Requesting approval to accept and expend a $274,000 grant with no new match required, from the Boston Office of Emergency Management to the Police Department for Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) training.

To the Honorable City Council: The Mayor respectfully requests that this Council accept and approve expending a grant of $274,000 from the Boston Office of Emergency Management to the Somerville Police Department, under the provisions of MGL Chapter 44, Section 53A. This grant does not require the commitment of new matching funds. The purpose of this grant is to pay for Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) Training. This funding will be utilized to train Somerville First Responders (Fire, Emergency Medical, and Police) in the National Fire Protection Association ASHER Protocol. The purpose of this training is to provide protocols for assessing the threat and immediately responding during any active shooter-hostile event situations to limit serious injury and loss of life with the overall goal of increasing the survivability rate of all victims whenever possible. ASHER Training has been adopted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States Department of Homeland Security as a training requirement for all first response agencies directly due to events occurring throughout the nation. Appropriate staff will be available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for your consideration of this item. Respectfully submitted, Katjana Ballantyne, Mayor