Consideration and Approval of Grant Application and Intergovernmental Agreement:  Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce Affiliate Sub-Grant Funds.

Entering into the Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Phoenix allows the Police Department to apply for grant funding managed by the AZ ICAC Taskforce. This funding is used for training and equipment needed to operate the computer forensics lab at the Flagstaff Police Department. For the 2014 - 2015 grant cycle, the Police Department is requesting $9,859.00 to pay for Basic Computer Forensic Examiner training which is conducted once a year in the United States by the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS). This training will enable the Police Department to train and certify a new forensic examiner. The remaining funds will be used for continuing education training for the remaining Certified Forensic Computer Examiner (CFCE) at the Police Department. This training is necessary so the examiner can maintain the necessary continuing education requirements needed to retain the certification as well as keep current with contemporary software and examination procedures. 

This is a reimbursement grant. The City of Flagstaff will initially outlay the cost of training and will submit for reimbursement. The City has $4,500 budgeted in program 001-04-062-6092-2 and the remaining balance will be covered within the Police Grants Section's budget.

COUNCIL GOALS:
10. Develop an ongoing budget process
11. Effective governance

REGIONAL PLAN:

The City of Flagstaff has repeatedly received grant funding from this taskforce over the last ten years.

1.Council can decide to enter into the intergovernmental agreement with the City of Phoenix and apply for grant funding.
2.Council can decide not to enter into the intergovernmental agreement with the City of Phoenix which would forgo any opportunity to receive grant funding from the AZ ICAC Taskforce this fiscal year.

The Flagstaff Police Department has been affiliated with the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Taskforce since 2003. They have been a source of funding for training and equipment since that time. The Taskforce will alert the Flagstaff Police Department of any potential criminal activity occurring in our jurisdiction which is identified by their proactive online investigations. Police Department staff will act upon this information and conduct further investigation as needed. These investigations typically culminate in the forensic analysis of computer equipment

Training in the field of computer forensics is time consuming and prohibitively expensive. Our current staff of Certified Forensic Computer Investigators has been reduced to one person due to attrition. The current training budget at the Police Department cannot support the cost of this training without grant reimbursement.

The computer forensics lab at the Flagstaff Police Department has provided computer forensic services to law enforcement agencies throughout Northern Arizona since it was created in the year 2000. Since that time, the Flagstaff Police Department has assisted the FBI, DEA, DPS, Williams Police Department, NAU Police Department, and the Northern Arizona Street Crimes Task Force (Metro) with computer related investigations. These investigations have resulted in arrests for crimes including sexual assault, sexual exploitation of a minor, child molestation, sexual abuse, kidnapping, and others.

Inform

- Approve Grant Application - Disapprove Grant Application