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APPROVE MOTION TO EXECUTE AN AMENDMENT TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH ROCKY L. EDWARDS DBA ROCK FORENSICS FIREARMS CONSULTING
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RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve a motion to:
1. Authorize the City Manager to execute an amendment to the agreement with Rocky L. Edwards dba Rock Forensics Firearms Consulting to extend the term by three years and increase the amount by $360,000, contingent each year on approved grant funding; and
2. Authorize and direct the City Manager to make any and all expenditures and appropriations on behalf of the City as appropriate and necessary to carry out the purpose and intent of this motion.
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Summary
The San Joaquin County Firearms Reduction Consortium (FRC), established in 2011 and funded by the annual Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program, focuses its efforts on reducing firearms violence. As part of the services funded under this grant, the City funds a contract Firearms Examiner, who is an expert in correlating expended bullet casings to confiscated firearms. A match between a bullet casing and a firearm helps identify which gun(s) committed which crime(s). This work is critical to successful prosecution by the District Attorney’s Office and is a highly specialized field. In an effort to fulfill the grant obligations, the Stockton Police Department (SPD) contracted for Firearms Examination services in January 2016 (Council Motion 2015-12-08-1206) with Rock Forensics Firearms Consulting (Rock Forensics) for a three-year contract, which is expiring December 31, 2018. The FRC and City staff recommend City Council amend the contract to extend the term for an additional three years and increase the amount by $360,000, contingent each year upon available JAG funding.
DISCUSSION
Background
The City has contracted with Rock Forensics since January 2013, to provide firearms examination services. The current contract was approved by City Council on December 8, 2015 for a three-year term. The cost of services has been 100% funded through the JAG program as part of the Interlocal Memorandum of Understanding between the City and San Joaquin County for the FRC. The FRC combines resources county-wide to reduce firearms violence from confiscation through prosecution. Most large law enforcement agencies have a crime lab which processes evidence including firearms ballistics, DNA, and latent fingerprints. The smaller agencies either contract with a County crime lab or use one of the regional crime labs funded by the Department of Justice (DOJ). While there are many benefits to housing a crime lab within a law enforcement agency, it can be very costly both in specialized equipment and in the training standards required.
In 2011, when the FRC was first established, both San Joaquin County Sheriff (Sheriff) and SPD had a significant backlog of ballistic evidence waiting its turn at the local DOJ lab in Ripon. Faced with rising firearm violence, one of the recommendations from the FRC included a Firearms Examination Unit to process the significant number of bullets and casings found at crime scenes. Through JAG funding, the FRC was able to purchase necessary equipment and fund the services of a firearms examiner to address the backlog of evidence and also mitigate the lengthy and unpredictable wait times for the DOJ crime lab. Since 2013, the Sheriff and SPD have reduced the backlog of firearms evidence. In 2016 and 2017, the SPD Firearms Unit entered 1,598 pieces of ballistic evidence, confirming 394 matches of bullets and casings to firearms and crime scenes throughout the City.
Present Situation
Currently, the SPD Firearms Examination Unit consists of an Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS), two full-time Senior Evidence Technicians, and a contracted Firearms Examiner. The Firearms Unit uses the proprietary software program, GunOps, which correlates information from crime reports and IBIS to graphically plot crimes where a common firearm was identified. This helps investigations as well as prosecutions of firearm-related crimes as often one gun can be linked to several crimes which may otherwise appear unrelated. Due to the highly specialized field of firearms examination, employing a full-time examiner is challenging and can be cost prohibitive. SPD has assigned and trained full-time evidence technicians to complete the ballistics work leading up to a high confidence declaration, which minimizes the time needed for firearms examiner expertise and allows for the work to be done on a contracted hourly basis. This training has occurred over the last three years, as part of the City’s contract with Rock Forensics.
The current Agreement ends December 31, 2018, and staff recommends Council authorize an amendment to extend it for an additional three-year term ending December 31, 2021 (Attachment A - Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Rock Forensics), contingent each year on approved grant funding. The proposed Professional Services Agreement with Rock Forensics includes a minimum 40-hours on-site work per month, with additional hours available as needed and as pre-approved by SPD. Requests for expert witness testimony will be handled and paid for directly through the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office. The Agreement provides for two trips per month at the $1,200 per diem rate, and the expected annual contract amount is $120,000.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
The total expected cost of the three-year Amendment is $360,000, which is funded by the JAG program, and will have no fiscal impact on the General Fund. This Amendment will bring the total not-to-exceed price to $693,618 for these critical ballistic evidence services. For Fiscal Year 2018-2019, funds are available in the Police Department Police Grants and Special Programs Other Special Revenue Programs 2016 Federal JAG Grant Account No. 025-6435. Continuation of the Agreement is contingent upon approved grant funding each year.
Attachment A - Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Rock Forensics