January 13, 2026
Agenda Item No. 11
TO:
HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:
David Miner, Chief of Police - 949-644-3701, [email protected] PREPARED BY:
Jonathan Stafford, Deputy Director - 949-644-3650, [email protected] TITLE:
Accept a Restricted Donation from the Newport Beach Police Foundation and Approve Purchase of Patrol Rifles ABSTRACT:
The Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD) requests City Council approval to accept a donation from the Newport Beach Police Foundation in the amount of $190,000, to allocate the funds to the expenditure budget, and to complete a sole source procurement of 120 patrol rifles and related equipment. The purchase will allow for an upgraded, more reliable rifle equipped with better quality optical sights and related gear to be assigned to every patrol officer and sergeant. A sole source procurement with the requested vendor will allow purchase of a top-quality rifle directly from the manufacturer at a discounted cost.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
a) Determine this action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines because this action will not result in a physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; b) Accept a restricted donation in the amount of $190,000 from the Newport Beach Police Foundation for the purchase of new patrol rifles and related equipment; c) Approve Budget Amendment No. 26-046 increasing revenue in account 01035352-561005 and appropriating $190,000 to expenditure account 01035252-841023; and d) Approve a sole source procurement of 120 patrol rifles and related equipment from SIONICS Weapons Systems of Tucson, Arizona and authorize the City Manager to execute a purchase order in an amount not to exceed $190,000.
DISCUSSION:
The existing inventory of patrol rifles have begun to show issues with reliability under field operating conditions, including a malfunction during a recent critical incident. The NBPD currently owns 95 AR15 rifles which are assigned to individual patrol officers, but not to sergeants. The department would like to replace the current inventory of patrol rifles with more reliable, better-quality rifles and increase the inventory by 25 rifles to assign each patrol sergeant a personal rifle. The Newport Beach Police Foundation has provided a donation in the amount of $190,000 to cover all costs of the new patrol rifles and related equipment such as optical sights, suppressors, rifle mounted flashlights, and slings.
Sole Source Justification
The NBPD’s Firearms Training Unit (FTU), which includes certified instructors and armorers, evaluated the patrol rifle marketplace seeking AR-15 type rifles that are widely used by law enforcement agencies and have a good reputation for quality, reliability and customer service. The FTU requested test rifles from several potential vendors that met those criteria and then put the rifles through rigorous testing that simulated a variety of field use conditions. After a thorough evaluation, the FTU unanimously chose the Patrol Three SBR rifle from SIONICS Weapon Systems (SWS). SWS won the evaluation process and has the lowest cost. SWS provides several important characteristics that justify a sole source procurement:
Direct-to-manufacturer purchasing allows for shorter production time, quicker access to parts and repairs, and a direct relationship with the armorers that build and test each rifle. SWS only sells directly to law enforcement agencies and does not use resellers.
The SWS Patrol Three rifle is the lowest cost of the rifles considered by the FTU.
SWS will receive all the accessories, fully assemble the rifle, including important factory tuning to ensure quality and reliability of the rifle and attached accessories, and ship the rifles ready to be sighted in and issued. This will save at least 250 hours of FTU police officer time.
SWS has a demonstrated history of providing reliable rifles to several large law enforcement agencies, including the New Mexico State Police, Colorado Department of Public Safety, Atlanta Police, Albuquerque Police, and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
The SWS Patrol Three rifle is built with several features that are not available from other manufacturers that contribute to a rifle that is reliable in all conditions. These components include a chrome-lined barrel x-ray inspected for flaws, a specially coated bolt carrier group, enhanced springs and full tuning and testing of the fully assembled rifles. The agencies listed above have had SWS rifles in service for several years and they have been completely reliable.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The budget amendment records $190,000 in additional revenue from a donation by the Newport Beach Police Foundation and $190,000 in increased expenditure appropriations. The revenue will be posted to the Private Donations/Contributions account in the Police Department, 01035352-561005, and the purchase will be expensed to the Shooting Range Supplies account in the Police Department, 01035352-841023. The current budget is sufficient to cover ongoing maintenance and other expenses for the patrol rifles and accessories.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Staff recommends the City Council find this action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
NOTICING:
The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers the item).
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A – Donation Letter from the Newport Beach Police Foundation Attachment B – Budget Amendment No. 26-046
Accept a Restricted Donation from the Newport Beach Police Foundation and Approve Purchase of Patrol Rifles January 13, 2026
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