The Chief of Police for the Houston Police Department (HPD) recommends that City Council approve an ordinance authorizing the application for and acceptance of grant funds through the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for the FY19 Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance of the Southern District of Texas Grant. The grant period becomes effective October 1, 2019, and ends on September 30, 2022, for a total of 36 months. DOJ will provide $900,000 in grant funding.
For more than 15 years, the crime of human trafficking in the greater Houston area is addressed by the Houston Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA), a multi-disciplinary human trafficking task force. The grant funding will allow the HTRA to expand their collaborative law enforcement partnerships by funding law enforcement partners in Fort Bend, Galveston, Chambers, and Liberty Counties, training specialized officers to target online traffickers, funding analysts with expertise in human trafficking, and providing services for victims of human trafficking.
The Houston Police Department also requests City Council to authorize the Chief of Police or his designee to act as the City’s representative in the application process with the authority to apply for, accept and expend the grant funds as awarded, and apply for, accept and expend all subsequent awards, if any, to extend the budget period, and to authorize the Mayor to execute all related agreements with the approval of the City Attorney in connection with the grant not to exceed five years.
Fiscal Note:
No Fiscal Note is required on grant items.
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Art Acevedo
Chief of Police