November 18, 2025
Police Department
DATE: November 18, 2025
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Bisa French, Chief of Police
Tim Simmons, Assistant Chief of Police
Matt Stonebraker, Captain
Yvonne Lima, Communications Center Manager
Subject:
Purchase of Encrypted Mobile Radios from Motorola
Solutions for the Police Vehicles and Motor Unit
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed $350,000 expenditure, which includes a
7.5 percent contingency, is included within the approved Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Police Department budget
(Account String: 01191021-400704).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
February 7, 2023
December 3, 2024
September 23, 2025
November 4, 2025
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
In 2023, the Richmond Police Department (RPD)
upgraded its entire radio communication systems (mobile and portables) with encrypted Motorola radios to comply with the Department of Justice mandate 20-09 Criminal
Justice Information Service (CJIS). The RPD needs to
purchase forty-five (45) additional encrypted Motorola
radios to outfit additional Police vehicles and Motorcycle Unit.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE the purchase of up to 45 police radios
(combination of mobile and portable) from Motorola
Solutions for an amount not to exceed $350,000, which
includes a 7.5 per contingency – Police Department
(Chief Bisa French 510-621-1802).
AGENDA
REPORT
November 18, 2025
DISCUSSION:
The Richmond Police Department (RPD) is requesting authorization to purchase up to 45 additional radios (mobile and portable) for additional patrol vehicles, motorcycles, and new Police Officers. The radios will be purchased from Motorola, and Motorola will apply the encryption programming to the radios for interoperability with not only the Police Department, Code Enforcement and CCRP/ROCK existing radios, but the encryption is also required to provide interoperability with the East Bay Regional Communications Systems Authority (EBRCSA).
Background
In early 2000, the Richmond Police Department was the lead agency in a consortium of agencies that consisted of the following cities: Pinole, Hercules, Richmond El Cerrito, Kensington, and San Pablo (PHREKS). On September 11, 2007, EBRCSA formed a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) tasked with creating, developing and operating a regional communications system for public agencies in Alameda and Contra Costa County. (Attachment 1).
Currently, there are over 43 member agencies in Contra Costa and Alameda County consisting of 30 cities, 6 special districts, 3 Colleges, Dublin-San Ramon Service District, and California Department of Transportation (DOT) that service a population of over 2.5 million people. The EBRCSA system design and operational cost is approximately $70 million and to date, the EBRCSA has secured close to $51 million in various grants from the Bay Area Security Initiative (UASI), State Homeland Security Grants Program (SHSGP), and Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).
EBRCSA was formed to develop and operate an interoperable regional radio communications system that enables seamless coordination among public safety agencies across Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, including more than 30 participating cities. Shortly after EBRCSA was formed, PHREKS partnered with EBRCSA due to the high cost of managing and maintaining its existing aging Motorola radio system infrastructure. On December 31, 2008, a needs analysis report was developed by EBRCSA (Attachment 2) noted the current infrastructure challenges not only for PHREKS, but all members agencies. Section 2.2.3 of Attachment 2 provides details about PHREKS’s existing radio communication system (the EDACS 800 MHz trunked system), and Section 3.2.1 identifies 29 system deficiencies, including:
Poor in-building radio coverage
Inability to communicate with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) or State Parks Lack of reliability and system redundancy
Unsecured and/or insufficient monitoring of radio sites Busy signals during periods of heavy radio traffic
Loss of communications when radios operate outside the normal coverage area Frequent maintenance needs that result in unplanned system outages without prior notice
Officers having to rely on the Nextel system as a fallback method of communication
November 18, 2025
In addition, EBRCSA was also tasked to create an overarching strategy to help coordinate and guide interoperable disaster response efforts at all government levels according to the July 1, 2008, National Emergency Communication Plan (Attachment 3).
This framework allows all EBRCSA members with a method to communicate during a local, state or national emergency.
State Mandates
On October 12, 2020, the California Department of Justice issued Information Bulletin 20-09- Criminal Justice Information Service (CJIS) (Attachment 6) that required all law enforcement agencies with access to the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications Systems (CLETS) to limit Criminal Justice Information (CJI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) to authorized law enforcement personnel. The bulletin further required that the transmission of sensitive CJI and PII be encrypted pursuant to the FBI CJIS Security Policy Section 5.10 (Attachment 7) and Section 5.13 (Attachment 8) by December 31, 2022, which was extended to 2023. Since the EBRCSA radios were not capable of encryption, all EBRCSA members were required to purchase new Motorola radios to comply with the California DOJ Bulletin 20-09-CJIS.
Prior City Council Actions
The Richmond City Council approved the purchase of 175 encrypted portable police radios and 150 mobile police radios on February 7, 2023 (Attachment 9). The City Council then approved the purchase of encrypted radios for the Code Enforcement Division on December 3, 2024 (Attachment 11), and approved the purchase of encrypted radios for CCRP/ROCK on September 23, 2025 (Attachment 12).
Shortly after the City Council approved the February 7, 2025, item, the Police Department purchased and received the equipment and began outfitting the police vehicles with the new mobile radios and issued new portable radios to authorized police department personnel without the encryption programming. Due to technical and logistical challenges, the encryption programming of the radios was not successfully deployed by EBRCSA and Motorola until October 7, 2025.
JPA Pricing Discount
In 2011, EBRCSA negotiated substantial pricing discounts based on its JPA status. On January 5, 2012, the JPA pricing was made available to all participating members of EBRCSA (Attachment 4). Based on the new Motorola radio’s frequency and technology, a coverage map was developed that demonstrated that the EBRCSA coverage was not only superior to the PHREKS EDACS 800MHz trunked system, but also more reliable with built in redundancy features (Attachment 5).
The current Motorola Radio equipment pricing is a pre-negotiated heavily discounted JPA pricing only available to members of EBRCSA. If Richmond was not a member of EBRCSA, the cost of the equipment would cost between $437,500 to $481,250 or 25 percent to 37.5 percent higher (Attachment 10).
November 18, 2025
The East Bay Regional Communications Authority pulled together Frequently Asked Questions, which outlines why full encryption for radio communications is warranted (Attachment 15):
1. Why are law enforcement agencies moving to radio encryption?
This transition is a critical step to ensure compliance with legal and security requirements. Specifically, it addresses:
• State Mandates: The California Department of Justice (DOJ) requires the protection of Criminal Justice Information (CJI) and Personal Identifying Information (PII) during transmission.
• Federal Standards: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy mandates encryption for the transmission of sensitive data.
• Officer Safety: Encrypting primary radio channels prevents individuals with malicious intent from monitoring police activities, including tactical information and officer locations, thereby reducing the risk to officers during dynamic situations.
2. The CA DOJ memo requiring the protection of PII and CJI was issued in 2020.
Why is this transition happening now?
Since the 2020 DOJ memo, many agencies have implemented interim solutions to protect PII and CJI, such as using back-up channels or mobile device computers for data exchange. Some agencies also began using encrypted secondary channels for primary traffic. EBRCSA has worked to develop and implement a system-wide encryption solution to ensure consistent and comprehensive compliance for member agencies.
3. How common is radio encryption among other law enforcement agencies in California?
While a precise count is not available, it is EBRCSA’s understanding that most law enforcement agencies in California have already transitioned to or utilize encrypted radio channels for their primary communications, including most Bay Area law enforcement agencies.
4. Are there alternatives to encryption for protecting PII and CJI?
While other solutions exist, they do not fully meet the rigorous standards set by the DOJ and FBI, are cost prohibitive to continue long-term, or could compromise peace officer safety. The DOJ memo explicitly states that “the transmission of such information must be encrypted.”
5. How will the media and public learn about in-progress events?
November 18, 2025
Each department will manage such communications based on their specific needs, potentially through social media updates and encouraging all media to contact department dispatch or public information officers for official information.
6. Will the EBRCSA issue a press release about this change?
No. EBRCSA is only providing the technical infrastructure for the transition. Public communication needs vary significantly among member agencies, so the EBRCSA will defer all media inquiries to the individual departments for comment.
7. How have other agencies handled public and media communications regarding encryption?
For examples of how other agencies have managed this process, please review the following resources:
• City of Los Altos: https://www.losaltosca.gov/404/Radio-Encryption • City of Santa Clara Police Department: https://www.santaclaraca.gov/ourcity/ departments-g-z/police-department/community/news/police-radio-system
November 18, 2025
Ongoing use of encrypted Motorola radios by the Police Department, Code Enforcement, and CCRP/ROCK, along with continued membership in EBRCSA, is critical to complying with DOJ 20-09-CJIS requirements for safeguarding CJI and PII and to maintaining interoperable countywide communications during natural disasters and national emergencies.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Joint Powers Authority
Attachment 2 – EBRCSA Needs Analysis
Attachment 3 – National Emergency Communication Plans
November 18, 2025
Attachment 4 – Motorola Bid Summary
Attachment 5 – Final Coverage Acceptance Testing for Contra Costa County Attachment 6 – 20-09-CJIS
Attachment 7 – CJIS Policy 5.10
Attachment 8 – CJIS Policy 5.13
Attachment 9 – Agenda Report (2023-02-07 Item O.6.a)
Attachment 10 – EBRCSA Member Radio Purchase Agreement
Attachment 11 – Agenda Report (2023-12-03 Item V.2.a)
Attachment 12 – Agenda Report (2025-09-23 Item O.4.a)
Attachment 13 – Motorola Quote
Attachment 14 – Sole Source Justification
Attachment 15 – EBRCSA FAQs