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Police Department
DATE: June 17, 2014
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Robert Guthrie, Chief of Police
By: Jennifer Brutus, Management Analyst
SUBJECT: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH PUBLIC SAFETY
CORPORATION (PSC) FOR FALSE ALARM PROGRAM
MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Recommendation: Approve
SUMMARY
The City has a Professional Services Agreement ( "Agreement ") with Public Safety
Corporation ( "PSC ") for False Alarm Program Management ( "FAPM ") services, and
the current Agreement expires on June 30, 2014. It is recommended that the City
Council authorize and direct the City Manager to execute a Professional Services
Agreement with PSC for the period of July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2017, with the
option to renew on a year -to -year basis for a maximum of three additional one -year
periods.
BACKGROUND
In 2008, the Police Department established a contract with PSC to provide false
alarm program management services, such as billing and collections, processing and
tracking false alarms, and preparing and sending notification letters. What originally
started as a two -year pilot program turned into an extended service agreement
totaling approximately six years. During this time, the City has benefitted
tremendously from false alarm reduction efforts.
Since the program's inception, false alarm activations dramatically reduced by 40 %,
from about 2,700 per year to 1,650. The Program has identified nearly 6,000 alarm
systems, which is 50% more than the 4,000 initially expected by the City. Together,
these positive statistics generated a 60% reduction in the City's false alarm rate, also
known as the standard industry performance measure of average false alarms per
alarm system. In addition, fee collections have reached a rate of 84.3 %, which is
amongst the highest collection rates nationwide.
Professional Services Agreement for
False Alarm Program Management Services
June 17, 2014
Page 2 of 4
Even though PSC's performance has been positive and adequate over the past six
years, a Request for Proposals was conducted in April 2014, to ensure the best and
most qualified false alarm program management company was being utilized to meet
the needs of the City. Given that it had been over six years since the City last bid the
contract, it was appropriate to see if another company could provide a better service.
DISCUSSION
After a two week submission period during which a Notice Inviting Proposals was
published four times in the Arcadia Weekly and two known vendors were sent a
Request for Proposals, two false alarm program management proposals were
received on May 6, 2014. A committee comprised of four City staff members
convened to review and rate the proposals using a 100 point evaluation system. The
proposals were evaluated according to thoroughness and understanding of work,
related experience, references, quality of proposal, and costs. Figure 1.1 is a
summary of the average scores and final rank.
Figure 1.1 —Average Scores for Proposal Ranking Qualifications for FAPM
Though the portions of revenue sharing were considered as part of the evaluation of
all proposals, it was not the sole deciding factor. An analysis of scores revealed that
Public Safety Corporation is the most qualified and best suited company to provide
false alarm program management services for the City. Some of the main
contributing factors are the company's extensive experience in false alarm program
management and technical expertise. PSC has provided false alarm services to over
500 cities, counties, and other municipalities nationwide, of which 29 are in California;
PM AM listed only 11 service examples, of which eight are in California. In addition,
PSC has better security and reliability of data over PMAM. Unlike PM AM who uses a
cloud -based web solution, PSC operates its own data servers and does not store any
data in subcontracted, public cloud environments where security policies are
established by third parties, which offers less security and control over data than
private clouds.
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THOROUGHNESS &
COST
UNDERSTANDING
PROPOSAL
Company Name and
OF SCOPE OF
RELATED
PROPOSAL
(Revenue
GRAND
Headquarters Location
WORK
EXPERIENCE
REFERENCES
QUALITY
SUB TOTAL
Sharing)
TOTAL
(1) PM AM Corporation
20
15
11.75
13.75
60.5
19
79.5
Dallas, Texas
(2) Public Safety Corporation
24.5
19.5
15
20
79
15.75
94.75
Waldorf, Maryland
Though the portions of revenue sharing were considered as part of the evaluation of
all proposals, it was not the sole deciding factor. An analysis of scores revealed that
Public Safety Corporation is the most qualified and best suited company to provide
false alarm program management services for the City. Some of the main
contributing factors are the company's extensive experience in false alarm program
management and technical expertise. PSC has provided false alarm services to over
500 cities, counties, and other municipalities nationwide, of which 29 are in California;
PM AM listed only 11 service examples, of which eight are in California. In addition,
PSC has better security and reliability of data over PMAM. Unlike PM AM who uses a
cloud -based web solution, PSC operates its own data servers and does not store any
data in subcontracted, public cloud environments where security policies are
established by third parties, which offers less security and control over data than
private clouds.
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Professional Services Agreement for
False Alarm Program Management Services
June 17, 2014
Page 3 of 4
The current PSC Agreement calls for revenue sharing, with the City receiving 77% of
fees collected and PSC receiving 23% (a 77:23 split). PM AM has proposed an
82:18 split. Through the RFP and negotiations process, PSC has lowered their share
to 79.5:20.5, which is a 2.5% increase in the City's share over the previous
Agreement. While it remains less than the 82% share offered by PM AM, the overall
quality of service and the proven superior fee collection rate by PSC make up for the
difference. As shown in the table above, the PSC proposal was preferred in all areas
except for pricing.
Public Safety Corporation is widely recognized as the leader in false alarm
management solutions. The company is privately owned and employs almost 50 staff
members who perform all services within the United States. In addition to its
headquarters in Waldorf, Maryland, the company has smaller facilities in other
metropolitan areas to provide additional administrative and support services. Other
nearby cities that have contracted with PSC for false alarm and permit management
include Baldwin Park, Glendora, and Pomona.
Under the new Agreement, administrative support services for the City's program will
be mainly provided from headquarters with administrative support from the Denver,
Colorado and San Francisco, California offices as needed. There will be no changes
to the current payment process.
PSC will continue to provide the City with a full -time, live operator to answer inquiries
and complaints from Arcadia citizens, track all false alarms, send and collect all warning
letters and bills, administer on -line alarm registration and bill pay, send follow -up letters
for delinquent bills, provide all stationery material and postage, provide online and
printed false alarm education material, offer an online reinstatement test, and grant the
City's system administrator full access to its database and up -to -date status of all billing
and collections.
The City has generated approximately $873,829 in revenue from alarm permits and
fees over the past 5 years. Under the new Agreement, PSC agreed to lower its
revenue share from 23% to 20.5 %, allowing the City to generate 2.5% more revenue
in the coming years. With a 79.5% revenue share, the Program will generate
approximately $184,500 in annual revenue for the City. Under the prior scenario, the
City would have received $4,500 less per year.
At the same time, the utilization of false alarm monitoring will continue to reduce the
number of false alarms in the City, increase the number of permits, and decrease
unpermitted locations. PSC also wants to increase customer service and strengthen
the web -based alarm program's capabilities. One of their main goals will be to
upgrade their website and provide City staff with online administrative access to data
and administrative documents.
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Professional Services Agreement for
False Alarm Program Management Services
June 17, 2014
Page 4 of 4
The Agreement will cover a period of three years, July 1, 2014, through June 30,
2017, with the option to renew for three additional one year periods on a year by year
basis. The Police Department looks forward to continuing its partnership with PSC
and furthering the success of the false alarm reduction program.
FISCAL IMPACT
PSC provides its service on a profit sharing basis, 20.5% to PSC and 79.5% to the
City of all fees collected. PSC does not charge maintenance fees and will provide all
required services to run, collect, and maintain the false alarm program. After PSC's
20.5% share, it is estimated that the City will receive approximately $184,500 during
FY 2014 -15 and thereafter.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council authorize and direct the City Manager to
execute a Professional Services Agreement with Public Safety Corporation (PSC) for
false alarm program management services from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2017.
Approved_
Dominic Lanza
City Manager
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