Colorado is receiving more than $20 million in federal Homeland Security grants this year, a slight increase over last year’s funding level, Gov. Bill Ritter announced Tuesday.
The $20.7 million in grants includes $7.6 million in Urban Area Security Initiative grants for the Denver metro area. Last year, the state received $19.9 million in Homeland Security grants.
The money will be used for a variety of public safety-related projects at agencies across the state, from helping first responders better communicate with one another to helping improve cyber security to helping authorities detect and prepare for improved explosive devices, or IEDs, said Maj. Gen. Mason Whitney, state’s Homeland Security director.
“At the end of the day,” Ritter said, “it is about making Colorado safe and our communities safe.”
