Meeting
November 12, 2024
Following the grant award, no additional outreach was necessary for the proposed policy action beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures because the application has been vetted at multiple stages, and the funding being used for this project is being granted via a Federal program.
COORDINATION
This report and legislation have been reviewed by the Office of the City Attorney, the Controller’s Bureau, the Department of Finance, and the City Administrator’s Office.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Ensuring that secure, robust, and cost-effective enterprise systems and platforms are available to City public safety staff are critical. Maintaining existing systems appropriately is the most efficient solution for the City.
Environmental: Enterprise solutions focus on paperless transactions that reduce the need for traditional printing and copying. Safe and effective data storage and cybersecurity solutions secure City data and give staff confidence in using these technologies.
Race & Equity: Access to platforms and services that are user-friendly and secure allows public safety staff and officials to focus on their core responsibilities with confidence that their communication and data are secure and transmitted efficiently.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That the City Council Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Administrator To Accept And Appropriate Grant Funds In An Amount Of $963,000.00 From The United States Department Of Justice To Fully Reimburse The City’s Cost to Replace Aging Public Safety Network Infrastructure And Enhance Public Safety Network Cybersecurity Protections For The Period Of October 31, 2024, Through Project Completion.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Tony Batalla, Information Technology Director, at 510-238-3319.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY BATALLA
Director, Information Technology Department