HERMOSA BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT

MEMORANDUM

 

DATE: FEBRUARY , 2000

TO: ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE

SUBJECT : REGIONAL POLICE AND FIRE COMMUNICATIONS

FOR THE CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

It is proposed that the City of Hermosa Beach contract with the City of El Segundo to provide public safety communications and dispatching services. Police Department staff have studied the feasibility of merging or consolidating the Police communications function on a regional basis for the city. This report will summarize the findings of the study, as well as the assigned costs for these services on a contract basis.

 

PRIMARY STUDY OBJECTIVE

The primary objective of this study was to analyze viable public safety dispatch communications alternatives available to the City of Hermosa Beach that best meet the current and future needs for improved service and responsiveness to the citizens and public safety personnel of the city.

The study of the feasibility of regionalizing the dispatch communications functions has proven to be positive. The opportunity to save costs associated with regionalization; the opportunity to maximize service levels in both communications (staffing and patrol operations; computers in cars, police pursuits); the opportunity to upgrade technology and integrate such technology into future police operations, the opportunity to save administrative costs associated with the communications functions (hiring market/reduced liabilities); the opportunity to better allocate resources and costs over an extended period of time, and the economy of scale of such an operation have been the most positive aspects of a regional aspect.

This matter is to be considered by the Hermosa Beach City Council at their Council Meeting of March 14, 2000.

 

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the City Council consider the implications of regionalizing communications by contracting with the City of El Segundo to provide communication and dispatch services and to direct staff appropriately.

 

INTRODUCTION

Since 1995, the City of El Segundo intended to develop a regional Emergency 911 System designed to provide Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Dispatching Services to the cities of El Segundo, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach. The dispatching system was designed so that it can be expanded so that additional cities can be added on a contractual basis.

Currently, the cities of El Segundo and Manhattan Beach purchase their dispatching services from the South Bay Regional Communications center (RCC). The City of Hermosa Beach has been dispatching on their own since 1989. The City of Hermosa Beach withdrew from participation and membership in the RCC because rising costs of double digit increases caused a financial hardship on the City. (Refer Resolution No. 87-5084).

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

The City of El Segundo has a permanent population of approximately 15,000 residents, which grows to approximately 75,000 during business hours. The City of Hermosa Beach has a population of approximately 19,000 with seasonal Summer population increases. The City of Manhattan Beach is demographically similar to Hermosa Beach with a population of approximately 32,000 and also has seasonal influxes in the Summer months.

 

BACKGROUND

Following the recommendations of the Warner Group Study, on February 3, 1998, the City of El Segundo authorized the design, construction and operation of a Public Safety Communications Center. The City of El Segundo further directed staff to initiate discussions for contracting with potential customer agencies for future dispatching services. Since that date, the communications center project has commenced and an approximate 5,000 square foot addition is under construction at the existing El Segundo facility. It was anticipated that the facility, as well as the entire project, will be completed and fully operational by August 2000.

The concept for providing communications and dispatch services to the City of Hermosa Beach has been included throughout the development of the El Segundo Communications Center. Representatives from Hermosa Beach have been continually updated and involved on the status and progress of the project. Information, recommendations and feedback have been provided by these representations and subsequently implemented into the plans. As the completion date approaches, a specific proposal to offer dispatch services was submitted to the City.

A copy of the most recent proposal is attached to this study. (See attachment A ).

 

PROPOSAL - SOUTH BAY REGIONAL PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY

On February 14, 2000 a proposal to provide dispatch services was received from the RCC located in Hawthorne. The RCC is proposing to provide dispatch services to the City of Hermosa Beach for no cost beginning as soon as we so desire until September 2001. At that time the City of Hermosa Beach would have the option of entering into a formal agreement with the RCC. (See attachment B )

The RCC utilizes a complicated formula for determining participation costs. When we first met with Director Ralph Mailloux, we were unable to provide him with the information he required to determine participation costs. (We do not collect the type of data they require for their formula) However, we knew the number of calls for service for 1998 and we made a comparison with El Segundo that had twice as many calls for service. In essence we took the costs of El Segundo’s participation and cut the amount in half to come up with the amount of $ 323,362. In September of 2001, the RCC will have collected the required data to determine our costs. There are a total of 18 data categories for police and four for fire.

The RCC collects the data in each of these categories and each has a weighted value. At the end of the year all of the categories are added up. For example, in 1998 the combined weighted number of calls for all member agencies was 1,298,744. Of this amount, the El Segundo Police Department made up 214,633 of this total or 16.53%. The projected budget for the RCC is

4.1 million. The cost for the El Segundo Police Department would be 16.53% of this 4.1 million. Therefore, the annual costs for any member city are predicated on the numbers of calls for service as measured in the various data categories along with the total annual operating budget for the RCC. (See attachment C )

The South Bay Regional Communications Authority (SBRPCA) operates a consolidated communications center in the City of Hawthorne serving the police and fire departments of the cities of El Segundo, Gardena, Manhattan Beach and the Hawthorne Police Department. However, membership in the agency is fluid:

Los Angeles County is taking over Fire Protection Services for Gardena, El Segundo is considering withdrawing from the center and Inglewood Police Department is considering joining the center. The South Bay Regional Communications Authority is preparing to construct a new communications center a few blocks from the existing center. The site has been purchased and long-range plans for site construction and a new radio system have been developed. Financing arrangements for the new center have yet to be established. These future costs will be borne by member and client agencies yet to be determined.

During the course of this study, police staff and the City Manager have visited the proposed sites at the El Segundo Police Department, the South Bay Regional Communications Authority in the City of Hawthorne and reviewed the current conditions of our dispatch center. We also visited the West Cities Communication Center (West-Comm) in Seal Beach. West-Comm was formed in May 1996 by a joint powers agreement between the cities of Cypress, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach. West-Comm cities are representative of the South Bay Cities of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and El Segundo. Their tri-city communications center has the state-of-the-art equipment which includes Motorola CRT radios and the Vesta 911 telephone system. Representatives from each of the West-Comm cities expressed great satisfaction with their new center. Local control was an important mutual concern before the project. Their common refrain now is, "The system is seamless. Our citizens are not concerned where the dispatch center is located. Services have improved for all West-Comm cities."

Back      Agendas / Minutes Menu     Agenda     Next