COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

DATE:

June 6, 2005

BOARD MEETING DATE:

June 21, 2005

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Sheriff Don Horsley

Countywide Building Security Committee

SUBJECT:

Agreement With Cognisa Security, Inc. for Countywide Security Services

Recommendation

Adopt a Resolution authorizing the execution of an Agreement with Cognisa Security, Inc. for security services at all sixteen County or Court facilities currently utilizing security guard services.

Vision Alignment

Commitment: Ensure Basic Health & Safety for All Citizens

Goal 7: Maintain & enhance the public safety for all residents and visitors.

Goal 8: Help vulnerable sectors of our population – the aged, disabled, mentally ill, at-risk youth, and others - achieve a better quality of life.

This Agreement enhances public safety by helping ensure the safety and protection of visitors, citizens, and County clients, jurors, patients and customers of County facilities.

Performance Measures

Measure

FY 2004-05

Actual

FY 2005-06

Projected

Total number of citizens entering the Hall of Justice through checkpoint

480,000

480,000

Total number of calls for security service at the SMMC/Health Services campus

17,030

17,650

Background

Contract security guard services have been used at San Mateo County buildings since 1993, and are currently utilized at sixteen sites. One or two additional sites are typically added about every 18 months, due to increased safety concerns.

Security guards screen incoming visitors for weapons; provide protection for County employees, clients and customers, jury members and the general public, protect property, respond to emergencies in cooperation with first responder fire, law enforcement, or paramedic agencies; observe and report suspicious or risk-prone situations to appropriate law enforcement agencies; and through their presence provide a deterrent to threats or acts of violence against County employees, the general public, and private and public property.

Contract security services are currently provided at the Hall of Justice, 555 County Center, Children & Family Services, Human Services, East Palo Alto Bldg, San Mateo Medical Center, Health Services Campus, Burlingame Long Term Care, South County Mental Health, Coyote Point Marina & Harbor, San Carlos Airport, Northern Branch Courthouse, Hillcrest Juvenile Court , Human Services Northern, and Human Services – JTED. It is expected that several new sites, including the Keller Labor and Delivery Center, the Youth Services Center, and the Central County Courthouse, will be added over the next few years.

Discussion

The County Building Security Work Group includes representatives from a variety of county departments and agencies, who provided support and oversight for the current RFP. Additionally, the security consulting firm of Tomasi-Dubois & Associates provided consulting for RFP development and administration. An RFP for security guard services was issued in February, 2005; 14 firms attended the mandatory pre-proposal meeting; and seven proposals were eventually received.

Cognisa, Security, Inc. was ultimately selected as the best qualified firm to provide security services for San Mateo County, replacing the current contractor, Securitas, Inc. Cognisa was selected on the basis of expertise in health care and hospital environments, experience at major carrier airports, ability to recruit and staff all job sites with trained, responsible personnel on an on-going basis, responsive management staff, modern, flexible invoicing system, and a reasonableness of proposed billing rates. Reference check responses for Cognisa were consistently very high. Cognisa is the second largest security agency in worldwide terms, compared to Securitas which is the number one largest firm, so has a strong and stable corporate presence in the industry.

Every effort is being made by Cognisa to recruit existing security contract personnel already working at the County, who wish to stay working at the County and are willing to change employers to do so. This is standard industry practice and has been discussed and a transition plan worked out with Securitas and Cognisa management. It is hoped that around 60%, or more of existing security staff will opt to stay working at County sites.

The proposed Agreement is for a three-year period, from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2008, with an option to renew the Agreement for an additional two years. With the exception of some relatively minor scheduling changes, there are no major changes to the security officer staffing patterns provided at existing site locations under preceding contracts.

Fiscal Impact

The starting contract security officer hourly rate is $12.22 per hour, with a contract billed rate of $18.51 per hour. Under the previous Securitas contract, the starting security officer hourly paid rate in 2000 (the year the previous contract was initially executed) was $10.70, with a billing rate of $17.74 per hour. The rate the county is paying Cognisa includes a moderate amount ($65.33 weekly) that Cognisa pays towards the cost of its employees basic health and dental care insurance benefits that the contractor provides for each officer.

The total weekly cost for security services at all facilities and sites under the proposed Agreement is $64,577. The first year direct actual cost is $2,914,905. Costs increase in subsequent years to reflect the addition of the Youth Services Center, the Keller Labor & Delivery Center, and potentially a full checkpoint operation at Central Courts. A 5% Contingency is also added to the Contract “Not-To-Exceed” total each year to allow for unanticipated site additions or events. On average, the total countywide cost increase under the proposed new contract will be approximately 5% to 10% greater than the prior total annual contract costs from the 2000 Agreement.

Funding for individual agency annual security costs is contained within each agency=s respective Recommended FY 2005-06 budgets. In most cases, the costs are either paid 100% from non-General Fund sources (e.g. Trial Courts, Marina, Airport, Hospital Enterprise Funds), or are partially or fully subvented by outside revenues (all HSA sites, branch Mental Health sites). There should be minimal or no additional net General Fund cost impact, beyond the amounts already included in individual department budgets within the FY 2005-06 Recommended Budget.

The proposed contract has been reviewed as to legal form by County Counsel.

SUMMARY OF CONTRACT SECURITY SERVICES RFP PROCESS

KEY CRITERIA

RFP SPECIFICS

1. General Description of RFP

Contract security guard services at sixteen major and lesser sites throughout San Mateo County, including staffing at the days, hours and levels specified.

2. Key Evaluation Criteria

Specified in RFP

• Demonstrated ability to provide trained and certified security staffing levels required on an ongoing, year-round basis

• Proposers ability to meet organizational, fiscal, and legal requirements of the RFP

• Proposers qualifications and breadth of experience in providing similar services

• Experience, motivation, and innovation of the management team

• Proposed contract billing rate and officer hourly rate structure

• Quality of feedback provided by references

3. Where & How Was It Advertised?

A. Newspapers: San Francisco Chronicle - Peninsula Edition (3 days); San Mateo Times (3 days); & San Jose Mercury News - Peninsula Edition (4 days), between February 2 -10, 2005.

B. Website: Notices posted on Sheriffs website, TDA website, and on American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) website.

4. Who Received RFP Copies?

Consultants Mailing List: Tomasi-Dubois maintains a current mailing list of all major California/national security contractors which was

utilized for RFP mailings – nine RFP copies were initially mailed out, then an additional seven.

Ad/Website Responses: Additionally, all other respondents to the advertisements were either mailed RFP’s, or came to the Sheriff’s Office and picked up a copy in person, or attended Pre-

Proposal Conference.

5. Total Number of RFP’s Mailed or Given Out

A total of 16 RFP’s were provided through mailing,

in-person pick-up, or conference attendance.

6. Mandatory Pre-Proposal Conference (2/14/05)

A mandatory Pre-Proposal Conference and Q&A session was held to go over the RFP requirements; answer questions; and ensure that responding firms understood the required scope of the engagement. A total of 25 prospective respondents, representing 14 different firms, attended the pre-proposal conference.

A written Addendum and Responses to previously submitted Questions was distributed at the meeting to all participants. Additionally, a follow-up written summary of meeting questions and answers was emailed to Conf. attendees the same week

7. Number of Proposals Received by Deadline (2/25/05)

A total of seven proposals were received on or before the deadline. One additional contractor replied with a letter that they would not be submitting a proposal.

8. Primary RFP Review (3/4/05)

All seven proposals were preliminarily evaluated and ranked by a Proposal Screening Committee, using a matrix approved by the BSWG. Three Finalists were selected for a formal rating and evaluation. The preliminary evaluation and finalist selection was subsequently approved by the full Committee.

9. Finalists Selected:

• Cognisa Security, Inc.

• Securitas, Inc.

• Guardsmark

10. Finalist Evaluation Representation & Process:

Finalist interviews/evaluations were conducted on 3/11/05.

Evaluation Subcommittee: A Subcommittee of the BSWG included representatives from County Manager’s Office; Sheriff’s Office; SMMC; Superior Courts; Airports; and Human Services, with technical support from TDA, conducted the interviews. Follow-up interviews were conducted on 3/18/05 with two of the three finalists.

Rating Methodology: Each Finalist underwent an intensive, two-hour session. A written evaluation form consisting of eight evaluation criteria was completed by each interviewer for each Finalist. A ranking scale was incorporated into the evaluation form.

11. Evaluation Results:

Final rankings placed Cognisa Security, Inc. unanimously in first place ahead of the other Finalists by all evaluators, with a mixed evaluation for 2^nd and 3^rd place between Securitas and Guardsmark.

Cc Nancy Steiger, President, San Mateo Medical Center

Rodina Catalano, Acting Superior Court Executive Officer

Charlene Silva, Director of Health Services

Maureen Borland, Director of Human Services

Neil Cullen, Public Works Director

Marcia Raines, Director of Environmental Services

Mary Welch, Director of Employee & Public Services