REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 01/04/2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Police Department
SUBJECT:
Title
Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement for Flock Group Inc. for the Fixed Automated License Plate Reader Project.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to consider approving the Second Amendment to the Fixed Automated License Plate Reader Project between Flock Group Inc. and the City of Corona. The Police Department is seeking to expand the Project. Fixed Automated License Plate Readers have proven to be an investigative and real-time asset in intelligence gathering. They have helped to recover stolen vehicles, locate missing persons, and identify suspect vehicles in various crimes.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Approve the Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Flock Group Inc. to extend the term through June 30, 2025.
b. Approve the Flock Group Inc. Additional Services Agreement.
c. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Flock Group Inc. for a total contract amount of $562,283.00.
d. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Flock Group Inc. Additional Services Agreement.
e. Authorize an additional appropriation of $14,200 to the Police Department’s Fiscal Year 2023 Operating Budget from the Measure X Reserves, Fund 120.
f. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to issue annual purchase orders to Flock Group Inc. in the amount of $164,200 for Fiscal Year 2023, and $153,000 each for Fiscal Year 2024 and Fiscal Year 2025.
g. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to issue change orders up to the amount authorized in Corona Municipal Code Section 3.08.070(I), which is equivalent to 10% or $15,300 annually through June 30, 2025.
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The Police Department (PD) has used Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras since 2013 through mobile technology in some patrol vehicles. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, City Council approved $85,118 for a License Plate Reader Project utilizing Developer Impact Fees to install approximately 28 fixed cameras in strategic areas in the Temescal Valley benefit area. These cameras act as a force multiplier and investigative tool. A Request for Proposal, 21-014RH, was initiated for this Project; 19 prospective companies downloaded the bids, and seven companies responded to the Request For Proposal and were evaluated. Flock Group Inc. was awarded the contract. In April 2021, the ALPR cameras were installed in the Temescal Valley benefit area. These cameras have been a valuable tool for solving various crimes, including homicide, vehicle theft, burglary, and missing persons’ calls for service. Between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, there were 25 criminal investigations where the Flock system was us and an arrest was made.
A Fixed ALPR Project update was presented to City Council at the Fall Workshop in September 2021, and due to the program’s success, the direction from City Council was to expand the program. In the FY 2023 budget, an additional 32 cameras were authorized for a total of 60 ALPR cameras.
ANALYSIS:
The use of Flock Safety cameras by PD has added significant value to the PD’s efforts to increase safety within the community. Since July 1, 2021, investigative leads generated by Flock Safety cameras have helped identify the suspect(s) in 38 criminal investigations. Due to the program’s success, the Council approved funding of $150,000 in the FY 2023 budget for the purchase and maintenance of additional ALPR cameras. However, the $150,000 did not include the one-time installation cost of $11,200 for the new cameras.
PD uses a data-driven approach to placing Flock cameras in areas with increased crime rates or based on other strategic factors. The additional 32 cameras will be installed throughout Corona based on historical and current crime trends. Exhibit 3 is a crime map of commercial burglaries in September 2022 and is an example of the crime mapping data that will be used to determine camera placement. Based on the data, the new ALPRs will be installed at locations that best capture potential suspect vehicles in the high crime areas and ingress and egress roadways in Corona. Also, during FY 2023, PD learned Flock released a new portable ALPR technology for $3000 per camera per year. This portable ALPR camera allows the Department to move a camera to a location of temporary crime spikes and address criminal activity before it becomes a trend.
The ALPRs and the Flock System are exclusively designed to solve crimes and gather intelligence, not as surveillance or a real-time monitoring asset. The Flock system allows officers to search and view camera activations throughout our region, and we share the database with our law enforcement partners. Regionally, the Riverside and Orange County Sherriff’s Departments, and the Beaumont, Hemet, Menifee, Ontario, and Redlands Police Departments all participate in the Flock System, allowing Corona PD to view and share activations of wanted vehicles.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
This one-year ALPR Program Agreement compensation is $164,200, of which $153,000 will be recurring funding, and $11,200 is a one-time implementation fee.
Funding of $150,000 was approved in the FY 2023 Police Department operating budget in Measure X funding. The Police Department requests an additional $14,200 from Measure X Reserve Fund 120, of which $3,000 would be recurring funding for the portable camera and $11,200 is one-time funding for the installation of the 32 approved fixed cameras. Funding in future fiscal years will be recommended through the budget process.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action is simply to approve the amendment to a professional services agreement and there is no possibility this will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: JASON PEREZ, LIEUTENANT
REVIEWED BY: ROBERT NEWMAN, CHIEF OF POLICE
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Flock Group Inc. Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement
2. Exhibit 2 - Flock Group Inc. Additional Services Agreement
3. Exhibit 3 - September 2022 Commercial Burglary Crime Map with proposed ALPR Camera placement overlay