For the record, my name is Henry Santana, at large City Councilor, and I'm the chair of the Boston City Council Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice.

Today is April thirteenth, twenty twenty-six.gov slash city dash council dash TV and broadcast it on Sfin Channel eight, RCN channel eighty two and files channel nine six four.ps at Boston dot government and available to all counselors.

Written comments may be sent to the committee email at CCC.ps at Boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all counselors.

Public testimony will be taken at the end of this hearing.

Individuals will be called on in the order in which they signed up and will have two minutes to testify.

If you are interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber.

If you are looking to testify virtually, please email our central staff liaison Ron Cobb at Ron.com at Boston.gov for the link and your name will be added to the list.

Today's hearing is on dockets number 0320.

Message and order authorizing the city of Boston to accept and expend the amount of five hundred five five hundred and seventy-seven thousand five hundred dollars in the form of a grant.

The FY25 port security grant awarded by the United States Department of Homeland Security to be administered by the police department.

The grant will fund the purchase of the new 31 life proof boat, the replacement of engines on the 31 safe boat and 38 safe boat.

And finally, the recallering of the recog patrol boat and ice rescue training.

This matter was sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu and was referred to the committee on February 11, 2026.

And docket number 0759 message and order authorizing the city of Boston to accept and expend the amount of 10 million dollars, 10 million 925, 140 dollars and seven cents in the form of a grant, the FY26 counter unmanned aircraft systems grant program awarded by the United States Department of Homeland Security, passed through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to be administered by the police department.

The grant would fund increase in BPD's ability to detect, identify, tracked, and monitor unmanned aircraft systems within the city of Boston.

This matter was sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu and was referred to the committee on April 8th, 2026.

And the final document we're covering tonight today is Docket number 0476.

Order for a series of hearings regarding all city of Boston's grants administered by the Boston Police Department.

This matter was sponsored by myself, Councillor Flynn, and Councillor Warr, and was referred to the committee on March 4th, 2026.

Today I am joined by my colleagues in order of arrival.

Councillor Flynn, Councillor Aaron Murphy, and Councillor Liu Gen.

And we've also been joined with Councillor Fitzgerald.

Um before we start today's uh before we start um I pass it over to the panel.

I'm going to give my colleagues the opportunity to give brief opening remarks.

Um, and I'll start with um Councillor Flynn.

You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and thank you for your leadership on these these issues and these grants, Mr.

Chair.

And want to say thank you to the administration team and the Boston police that are present today.

Had the opportunity to work with all four individuals and four outstanding leaders on the Boston Police Department as well.

Um I'm looking forward to learning more about the grants.

I've voted for them in the past.

I know how important they are to the residents of Boston to keep us safe, but I also know that it's important to get this funding into the appropriate into the Boston police to do for the appropriate reason, and that is also to protect and and serve not just Boston residents but the thousands of visitors and tourists that come in here, whether it's this upcoming soccer tournament, um, whether it's tourists coming in for other reasons, um, but it's also about working closely with cities and towns across the greater Boston area, and I know that's what Boston Police does exceptionally well.

Also, is it's not just about Boston, it's about Chelsea, it's about Cambridge, it's about Somerville, and it's about working together.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Flynn.

Counselor Murphy, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you for being here, everyone, to talk about these specific ones, but I know Maria, you'll be able to um talk us through all the others.

I know the chair last couple years has been doing this with the fire grants where they come in once at the beginning and talk through all of them, so we're not calling you in each time.

So just looking forward to hearing about them.

And I know you have people behind you also who do a lot of work, you know, making sure that they're being used properly and that we're getting these grants so important, especially in the fiscal time we're in now, making sure whatever grants we can get to keep our city safe.

We always do an exceptional job.

We always prepare for you know the what we need the most, but this summer will be a lot.

So thank you in advance.

And we'll have to say it to you often, preparing that you know, not just our residents but visitors come have fun and you know leave failing, you know, but we know that this is the best city in the world.

So thank you for being the best police department and looking forward to the conversation.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Murphy.

Counselor, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and thank you to uh members of the Boston Police Department for all the work that you do on behalf of our city.

We know that these hearings are incredibly important for myself, for our residents, and for our constituents to learn more about the work of the police department, about safety precautions, about how we're funding efforts and about how we're using technologies in line with the ordinances that we've passed here on the Boston City Council.

So I look forward to learning more, and I just want to thank you all for your leadership and the work that you all do.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Louis John and Councillor First Gerald, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to the panel for being here.

I appreciate it.

Look forward to the hearing.

Let's go.

Awesome.

Great, thank you.

And now I'm gonna um just really glad and thankful for all of you for being here and the work that you all do and looking forward to learning more about these um grants, um, being able to pass them on the Boston City Council floor.

Um, but um I'll turn it over to you all.

Um I know you've all been here before.

Um, so um I'll turn it over to you all, and then I'll turn it over to my council colleagues for questions.

Okay.

Would you like me to start with an overview?

Absolutely.

Wherever, however, you want to start.

So I mean, I know there's a um give an overview.

I just as an overview with grants, we we uh administer an estimated 28, sometimes a little bit more, sometimes a little less million per year at any given time.

We we rewrite up to 13 million new money a year.

And when I say new, it's just much of that is a continuation grants that we have to reapply for.

Some of it is really new because it's from a different source.

So between any given time having to financially administer up to 28, and then every year bringing in the new about 13 million.

That's the overall umbrella of the amount of activity that takes place out of uh the Office of Research and Development within the BPD.

Um much of that money goes towards, so I'd like to say helper programs, so that it could include DV advocates, uh mental health clinicians, um we have a uh uh youth connect folks, best clinicians.

So some of that work is really shared, even though it comes through our office, is shared with the community as support systems.

Uh we try to do those district-based, so they're very ground level and in the community.

We don't like to sort of spread them across the city with citywide initiatives.

We like to place them in neighborhoods so they're helping community organizations and helping uh neighborhoods directly out of sometimes the police uh districts, sometimes the family justice center.

Um other grants that we get are more of under in an investigative mode, Bureau of Investigative Services, and sometimes that comes in the form of uh lab testing money training equipment for our lab.

Uh you know a great deal, I'm sure, by now about the Saki grant, but there are other grants that keep folks keep keep our lab accredit accreditated and keep our lab staff well trained as well as well prepared with equipment and supplies.

Um other sort of one-offs is we have some funding to uh get accredited.

We also have data analysts working to do community comstat work.

Um we have a hub coordinator who manages five different hub tables in five different neighborhoods.

That's an excellent deep community policing engagement model.

Uh every one of those meetings take place once a week.

There's 30, 40 organizations that are sitting at those tables on a weekly basis in five different neighborhoods.

Um we have D V advocates, I mentioned uh for many years we were applying uh to try to get a DV advocate in every single district because on average there's 1,100 calls for service going into our districts for domestic violence.

That money gets very stretched.

Uh, but the city has taken on a lot of that, and so now most of our DV advocates, which they could talk to you about more, uh, are on the operating budget, but we still have a few that maybe one that gets paid off of grants.

And so now most of our DV advocates, which they could talk to you about more, are on the operating budget, but we still have a few that maybe one that gets paid off on grants.

As of maybe four or five years ago, we started applying for the NCOR casino community mitigation funding, and that helps us deal with the different crimes that take place or sort of mitigate the crime that takes place because of the operation of the NCOL casinos.

We have the Shannon Grant, everyone knows the Shannon grant.

We basically give away over one to $1.5 million per year to community-based organizations to do good youth prevention, youth outreach work.

We have some municipal road safety money, which Deputy Martin's going to talk about, as well as some earmarked money that we get from the state.

Also, Deputy Matt will discuss that as well as the port security.

We have a we have multiple grants to help us support people who suffer with substance use disorder and mental health diagnoses.

And we're known nationally as one of the best departments in the country in terms of our co-response to mental health to try to prevent harm and also get folks the support and the care that they need from call of service.

Just got it in my email today.

So there's a law in Massachusetts around giving the correct address if you're a sexual offender and you come in your returning that you give the right address.

It's just without that grant, it would be hard for us to verify their addresses.

So that's one of our grants as well.

But you know, if you need information about any one grant, please feel free to contact Intergovernmental and we'll give you a much deeper abstract and information and a little presentation on any one grant that you're interested in.

And I think that's it for me for now.

I'm gonna pass it off to um Deputy Martin here.

Unless you have questions.

Do we do questions later?

I think yeah.

Okay, let me go ahead.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for having us.

Um four grants I'm gonna speak about.

First is the municipal road safety grant.

This is a federal grant, approximately $50,000.

It's awarded uh to the department in conjunction with other um programs throughout the state.

So it'll be a month-by-month initiative, you know, one month maybe distract the driving, uh, you know, um impaired driving, uh, pedestrian safety.

So each month it goes through and allocates a certain amount of money for the department utilizing overtime to address those concerns specified in the grant.

We have a separate grant here for um ADA compliant barriers for district one based on the volume of and scale of event public events we have downtown here at A1.

Um request was put through to purchase um $50,000 in archer barriers, which are ADA compliant, which we could put all around the commons, so you all plaza everywhere needed quickly deployable, quickly removable to ensure safe events throughout the city, and also hopefully reduce staffing where you may not need as many police officers at certain places because you could drop these barriers.

So it'll also save money uh staffing-wise, in addition to keeping the event safe.

Um there's a third grant here from uh again through the state of Massachusetts.

Um this is a $50,000 grant for overtime for direct directed patrols in the business community, specifically in the um B2 and C11 communities, which consists of uh Dorchester Roxbury, the $50,000 in overtime for these grants will be utilized with visibility and targeted patrols in and around all these businesses in the busy times of the year based on whatever's going on at the time.

The $50,000 in overtime for these grants will be utilized for visibility and targeted patrols in and around all these businesses in the busy times of the year based on whatever's going on at the time.

And lastly, this is the Port Security Grant.

Again, it's a federal grant that's um funded by FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security.

The award we'd be receiving would be 577,500 from that agency, and our required match would be 192,500.

Um again, this is for our Harbor Patrol unit.

We're the only 24-7 law enforcement agency that patrols the harbor.

We're the Harbor Master as well.

We're in charge of that the entirety of the uh the harbor, if you will.

So the funds will be utilized to purchase a 31-foot life proof boat.

Um, this will be replacing our 27-foot um night night hawk, which is approximately 25 years old.

So this will in fact be replacing one of us boats, so it'll be level maintenance cost actually be cheaper if you won't have to maintain the older boat.

You know, uh provide us additional um uh ability.

So it's a it's a better dive platform for us and our and recovery as well, based on the uh the makeup of the boat.

We can utilizes for port security, uh regular harbor patrols, search and rescue, um anything that that we need to accomplish our mission.

The rest of the items that fall within the grant, um the car check call or replacement.

Again, ours is leaking, uh it's dated.

This will be uh safer alternative, which we don't have to fill up with there, it's a hard call.

You can just replace in sections as you go, so in time, you know, you can't pop the call, you just have to replace sections, it'll be um make more sense financially.

Um, and also the replacement of two engines for two of our older boats.

Those engines are out of warranty in approximately three months.

Um, so we sell those engines for placing with these and save the city a lot of money in replacement costs and purchase uh and maintenance costs, excuse me, and purchase costs.

And the last bit of money funding that would come out of the port security grant would be some training and equipment for the entire harbor unit for a basic ice rescue.

And that would suffice for the uh port security grant.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Welcome, sir.

Good afternoon, Mr.

Chair, Council, City Council members.

My name is Lanita Cullinane, I'm a superintendent, and I oversee at the Bureau of Intelligence and Analysis under which the Boston Regional Intelligence Center falls, and we are here to talk about the 2026 counter unmanned aircraft systems grant program.

Uh the total award amount for that is of 10 million nine hundred and twenty-five thousand one hundred and forty dollars and seven cents.

Um when we look at the broken down budget, uh, we look at the salary infringed costs for one full-time C UAS program manager, overtime for C US activities, C UAS related equipment and training, and the amounts that correspond to those are 289,982,000.

$300,000 for the overtime for the equipment, $10,000 and fifty-eight dollars and seven cents, and then training at $300,000.

The Boston Police Department has been awarded the C US A UCUAS grant funding to establish a deployable counter unmanned aircraft systems capability supporting major venue security, Sierra level events, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup and America 250 events and critical infrastructure protection and any emerging UAS threat response across the city of Boston.

The project will enhance and sustain the department's existing UAS detection system and will create a mobile UAS detection tracking identification and mitigation platform aligned with homeland security needs.

The project includes procurement of a complete multi-layered C UAS system with functionality equivalent to leading radar, radio frequency detection, optical detection, and passive identification sensors.

These sensors will be integrated into an airspace awareness and command and control platform capable of fusing multi-source data into a real-time operational picture suitable for both fixed and mobile deployments.

This project will also fund associated personnel overtime and training costs.

I'm also accompanied by Director Ryan Walsh, who is oversees the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, and we look forward to answering any questions relative to this grant.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ryan Walsh answered any questions.

Okay, thank you.

Um thank you so much.

Um thank you all for being here.

Um just for context for my colleagues.

Well, I first I do want to acknowledge that we've been joined by counselor Culpepper, um, and we've also been joined by Councillor Weber.

Um just for contacts for my colleagues.

Um there are three specific um grants that we'll be um coming up to the floor this upcoming week for a vote on, um which is why we have um three individuals testifying on those um specific grants, and then we have Maria Shivers who's uh who gave an overview of all the grants um that go to the Boston Police Department um moving forward.

Um if there are any uh large uh amount of grants, we will have another hearing.

Um I also encourage my colleagues if there's any grants that are coming up that we will need to vote on, and you do um want a um hearing on it, please um let my team, uh me and my team know, and we'll make sure that that that happens.

Um we will be pulling um grants um from the green sheets uh moving forward.

Um, and my team will reach out to um uh Maria Chievers to give that to to have that um personalized subscription on those grants that can be available to all our consular.

And we have a vowel grant coming up that would be nice if we could talk about today.

Uh I have a cheese if you'd like to hear more about it.

Uh and I have um the head of the domestic violence unit, the commander of the domestic violence unit, Nicole.

Do you actually want to speak about that now before we go to council questions?

That would probably be a good idea because if if you guys hear it now and you agree to it, we don't have to set another hearing.

Absolutely.

So um can you come down and I'll let you sit here and I'll move on.

I hate to squeeze it in this movie.

I don't want to wait.

Hi, thank you.

Good afternoon, all.

Good afternoon, good afternoon.

Uh, my name is Nicole LePoint.

I'm a lieutenant detective.

I oversee the domestic violence unit for the Boston Police.

Uh the Vower grant, uh the total award is 150,327.96 cents with a match amount of 50, 109.32 cents.

Uh that covers uh one full-time salary for one of our DV advocates.

We currently have six DV advocates, so one of them is covered by this grant.

Uh, additionally, it provides for overtime for all of the DV advocates with only six.

There's areas in the city that don't have a dedicated advocate.

So the overtime is shared among those advocates to provide services for those areas.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Um, with that, so I'm now gonna turn it over to um my call, my colleagues for counselor questions.

Um, we're gonna start with counselor Flynn.

Um let's do um because there's quite a few of us.

We'll do five minutes and then we'll do a second round um if anyone needs it.

Councillor Finn, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you for the thank thank you to the Boston police for being here.

I plan to vote in favor of all of these grants, including the um money for barriers that are um respectful for persons with disabilities, the the port security grant, the the other the other related issues for the other support for um B2C 11.

Um for the drone program, I guess that you would call it the 10 million dollars.

Um particularly interested in the port security grant.

I I represent an area that is made up of most of downtown Boston and South Boston, where I'm from, the opportunity to serve over 20 something years in the Navy, but I know how important um protecting our port is and want to say thank you, Deputy, to the um team.

I see them frequently and they're doing training and they're very professional.

But what I also like about what they're doing, Deputy, is they're also supporting other cities and towns, and that's the commitment, certainly we all share when when we're on the ocean.

Can you talk a little about some of the cooperation that exists as it relates to port security in cooperation with maybe it's mass port, maybe with maybe it's with Winthrop, um, maybe it's with uh state police, but just give me a give us an idea about that.

Absolutely, sir.

So we have great work in relationships with with everyone you mentioned, uh, in addition to the state police, the Coast Guard, who's the captain of the port.

We work with them on a daily basis, um, whether it be on patrols or major events coming up in collaboration to work on safety plans and how we can supplement one another.

Uh we provide mutual aid to the UASC region up through Winthrop, Quincy, um, wherever wherever asked.

So we split it, we split up the duties um based on limited manpower.

We we supplement each other with dive operations, uh, with this whether search and rescue, recovery, and/or security operations.

So again, we have great work relationship with everyone involved, and it takes the everyone of all to keep the whole harbor safe, sir.

Thank you, Deputy.

Thank you.

I was also entrusted in another issue I've focused on for the last eight years is domestic violence supporting survivors of domestic violence.

So I want to say thank you to you, Lieutenant, for the work your team is doing.

Um can you give me a little bit of background information on how you interact with survivors of domestic violence?

I represent a large Cantonese speaking community, uh, Spanish speaking community.

But um, how do you interact with domestic violence survivors that may or may not speak English or may speak another language, such as Cantonese Spanish?

Um, so we have a lot of survivors who English is not their first language and they're not uh native English speakers.

Uh the grant, the Bauer Grant does um provide for that one DB advocate.

She does um speak Spanish, she's multilingual, so that assists us quite a bit.

Um, and so she is assigned to Area E13, Jamaica Plain.

She also helps out in East Boston, but she helps citywide for any Spanish speaking survivors.

Additionally, we utilize the city resources, the language line for any uh survivors that may not speak that are advocates or detectives do not speak uh natively.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

My final question, or maybe maybe it's just a comment.

If anyone wants to answer it, they can.

If not, maybe I can follow up next time.

But one issue I've been very focused on is the crime lab at the Boston police.

I want to see Boston police have the best crime lab in the country.

I want us to be using Y screening, um advanced technology, more stability in terms of management administration at the crime lab.

Does anybody have any update for me in the Boston Police Crime Lab?

I mean, I can say that we recently we started in August.

It took us almost six months because of all the back and forth at the federal level, but we did radically change our uh SACI grant through a budget revision so that we could begin our transition towards Y screening.

And that budget revision will include validation as well as training.

We also reapplied for the Saki money, which was the FY25 Saki money.

Uh if awarded that money, uh, which I'm not sure how long the federal government is going to take to even award money as of late.

Um, but if awarded that money, there's also additional funding in the FY25 SACI to continue the process of moving us towards Y screening.

Uh Y screening, as you all know, um is 25 more percent likely to come back with um with some uh results that would be able to determine um male female uh DNA matter.

I don't want to get too into it because then I'll start pretending I know what I'm talking about when it comes to DNA matter, and I don't, but just in general, we have been um sort of moving uh our grant strategy towards supporting Y screening.

Well, thank you, Maria.

Thank you to the Boston police that are here.

I'm out of time.

Want to be respectful to my clients, to my colleagues.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Flynn, Councillor Murphy.

You have the floor.

Um thank you for the overview.

I have a few questions.

Um first I'll start with the sex trafficking grant.

Is it true?

Unfortunately, I read recently there's concern that with FIFA coming, there'll be an increase need to you know be prepared for more sexual trafficking and assaults coming up.

Is that true?

Like, are we how will we planning differently?

And is this grant?

I know this is a grant because I know we were together a few months ago just talking about how we don't have a DV advocate um at this time in every neighborhood, obviously.

We put them where the need is most, and that one of our full-time you know employees is through a grant.

Is this enough or should we be advocating when the budget comes up for supporting your department more?

Most definitely.

Would you like to speak on that?

Sure.

Overall, the case volume for the city to be handled by the six advocates we have is overwhelming when you look at the numbers.

So I do think that additional advocates would be beneficial.

We've previously had more advocates in previous years, and with budget cuts and sort of some of the grants changing, uh we have lost those advocates.

So it does become uh a cumbersome task for these advocates who really spend a lot of time with the survivors to make sure they're sort of directing them to the correct resources, following up with them uh and offering ongoing assistance.

Okay.

Thank you.

For the road safety grant, is that specific to neighborhoods or look overall?

It's overall, ma'am.

So we could deploy them.

We'll look at through the information provided by the brick with crash safety data and so forth, and we'll deploy them based on where's needed the most.

So that will change its fluid.

Yes.

Okay.

Um awesome.

Um if you could just explain a little bit more about the harbor.

Um, obviously, replacing a boat is important, and do we have a full-time year-round EMS yet with the Harbor unit?

I know in the summer we have someone with them.

Do you know if we have someone year-round yet?

I believe summertime they're down there.

Not year-round.

But um are the offices that are on the Harbour unit also the scuba divers, the dive team, they are also trained for both.

I don't know if you're still asking.

Yes, not every one of them across train.

I'm working to get them all cross-trained.

We supplement the divers from the district personnel, so we'll pull from the district depending on the size of the dive operation.

If it's gonna expand beyond expand beyond the tour, we need additional personnel, we'll pull it.

But at this time, not everyone in the unit is dive certified, but we're working towards that.

And what do you need?

Do you is it just time and scheduling, or is there something you need to make sure that if you're assigned to the Harbor unit that you'll get that training?

So we're gonna make a requirement moving forward.

It wasn't always a requirement for everyone in there, they supplemented all the side of the unit.

Okay.

Is that something an officer could get the training and then be eligible?

Is that how it will be in the future if it's required?

Well, we if it's required, we have to provide the training.

You will provide it though.

So some people could apply for a position and already have that, and then that'd be one element of the job, right?

But um, if we're required for the position, it won't be required to get the position.

Okay.

We we'll you'll be able to apply for it even if you don't have it, and then there'll just be a time to make sure we provide them with it.

That we would train them once they were state uh assigned to the unit.

Okay, awesome, thank you.

Um the grant, I think it might be you about the the aircraft.

I'll make sure everyone has a question.

But um is this a grant that comes before us every year, right?

The unarmed grant?

No, is this a different one?

No, this is the first time.

Okay.

Could you just speak a little bit more then about um like why why we're did we apply for it in the past and not get it?

Or so it's something we've wanted in the past and now we've we finally got it off.

One second.

So that this is the first opportunity we've had to apply the this is a brand new grant that the federal government created, um, somewhat around FIFA and the World Cup cities, so the host cities were allowed to apply this year.

Um we're told there's gonna be another round of funding next year uh nationwide.

Okay, awesome.

Thank you.

And I'll looking forward to supporting them.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilman Murphy.

Conservator Lu Jun, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and thank you again to the administration for being here.

Um I have a question.

Um I think my first question is uh probably for uh deputy superintendent Martin, thank you for being back here.

Um we already have an unamed unarmed aircraft systems grant here in the city of Boston.

Is that correct?

Or an unarmed a UAS program here?

Program?

Are you talking about grants for the program we have?

That we both.

So we we have a drone unit, but um I can't speak regarding the grant if we had one previously.

We have not, we have used in the past some of the um urban area security initiative funding for counter-UAS purposes, but it's not specific to that topic.

Okay, so this is the first time that you that there's a grant specific to the use of drones.

Um, even though it sounds it seems like and what how I understand it is that we do have uh under the surveillance technology uh ordinance policies around drone usage.

Um even though it sounds it seems like and what how I understand it is that we do have uh under the surveillance technology uh ordinance policies around drone usage, um and and does this fall squarely under that policy?

I would say in general, yes, the department has a rule um around both our use of drones operationally.

Um you know, Deputy Martin can speak more of that, but um also around how we handle um suspicious you know drone activity in the city as well.

So we the department has and owns its own drones, and this grant, sizable grant is to counter drones that are not of the department's correct correct, okay.

Do we do that is and we are we doing that already?

Correct, yes.

So we have had um detection technology for um about the past decade or so in the city um that detects a particular type of of drone.

Um this grant will allow us to expand um our coverage um as we are seeing kind of the threats from different types of of drones um expand.

Also, the the type that we are able to detect currently uh has been losing market share.

So historically it's been you know 90 or so percent of the drone market, they've been kind of losing market share over time, so the need to develop additional tech detection capabilities uh is kind of more urgent uh this year.

So okay, so this is an 11 million dollar grant, which is a pretty sizable grant.

Is that going what how is that going to be used?

Is it going to be used to update that detection?

Will it be used to purchase drones itself?

So it won't be used to purchase any drones.

Um it will be used to enhance our detection by purchasing some newer technologies that are you know um expensive, um, and then it will also fund additional uh so the other capability historically our mitigation capability has been limited to our officers um identifying the drone pilot and kind of asking them to take the drone down and kind of going from there with the investigative steps.

Asking the pilot to take the drone down under what circumstances just want to be clear because people do have individuals have drones, right?

There's a first amendment amendment right, I believe, right?

That folks should you know have access and ability to drones?

Drones above a certain weight have to be flown in compliance with a whole host of FAA regulations, um and frequently we see that they are not uh done in that way.

Um and there's um and that's kind of when we step in from a generally we've we've taken an education first perspective.

A lot of people don't realize that they're flying the drone against the FAA regulations, um, and so we've done a lot of education of pilots in that regard.

Um this grant will allow us um along with some recent changes in federal legislation, will allow us to um utilize in con in compliance in sort of collaboration with federal partners um additional electronic mitigation capabilities if the person did not voluntarily take their drone um down.

What which which type of drones, private drones are you monitoring?

What what makes you decide that this is a drone that you need to monitor?

So the tech the our current technology is one particular type of drone.

Um we generally uh are particularly concerned about things that are flying during temporary flight restrictions.

So if they're flying over people or over critical infrastructure facilities, things like that, that's obviously sort of top priority.

Um and then you know, aside from that, it's it's just if we see you know unsafe observate uh operation or a drone that we may be thinking be doing um surveillance of certain types um you know in places that we we believe are sensitive or just would not you know just be a hobbyist or something like that.

So if there's a drone flying in Boston, you all know about it currently for one type of drone, yes.

Uh what type of drone is that?

It's DJI is the name of the company.

Uh but I'm sure there are multiple companies that have drones.

Why is it just that drone that is of concern?

So we're concerned about all companies to be honest.

That's why we're seeking the additional funding to make sure we have the appropriate coverage.

And 11 million dollars is all for the purchase of equipment purchase?

Uh so some of it is for um some personnel funding um and training as well to sort of operate the system and implement it successfully.

And we're ensuring the pursuant to the ordinance that everyone who is operating um a drone or using a drone in the BPD has the appropriate pilot license?

Correct, although this grant wouldn't is not about a BPD's flying of drones.

Okay.

Um I have additional questions, Mr.

Chair, but I'll wait for my second round.

Thank you.

Thank you, Constable Jan.

Superintendent, do you actually very quickly you want to just give the breakdown of how the I know you gave the description of 10 million dollars, 500,000 and 300?

Yes.

So salary and fringe for one full-time C UAS program manager 289,982.

Uh overtime for C UAS activation, 300,000.

C UAS related equipment, 10 million thirty-five thousand one hundred and fifty-eight dollars and seven cents, and then training 300,000 is the breakdown.

Great.

Thank you, Superman.

Awesome.

Council Fitzgerald, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chief.

Uh thank you, Chair.

I actually had a lot of questions around the drones as well.

How what are we getting that may are we getting our own drones?

Like how do you we how do we counter, right?

Say there was some sort of horrible thing that someone wanted to try and do in some new creative way during these large events.

What is it that we're purchasing and how do we counter that sort of um you know one off, whether it's a bigger drone, smaller drone, man-made or you know, rigged to to do something else.

Um do we have our own drones going up there and having a like a uh fight in the sky, or is it just a uh, you know, how do what is this getting us?

Uh-huh.

I I think one thing is that um specifically this grant is really for the detection identification and mitigation, so that so we there's no drone purchasing with this, and I guess you can analogize it to a shot spotter um where there's detection equipment um if someone has a drone and we're able to detect that specific equipment and then respond to whatever the that behaviors are that that individual is violating um if there's if there are any violation.

So that's kind of I guess the easier easiest way to kind of describe it.

So it gives us the capability to figure out if there is a drone operating with see where it's operating, and then on the mitigation side of it, so the identification, the detection, it gives us specific information that allows us to, if it's registered, uh properly registered, because that's a whole nother issue that we have to deal with people that don't properly register their drones.

Um and then on the mitigation side, there's a spectrum.

Um, as Ryan said, uh, in right now, we're able to go out, have a conversation with someone, have them take it down, and this will give us the ability to have uh technological um capabilities to bring to to override systems.

Um and with that being said, it's doing it in a way that either sends it back to um the home base and overriding it or allows us to take control and then bring it down into a predetermined location.

Gotcha.

Thank you.

Um but so if if something were to occur, this it, you know, you see the drone go up over a large crowd today.

Is there certain areas where this is uh to be deployed?

I think I heard you talk a little bit earlier, but like what is the radius at which it can sort of detect these things and and you know, where would what data are we using to find out where to put this this new equipment?

Sure.

So a couple things I would say the the specific radius are are very much dependent on the specific sensor technology used.

Um it's also dependent on frankly the sort of operating environment, so um areas with a lot of tall buildings or you know other uh radio frequency interference, your your your radius of detection is smaller.

Um generally it's in the two to three kilometer range, um, but that's very heavily variable.

Um so um currently our detection capability is citywide.

Um with this grant, we are seeking to um enhance that detection capability in certain areas where we one see a lot of drone activity right now, um, and then number two, uh, where we expect to have the largest like large crowd events, outdoor venues, things like that in the city, um, because we realize that even with this level of grant funding, doing a citywide deployment of this more advanced technology is probably not um financially feasible.

Um, with this um capability, we are seeking to get a mobile detection capability.

So um the vendors out there in this space currently do have a capability for you to be able to sort of deploy some of this sensor technology in like a trailer or a mobile um capability.

So if we had an event outside of our sort of enhanced detection area, uh we could support that as well.

In the future, how do we hope to counteract anything that was like that?

Like, how would you hope to dismantle, you know, okay, there is a drone up in the sky, we've detected it, we don't have a record of it.

Uh it looks like it is a threat, or maybe is already you know accomplished some of that.

What do we have now that we don't have that we might need in the future to quickly um neutralize that situation, I guess we could say.

So I think I would say right now we are not detecting all the drones that we should be detecting, so we're not even aware of some of the suspicious flights, which is a first concern.

Or if we become aware we don't have any sort of you know, technological tracking on that to help us with the follow-up investigation.

Um I still think um our best option is identifying the pilot and sort of working with them to bring that UAS down safely.

Um, and then this mitigation, additional mitigation equipment will give us our best chance.

Admittedly, you know, that we are very concerned about the speed and the timing here that would be necessary if someone was to you know really plan to conduct a drone facilitated attack.

Uh it's a big concern.

So well, thank you very much all for being here.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilman Fitzgerald, Councilman Cole Pepper, you have the floor.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, uh, for this important hearing.

Um, do you feel like we're vulnerable to unmanned aircraft at this point?

When you said that we aren't able to detect all the uh drones that yes, I would say it's a vulnerability to some extent right now.

To what extent?

How vulnerable are we?

It's it's tough to say.

I would say, you know, through communication with our partners domestically, we have not seen you know a tremendous amount of um UAS being used to conduct like physical attacks um uh domestically in the US.

Um, you know, certainly overseas, uh, we are seeing that more and more, and that has made us very concerned.

Um, you know, so I think we're we're a little bit kind of future proofing ourselves to some extent with this funding.

Um, but um we have seen um drones uh in the city in the past year or two, you know, crash in different ways because of malfunctions or striking objects and do present a risk to our citizens, even from just kind of accidental type things you know, when they're flown over large crowds or in complex airspace.

And how prepared are we?

So we've taken a lot of steps to train our personnel to sort of understand the regulations around um UAS, and we have been proactively deploying um personnel at these larger events to try to, like we said, kind of educate the pilots, identify them when we can.

Um and so we've tried to take that sort of education first approach.

Um, but uh admittedly this is an area where we are seeking to kind of expand our capabilities, I think.

And so with the investment that we're making in counter unmanned aircraft systems, how is the BPD approaching both the operational use and the oversight of the technology, particularly around privacy, uh data collection, and ensuring that it's deployed appropriately?

And in a city like Boston, that's pretty dense.

Sure.

So I would say that we we understand privacy issues and concerns, and part of this when we talk about the um the information that's uh collected, it doesn't collect uh personal information about the pilot per se, the data is that collected that's collected is the remote ID, and that allows us to identify the person and where they are, because this is a radio frequency that allows us to detect them, and so we take the privacy concerns very seriously.

Um so it's not in many of the situations that we've we're talking about, um, it's people that don't understand the fact that they shouldn't be flying drones in the manner that they are.

So it's really about education um and giving people that knowledge base so that they understand what it is that they're doing.

And I heard you talk a little bit about bringing them down.

How does that actually happen?

Let's say you identify a drone and uh and you want to actually bring it down.

How do you identify where the operator is, and then how do you contact the operator to tell them to bring it down?

So generally um the operator it tends to be within a fairly close radius of where the drone is being operated, just given kind of current commercially available technology.

So that gives us an advantage, you know, first off.

Um some of the detection capabilities also do allow us to detect uh the likely pilot location through you know a series of sensors and kind of some you know algorithms in the background.

Um so that gives us a kind of a head start, um, and then you know, oftentimes because we're actively you know patrolling these areas, our officers um you know, we'll be able to sometimes detect someone kind of looking at the drone in the sky, or you know, um oftentimes the controller is like a phone or something like that.

Um so we've had pretty good success at identifying the operators when we um are able to detect, and then also I should say it's kind of detect and track of the drone as it's flying.

So generally the technology allows us to sort of see where the drone is moving to and then potentially even see where it goes and lands at, um, and you know, that will give us a sense of where the pilot likely is.

And so with the marathon coming, how prepared are we in?

What do we uh how are we preparing differently from the time when we had the marathon bombing?

I would say it's in a number of different ways, counselor, but on the drone front, um, we work with federal partners um who have had this kind of mitigation technology, the electronic mitigation capability for a while.

It's just been very limited in resources.

So historically the marathon has actually been our one event when we've been able to get um federal partners to to bring that capability here too.

Um it's a very narrow geospatial um area to Council for Sterl's point.

Um so it's generally concentrated, you know, in the finish line area generally, but um we do um we we have worked with them to kind of improve our capabilities on that front.

And we'll have the same kind of relationship with regard to the World Cup when the World Cups come, we'll have the same kind of relationship with our federal partners and they'll come in and we'll coordinate in.

And how much training does the federal government give us with regard to the unmanned aircraft?

So personnel to operate the system have had to go to a three-week training program.

Um so we have one officer who has attended that program at this point.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I have other questions, but because I see Mr.

Webb Council Webber's here, uh wait until the second round.

Thank you, Councillor Culpepper.

Um Council Weber, you have the floor.

Thank you very much.

Uh I I know we're talking about the World Cup and entering into Culpepper time, uh extra time in soccer games.

Um but uh uh I I guess in terms of the the drone and and that uh that grant.

So are we uh uh collecting data on the people you said to contact the people, do we collect data on the people flying the drones?

Um collecting I I guess um I'm not understanding the collection.

Well I'm saying I I think you find out who who's flying the drones and reach out to them.

Uh how do you know who's flying the drones?

Generally it's interpersonal, so like we'll find them while they're flying it.

Um actually, like you know, on scene of of the flight.

Um the the system generally collects more like telemetry data and maybe like the ID number of the drone that if the person has properly register it, um, we can search your systems or have partners that can search systems to kind of identify that person.

Um there also might be an incident report generated um regarding that incident based on whatever took place.

So in terms of collecting someone's information for reporting purposes, there might be a report generated.

Okay, and then I I guess you know, for somebody who does you know doesn't know any better, you know, maybe they're 14-year-old kid who got a drone for a prison or something and they're flying the drone.

Yeah, it is their their name is in a report.

Uh does that I mean, does that get shared with the federal government?

Is there a chance that that happens?

I would say not unless there's sort of a more of a criminal nexus to the incident.

Okay.

Um and then I I guess I I I think you talked a little bit with Counselor Louie Jen about this, but uh so in the prior surveillance reports, like this kind of technology has been disclosed.

Like is there do you have to seek additional in your view?

Do you have to seek additional permission from the city council to uh use this new technology?

So I I think we're always concerned about you know maintaining our compliance with the ordinances for sure.

Um I think we do view uh at least some of this as kind of an expansion of already approved capabilities.

Um but you know, we're certainly you know here today to talk about it and gonna kind of continue to report under the spirit of the ordinance for sure.

Oh, yeah, well I I I guess are are you gonna ask uh for our authorization under the surveillance oversight uh I mean the ordinance, the surveillance ordinance, or or we're not I mean we're gonna vote on the grant, but it it's I think it's a slightly different procedure.

I guess I would say I'm I'm not sure on on the sort of decision making around around um where it stands in terms of the ordinance of this.

Okay.

I I thought maybe because they you'd already talked about the the I think the that technology that monitors the one kind of drone um I don't know, at least maybe we'll think about that.

Uh maybe we can do that together.

Uh um in terms of uh I guess uh domestic violence, um we have one Spanish speaking, and that's the only foreign language capability of the of the team, other than the you know the technologies that are available to you.

Yes, that's correct.

We only have one out of the six at the moment.

Okay.

So can't these, I think we heard about uh Haitian Creole.

There's no one uh on staff uh in your none of the advocates.

So we do have police officers, we do have detectives who speak foreign languages, but in terms of the advocates which the VAWA grant specifically funds for one, we do not have the time.

Is have you uh have you seen any impact of the sort of the Trump administration's immigration policies or people reaching out at the same level as before?

I know one concern is that people won't reach out for help because they're worried about you know um ice agents coming to their door, that kind of thing.

Yeah, that's always a concern.

Um statistically, we have about the same reported number of domestic violence incidents in the city um from previous years.

Uh so we haven't seen that in terms of the number of reports reported, but domestic violence is historically underreported as is.

Um so it's something we actively sort of work with any survivors with, and we sort of refer them to legal services as they request.

Um, but we certainly uh do everything we can to sort of assist them in whatever matters they'll need help with, whether it be housing or immigration.

And then I maybe you don't know the answer to this, but in terms of like uh shelter space available, like how how is the city doing on that front?

Do you feel like there is enough space or is it hard to navigate?

Uh the housing is always an issue, so that can be difficult to navigate.

Uh we use a bunch of different resources that do sort of provide housing and temporary shelter as needed.

Um so there are a variety of resources, but it is uh it can be a challenge.

Oh, okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Weber.

I'm gonna ask a few questions myself and then I'll um do a second round for my colleagues.

Superintendent, I think you mentioned earlier using uh an analogy of shot spotter to the new technology that we we would be receiving this upcoming summer.

Um what does that technology look like like physically?

Like, well uh so I mean this is gonna be able to detect drones.

Does they fail like what do they look like in our communities?

So I you know what I'm gonna define.

Okay.

So it it would say it certainly depends on the specific, you know, vendor, and there's a couple different, you know, um technology options in this space, but it's it's generally uh you know, a small box type device um that would be you know strategically placed to um give the coverage area um generally in high locations, um, you know, um analogous to to that sort of thing.

And then and and short spotter, I mean we've seen the technology be in you you choose neighborhoods where you know gun violence happens more.

I mean, how how is this technology gonna be?

This this would be more event-based uh than anything, and so we would look at the events that we're having um and the need to have uh the technology deployed for those specific events.

So like move those around.

Yes, we will have the mobile capability.

I agree, and then this grant in general on you know, I know you mentioned it's the first time it's because of the events that we're gonna be having this summer.

Um then how happened, what happens next year?

So I mean you touched on that a little bit.

I mean, so do we can we still apply for it?

Do we can we not you just have to qualify for this time?

We can certainly apply next year if that grant program actually comes through.

They've said it is going to, um, but uh we'll be competing against you know all the different states as opposed to this year.

We were obviously kind of competing against a smaller pool.

Um one thing we are hoping to do through the procurement process is to kind of build in sustainment um of the technology into our you know, contract contracts, you know, up front, um kind of uh, you know, I think get into your concern about how do we sustain this over over a number of years.

Um in general, the vendors seem to be um you know positive about three to five years of kind of sustainment coverage, um, you know, so while we kind of continue to work on the additional future funding sources.

So just so I can understand you correctly.

We're gonna we get awarded this money this upcoming summer, and then we however we don't get it anymore moving forward.

We still we'll we will still be able to keep the equipment that we have here, and then they'll still maintain it three to five years going forward.

Okay, pending the procurement process and everything.

Yeah.

Okay.

Great.

Um, those are my questions.

Um now do a second round of questions starting with Council Flynn.

We have a five minutes.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um my question would would come back again to an issue that I've been focused on for a long period of time, and it's the Boston police crime lab.

Superintendent Cullinane, do you have anything anything new that you want?

Do you are able to report about the status of how the operate how the office is functioning now?

I do not at this time.

Okay.

Does any does anybody here have any knowledge about the crime lab at Boston Police Development?

That doesn't follow my view either.

Okay.

Um do you know what superintendent would be in charge of the um crime lab that would oversee the crime lab?

Yes, that's superintendent Paul McLaughlin.

Paul McGaughlin, okay.

Does the Boston police have a written policy on drones?

Yes.

So is it Department of Rule 407, I believe?

Okay.

And is that public information?

Yes, I believe so.

I was I was at City Hall, not at the event, but I I followed up about a call I received about a drone at City Hall that basically crashed into the building, maybe of City Hall during an event.

It wasn't but the Boston police drone, it was a private private um drone that was up there.

Um I spoke to the person that was injured actually.

Um but how does how does someone how does a private person have access to a drone in a made at a major event where thousands of people gather like that?

Generally it it is against the FAA regulation to be flying over people, period, no matter sort of how many people that is generally not allowed.

Um some limited commercial uses do allow that with specific, you know, guidance from the FAA, but um we do see it, you know, unfortunately, um sometimes it's people who just don't understand the regulations for sure.

That's been a big part of our our push to kind of educate in the community.

Um these regulations have also admittedly been changing over recent years, as the um I think the FAA and everyone kind of understands the challenges that drones present.

Um and so sometimes it's people who you know haven't maybe kept up to date um as much as they should, um, but it's it's a a significant concern.

But was this was this drone I think it was something related relating to a hockey game at the Boston Garden.

Was this drone somehow associated with the ESPN?

In terms of capturing the crowd in s in City Hall Plaza, watching the crowd um participating in some type of fan fest.

We we have seen that in the past, I would say I'm not sure if this specific incident, but we have certainly seen that in the past where you know sometimes folks will will fly to kind of get an image of the crowd for some sort of a media organization or something like that.

Um we certainly would ask them to kind of c collaborate with us in advance of doing that so that we can make sure they have the proper clearances from the FAA and and that we're aware um from our kind of operational perspective, um, you know, that they're gonna be flying in a certain area.

Yeah, but Ryan, I I can't have private people flying uh a drone at a public event at City Hall with his thousands of people, and then just crash the drone into the crowd.

Um, whether it's done intentionally or not, um mistakes do happen, but uh my point is a person like that should never have been given, not saying we gave anyone permission, but someone like that should have never been had the opportunity to even put a drone up in the sky.

I would say we're we're actively following up on a number of different drone-related incidents over the past couple years uh in the city that have occurred that are of concern.

Okay.

So my my final point, and I'm and I strongly support the Boston Police Department, but I want us to make sure that when we go into the summer that we don't have any situations where people have a drone in a public gathering space with hundreds of people and the ability to hurt anybody, that must be a top priority for us.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you, Councilman Flynn.

Councilman Murphy, you have the floor.

Sure, just um wanted to follow up on what council Flynn was saying, because everyone seems to be an influencer and on social media, lots of people, I think, you know, are using drones, but also, you know, local businesses.

I see like real estate agents and others, um, you know, not just big companies have them.

So are we prepared knowing that lots of people are gonna want to capture all the events that are coming?

Like how will we so I'm saying it from the point of like we're going into budget season here on the council making sure that we're supporting in every way we can because I would think that there will be a want and then for lots of drones and you know just pictures and all coming up.

I think part of it is the education and uh awareness and making people putting the information out there ahead of the events that where drones there'll be no flying zones, that kind of information so that people are fully aware of what's expected uh in those areas as it relates to drone usage.

Because just regular drone usage isn't dangerous, correct?

Like at what point does it become?

I have to be honest, I never read the actual law.

I'll look it up after this, but at what point does it become dangerous and not just someone taking a really cool picture?

I I think it's when flown certainly over people or in sort of more complex air spaces, like we're obviously close to you know large international airport.

We also have a number of hospitals that have helicopter, you know, landing pads, and we have had incidents where drones have impacted medical flights and things like that.

Um and so we're certainly concerned about those types of things.

Um and you know, you just want to make sure everyone is fully educated on kind of what the requirements are on them.

Um not that we're trying to inhibit you know someone from taking a nice picture or something like that, but um you know we have seen unfortunate consequences where people have been injured, you know, when it's not done properly.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Murphy.

Counselor Louis Jeanne, you have the floor.

Um thank you again uh for allowing me to ask some questions.

So it's it's it's been said new detection technology, but not I imagine drones themselves, and I I don't know a ton about drones, but drones themselves are rather expensive, right?

The not necessarily not necessarily not necessarily but the to the the technology to surveil them is expensive.

Can you explain to me why?

And is this money the 10 million dollars?

Do is it an investment in the uh detection technology?

Are there going to be recurring costs?

So what are those recurring costs going to be?

So I think generally um it is an investment in the technology for sure.

Um our plan is to kind of through the procurement process work to make sure that we've built into our sort of initial contract um, you know, as as much sustainment as possible, um both in terms of maintenance and just kind of you know licensing for for some of the Do you have a vendor that you're using, or do you put out an RFP?

We'll have to certainly go through the sort of city's traditional procurement um process, so we don't have a specific vendor at this point.

Um but um you know, I'd say through talking with a number of vendors in the space, um, they are certainly understanding of the expense of the technology, and um I think we'll be willing to work with us to kind of build some of that sustainment in.

How many vendors are in this space?

So you said I mean, just that I'm clear, you said the just city's traditional contracting.

What are those?

So that we're clear.

The city's traditional contracting, what are those in this instance?

I guess I would say I'm certainly not a procurement expert, but we work with the city's procurement folks um on a number of different topics, and and um they'd be more of the expert on that.

I think over 10,000 dollars it has to go through uh chapter 30 B rules and procedures, so we can't just hire people.

So there will be an RFP for a vendor.

Okay, that's basically what I and so who are the vendors in this space, or I'm sure the folks that you've been looking into?

Uh there's a number of them.

I somewhat hesitate to kind of I call any of them out specifically necessarily, but um there's certainly a number of vendors in in the space, all of which have different you know, flavors of the technology with different capabilities and things like that.

So um we're certainly gonna be careful to make sure we're getting you know the maximum amount of um you know bang for our bucket in this case for sure.

How long do you think the the investment of 10 million dollars, how long do you think it will last?

My hope is in the three to five year range is generally um this is also you know both drone technology in this space is moving very quickly, and so you know um we certainly I think are are a little bit you know cautious about how far in the future you know these technologies will cover us, but our hope is in the three to five year range, I think.

I mean I would hope.

I mean, I don't again I don't know the specificities, but ten million dollars here seems to be a significant investment in the technology.

Um you stated before that you haven't seen drones use, like a lot of this is precautionary, especially with the large events that we have happening, that you haven't seen drones here used in the same way that you've seen in overseas with physical attacks, but it it that led me to believe like are there other types of attacks that we've cyber attacks or other forms of attacks that we've seen um increased drone usage in Boston.

So certainly domestically uh across the US we have seen drones used to deliver um like packages and things like that, um particularly like in the drug um area um and with like um corrections facilities and things like that.

Um so we've seen certainly that um we are definitely concerned about the possibility to use a drone to conduct like an aerosolized, you know, release of some sort of a substance or something like that, um, that it could facilitate there are certainly agricultural drones out there that would do that today.

Um things like that.

I think it's kind of our main and and frankly, just kind of crashes or malfunctions or things like that that that have happened in the city uh already.

Okay.

So what so this is the first time that the federal government has put out this sort of grant.

We applied for it, we got it, and we don't know on what cycle they will put out these grants for which we will reapply.

So it's committed to one more year at least has been what we've been told.

Um there'll be at FY27 grant program probably coming out this summer.

And the same amount of 10 million?

Uh so it'll be it the the top line amount that the federal government put out, I think it was 500 million.

Uh don't quote me on that.

Um initially we were competing against the 11 other host cities and and DC.

Uh this year we would be competing against all but nationwide, um, so all the states.

Thank you.

Um and is this the sort of thing like are we going to need money?

Like, let's say we don't get the grant in the future for whatever reason, are we gonna need more money from our um operating budget to maintain this investment?

I I think it's a possibility.

Um I think our hope is to utilize this grant funding to sustain as much as as we possibly can at this point.

Okay.

Um so for example, if we've had drone technology before that um is able that had that has cameras, and now this is joint technology that is going to be able to suspect using some sort of infrared technology, um, additional information uh that tracks people's faces or phones, for example, phone tracking.

Does that trigger a new usage under the ordinance?

I'm really I'm generally asking a question if you know that if the change in sort of what is built into the technology itself triggers um a substantially new technology under the ordinance.

I think if the type of data capable of being ingested by the technology changes substantially, then I think there'd be a good argument that that kind of certainly invokes the surveillance ordinance.

But you don't think the the change on the technology I think it actually would benefit the other way, right?

If the technology changes, um, but the data output is the same.

Um yeah, I I I think I'd have to think about it a little bit, but I um certainly there are evolutions.

Because it's more about, I mean, I'm sorry, I think that was unclear because it's more about the technology than it is about the output.

Although we do care about the data and how it's used.

My understanding of a surveillance ordinance was that if a big part of the ordinance was the sort of data collection capabilities of the technologies that sort of would you know cause that to fall under the um Mr.

Chair, do I have additional or should I wait for another?

I have probably about five more minutes of questions.

Okay, let me just um do any of my other colleagues have do you have any follow-up questions?

Um third role, that's well.

Yeah, I'll ask.

I'll ask.

Okay, so I'll go to Consulate Flint of that now.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm not going to ask any more on drones.

I think I got I have my answers.

Um my question is answered, so I want to say thank you.

Um maybe I'll go back to uh deputy Deputy Martin.

Can you just um I know you mentioned the the Coast Guard?

You mentioned um the state police.

Can you talk about some of the training we do as it relates to maritime support at the Port of Boston, working with the Coast Guard, working with the mass port, working with other cities and towns, whether it's on the ocean or it's or even on the Charles as well.

How does how does that training how how helpful is that training and what what what are some of the training initiatives that they're um engaged in?

So I think any training is valuable, sir.

We welcome as much as we could ever provide provide our officers.

So we do joint trainers in time, the state police, environmental police, um, whether it's out on the water or tabletop exercises, group exercises, active shooter drills.

So we try to incorporate all that amongst one another on a daily basis, a weekly basis.

In addition, we're trying to build up our SWAT team's um maritime capability to help mitigate the issues that support the harbor unit as well.

So we're always looking for new ways to provide safety throughout the harbor in working with our partners to do so.

Thank you, Deputy.

And is is part of that security training and safety.

We we we see frequently the um incoming LNG tankers that come into Boston or I guess maybe Everett too of the Everett area, Boston area.

Um what type of what type of training would be necessary to support a major vessel we just had the USS Massachusetts nucleus submarine in here a couple weeks ago I was at the commissioning.

Um so it's critical that we work with the Navy and the Coast Guard, but on the LNG tank, that's a pretty pretty serious issue, isn't it?

It is.

We escort them in and bottom up on the harbor as well in conjunction with our partners.

Um regards to the USS Massachusetts, you know, each unit brings a different level of capability to the protection, you know.

See some are more so just for patrol visibility, some have uh more and more capability, if you will.

So we formulate our plans based on the amount of assets we have, we deploy them accordingly within those zones.

Yeah, thank thank you.

Thank you, Deputy.

And my final point is especially during challenging economic times.

I'm trying to do everything I can on bringing tourists into into Boston as well, providing the safest city we possibly can.

But we have record numbers, as you know, of um cruise ships coming into Boston, coming into the Flynn Cruise cruise board.

Um they love coming into Boston, they love seeing the city and walking and the historical aspects of it, but also it's about providing a safe environment as well for our visitors and tourists, and just want to thank the men and women of the police for not just watching out for residents, but also watching out for all of visitors as well.

So I have no further questions, just wanted to highlight the importance, the important work uh Boston police is doing on this issue.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Thank you, Councillor Flynn.

Councilman, you have the floor.

Thank you.

Um I have just a question about how the technology is, you know.

I think I it was I heard Director Walsh, I think I heard you talk about how this information about sharing this information with our federal partners.

This is obviously a federal grant, so can you talk about how this information is shared with our federal partners that we get from this technology?

Certainly, so I I think we certainly uh intend to fully comply with all you know state laws and city ordinances around information sharing with this technology as we do with all of our different technology.

Uh that's kind of right up front for sure.

Um, with the on the mitigation side of this technology to electronically mitigate, there are requirements in the federal law and kind of the grant to work closely with federal partners when and if we were to choose to do that at an event, um, because there are a lot of different implications to that technology to kind of the general environment, and we want to make sure we're doing it in the safest way possible.

Um, and so um that's probably where we you know collaborate closely if we do feel the need to um actually sort of mitigate um a threat uh electronically from that perspective.

In that case, I think we would be fairly confident that we have you know observed criminal violations that we would be kind of following up with federal partners from a counterterrorism perspective anyway.

Um so I I don't yeah, I think we're kind of beyond the threshold there for sure when we would share information with them from that perspective.

And is that information in the grant application that laid out exactly sort of like the nature of what the federal sharing of information would be?

So the grant talked about kind of the different requirements around what that information sharing uh would be, and then we were asked to provide uh implementation plan um around uh you know, upon acceptance of the award that kind of outline that and we um stipulated in that implementation plan kind of that you know we would of course first comply with all you know local ordinances and things and state laws um and you know and then kind of you know uh continue to do our our typical working relationship with our federal partners around criminal investigations.

To the extent possible, could we get a uh a copy of both the grant application and the implementation plan?

Certainly um thank you.

I think those are my questions on the grant.

Um first time that we've seen it.

I just want to make sure that we are following our uh surveillance uh usage uh ordinance that does care both about the technology itself and about how it's being used, so I think on both fronts um it's um important.

Um I do have questions about the VAWA grant, and when you talked about domestic violence um advocates, I remember from last year one of the concerns is that at headquarters, I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, but at headquarters, and this came up when we had a hearing held a hearing last year on domestic violence and sexual assault, that there's no one that there's not a domestic violence advocate in headquarters, and perhaps having a domestic violence, but because we can't sort of touch all the different neighborhoods that perhaps having a domestic violence advocate in headquarters would be an advantage.

Can you can you speak to that?

Whether that's yeah, so there is not an advocate at headquarters, there is an advocate at V2, which is very close to headquarters in Roxbury, um, which is very close to headquarters.

Um there is, we did add a advocate to the Family Justice Center this year that falls under the Family Justice Center, so she helps both with sexual assault unit and the domestic violence unit as well as human trafficking.

Um so there has been someone added into the Family Justice Center, which is in Brighton.

Okay.

Um I'm sort of thinking like if you had someone, a domestic violence advocate at headquarters, could it be the catch-all for all the other neighborhoods that don't have the DV advocate that they need?

And I see shaking head no, so I'd like to understand why.

Um, I would just say that most of our um survivors do not come into headquarters.

They mostly would either go to their local police station that is usually closer to where they either live or where they are, or we get responses from 911, and then officers go to them, and then the advocates do follow up with them at a later time that is convenient.

So our advocates are able to go to places to meet um those survivors if they if they can't make it to the station if they want to meet in person.

Um we don't get a lot of reports of needing assistance right to headquarters that we see they they're much more likely to go into their local police station that they know is staffed by police officers and that they've probably maybe have interactions with or have used the community rooms or have some relationships there.

Thank you.

Um I can you remind us of the areas that don't have a domestic, so there are six, what are the areas that don't have coverage from a DV advocate?

Yes.

Um so Brighton does not have one in District 14, but there is one at the Family Justice Center, and there is one at D4, which is the sister station of District 14.

Um, and then we do not have one at C6, which is South Boston, uh A1, downtown, uh A7, East Boston, and E18.

So Hyde Park.

Okay.

So that means there are five areas, six, five areas.

Okay.

Um also under VAWA, uh, I think Councillor Santana asked the question regarding um what we've seen.

I think it was you that asked the question regarding what we're seeing now in terms of a reporting of just domestic violence incidents, um, given sort of what's happening on the federal level and increase fear among our immigrant communities, um, which is counter to the idea of community policing and um one of the reasons why we um uphold the trust act here in the city to sort of increase that communication.

Have you and I think you said that you haven't seen like the numbers have remained the same.

Is that is that accurate?

Yeah, I would have to kind of give you a deep dive.

We can look into it a little further, but um overall the numbers for calls for service for 911 calls have remained fairly consistent.

Fairly consistent.

Yeah, okay.

Um it's obviously a concern for us, and I think that's one of the reasons that the advocates are so beneficial, is that a lot of times um even if they don't want to talk to police officers or detectives, they may you know feel intimidated or feel that we're sort of part of that law enforcement that they're a little bit hesitant to speak to, they do tend to open up to the advocates a little bit more and and kind of give them information, and then the advocates can assist them better.

So even if they're not moving forward, sort of with the criminal case for that side, the advocates will still provide resources for them as they need.

Thank you.

I I mean I would appreciate the deep dive if you could sort of especially by a neighborhood to see if there are areas where there has been a decrease or there have been an up in an increase, and to see if there's anything that we should uh be doing about that because it's always interesting when you hear information anecdotally and whether that anecdotal information lines up with that data, what that data is, showing so trust.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

Um, and then my last question is under VAWA it allows uh victims um under vow to get some sort of um immigration relief or some a permanent residence status without their abuser being made aware.

Are are you at all do you know if the do you know to what extent BPD is involved in that process and whether we've seen um uh survivors who have uh been able to make use of an immigration status pursuant to VAWA in the last few years?

Well, on a on a quarterly basis, the Boston Police Department convenes the domestic violence network group, which is about 3040 service providers in the not only in Boston but in the greater Boston area.

So we have these conversations with them every quarter, and there are a lot of those organizations that are reaching out to immigrant populations and trying to get them information support that they need.

Uh there's also legal advocacy available through those organizations.

So we're assistant partner with all of those organizations, and our role is to convene them to keep those conversations rich and consistently updated and informative.

We also have the Boston Public Health Commission's Office of Gender Violence Prevention, who's doing a great deal of good work around reaching out to immigrant populations and getting them the information they need and the legal support that they need.

So although we because of the enormous caseloads that our d advocates have, we really work very closely with our partners, not only to try to help them meet their needs, but them help meet our needs.

So I would we would have to bring that question to them.

Yeah, I'm just curious to see what changes or trends or things that have changed in the last two years, given sort of increased fear.

If you'd like to come to the next DV advocate, we'll you'd love it.

It's it's a good place for people to really gather and have these conversations.

So we'll make sure that we invite you to the next one.

Thank you.

I would really appreciate that.

And I'd love to be able to bring the information back to the communities that have heightened concerns.

So thank you very much for your work and thank you to everyone for answering our questions.

No further questions, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Gen.

We thank you to our panel.

Thank you so much for being here answering all of our questions.

Um as I mentioned at the top of the hearing, I think there's three um grants that we will uh that I will bring up during the green sheets uh at this upcoming council meeting, and then moving forward we'll I'll I'll I'll make sure to communicate with you all on specific um other grants that may come up um that we need to pass.

Um but before we go to public testimony, I will dismiss um this current panel again.

Thank you so much for being here.

Um we will now move forward with public testimony.

When your name is called, please come down to one of the two podiums and state your name, neighborhood, and and or um organization affiliation.

Please speak into the microphone and please keep your comments to two minutes.

Um we have um Clifton and we have John.

Thank you, thank you.

Um Clifton Braithwaite, um High Park area.

I really wanted to give some information to them, but um I wanted to know when it comes to the drones, how will regular media guys that want to um record?

Will there be a sign and slip for them with the technology that they have that they know that those drones are up?

Is there a way that the public who is local media um or get hired to walk with a band to use it?

Is it a certain height that the drones are for regular people compared to the police, and then finding out now about that machine if we don't have the funding for the drones, will we still have the machine to protect us in the airwaves to make sure that we're okay?

And then last point, um, when it comes to um the bombing and how we made changes by plastic bags and things of that nature.

Are we gonna um with so much going on in Boston this year, besides just the World Cup and all that in in Foxboro, with so much that's gonna happen in Boston?

Will we be notifying the public on asking them to have the see-through bags again and checkpoints where we have that type of stuff prepared for the public?

We did a good job the year after the bombing, but there was still some confusion when it came to the community side.

So we wanted to um hopefully run smooth for outsiders and um the Boston residents.

But more so the people who are coming to visit that it's a smooth transition, would they be able to get the information along with residents?

Thank you.

Keep up the good work, guys.

Thank you, Cliffin, and um happy to um if you send me an email with those questions as well.

Happy to submit those questions to the committee and get those um answers to to you and the community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Clifton.

And um, John Thank you.

I just want to uh go on record as to coming here to uh thank the uh the speakers today.

Thank you to the um the counselors that appeared.

I hope I hope because of uh the technology that we should have in 2026.

That uh we get all the technology we need to keep us safe.

That's my main concern.

Uh Councillor Santana that I try to make your meetings because and Councillor Flynn because it's about safety.

And we at this time we need as much technology to help us.

I hope they get the grants that they need for the air and the the um uh water.

And um, I hope it all goes the way we want it to go.

And if Culpepper, Fitzgerald, Murphy, Louise Anne, Weber, I hope that they're voting in the way that's gonna make us protect it as much as possible and be safe.

Thank you for your questions to the to the uh to the group.

And I won't hold you up anymore.

Apologize for being a little late.

Reverse from last week.

I thought it was the two and it was a three, and this one I thought it was a three, and it's a two.

So you can tell by my age, I'm getting a little screwed up here.

But thank you anyway.

Thank you, John.

Thank you for all the work you do.

You too, Ron, for the paperwork.

Thank you for always being here and being present and caring for our safety.

Um that'll conclude our public testimony.

Um I want to thank again the panelists.

I want to thank my colleagues, I want to thank members of the public for being with us here today.

Um, this hearing on Dockets number 03200476 and 0759 is adjourned.

Thank you.