SR 05-10-2016 3A
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: May 10, 2016
Agenda Item: 3.A
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jacqueline Seabrooks, Police Chief, Police Department
Subject: Approve Contract for Supplemental Law Enforcement Services
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a five-year contract with the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department for
supplemental law enforcement services. This recommended award is made as a formal
professional services contract pursuant to Section 2.24.075 (c). The first year would be
in the amount of $260,000 for a total amount not to exceed $1,300,000 with future year
funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Executive Summary
This Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Agreement with the County of Los
Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) would enable the Santa Monica Police
Department (SMPD) to utilize law enforcement services from LASD during pre-
planned events in Santa Monica. The level of services provided by LASD would
be agreed upon in advance of each event. The total costs of these services
would not exceed $260,000 during any one-year period, not to exceed
$1,300,000 over the term of the agreement.
Primary ongoing event needs that would utilize these contractual services
include, the Pier Corporation's ten week Twilight Concert Series (TCS), and any
other large scale events which may require the use of additional services. When
these events take place, access to the additional public safety resources
available from LASD help to ensure an ongoing high level of police services
throughout Santa Monica.
Background
The Twilight Concert Series is an annual ten-week concert series at the Santa Monica
Pier. As of 2016, TCS will be in its 32nd year and continues to draw large crowds on an
annual basis, with attendees sometime approaching thirty thousand. Over the past two
years, staff has spent $155,194 for LASD services all pertaining to the Twilight Concert
Series, the police department did not spend funds for additional LASD personnel to
support their efforts with other large scale events. However, looking forward staff
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believes there may be a potential need to increase services from LASD personnel.
On January 14, 2014, Council approved a Framework for TCS that considered the need
to take action to ensure the public's safety at the concert series and recommended
utilizing mutual aid to access additional public safety resources when events are
expected to be especially large. That formal agreement was established with a two year
contract approved in Council on May 13, 2014.
Discussion
Any large scale event and associated crowd presents law enforcement personnel with
significant challenges. The growth in attendance at large events and the increasing
amounts of events in Santa Monica, like TCS, creates serious public safety concerns
due to the size and dynamics of the crowds - in the case of TCS - both the Pier crowd
and the beach crowd are packed into comparably small geographic areas. Major
challenges for the Pier audience include circulation issues, blocked public ingress and
egress due to crowd size, and limited ability to maneuver to effectively manage the
crowds. Challenges for the beach audience include darkness and the lack of any clear
walkways with spectators seated blanket to blanket. In addition, the beach experiences
numerous violations including alcohol consumption, unlawful smoking, narcotic use, and
the presence of glass on the beach. The violations occurring on the beach are
numerous, difficult to enforce and respond to due to the density of the crowds
condensed on a dark beach without any clear perimeter or walkways that mandates all
events are appropriately staffed and have the ability to address emergent situations with
the personnel assigned. In the event of an emergency, additional on-duty resources
would be required to respond and address the situation at hand. If the event is not
appropriately staffed, pulling on-duty resources away from the city would jeopardize the
safety of the community. Having the ability to hire LASD personnel and adequately staff
any event, allows the police department to patrol the rest of the city without any
reduction in service.
Under the terms of this agreement, when the City reasonably determines the event will
likely draw very large crowds (typically a crowd of 20,000 or greater is considered very
large at TCS) or is expected to have other challenging public safety issues, the City
would be able to utilize this Agreement to incorporate Sheriff's Department resources
into the operating staffing plan for the event. The level of resources necessary would be
assessed in advance based on the expectations for that event and the crowds
expected. Each operational plan will be attached as an Amendment to this Agreement.
Over the last two year, the police department has hired, on average, 20 to 24 LASD
personnel for the TCS, ranging in cost of $8,000 to $28,000 based on an hourly rate.
The cost for public safety resources would be funded with City resources, and would be
scalable.
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Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
The contract to be awarded to the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is for an
amount not to exceed $1,300,000. Funds for the first year of $260,000 are available in
the FY 2016-17 budget in the Police Department. The contract will be charged to
account 01304.522850. Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By:
Neela Patel, Senior Administrative Analyst
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. January 14, 2014 Staff Report (Weblink)
B. May 13, 2014 Staff Report (Weblink)
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