How Covid-19 Rescue Plan Funds can be used to Further Public Safety Technologies

January 2022 Update: American Rescue Plan reporting deadline extended to 2022 The rescue plan funds, which were provided through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), originally had an Oct. 31, 2021 reporting deadline. Award recipients now have until Jan. 31, 2022, to submit their Project and Expenditure Report. As a result, the report must cover the period between the award date and Dec. 31, 2021. For non-entitlement cities — local governments typically serving a population under 50,000 — the report is due on April 30, 2022, and will need to cover the period between the award date and March 31, 2022. Source

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought on an array of challenges and barriers to a wide range of public and private entities. In an effort to help support these various establishments, President Joe Biden proposed The American Rescue Plan earlier this year which allocated $350 billion in relief aid to state governments and specifically allocated $10 billion in relief aid for state governments to support small businesses. In addition, public schools have an allocated $122 billon until September 2023. These Rescue Plan Funds are, in part, to be used by the recipients to support investments in critical infrastructure and safety. As this government aid is a time sensitive consideration, with some funds ceasing at the end of 2021, many state and local governments have already begun to utilize the aid to enhance their safety and security in important verticals such as law enforcement, hospitals, and education.   

Leveraging American Rescue Plan Funds for Public Safety

A number of cities have released their plans on how exactly they intend to spend the funds available to them. Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, Frank Jackson, proposed allocating over $26 million of the American Rescue Plan funds to further invest in public safety. Specifically, Jackson laid out that $4.5 million of these funds will be used to upgrade the city’s Division of Public Safety’s IT department. These upgraded systems will support video surveillance and a real-time monitoring program. More cities across the nation have also expressed their intention to take advantage of the government spend to enhance their public safety. Among these cities are Utica, New York, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Syracuse, New York—all of whom have stated their intentions to invest in public safety measures.

Investing in Audio Security Technologies

With the support from the American Rescue Plan, now is the optimal time for public safety officers and security managers across all verticals to consider the ways in which their security systems can be improved. In addition to public safety, audio security can play an essential role for other verticals as well.

For example, schools across the United States have been implementing audio safety measures by incorporating products such as the Louroe Electronics VeriFact 550 speaker microphone to improve visitor management and guest identification at school entrances. There has also been an increase in audio security use among hospitals where solutions such as the VeriFact 555 has been utilized to provide added safety for patients in the form of “virtual sitters” for remote patient monitoring. Louroe’s full suite of audio monitoring products are key components in safety and security infrastructure; they are utilized by both public and private entities in key verticals as law enforcement, healthcare, education, and public safety.

Additional Resources

Louroe’s team of audio experts are committed to supporting public safety and security managers. Whether it’s an audio security needs assessment, product recommendation or a consultation on how to apply the American Rescue Fund to enhance onsite security, Louroe is here to assist you.

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