Item #10
Date: October 20, 2026
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Vance Nabeta, Police Chief
Subject: Authorize the City Manager to Submit an Application for Funding the Patrol Field Access and Real-Time Intelligence Modernization Project
Recommendation:
Adopt a Resolution authorizing the City Manager or his designee to submit an application to the U.S.
Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, for funding of $249,210 under the FY 2026 Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative to fund the “Patrol Field Access and Real-Time Intelligence Modernization Project,” and to execute the certification required by the funding notice following review by the City Attorney.
Rationale for Recommendation:
The proposed 36-month project would replace the Police Department’s 25 out-of-support patrol mobile data terminals and equip every patrol vehicle with GPS location, secure connectivity, multifactor authentication, and real-time crime software, allowing officers to complete reports and access critical information in the field instead of returning to the station. The grant would provide $249,210, requires no local match, and would not create any new City positions.
Background:
Marysville continues to experience violent crime levels that are disproportionately high for a rural community of approximately 13,000 residents. The City reported 94 violent crimes to the FBI in 2024, a rate of about 745 per 100,000 residents, which is roughly 55% above the California rate and more than double the national rate. Residents face approximately a one-in-135 chance of becoming the victim of a violent crime. Aggravated assaults accounted for 76 of the 94 violent crimes, and only 54% of violent crimes were cleared in 2024.
The Department’s patrol force responds to these calls using 25 mobile data terminals that are past manufacturer support. The devices have limited processing and storage capacity and cannot run the mobile modules of the Department’s planned CAD/RMS modernization. As a result, officers must return to the station to write reports, which removes them from patrol, and they cannot receive information such as camera footage, license plate reader alerts, or school alert activations while responding to a call.
Patrol vehicles also have no GPS, so dispatch cannot reliably identify the closest available unit.
This federal grant program is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, and is intended to help law enforcement agencies in rural jurisdictions prevent, respond to, and reduce violent crime through equipment, technology, data analytics, and related strategies. The grant program is competitive, with approximately 10 awards of up to $250,000 each over a 36-month performance period beginning January 1, 2027. There is no local match requirement.
Item #10
Discussion & Analysis:
Staff requests that the City Council formally authorize the City Manager to submit an application for funding the Patrol Field Access and Real-Time Intelligence Modernization Project. The proposed application would request up to $249,210 to modernize the field technology used by patrol officers.
More specifically, the proposed grant funding would be used for the following:
• $150,000 for 25 rugged mobile data terminals, including installation, allowing officers to write and submit reports, search vehicle, person, and property records, and use the modernized CAD/RMS system from the patrol vehicle.
• $37,500 for 25 GPS modems, allowing dispatchers to identify and send the closest available unit and providing reliable response-time data.
• $25,000 for 25 vehicle antennas, including installation, to maintain a reliable data connection in the field.
• $6,250 for 25 multifactor authentication tokens, as required by FBI security policy for access to criminal justice information.
• $31,250 for licensing of real-time crime software and mobile CAD/RMS access, with the final amount subject to vendor quotes. The software would bring existing community camera program footage, school alert systems, mapping, license plate reader alerts, building floor plans, and drone video into a single view in the patrol vehicle. It would not purchase new cameras, license plate readers, or drones, and access would require multifactor authentication and be logged by user and incident.
• Indirect Costs at 1% for $2460
The overall objective of the project is to reduce violent crime in Marysville, with aggravated assault as the primary focus. The Department will continue to track violent crime rates throughout the grant period and compare them with pre-program baseline data. Because crime rates may also be affected by factors outside the program, these trends will be evaluated together with patrol time, response times, report and case-referral times, and case-clearance rates.
The Department would establish a 12-month pre-grant baseline and measure the following targeted results during the 36-month grant period:
• Equip all 25 patrol vehicles with new mobile data terminals, GPS modems, and antennas by September 30, 2027.
• Reduce the time officers spend at the station writing reports by 50% within 12 months of the system going live.
• Reduce the average response time to priority violent-crime calls by 10% by December 2029. • Reduce aggravated assaults by 10% from the 2024 level of 76 by December 2029. • Increase the violent crime clearance rate above its 2024 level of 54%.
Participation in the grant would not obligate the City to continue any component after the grant expires.
During the final year of the grant, staff would return to the City Council with the project’s measured results, actual operating experience, vendor pricing, and a complete sustainability budget. Council would then determine whether to continue funding the software and services, continue only selected components, or allow them to end when grant funding expires.
Item #10
Alignment with City Council Goal(s):
Goal #4 – Enhance Public Safety
Goal #6 – Strengthen Organizational Capacity
Environmental Review:
The action proposed in this item is administrative in nature and does not constitute a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Legal Review:
The City Attorney has reviewed the resolutions and approved as to form.
Fiscal Impact:
There is no material General Fund impact associated with submitting the grant application. If awarded, the grant would fund the proposed 36-month project and requires no local match. The ongoing costs associated with the project would be limited to the real-time software platform in the amount of $15,000/year. This platform also incorporates numerous other applications including real-time camera feeds, site floor plans, AVL vehicle mapping, community camera sharing capabilities, and digital evidence management. The costs of the MDTs, modems, and MFA tokens are all one-time costs with at least 5 year expected lifecycles. Any replacement costs would be expected after the lifespan of the vehicle and could be transferred to the new builds in most cases. These devices all represent critical public safety equipment for field responses and officer safety. A comprehensive device replacement schedule will be recommended in order to maintain the long-term sustainability of field equipment efficiency and effectiveness for officers.
Attachments:
1) Resolution 2026-XX