Appropriation Project Requests 2010
To offer more opportunity for public scrutiny of Member requests, Members of Congress are required to post on their web sites information on Appropriation requests to fund projects in their district at the time the request is made, with the proposed recipient, the address of the recipient, the amount of the request, and an explanation of the request, including purpose, and why it is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds.
Following are my requests for Fiscal Year 2010:
• City of Santa Paula—Gang Interdiction and Crime Prevention Initiative—$124,000 Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Byrne Discretionary
The entity to receive funding for this project is the City of Santa Paula, located at 970 Ventura Street, Santa Paula, CA 93061.
This request will be used to fund an initiative to combat gang activity through the use of enhanced crime suppression strategies, crime analysis, technology and investigation documentation. The Santa Paula Police Department is aware of at least five clearly identifiable and operational criminal gangs within their municipality. Each gang is known to be actively involved in criminal activity that include, but are not limited to, drug sales and distribution, threats and commission of personal injury crimes, commission of multiple property crimes, and possession of an active recruitment network. Gang crime has also contributed to an increase in homicide cases. In fact, the last two homicides and the most recent attempted homicide were gang-related.
• City of Thousand Oaks High Crime Technology Equipment—$500,000 Department of Justice, COPS Law Enforcement Technology
The entity to receive funding for this project is the City of Thousand Oaks, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362.
Support is requested for the multi-purpose Mobile Command Center, which will be used by the City of Thousand Oaks for (a) an interagency communication center for disaster and public safety occurrences; (b) surveillance capabilities for large-scale multi-agency events (i.e. fires, triage centers), targeted crime areas, and large-scale community events; and (c) a mobile classroom for community education and outreach programs. The Mobile Command Center will be equipped with state-of-the-art computer systems and communication equipment to allow for interoperability with state and local agencies with different frequencies and channels. It will also feature smart room capabilities (i.e. projectors, computers, and video player capability) to support community education programs in schools, local parks and community-wide events. Finally, the Mobile Command Center will be equipped with mounted cameras, as well as remote camera access, for surveillance operations. The fixed cameras will provide security for an inner perimeter near the command center, while the remote cameras can be moved to augment an exterior, far reaching perimeter for later identification of suspects and witnesses.
• Ventura County District Attorney’s Office—DNA Cold Case Prosecution Unit—$570,000 Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Byrne Discretionary
The entity to receive funding for this project is the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, located at 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura, CA 93009.
Support is requested for a pilot program in Ventura County, California, to establish a DNA Cold Case Prosecution Unit to investigate and prosecute violent crimes through the use of DNA technology. As you know, the federal government has devoted considerable resources to DNA testing and establishing DNA databases. For instance, California alone has nearly 1.2 million felons in its CAL-DNA database. This number is expected to swell by more than 700,000 over the next four years as all adults arrested on any felony charge after January 1, 2009, are required to provide their DNA profile pursuant to a voter-approved statewide initiative. In Ventura County, there are currently 228 unsolved cases involving DNA evidence. Local law enforcement anticipates 22 cold hits per year involving old unsolved homicide and rape cases. However, even with a DNA match, the passage of time makes these cases extremely difficult to investigate and prosecute as prosecutors must reconstruct the case based upon the new DNA evidence. Therefore, funding is requested to establish a pilot program in Ventura County to hire a prosecutor and two investigators for the sole purpose of solving and prosecuting DNA cold cases. It is anticipated that this will be a three-year program with the possible expansion to other counties based on the results in Ventura County.
• Ventura County District Attorney’s Office—HUD Fraud Prevention Program—$463,630 Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Byrne Discretionary
The entity to receive funding for this project is the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, located at 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura, CA 93009.
Support is requested for a pilot project to hire two District Attorney Investigators and one Deputy District Attorney to investigate and prosecute individuals defrauding the public housing system. The investigators would work with local housing authorities to flag and then investigate questionable applications and housing disbursements. Currently, there is more local demand for public housing assistance in Ventura County than there is supply. Investigating and prosecuting fraudulent receipt of public housing subsidies will enable eligible applicants who are awaiting public housing units to become available to participate in this much-needed assistance program.
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