Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Sonoma State Police Dispatch Contract Extension Date: September 13, 2022
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute an extension to the agreement with Sonoma State University for the police dispatch services.
Background
In 2017, the City negotiated with Sonoma State University (SSU) to take over their police dispatch services. In addition, SSU joined the Sonoma County Public Safety Consortium JPA (SCPSC), which enabled SSU officers to operate with the same County-wide public safety records and in-car system as the City of Cotati and most other cities in Sonoma County, as well as allow for seamless dispatch services.
In November 2017, the City Council approved an initial 5-year dispatch agreement with SSU. By all accounts, this relationship has been beneficial to both SSU and Cotati in terms of better service and more seamless mutual aid for both communities. The extension of the agreement has substantially the same terms as the existing agreement, with minor changes for clarification, and an updated cost schedule.
Analysis/Discussion
Under the management of the Police Chief and command staff, the City’s police officers and dispatchers are highly respected by other agencies for their professionalism and regional cooperation. This laid the foundation for working together with SSU more closely on this agreement for the mutual benefit of both the City of Cotati and the SSU community.
The agreement resulted in our police dispatchers taking 911 calls from SSU, as well as police business line calls after hours (nights and weekends). As such, Cotati’s dispatch is SSU’s Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). Related record duties are minimal and consist of providing 911 or business line call recordings to SSU, as requested. To facilitate the shared dispatch service, SSU moved their parking services to another division, which constituted the bulk of their call volume. SSU continues to staff their police station during working hours to take calls, handle police records, and other related duties. This agreement did not affect police officer staffing at SSU and allows SSU police officers to spend more time in the field policing the campus.
The agreement will initially extend the agreement for another 5 years, with options for two additional 5-year extensions. This service allows for more officer time in the field for SSU, allow for seamless mutual aid for both communities, and allows for integrated services by our dispatchers and other Sonoma County law enforcement agencies, now that SSU is a member of the SCPSC. For example, their officers now have real-time access to the County-wide police record system and allow our dispatchers to electronically send information to officers in the field as they are supporting them via the radio.
While not typical in Sonoma County, joint or regional police dispatch centers such as this are common both state-wide and within the California State University System.
Financial Considerations
The annual revenue for the dispatch service is indicated below, which is used in part to support an additional officer and part time dispatch position.
FY 22-23 $193,865
FY 23-24 $200,650
FY 24-25 $207,673
FY 25-26 $214,941
FY 26-27 $222,464
Environmental Issues
The action of executing a police dispatch service agreement extension does not constitute a project as defined by California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15378; therefore, no further environmental review is required.