REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: PACO BALDERRAMA, Chief of Police
Police Department
BY: JOE ALVAREZ, Acting Police Deputy Chief
Administrative Division
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to the Fresno Police Department Regional Training Center (FPDRTC)
1. Affirm City Manager’s determination that Advanced Combat Evolutions is uniquely qualified to provide CA POST Basic sniper training; and
2. Authorize the Chief of Police to enter into a three-year Agreement with two one-year extensions with Advanced Combat Evolutions to provide CA POST Basic Sniper class certification training at the Fresno Police Department Regional Training Center (FPDRTC) in an amount not to exceed $81,545.20, with any new fee increases in the extension years being negotiated
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that Council authorize the Chief of Police to enter into a three-year with two one-year extensions Agreement with Advanced Combat Evolutions, a private California company, to provide California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Basic Sniper class certification training to sworn law enforcement personnel who attend training at the Fresno Regional Training Center (RTC) in amount not to exceed eighty-six percent (86%) of the received tuition per course for three-years, after which any new fees will be negotiated; and deem them uniquely qualified without competitive advertised bidding.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Fresno Police Department and Advanced Combat Evolutions have mutually agreed to enter into an Agreement provide CA POST Basic Sniper class certification training to both Fresno Police Department sworn law enforcement personnel and outside law enforcement agencies who attend training at the Fresno Regional Training Center (RTC).
BACKGROUND
The Fresno Police Department Regional Training Center holds over 37 California POST approved training classes and offers law enforcement training covering a wide range of topics from basic skills to advanced specialty skills. Some sworn positions within law enforcement agencies in the state of California require specialized skills and training that are strictly regulated and mandated by both the California Penal Code and the California Peace Officers Standards and Training (CA POST) Commission. An officer being assigned to a Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) within the state of California and designated as a precision marksman (or sniper) on the SWAT team has such a standard and regulation. Therefore, those officers must attend and successfully pass a 2-week CA POST approved and certified basic sniper course in order to serve as a certified sniper on an agencies SWAT team in the state.
The Fresno Police Department Regional Training Center possess a one-week CA P.O.S.T. approved Basic Sniper class certification and has since 2013. The Fresno Police Department Regional Training Center (FPDRTC) entered a partnership with then Fresno Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant and SWAT Commander Matt Alexander, owner of Advanced Combat Evolutions, to fulfill a need for a certified basic sniper course in our region. The purpose of this partnership served several benefits. First, private training groups in the state of California could not obtain CA POST approval certification on their training courses, and therefore Matt Alexander could not offer a basic sniper class to fulfill this need. However, Matt Alexander does possess a unique and wide range of experience and training in the SWAT sniper community. Matt Alexander has the credibility, knowledge, and experience to appropriately teach this class and is well known throughout the state as a subject matter expert in precision marksmanship and is one of only a handful of peace officers in the state that has this level of knowledge, experience and ability to teach this subject at a professional level. Secondly, the Fresno Police Department at that time did not have an officer assigned to the FPDRTC with the level of experience or training equal to Matt Alexander, and therefore did not have an instructor uniquely qualified enough to teach the basic sniper course. As a result, the FPDRTC created the POST approved Basic Sniper course and relied on Matt Alexander, contracting his company Advanced Combat Evolutions, to be the lead instructor for this course. This relationship has been mutually beneficial since 2013 and serves the law enforcement community throughout our region and the state.
Lieutenant Matt Alexander has been a SWAT sniper since 1997, was assigned as a sniper to the Fresno Sheriff’s Office SWAT team as an operator, Sniper Team Leader at the rank of Sergeant, and as the SWAT Commander at the rank of Lieutenant. He is currently a Lieutenant with the Fresno Sheriff’s Office and remains current on sniper related materials as he teaches other classes within the sniper community that do not hold the same level of expectation or requirement by law or by CA POST as in the Basic Sniper course. He is also an instructor and organizing member of the California Association of Tactical Officers, specifically in precision marksmanship and sniper applications and holds every sniper operator and sniper instructor certification in the state of California.
It is also important to note that this is arrangement saves the city a substantial amount of money. Matt Alexander has taught this class at the FPDRTC between two and four times a year, each year since 2013. The FPDRTC generates a substantial amount of revenue from this course each year that goes back into the City’s general fund. Another added benefit is, because the FPDRTC owns the certification for the class, we have (and will continue to do so) send our FPD SWAT snipers to this required course at no charge to the city. This arrangement equates to thousands of dollars in savings in tuition, travel, hotel expenses and per diem to maintain the legal requirements as outlined in law and by the CA POST Commission.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a “project” for the purposes of CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference is not applicable because there are no local companies that are able to provide a similar service. See the associated “Uniquely Qualified” memo.
FISCAL IMPACT
The revenue generated from this certified training will be budgeted in the FPD POST fund to be used for FPD Regional Training Center repairs and other needs as determined by the FPD RTC Commander. Uniquely Qualified memo approved by City Manager.
Attachments:
Uniquely Qualified memo
Agreement