HomeMy WebLinkAbout08 REPLACE MDC H/W 06-07-04
AGENDA REPORT
Agenda Item 8
Reviewed: £
City Manager
Finance Director
MEETING DATE: JUNE 7, 2004
FROM:
WilLIAM A. HUSTON, CITY MANAGER
STEVE FOSTER, POLICE CHIEF
TO:
SUBJECT:
FUNDING FOR REPLACEMENT OF MDC HARDWARE
SUMMARY
The current Mobile Data Computers (MDC's) installed in all of our marked police units
have exceeded their useful life and the annual maintenance cost is becoming very
expensive. Our present backbone vendor has put us on notice that they will no longer
support our system as of July 1, 2004. We are requesting an appropriation to replace
the existing units and to transfer the operating backbone from Motorola to commercial
wireless carrier, AT&T.
RECOMMENDATION
1. Authorize the purchase of thirty-five (35) Mobile Data Computers and appropriate
$225,500 from the unappropriated reserves of fund 84, Equipment Replacement.
2. Authorize the purchase of the units from Public Safety Technologies, Inc. per the
recommendation of the West Covina Services Group, our existing vendor for Computer
Aided Dispatch (CAD) and wireless communication backbone.
FISCAL IMPACT
New appropriation of $225,500
BACKGROUND
The police department currently operates an 800-MHz data system from Motorola as
the backbone to our mobile data computers (MDC). This is accomplished through an
agreement to provide services by the City of Brea in conjunction with a ten-city
consortium and funded by a COPSMORE grant issued to the consortium and managed
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by Brea. Our current MDC hardware was purchased four (4) years ago, with funding
from this grant.
Brea has given us notice that they will no longer support the Motorola infrastructure as
of July 1, 2004. Accordingly, we must transition the MDC system from a Motorola radio
backbone to commercial wireless carrier, AT&T; on a system provided and supported
by West Covina Services Group.
This transition will result in an annual cost savings of $39,900; or $119,700 over the
expected three-year service life of the new MDC hardware. The transition to
commercial wireless technology also offers the advantage of incorporating a Global
Positioning Satellite (GPS) based Automatic Vehicle Locating (AVL) mapping feature
which will allow Communications staff, officers, and supervisors to track police vehicle
location in real time, making the assigning of calls and tracking of manpower extremely
efficient. The value of this technology to officer safety issues is infinite. Existing MDC
hardware does not have sufficient capacity to accomplish this process.
Our current MDC hardware has been in the vehicles for four years. They have
exceeded their expected service life, resulting in high maintenance costs and much
higher than normal failure rates. City Information Technology staff spends 20% of one
person's time on MDC repair and troubleshooting alone. These systems will not
support required software. It is necessary to upgrade our entire fleet at one time to
maintain system integrity and lessen support costs.
Our current Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) vendor, West Covina Services Group,
recommends that we purchase the new MDC hardware from Public Safety
Technologies, Inc. This will guarantee compatibility and avoid the additional expense
to write an interface with other hardware to be able to communicate with the West
Covina system. This appears to be the most cost effective and efficient solution.
It is reasonable to expect the service life for a mobile data computer to be three years.
Use beyond that time frame is generally not recommended due to increased
maintenance and repair costs, as well as the inability to support emerging technology.
To maintain efficient and effective systems, hardware should be replaced on a three-
year program.
~~
Steve Foster
Police Chief