June 27, 2023
Police Department
DATE: June 27, 2023
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Bisa French, Chief of Police
Timothy Simmons, Assistant Chief of Police
Subject:
Agreement with Sacramento Hotel Partners, LLC dba
Embassy Suites for a Peace Officers Standards and
Training (POST) Team Building Workshop
FINANCIAL IMPACT: A portion of the total expense will be reimbursed through POST (~ $5,579.15). The balance (roughly $25,500
maximum), will be covered through the Police
Department’s General Fund budget for Fiscal Year 2023-
2024 – account strings 01191021-400243 (hotel rooms
and conference room rental), 01191021-400241 (meal
allowance).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
n/a
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) offers
three to four sponsored agency Team Building
Workshops (TBW) that they pick out of roughly one-
hundred yearly agency applicants. The City of Richmond
Police Department (RPD) was selected as a POST
sponsored agency this year, and RPD staff is seeking
approval of expenses in excess of POST’s reimbursable
limits.
AGENDA
REPORT
June 27, 2023
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE an agreement with Sacramento Hotel
Partners, LLC dba Embassy Suites by Hilton Sacramento
Riverfront Promenade for hotel lodging and conference
room rental in an amount not to exceed $25,500, which
includes a $737.09 contingency; and APPROVE
expenses in the amount not to exceed $5,500 for mileage and meal costs, which includes a $159.40 contingency,
for a combined total of $31,000, of which $5,579.15 is
reimbursable by Peace Officers Standards and Training
Team Building Workshop (TBW) sponsorship – Police
Department (Chief Bisa French 510-621-1802).
DISCUSSION:
On May 1 of each year, Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) opens its application process to sponsor a few law enforcement agencies to host their own Team Building Workshop (TBW) facilitated by a POST approved presenter during the following fiscal year. In preparation, the City of Richmond’s Police Department, identified a hotel that met the requirements set forth by POST (and the City’s own purchasing policies), which includes a hotel 50-100 miles from the agency’s headquarters, and meeting rooms that could accommodate the guests, breakout sessions, and the presenter.
POST’s sponsorship includes the payment directly to the presenter, presenter’s salary, presenter’s travel and per diem expenses, reimbursement of up to $250 per day for conference room rentals, reimbursement for up to 19 guests to include: lodging (at the POST reimbursement rate of $95 per night for two nights), lunch up to $11 per guest, dinner up $23 per guest, per diem expenses up to $5 per guest, and mileage reimbursement up to 200 miles per every four attendees.
As described by POST, the benefits of the TBW include:
Identification of Need: The POST-certified presenter will survey the agency to develop preliminary information about the problem(s) and/or issue(s) to be addressed in the workshop, and agree with the client agency how long the workshop will be (16 or 24 hours).
Workshop Session: Sixteen (16) to twenty-four (24) hours are set aside for group work at a location selected by the client agency. During the workshop, an action plan is developed to solve identified problems, set goals or objectives, and/or team build. The presenter will return the completed TBW Action Plan to POST within 90 days.
Follow-up Evaluation: The presenter is required to contact the agency following the workshop to aid in the implementation of action items identified in the Action Plan.
June 27, 2023
With very few exceptions, virtually all the Police Department’s current management team is composed of newly promoted sergeants, lieutenants, and captains. The management team is eager to learn and grow in their new roles and the executive team full-heartedly believes that this offsite TBW is a great opportunity to get the team moving in a positive direction. Moreover, with 24/7/365 coverage, it is very difficult, if not impossible to gather all management teams together, physically, in front of the Chief of Police. Additionally, City Council has discussed goals that they would like to see that are related to Public Safety. This TBW will provide the Chief of Police with an opportunity to integrate the City Council priorities centered around the Police Department practices.
The Team Building Workshop represents a commitment by the Police Department staff to be the best representation of the City, and to provide the best service to its citizens.
Police Department staff wants to use this TBW as a way to re-align its focus on providing the best care, communication, and forwarding thinking to the officers that represent each of us (all City employees) in the community. Police Department staff understands that what we get out of the TBW will be reflective of how much we put into it, and for that reason, RPD staff is asking City Council to approve the total expense of $31,000, to include a total contingency of $896.49, and to expect a POST reimbursement of $5,579.15.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Hotel Agreement
Attachment 2 – POST Approval
Attachment 3 – Hotel Cost Comparisons