STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: June 17, 2025
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Stephanie Harris, Director of Community Services
Chad Lynn, Deputy Director Special Projects Public Safety Subject: City of Beverly Hills Community Security Ad Hoc Recommendation for Safety and Hospitality Services
Attachments: 1. New Service Area
INTRODUCTION
The Community Security Ad Hoc recommends awarding a one-year agreement with three one-year extensions to Block by Block (BBB) for Ambassador security services. This agreement will provide for the following:
• Reducing the current Ambassador routes and coverage area, and consolidating these areas with existing security patrol services • Tailored hours of operations to more closely align with local restaurant and retail hours
• Seasonal and as-needed coverage for Civic Center/3rd Street and as-needed services for Beverly Hills Unified School District schools
DISCUSSION
On October 10, 2024, City Council was presented with the findings and recommendations of the Community Security Ad Hoc; then-Mayor Lester Friedman and Councilmember Craig Corman. They reviewed the full scope of work being performed by the Ambassador team and provided suggested changes to the scope of work that should be published in the Request for Proposal. At that time, the work was broken down into eight different categories:
• Hospitality
• Homeless Outreach
• Overnight Parking Garage Checks
• Panhandling Monitoring
• Tobacco Education and Outreach
• Electric Scooter Pick Up
• Safey Escorts
• School Safety
The Ad Hoc identified an opportunity to consolidate services, specifically related to the overnight security functions and parking garage patrols. The community security contract through the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) includes overnight patrols throughout
Meeting Date: June 17, 2025
the community. This provides a more detailed mission to the security service provider within their current deployment and allows for consolidation of these services.
Furthermore, this would provide a higher level of service for this security function, as this service provider is integrated with the BHPD for security services and engaged throughout the City.
Currently, the Ambassador team provides other categories of work, such as hospitality services and outreach services throughout the Business Triangle and South Beverly Drive.
The Ad Hoc identified a value to the community to continue providing these functions as well as recommended two adjustments to the Ambassador program: a reduced footprint and more specific service times focused in high-traffic business areas.
Continued services in the reduced footprint would focus the area of service in the Business Triangle from Camden Drive to Crescent Drive, between Wilshire Boulevard and North Santa Monica Boulevard, and on South Beverly Drive from Wilshire Boulevard to Gregory Way (Attachment 1). Areas outside of this proposed footprint such as the City Hall campus and 3rd Street tour bus loading area, will now have reduced coverage and will only have an Ambassador present on a seasonal and as-needed basis. The proposed footprint will reduce the number of Ambassadors necessary to provide coverage and will concentrate services in business and tourist-dense areas.
The Ad Hoc also recommended tailoring the hours of service to align with the business hours within the coverage area. Ambassadors currently have coverage 24 hours per day, seven days per week, broken into four shifts over the course of the day. The overnight shift (8pm – 5am) would be eliminated from this program and consolidated with the BHPD security service provider. The new proposed hours of operation will be more aligned with local retailer and restaurant business hours:
• Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday: 7am – 10pm
• Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: 7am – 12am
In addition to recommendations related to the footprint and hours of operation, the Ad Hoc highlighted service levels, reporting, and performance metrics that were incorporated into the RFP process. Areas identified for improvement and accountability include Ambassador training related to conduct and professional standards, a prohibition on the use of personal cell phones (those not associated with logging encounters and response to service calls), enhanced/ongoing training standards, and uniform presentation and appearance standards.
The City released RFP #24-400-02 on November 15, 2024. The RFP closed on December 20, 2024, and the City received a total of seven qualifying proposals. The screening process of these proposals was thorough and included:
• An evaluation panel consisting of representatives from Policy and Management and Community Services departments evaluated all qualified proposals. Finance department representatives from the Purchasing Division were also present throughout the evaluation process to moderate and act as a liaison between the evaluation panel and the proposers. The evaluation panel screened the written proposals for completeness, minimum requirements, and preferred qualifications including experience working with other renowned cities. • Out of seven proposals reviewed, four were recommended to move forward for interviews by a staff selection committee.
• The four firms were interviewed by the evaluation panel. The interviews allowed the firms to further elaborate on their methodology in delivering quality security and hospitality services to the City of Beverly Hills. Staff was also interested in exploring their service model and staffing structures.
Meeting Date: June 17, 2025
• Two of the four interviewed firms were recommended to move forward to interview with the Community Security Ad Hoc.
• The Community Security Ad Hoc, comprised of then-Mayor Lester Friedman and Councilmember Craig Corman were supported by the evaluation panel to interview the two qualifying firms virtually.
The recommended firm was Block by Block due to their ability to deploy staff quickly, their staffing structure, and their willingness to alter and modify services based on the City’s need at any time.
FISCAL IMPACT
A total annual not-to-exceed amount of $1,600,000 is recommended to cover all associated costs of deployment.
Upon execution of the agreement, staff is requesting a purchase order in the amount of $1,409,795.90, an amount less than the current cost of services, for the anticipated actual cost of the deployment model selected. The remaining annual contract value may only be executed with a Change Purchase Order and for the purpose of responding to asneeded/as-directed changes in deployment, such as additional seasonal needs or school safety services. Funds for these services are currently budgeted in the amount of $1,049,930 in the Community Services’ operating budget. A budget enhancement request in the amount of $558,501 for these services has been submitted through the City’s budget process, which subject to Council approval, would bring the operating budget to $1,608,431.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends approving the agreement with BBB-CA, Inc. DBA Block by Block, California to continue Ambassador services for the City of Beverly Hills for a total not-toexceed amount of $1,600,000 and a purchase order in the amount of $1,409,795.90 for fiscal year 2025-2026. The agreement and purchase order will be brought forward on June 17, 2025.
Stephanie Harris,
Director of Community Services
Approved By
ATTACHMENT 1
Meeting Date: June 17, 2025
New Service Area