FEMA awards Phoenix $1.5 million in terrorism prevention grant funds

The City of Phoenix. Arizona received a boon for its terrorism preparedness efforts last week with the announcement that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would be providing them $1,565,000 in grant funds for that purpose.

The funds were provided through the 2016 Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks (CCTA) Grant Program. The city’s fire, police and office of emergency management departments will all benefit from the funds, which they will use to establish procedures and training for first responders.

“The City of Phoenix has strategically prioritized public safety as our most important function, accounting for nearly three quarters of our general fund budget,” Phoenix Councilman Daniel Valenzuela said. “Our advocacy for federal funding in Washington, D.C. continues to provide a high return on investment; and I will continue to work with federal agencies and our congressional delegation to ensure our police, fire, and emergency management teams are able to leverage every available funding source to complement the investment the city makes each and every year in public safety staffing, training, equipment, and infrastructure.”

Valenzuela noted that the departments are coordinating on a full-scale exercise–in partnership with the cities of Glendale, Scottsdale and Tempe–to standardize threat response throughout the region. In recent years, the councilman notes, the city has already won around $28 million in regional homeland security funds that support such operations.