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HomeMy WebLinkAbout53-City Administrator CITY OF SAN BERIORDINO - REQUEST OR COUNCIL ACTION ~ From: I Fred Wilson, Assistant City Administrator Administration Su~~: Authorize negotiations with Motorola, Inc., for the purchase and installation of a Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) System for the City. Dept: Date: March 25, 1992 Synopsis of Previous Council action: 8/6/90 __ Mayor and Council approved the 800 MHZ implementation plan which involved: 1) acquisition and purchase of mobile data terminal (MDT) system and 2) hire consultant firm to prepare 800 MHZ voice radio communication plan. Recommended motion: That authorization be given to negotiate with Motorola, Inc., for the purchase and installation of a Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) System for the City. ~9",M' Fred Wilson Phone: 5122 Contact person: Supporting data attached: Ward: FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount: Source: (Acct. No.) 0 0 \ Acct. Oescri tion 5S'-\~ \a \l;..... t...J <.1 /"' Finance: f"'- Council Notes: 75-0262 Agenda Item No S3 CITY OF SAN BERQRDINO - REQUEST ~R COUNCIL ACTION , I STAFF REPORT In August 1990, the Mayor and Council authorized the City Administrator to prepare a plan for the purchase and installation of an 800 MHz system for the City. The primary elements of the plan involved the preparation of a comprehensive radio communication plan, hiring the engineering communication firm of omnicom and proceeding with the purchase of a Mobile Data System (MDT) for the City. The comprehensive radio communication plan has been developed with the assistance of omnicom and is being used as a basis for proceeding with project implementation. The first phase of the MDT project involved the development of a statement of work detailing the vendor requirements associated with the acquisition and installation of an MDT system. This phase has been completed and will be used as the basis for negotiating with the vendor. The purpose of this report is to provide the background behind the need for the system and the recommendation to initiate negotiations with Motorola for the MDT system. BACKGROUND In the three years preceding August 1990, the County and the cities had been dealing with the issue of purchasing and installing an 800 MHz radio communication system. The need for the system was documented in earlier reports and is primarily based on the inability of the current communication system to accommodate existing and future growth. The County acted as the lead agency on this project and proceeded with the purchase and construction of a county-wide 800 MHz system. In July 1990, the County requested all cities to make a decision relative to participating with the County or developing other alternatives. Based on a cost analysis performed at that time, it was apparent that the establishment and implementation of a city-owned 800 MHz system would be more cost effective than participating in a County system. Formal action was taken by the Mayor and Council in July 1990 in terms of directing the City Administrator to prepare an action plan for the start-up of a city-owned 800 MHz system. This action plan was developed and submitted to the Mayor and Council in August 1990 which recommended that a two-phase process be implemented. The first phase was a purchase of an MDT system in order to achieve immediate savings in radio air-time usage with the second phase involving the actual development of the 800 MHz voice system. 75.0264 o o . , The engineering communication firm of Omnicom was hired to assist the City in the development of a comprehensive 800 MHz plan which included MDT's. The plan was completed in March 1991 and outlined the various components including channel analysis and coverage analysis, dispatch center operations and system costs. The development of a detailed MDT system design was also completed by Omnicom and included radio/data communication coverage testing utilizing the County MDT system. This document has been completed and is in the format of a statement of work which will be used as the basis for negotiating with Motorola. MDT BENEFITS I have attached a copy of various reports prepared by the police department relative to the advantage of an MDT system. Primary advantages include: 1. Presently, the police department is licensed to operate on three low-band channels. Channel one is the pr1mary tactical frequency which has achieved overcrowding to the point that officers complain of delays of up to five minutes in air-time acquisition. This level of activity is far above industry standards for frequent usage and also presents significant officer liability and safety dilemmas. ;'"'' . , An analysis done by Redlands Police Department upon conversion to the MDT system revealed a 70 percent savings in air time through the conversion to MDT's. 2. Police agencies using MDT's have experienced enhanced officer security, in that officers are more informed prior to arrival at calls. MDT's allow the officers to view premise history and other information prior to their arrival. with this information, they are more prepared to make appropriate, tactical decisions regarding their response. 3. MDT's allow access to the departments' data bases as well as access to the California Law Enforcement teletype system and the NCIC teletype system. This direct access eliminates the continual interruptions of the activities at the dispatch center. 4. Data for those agencies using MDT's has shown an increase in auto theft recovery and auto theft arrest due to the instantaneous access to local and state teletype systems. Additionally, agencies have observed increases in a number of warrant arrests. tc~..._, o o " J 5. MDT's also serve as a backup system in the event of radio channel failures. It should be noted that an evaluation of the costs and benefits of installing laptop computers versus MDT's was also undertaken as part of this project. Although there are certain advantages to laptop computers primarily in that it would permit officers to directly input field reports and, in the long term, potentially receive digitized finger print and mug shot information~ the cost for a laptop is approximately $11,000 apiece versus the cost of $3,950 for an MDT field unit. In addition, laptop technology for police vehicles is relatively new and numerous problems were encountered in the field tests in terms of readability of the screens as well as heat considerations in the vehicles in the summer time. For these reasons, it was determined to proceed with MDT's. RECOMMENDATION Major reasons for selecting Motorola to serve as the vendor for this project include: 1. The County competitively bid their MDT system in 1989. Motorola was the selected vendor. Motorola has guaranteed that they will offer the same prices to the City for the field units which were quoted in the County bid. 2. In addition to the County, Motorola has provided the MDT systems for Fontana, Rialto, Redlands and a consortium of westend cities. The feedback received from these cities has been positive. 3. utilizing Motorola permits interoperatability between systems in terms of both sharing information as well as in the event of any type of disaster or failure of the system. 4. Motorola is the leading provider of MDT systems for local government. In terms of funding, $1,000,000 was set aside from the fiscal year 1990/91 budget continuing appropriations (Assessment District #994) account to fund this system. It is anticipated that the total cost of the system will be $1,000,000. The Fire Department will be participating in this system, however, their equipment requests will be submitted as part of their fiscal year 1992/93 budget packet. ,~ , CITY OF SA,J)J'i BERNARDINO () MEMORANDUM fo Assistant Chief Wayne Harp From Captain M. Lewis Subject MDT/MCT'S Benefit Analysis Date 12-26-91 Approved ~,/ ~ ,9 ../ / Date / .,( . 'T 2-- Per your request, the following is an analysis of the benefits that should be derived from an MDT/MCT system. Presently, the police department is licensed to operate on three low band audio channels. Channel 1 is the primary tactical frequency which has achieved overcrowding to the point that officers complain of delays of up to five minutes in air time acquisition. The activity presently observed on Channel 1 is far above industry standards for frequent usage and also presents significant officer safety and liability dilemmas. Channel 2, although designated as the administrative Channel for field use, is heavily used as a secondary tactical frequency during tactical situations on Channel 1 and through necessity is also utilized as a tactical frequency when the volume of Channel 1 transmissions forces the officers to revert to Channel 2 to alleviate the waiting times associated with Channell overcrowding. The third frequency, although available for most units, is not available to all of the handheld units and is essentially non- functional on a 24-hour basis. Although the officers can converse car to car on Channel 3, the limited number of dispatch personnel does not allow us to operate this frequency on a full time basis. Although we have prepared a plan to utilize Channel 3 on a limited basis during peak hours, it would require additional full time staffing in order to use it on a continuous basis. An analysis done by Redlands PO upon conversion to the MDT System, revealed a 70% savings of air time through the conversation to MCT's. If we were to achieve a similar reduction in audio transmission, the problems presently experienced on Channel 1 and Channel 2 would be eliminated. MDT's and/or MCT's additionally provide some of the following benefits: Agencies converting to MDT/MCT's have experienced enhanced officer security in that the officers are more informed prior to arrival at calls. This technology allows the officers to view premise history and other computerized information prior to their arrival. Armed with this information, they are , p':>'I"\~ obviously more prepared to make appropriate tactical decisions ~ t",-,I:.. ~;1RESS , .. I o o regarding their response and handling of that particular call. Additionally transmission via the MDT/MCT's occur on a data burst format which is secure in a sense that it cannot be scanned by existing scanner technology. This increases officer safety in narcotic investigations, surveillances, and hostage or barricaded subject situations. MDT/MCT's also allow access to the department's CAD and RMS data bases as well as access to the California Law Enforcement Teletype System and the NCIC Teletype System. This direct access to the computer system eliminates the continual interruptions of the activities at the Dispatch Center and the Records Units of our department and the San Bernardino Sher iff's Department. The deletions of these interruptions to other employees is immeasurable, however, their efficiency would obviously increase dramatically without these continual interruptions. Statistical data for those agencies possessing MDT/MCT's has shown an increase in auto theft recovery and auto theft arrests due to the instantaneous access to the local and state teletype systems. Additionally, agencies have observed an increase in the number of warrant arrests which results in an increase in funding returned to the agencies by the fines associated with warrant arrests. MDT/MCT's also provide a baCk-Up system in the event that any or all of the audio frequency failures due to accidents and acts of nature. The acquisition of the MCT's vs. MDT's allows for the expansion of the computerized system by allowing access to the previously describe... data bases as well as the ability to integrate with all local agencies for shared data bases in the future. Addi tionally, efforts are underway to digi tize fingerprints, mug shots and other data associated with law enforcement responses which will only be available through a computerized atmosphere rather than a MDT format. It is important to note that although the City is pre~_ntly licensed for three audio frequencies for police use, that the Federal Communications Commission is undertaking studies to redistribute all lower band frequency acquisitions which could possibly require that the city lease these frequencies from private entities who are seeking the licensing authorities for these frequencies. If, for whatever reason, the City does not participate in the 800 frequency acquisition, then the issue would become extremely compounded by the fact that existing frequencies are under attack by private entities who possess funding levels capable of allowing them to out-bid the city for use of the existing frequencies. o o 'j )Page 3 MDT's/MCT's Benefit Analysis Should a decision be made not to purchase MDT's and/or MCT's, we could continue to operate as we do presently, however, it would be imperative that we implement use of all three frequencies on a 24-hour basis. Should the need arise to utilize all three frequencies, then we would have to increase staffing levels at Dispatch substantially to facilitate the use of a third frequency. Although we could continue to function without the acquisition of MDT's or MCT's, we would continue to have frequency overcrowding problems due to rapidly increasing calls for service and any addition of personnel who would use these audio frequencies. Should we not gambling that available to us purchase a digitized system, we our existing frequencies would in the future. would be still be We would also continue to have all of the problems associated with our present overcrowding and multiplied employee down time due officers waiting for access to the voice frequencies as well as the interruptions of support personnel to provide services which could be directly available to the officers through computerization. Attached you will find interoffice memos prepared by Lieutenant Dennis Kraus on 10-2-89 and Chief Dispatcher Dodie Alsop from 8-30- 90. These memos contain information in regards to MDT's and 800 Mhz acquisitions and the benefits derived from such acquisition. Addi tionally, attached is a report by Omnicom Incorporated prepared for the City in regards to acquisition of 800 Mhz and MDT/MCT's. ML/pg -<l o IVII:.IVIVnAI'4 UU lVl , ... ''VI I I vr ~1"'\1'4 ~i:;.nl'4l"'\nLJII"V o , Chief D. A. Robbins via chain of cannand - " ro '1 ~ Subject From Sgt. D. Kraus STAFF REPORT: Mobil DigitBl Terrrdnals Date 10-12-89 Approved Date PRCBLEM: Police frequency security. efficiency and effectiveness are insufficent to rreet the growing demands of our camunity. Narcotics enforcerrent. arrest and property recovery rates, as 'llell as citizen and officer safety currently suffer fran insufficient radio security and overloaded frequencies. RECCM1ENDATIONS : 'lhe San Bernardino Police should purchase a Mobil Digital Tenninal System for its entire fleet. FINDlflKiS: 1. 'Mobil Digital Temli.nals (MOTs) provide a secure. highly efficient and effective rreans of camu.mications by the follOW'ing rrean5. a. MOTs use millisecond data bursts to transmit data saving air tirre. b. MOT rressages can only be read by the terrrdnal(s.) the rressage is addressed to. c. Messages arrive in text fom which can be read, re-read and saved providing max:imJm effective camu.mication. d. MOTs enable field officers direct access to caTp\lters for want and warrant checks, vehicle checks and other data. 'lbat access is far quicker and readily available making such checks possible even during the busiest of tirres. e. Report writing via tenninals produces a professional (spell checked) typed report. 2. Narcotics enforcement needs a secure radio fODnat to prevent suspect(s) using rronitors fran escaping and/or destroying evidence. a. Scanners can not decipher MOT data bursts. b. Even if a criminal had an MOT. it would not help him, as MOTs w{ll only receive rressages specifically addressed to that temli.nal. . PRiDE .. ~,"',. IN PROG,~RESS "..,J f ~~~~::771 __?7r' . ~ r o srAFF REPORTs KEIL DIGITAL TER-IINALS Page 2 o . ... CCNl'INUED J. Auto theft recovery, stolen property recovery and arrest rates increase dramatically with MOT use. All departments contacted indicated marked increases in these areas. a. Redlands P. D. reported that MOT use has increased stolen vehicle recoverys 20%. b. Long Beach P. D. reported that MOTs caused nurerous tow driver catplaints because MOTs created so many additional stolen car recoveries it kept them up all night every night responding. c. Phoenix P. D. recovered over a million dollars in stolen vehicles and property the first year it used MOTs. d. Vancover, Canada (see appendix D) found a 49.7% increase in traffic wa=ant arrests and a 54.2% increase in criminal arrests attribut- able to MOTs. 4. Officer & citizen safety is enhanced by MOTs. a. Both police frequencies are dangerously overloaded. Far above the industry standard of 40% use. b. MOTs would use a separate "designated" data channel which IlOtOrola would help obtain as a contingency of purchase. 1. Use of a data channel would free our current channel 2 and provide it as a 2nd emergency voice channel. 2. The MOT channel would not effect 800 MZH plans. c. Redlands P. D. reported a 70% decrease in voice channel load with the use of MOTs. d. Waits for voice channel wa=ant and vehicle checks sanetimes run a 1/2 hour or longer. 1. Through MOT to caYpUter direct access, such checks cut out the Dispatcher/Records Clerk providing alIrost instantaneous responce. That speed provides greater officer availability and safety. 2. With a Data Channel such checks will always be possible, even when both Voice Channels are tied up with emergency traffic. - 2 - CITY OF St) BERNARDINO 0" MEMORANDUM ~ 'ito Subject CHIEF DANIEL ROBBINS Via Olain-of-Ccmnand Mm"S AND -800 MHZ: A C(MI1UNICATIONS PERSPECTIVE From OODIE ALSOP Date 8/3/90 Approved Dale Frequency overcrowding and frequency acquisition are major telecamunications issues facing not only our Police Departrrent, but many public entities today. Solutions are being successfully ~lerrented in various agencies through introduction of two separate technologies, Mm"s and 800 MHz systell5. MIJl"s or mobile digital tenninals provide imnediate relief for overcrowded frequen- cies and are revolutionizing field units access to computerized information. Acquisition of 800 MHz spectrum frequencies for citywide use will satisfy regional camunications concerns. The city will not have rrore channels in an 800 MHz system but, through trunking, will have a limited nl.ll'lber of frequencies which will be used in a rrore efficient manner. As previously noted. Mm"s and 800 MHz are independent technologies. MDT's. which transmit via a radio frequency, can be operated on 450 or 800 Iotlz fre- quencies. There is benefit to I'OI' tying the MDT system into the 800 MHz system as will discussed below. The 800 MHz system will be CCXlprised of an undetennined nl.rnber of channels (possibly eight) to be shared citywide. They may be voice channels or data channels (MDT's run on data channels). depend- ing upon licensing. and city system design. Because these technologies are not related, the following information has been separated for explanation: ~ILE DIGITAL TERMINALS MDT justification can be viewed fran three perspectives. The system would (l) provide imnediate relief for overcrowded frequencies: (2) electronically link all-Mm'-equipped vehicles/personnel to CCXlputer data: and (3) provide a backup system for cannunications that can be separate -fran other cqmuni- cations system. As a frequency overcrowding solution. the Mm' transmits information fran the field unit to the dispatcher. or visa versa, via a radio frequency. MDT units can be purchased with the radio built into the unit that rrounts in the car. Mm' radio frequencies are generally referred to as DATA links or data frequencies and are allocated fran the 450 MHz spectrum or 800 MHz spectrun. A data frequency is not normally used in conjunction with voice transmissions. An entire transaction on an Mm' (such as an officer requesting information and receiving the information back) takes less radio frequency time than an initial request for information on a voice frequency. More information can be accessed on an MDT, using less radio frequency time, for rrore efficient use of a frequency. (Continued ) ../1!:. o ~S AND 800 KlZ A ~ICATIONS PERSPEcrI\IE Page 2 ~ '1 Personnel using car-llDunted or mobile (handy talkie type) MDT units are electronically linked to each other and to whatever cooputer infomation the system design allows. CAD is the MDT-host Canputer. Virtually all CAD infomation is accessible to officers. Data that can be accessed in- cludes incident status (pending/current/history). unit statuses. activity logs. CLETS with state and national interfaces. and dispatching infomation. Field units can input traffic stops. officer-initiated activities. change of locations or other status changes (enroute. on scene. 10-8. etc.) without talking to the dispatCher. Every MDT can "talk" to every R-1S terminal and CAD temrinal within the police carputer network. Every R-lS or CAD tenninal can be used to "talk" to MOl','s. MDT's can send messages to other MDT's. R>lS access would be a system design decision. as would access to document imaging or word processing. An MDT system built as a SEPARATE system fran 800 MHz would provide an autonooous camunications system. The benefit of a separate camunications system is that in a catastrophic event. even if one system fails. there is sane probability that with two system;, one might survive. Fran a daily operations point-of-view. if our voice frequencies failed. provided the MOT system was a totally separate installation. it would not be impacted. Because an 800 MHz system is trunked (high tech cooputerization). there is always a possibility of a failure that would disable voice camunications citywide. The following is an exa1l>le of how an MDT nay be used in the Police Department operation t Ar. .fficer wishing to review his activity log would do the following t Enter a ccmnand reading "IJH 015." He would then touch the transmit button on the status pad. His request would be transmitted across the data frequency in a DATA BURST. A data burst can be equated to words being transmitted on a voice frequency. only a data burst is nuch faster (approximately 480 characters or letters/m.lltlers are transmitted per second via data burst). '!he- host cooputer would receive the camand UH 015 which tells the cooputer to look up all of 015's activity for the day. The carputer would send the infomation back to the officer via another data burst. '!he entire al!Dunt of real time for this transaction would include the officer's input time in typing, the cooputer's receipt/research/return time. and whatever amount of time the officer may need to review the displayed information. Actual radio transmit time is measurable in seconds. With voice transmission. actual radio transmit time would be considerably increased. While Redlands PO has said their voice radio traffic has diminished by as I11Jch as 70%. until system design and officer taSking/training and procedural issues are reviewed by our department. there is not enough information to accurately project how much reduction in frequency overcrowding will be accooplished. Undoubtedly. it can be SIGNIFICANT with proper implementation: - o o MDT'S AND 800 MHZ: A CCl+lUNICATIONS PERSPECTIVE Page 3 . r The Police DePartment has a total of 136 operational land-m:>bile or car-nounted radios as of this da te. There are also 158 handy talkies in various divisions. While all pa trol vehicles should be equipped with the standard MDT. various other vehicles should not depending upon use. I't:>torcycles cannot be equipped with a fixed MDT. Detective units and other special detail units may not be suited for under=ver work with a visible MDT m:>Ullt. Portable MDT's. similar to the size of handy talkies. Should be considered for purchase. It should be noted that rrony police vehicles will have three separate radios m:>Ullted in the front coopartment with the addition of MOT's and 800 MHz. The MDT and its internal radio are one unit. The 800 MHz radio will be a se=nd unit and the =nventional radios now in 136 vehicles will be needed at least through the changeover period.