The City’s Public Safety Commission will hold a special study session and community listening discussion about the City’s RFP process to select a consultant to review the current contract for law enforcement and feasibility study regarding creating a West Hollywood Municipal Police.
Staff will bring an item to the City Council on March 20, 2023, to recommend hiring a
consultant The item will include a summary of feedback from the Public Safety Commission and community comments made at the commission meeting.
The Public Safety Commission meets the 2nd Monday at 6:00 p.m. at West Hollywood Park Public Meeting Room – Council Chambers. For more information, contact the Commission’s Staff Liaison, Danny Rivas at 323-848-6414.
To view the current agenda packet for this Special Study Session and Community Listening discussion, as well as to view past agendas and minutes, CLICK HERE. The current agenda packet features links to details for this discussion and information about how to provide public comment.
A City Staff report states that since 2020, several discussions have occurred with the City Council resulting in direction to staff to examine the City’s law enforcement services, with a particular focus on equity, efficiency, and transparency. In 2021, the City contracted with the Center for Policing Equity (CPE) to examine bias in local law enforcement practices. The final CPE report and recommendations are expected to be released in the second quarter of 2023.
In Spring of 2022, the city engaged with the community in the development of a
comprehensive Community Safety and Well-Being Strategy (details at www.weho.org/cswb) and the final plan was presented to the City Council in December
2022. In addition, the City’s Fiscal Year 2022-23 Budget included funds for ongoing work
including an independent review of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD)
contract and a feasibility analysis of creating a West Hollywood municipal police
department.
On October 17, 2022, the City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to select a qualified
consultant to conduct a review of the current contract for law enforcement services and a
feasibility study to determine the cost and scope of creating a West Hollywood municipal
police department (refer to Attachment A). A public notice inviting RFP submittals was
posted as required on the City’s website and online Planet Bids bidding portal.
Prospective consultants had until December 2, 2022, to submit their proposals. The City
also held a question-and-answer session for prospective bidders with the City Manager
and Director of Community Safety and posted a summary of the questions and responses
with the RFP after the meeting.
As reflected in the RFP, this feasibility study would not constitute an official policy
recommendation but would serve to inform the City Council on how the creation of a
municipal police department in substitution for the current contract with the LASD would
impact service and performance to the community.
At minimum, the work performed by the selected consultant will provide the following deliverables:
- Project report to include current, proposed, and optimal levels of service for the
law enforcement program. - Effectiveness of the proposed municipal program compared to the existing LASD
service model, and order of magnitude comparison in services and costs. - Organizational plan for the proposed program including an organizational chart
comparison to the existing West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, staffing projections,
and an estimated timeline to transition between service models. - Operational plan for the temporary increase of law enforcement or security
personnel during major special events. - Findings from review of existing contracted law enforcement services.
- Presentation to the public during the development of the report to gather feedback
and input. - Presentations to the Public Safety Commission and City Council of interim findings
and final report.
A total of six prospective consultants submitted a written proposal by the established due
date. As part of this RFP process, the City established a diverse review team to evaluate
the six proposals. The review team comprised of staff who work as part of the City’s
Community Safety Working Group (City Manager, Community Safety, and Human
Services and Rent Stabilization Departments), along with experienced community safety
professionals and a community member who currently serves as an appointed City
Official. The role of the review team was to not only evaluate the submitted written
proposals but to assess each prospective consultant during the interview process based
upon the responsiveness to the Scope of Work and Deliverables listed in the RFP.
Click on the link below to view the full Staff Report:
https://weho.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=&event_id=1436&meta_id=250485
The city already spent time and money looking into this years ago. It was NOT feasible then…and it’s NOT feasible now. The county has much more resources at its disposal that our small, independent city could not match. Don’t waste our tax dollars on another study!