TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Matthew Henry, Chief of Police
PREPARED BY: Dawnn Jackson, Management Analyst - Administration
SUBJECT:
title
Purchase of Police Department Vehicles
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RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
Approve the purchase of up to eight (8) Police Interceptor vehicles from Fritts Ford, the associated vehicle upfitting purchases, and installation of emergency equipment using the Fiscal Year 2024/25 Operating Budget; and
Waive the competitive bidding requirements.
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
On December 15, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 20-4345, approving an agreement with American Emergency Products for emergency vehicle upfitting and vehicle electrical repair services (Vote: 4-0).
On June 6, 2023, the City Council approved Resolution No. 23-4671, adopting the City’s Operating Budget for Fiscal Years 2023/24 and 2024/25 (Vote: 4-0-1).
CITY COUNCIL GOAL
Provide a high level of innovative public safety.
BACKGROUND
The approved Fiscal Year (FY) 2024/25 budget allocates $1,000,000 for the purchase and replacement of police vehicles, including ten (10) Police Interceptors and one (1) Police Motorcycle for the Murrieta Police Department (PD). Each Police Interceptor was originally estimated to cost $95,000 once fully upfitted. Due to the increase in costs of commodities and services, the more accurate figure is $105,000 per vehicle. Since the FY 2024/25 budget was established, additional needs were identified, which required the use of approximately $173,000 of that budget.
The PD would like to use the available budget balance of $461,658.44, plus $72,000 in savings identified in the current FY 2024/25 PD Operating Budget as well as $204,504.73 (reference the agenda item “Fiscal Year 2024/25 Second Quarter Financial Status Report”) for the purchase of police vehicles. This would allow the PD to purchase seven (7) 2025 Ford Interceptors. If additional savings are identified in the PD FY 2024/25 Operating budget towards the end of the fiscal year, the PD would like to purchase one (1) additional Police Interceptor with those savings. The savings will be moved to the Operating Budget account 1103120-71060 via budget adjustment.
Section 3.08.280.G of the Murrieta Municipal Code authorizes that the competitive bidding procedures and requirements may be dispensed when the City Council finds that adherence to the procedures would be inefficient, impractical, and unnecessary. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has continued to be a significant disruption in the supply chain across many industries, including delays in the production and delivery of police vehicles. This has resulted in an approximate delay of one year in receiving the vehicles the PD had previously ordered.
Currently, the PD faces a critical shortage of reliable patrol vehicles, which is creating a strain on staffing and operational capacity. Last year, the PD was forced to source vehicles from out of state due to the lack of availability from local vendors. This year, however, Fritts Ford, located in Riverside, California, has provided the lowest quote of the only two vendors able to supply the required units and they have ten Ford Interceptors on their lot, ready for immediate purchase. Unfortunately, Fritts Ford does not participate in cooperative purchasing agreements, which disqualifies them from the competitive bidding process, per the City’s established requirements. In an effort to try and abide by the purchasing policy, the PD reached out to seven (7) other local agencies. Of the agencies that responded, all are facing the same challenges in securing police vehicles.
If the PD is unable to proceed with this purchase, it would result in significant operational challenges. The PD would be left without enough working and reliable vehicles to ensure the safety and effectiveness of patrol officers. This shortage could lead to issues with officer safety and disrupt the Department's ability to respond to emergencies in a timely and efficient manner.
Given these exceptional circumstances and the importance of ensuring officers have access to the vehicles they need for their safety and the public's protection, staff requests that the City Council approve an exemption to the bidding requirements for this purchase. The vehicles in question are critical to maintaining the Department’s capacity to serve the community effectively, and Fritts Ford’s offer represents the most cost-effective and timely solution. The PD plans to complete an RFP process for the purchase of police vehicles for subsequent years.
Consistent with prior procurement of police vehicles, after purchase, the vehicles will be upfitted with essential policing equipment (Attachment 8) from American Emergency Products (AEP) per the terms of the current agreement (Attachment 9). Staff further seeks to procure police radios, laptops, Cradlepoint routers, Stopsticks, and Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs). The radios will be purchased from Motorola (Attachment 4) through a cooperative purchasing agreement, Sourcewell Contract RFP# 042021-MOT (Attachment 5). The Police Department has already secured a purchase order for this acquisition, as Motorola offered an additional 8% discount above the Sourcewell contract price if the radios were ordered before December 28, 2024. The laptops will be purchased from Code-3 Technology (Attachment 2) through a cooperative purchasing agreement Sourcewell Contract RFP# 090122-GET (Attachment 3). The Cradlepoint routers will be purchased from Code 3 Technology (Attachment 6). The AEDs will be purchased from Bound Tree Medical (Attachment 7).
Section 3.08.295 of the Municipal Code authorizes the City to join with other public and quasi-public agencies in a cooperative purchasing program for the purchase of supplies, services, and/or equipment from a vendor at a price established by another public agency when the other agency has made its purchase in a competitive manner. Staff has confirmed that the procurement of the laptops and associated agreements (Sourcewell Contract RFP# 090122-GET, Attachment 3), as well as the purchase of the radios (Sourcewell Contract RFP# 042021-MOT, Attachment 5), comply with the Municipal Code provisions.
Section 3.08.250 of the Municipal Code states that open market purchases shall, wherever possible, be based on at least three informal bids, and shall be awarded to the bid offering the most advantageous bid to the City after consideration of price, quality, durability, servicing, delivery time, standardization, and other factors. Police staff have confirmed that the procurements of the Cradlepoint routers, Stopsticks (sole source) and AEDs comply with the Municipal Code provisions.
Fiscal Year 2024/25 Purchase & Upfitting Costs
|
Vendor |
Description |
Total Cost (7) |
Total Cost (8) |
|
Fritts Ford |
Purchase of Vehicles |
$398,601.07 |
$455,544.08 |
|
AEP |
Upfitting vehicles with Cradlepoint |
$204,417.31 |
$233,619.78 |
|
Code 3 Technology |
Laptops |
$27,352.94 |
$31,260.50 |
|
Code 3 Technology |
Cradlepoint Routers |
$18,155.81 |
$20,749.50 |
|
CPR 1 |
AEDs |
$14,220.15 |
$16,251.60 |
|
Stop Stick |
Stopsticks |
$3,902.76 |
$4,460.30 |
|
|
Total Cost |
$666,650.04 |
$761,885.76 |
|
Vendor |
Description |
P04564 |
P04564 |
|
Motorola, Inc. |
Radios |
62,147.26 |
$71,025.44 |
|
|
Total Cost |
728,797.30 |
$832,911.20 |
FISCAL IMPACT
The total fiscal impact associated with the approval of up to eight (8) police vehicles is $832,911.20, as summarized in the table above. Staff requests the City Council authorize an exception to the bidding requirements and approve the purchase of up to eight (8) police vehicles from Fritts Ford and upfitting from AEP using FY 2024/25 Operating Budget account 1103120-71060 (vehicles).
A sufficient budget of $738,163.17 will be available for the purchase of seven (7) interceptor vehicles and ancillary upfitted equipment in the FY 2024/25 Operating Budget account 1103120-71060 pending a budget adjustment of $72,000 savings and contingent upon the approval of the request in agenda item “Fiscal Year 2024/25 Second Quarter Budget Update Report,” of a carryover budget from FY 2023/24 of $204,504.73. The FY 2024/25 available Operating Budget and estimated cost for the seven (7) Police Interceptor vehicles are summarized in the table below.
Related to the acquisition of vehicles, the PD’s operational goal is to have a sufficient number of vehicles in order for patrol officers to take their assigned unit home with them, which is beneficial to overall PD operations within the City. Currently, the PD does not have sufficient vehicles to do this. Since the PD is currently short on vehicles, they are continuing to repair older units as needed to keep them in service, including vehicles as old as 2008. This is not optimal; typically, a vehicle is no longer recommended for patrol when repairs to the unit become a short-term, temporary fix. The acquisition of the new vehicles will help toward the 1:1 ratio goal. Until that point, no vehicles will be available for surplus until a sufficient number of units are available to allow for this.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Quote for the Purchase of Vehicles from Fritts Ford
2. Quote from Code 3 Technology for Laptops
3. Sourcewell Contract RFP# 090122-GET for Laptops
4. Quote from Motorola for Police Radios
5. Sourcewell Contract RFP# 042021-MOT for Police Radios
6. Quote from Code 3 Technology for 8 Cradlepoint Routers
7. Quote from CPR1 for AEDs
8. Quote from AEP to Upfit Patrol Vehicles
9. Agreement with AEP for Upfitting Services
10. Quote from Stopsticks