February 7, 2023
Police Department
DATE: February 7, 2023
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Bisa French, Chief of Police
Subject:
Purchase of Encrypted Police Radios for Richmond
Police Department
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The one-time purchase of encrypted police radios will not exceed $2,064,146.06 and will be made available by
transferring cost savings due to vacancies from
Richmond Police Department’s salaries and wages.
(Account Strings: 01197121-400002, 01191021-400003,
01191021-400004, 01194021-4000040 to account string
01191021-400701).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
N/A
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Richmond Police Department needs to comply with the
California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) directive,
mandating that all public law enforcement agencies
encrypt their radio telecommunications by June 2023.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE the purchase of 175 portable police radios
and 150 mobile police radios from Motorola Solutions, to comply with the California Department of Justice
directive, for an amount not to exceed $2,064,146.06 –
Police Department (Chief Bisa French 510-621-1802).
DISCUSSION:
AGENDA
REPORT
February 7, 2023
There is a constant increase in the number of websites, mobile apps, and a range of messaging apps that solely exist to keep the user anonymous. At the same time, sensitive information is communicated over police radios that gets broadcasted, recorded, or transcribed over various platforms in real-time. The California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) issued a directive in October 2020 mandating all public law enforcement agencies encrypt their radio telecommunications by December 31, 2022.
That deadline was later extended to June 2023. The CA DOJ directive was issued to keep private information secure and eliminate individual’s private information being broadcasted to the general public.
Originally, the encryption was to be added to the current radio equipment and was included and approved in the fiscal year (FY) 2021-2022 budget; however, during research to install the encryption, Motorola announced that our current communications equipment would no longer be supported at the end of the year (also known as technology’s “end of life”). This would eliminate the ability to make any software changes to the unit resulting in the need to purchase new radios. With the deadline quickly approaching, and Motorola’s two-to-six-month lead time, the urgency to purchase is dire. The purchase would be to replace 150 mobile auto units as well as 175 portable units worn by the officers.
Although we are transferring funds from our vacant wage and salary account strings, it will be a one-time cost, and the equipment is expected to last 10 or more years. Our current communication equipment is more than 10 years old.
The initial selection of Motorola Solutions Inc. to be sole provider of radio equipment was made by the East Bay Regional Communications Systems Authority (EBRCSA), of which, the City of Richmond is a member, to ensure continued interoperability across participating agencies. The price of each radio includes programing to our specifications and radio channels, as well as encryption. Motorola Solutions is the only provider that can supply the encryption for the Motorola system used by the police department and many of the radio add-on features will make Richmond Police Department’s radios compatible with not only neighboring cities, but neighboring counties as well – Solano County being the latest to comply.
City staff is recommending the urgent approval of the purchase so that the County’s Department of Information Technology can prepare to install the required county software, and so that the City of Richmond’s Public Works maintenance team can schedule to install the mobile units in the police vehicles when they arrive.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Motorola Quotation
Attachment 2 – Sole Source