01 Feb 10. The U.S. Coast Guard has requested $10.08bn for fiscal 2010, down 3.3 percent from the $10.42 billion appropriated for fiscal 2010.
As part of that budget request, the Coast Guard would get money to replace aging aircraft and ships, but also to decommission some of its older assets including the high-endurance cutters Hamilton, Chase, Rush, Jarvis and Acushnet. Coast Guard officials believe they can get by without them, as two national security cutters should be operational by 2011: Bertholf was commissioned in August 2008, and Waesche should be commissioned by May.”A disproportionate share of the depot-level maintenance budget is being used to sustain these aging assets,” according to the budget request. The recapitalization budget includes:
$538m to construct the fifth NSC.
$240m to produce four new fast-response cutters.
$156m for C4ISR, logistics and acquisitions management.
$101m for aircraft, including production of one HC-144A Ocean Sentry.
$83m for shore facilities and aids to navigation, including $14m for Coast Guard housing.
$45m for the selection of a design for the offshore patrol cutter.
$42m for 10 response boats-medium.
$36m for installing an upgraded radio network, Rescue 21, in
California, the Great Lakes region, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico. (Source: Defense News)
04 Feb 10. Strathclyde Police to trial Tasers among beat officers. Strathclyde Police is to become the first force in Scotland to issue Taser stun guns to beat officers. The pilot project will run from March to September and involve 30 officers in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire. The programme will be discussed at a meeting of Strathclyde Police Authority on Thursday. Taser guns can deliver a 50,000 volt electrical charge and are designed to incapacitate rather than cause serious injury to a person. Strathclyde Police, along with other UK forces, introduced Taser guns in 2005 for use by authorised firearms officers. The pilot project, costing £45,559, will extend this to beat officers serving in Glasgow city centre and Rutherglen and Cambuslang. These sub divisions have been chosen as they currently experience a higher number of police assaults compared with other areas. Officers who have been nominated for the project will undertake a three day training course before being issued with the weapons during “operational duties”. (Source: BBC)