Title
Consider and take action on a resolution authorizing the purchase of a mobile command post vehicle for public safety operations from Farber Specialty Vehicles in the amount of $442,371 (Chief of Police)
Background:
If approved, this will allow for the purchase of a custom designed mobile command post capable of servicing all City departments during critical and emergency events, as well as all major special events sponsored by the City.
As the City of League City continues to grow and public safety personnel encounter increasingly complex incidents, the need for a mobile command post vehicle becomes an essential piece of equipment. Regrettably, mass casualty and active shooter scenarios are becoming increasingly frequent throughout the nation, and League City is as vulnerable as any community. These dangerous and deadly scenarios as well as those involving barricaded subjects and vehicle attacks, typically involve prolonged incident command system (ICS) response and extended crime scene processing where on-scene command and control is necessary. The absence of a mobile command post vehicle capability has hindered public safety and security operations in past incidents such as the response to an officer involved shooting, barricaded suspects, and extended searches for felony suspects where crime scene management took place on the trunk lid of a patrol car. These ad hoc measures employed by the League City Police Department in the past are no longer viable. In addition, these stop-gap solutions often projected an unprofessional image of both the City and the League City Police Department. The lack of a mobile command post vehicle also makes working conditions unnecessarily difficult for response personnel, especially during prolonged responses as a result of a lack of shelter from the elements without access to heat or air conditioning, computer network connectivity, onsite hygiene and sanitary facilities, communications, meeting spaces, etc. Acquisition of a mobile command post vehicle would dramatically improve the City’s readiness to respond to a variety of high consequence public safety and security incidents and provide the capability to deliver the level of service our citizens expect and demand. Most importantly, it would significantly improve the efficiency, effectiveness and oversight of our response to high-consequence incidents.
League City has the largest population in Galveston County, and the number of critical emergency events increases each year as we continue to grow. With an estimated population of 109,000 in 2020, some have estimated that League City’s population will increase to more than 200,000 at build out. This clearly warrants a dedicated City-controlled mobile command post vehicle, as opposed to simply repurposing vehicles not designed for these types of deployments as has been done in the past. One of the League City Police Department’s previous vehicles that had been utilized for a mobile command post was a box van type vehicle that was originally used by League City’s Department of Emergency Operations from the 1990s which was almost thirty years old. After the vehicle lost the use of its brakes on three (3) occasions during operation and catching on fire, the vehicle was finally removed from service for safety reasons. The City no longer has a viable mobile command post vehicle capability and is entirely reliant on mutual aid to meet the need when it arises. There are local agencies such as Friendswood PD, LaMarque PD, Pasadena PD, Sugarland PD, Pearland PD, and Texas City PD that have mobile command post vehicles, but they understandably prioritize the use of their resources to meet their own needs. There is no certainty these resources would be available in the event of a crisis in League City. Moreover, during regional, multi-jurisdictional events, partner agencies reserve their vehicles to support their own communities which was the case during events like Hurricane Harvey.
A mobile command post vehicle would primarily support the Police Department, but it would also be available to support all other City Departments in events such as a mass casualty event, prolonged fire response, emergency repair to a water line, etc. Additionally, it would support public safety and security for City preplanned events such as the annual Music Festival, the 4th of July Event, and the Holiday in the Park Parade. A mobile command post vehicle would be deployed to incidents and events requiring on-scene command, control, and communications capability and coordination of response efforts at the scene.
As stated previously, potential law enforcement mobile command post vehicle response scenarios range from the multiple large events the City is involved in planning on an annual basis to the large scale crime scenes which may involve extraction and treatment of mass casualties under hazardous conditions, interviewing of large numbers of witnesses and prolonged crime scene processing just to name a few. Although the City of League City has not been impacted by a mass casualty event, on May 18, 2018, twenty-eight (28) officers from the League City Police Department responded to the active shooter event at Santa Fe High School to assist in any way that they could. Many of our officers were on the scene for as long as eight (8) hours. Such responses demand that the incident commander has complete situational awareness of the scene and capability of adequately engaging with City, County, and State leadership. Over the last several years, we have been engaged with the Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD) conducting and planning active shooter exercises to prepare City employees for these horrific events. One of the attachments to this data sheet is a letter of support for this purchase from Dr. Greg Smith, the Superintendent for CCISD. Also, the normal call volume handled by the Dispatch Center will persist during these events which makes it extremely difficult to manage the normal daily call volume and the event. The capability to deploy a mobile command post vehicle would largely confine response communications to the scene and protect the Dispatch Center from overwhelming radio traffic, allowing them to focus their attention on providing public safety service to the remainder of the City.
The City planned events are logistically challenging under the best of circumstances and ensuring public safety and security of thousands of residents and visitors is a daunting task. Deployment of a mobile command post vehicle provides the capability to implement the incident command system and thereby organize a large number of personnel from various departments to achieve truly integrated public safety and security operations. A mobile command post vehicle with enough space for command, control, communications, and security operations would facilitate unity of effort at the scene. It would offer a single incident command post and eliminate the practice of deploying multiple leaders roaming the site to facilitate coordination between the various departments deployed for the event.
The League City Police Department is also an active participant in the Combined Agency Response Team which is comprised police officers from the cities of League City, Pearland and Alvin. This is a team with special weapons and tactics (SWAT) capability, tasked with responding to high-risk incidents in all three (3) communities, encompassing an area of approximately 127 square miles with a population of more than 255,000 citizens. While all agencies contribute personnel, equipment, vehicles, and resources to the response, the City of League City has no capability to deploy command and control or conduct negotiations critical to a satisfactory outcome from an adequate vehicle as has been described throughout this document.
Farber Specialty Vehicles located in Columbus, Ohio was the vendor chosen for this purchase because they have been designing and constructing custom mobile command post vehicles for law enforcement agencies nationwide for over forty years. Farber Specialty Vehicles has the contract for these vehicles on the Texas BuyBoard (BuyBoard Contract No. 538-17, Mobile Command, Emergency Management and Bio-Terrorist Vehicles through August 31, 2020). The reason for choosing this company is that they are a proven company with solid results and full support and recommendations from agencies across the State of Texas that have been customers. The quote of $442,371.00, which is detailed in an attachment, includes all of the necessary equipment for a multi-use mobile command post vehicle as well as the Texas Dealer Fee for $5,000.00 and the Delivery and Training Fee for $6,500.00. The Texas Dealer Fee is required for processing the paperwork and handling the purchase in Texas, and the Delivery and Training Fee covers an employee from Farber Specialty Vehicles to transport the vehicle to League City, hotel expenses, per diem, training our staff, and flight back to Ohio.
These types of vehicles have a life cycle of 20 to 25 years, and it is expected that the vehicle purchased by League City should meet or exceed this life cycle since it will be stored in a controlled environment. In the FY2020 Budget, construction of a bay extension was approved for an amount not to exceed $57,000.00 on the Special Vehicle Building located behind the Public Safety Building at 555 West Walker. The annual anticipated operating costs include the cost of diesel fuel, oil changes, insurance costs, and the generator fuel costs and maintenance. The mobile command post vehicle uses one gallon for every six (6) miles driven at a City contracted cost of $2.21 per gallon of diesel fuel. If the vehicle was driven 5,000 miles per year, the fuel costs would be $1,841.67. The average cost of an oil change would be $200.00 which can be done by the City’s Vehicle Maintenance Department. The mobile command post vehicle also has a diesel generator. The generator uses one gallon of fuel per hour. If the generator were used 20 hours per week at $2.21 per gallon in fuel costs, the annual cost for the generator use would be $2,298.40. It is recommended to conduct routine maintenance on the generator every 200 hours of use with an annual estimated cost of $1,352.00. The estimated cost for the insurance for this vehicle with the Texas Municipal League (TML) is $3,300.00 per year. With the estimates provided, the annual costs for operation and insurance would be $8,992.07. Contributions to the vehicle replacement fund are not included in the annual cost, as seizure funds would likely be used for future replacement.
The additional equipment and services that will be purchased after the vehicle is delivered include four (4) police mobile radios at a cost of $6,492.91 each, four (4) computers at an estimated cost of $1,200 each, network equipment at an estimated cost of $15,000, and exterior graphics at an installed cost of $4,550.00. The total cost of additional equipment is estimated at $50,321.64. These expenditures will be funded completely from the seizure and contraband accounts, if possible. Any shortage will be taken from the PD operating budget.
The account numbers the funds will be drawn from are #2225225-55520 and #2220225-55520 which are seizure and contraband accounts.
If approved, the order will be placed, and Farber quotes 240 days to complete construction. Once the order is placed for the mobile command post vehicle, a request for proposals process will be followed to secure a contractor for the extension of a bay on the Special Vehicle Building to include shore power.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Data Sheet
2. Proposed Resolution
3. Farber's Quote
4. Farber's Background 1
5. Farber's Background 2
6. Farber's Background 3
7. Farber’s Specs for the Mobile Command Post Vehicle
8. Farber’s Designs for the Mobile Command Post Vehicle
9. Farber’s Motor Vehicle Manufacturer’s License through Texas
10. Farber’s Good Standing Form
11. Farber’s Credit References
12. Dr. Smith’s Letter of Support
CONTRACT ORIGINATION:
FUNDING
{x} Funds are available from Account #2225225-55520 and #2220225-55520 which are seizure and contraband accounts
{ } Requires Budget Amendment to transfer from Account #______ to Account #______
{ } NOT APPLICABLE
STRATEGIC PLANNING
{ } Addresses Strategic Planning Critical Success Factor # ______ and Initiative # ______
{x} NOT APPLICABLE