The Washington State Patrol says it can replace its radio system for at least $12 million less than expected under a plan that would sidestep the competitive bidding process.
State purchasers are expected to sign a no-bid contract with Motorola Solutions as early as Monday, a move that has drawn complaints from competitors.
Patrol officials say a partnership with the federal government lowers the cost of the technology upgrade to $41 million, but that only Motorola’s equipment has the necessary features compatible with the federal Department of Justice radio system.
“It’s an opportunity we can’t pass up that saves us a lot of money and gets us where we need to be,” said Bob Schwent, commander of the patrol’s electronic services division.
Motorola would sell the state 1,200 radios for troopers’ patrol cars and the same number of portable units worn at troopers’ hips, plus network equipment, recording systems and consoles for communications centers that will replace machines dating to 1982.
It’s all part of an overhaul aimed at complying with a Federal Communications Commission mandate to free up space on the radio spectrum for more users. If state and local agencies miss a federal deadline of Jan. 1, 2013, they face the risk of losing reception in nearly one-third of the state.
The Legislature agreed to have the patrol move to a digital system that the agency says will fully prevent losing coverage areas and even expand the system’s reach in some places. The new radios also are expected to make it easier for troopers to talk to other law enforcement officers and firefighters.
Lawmakers gave the patrol $40 million and expected to be asked for $13 million more in 2013.
Schwent said his agency had done 90 percent of the work of going out to bid by September when the Department of Justice came calling. The federal officials invited the patrol to join their system rather than build its own.
The state had already connected radios along the northern border to the DOJ system for last year’s Vancouver Olympics. The system has some restrictions, such as limits on use by agencies that aren’t involved in law enforcement – state Department of Transportation snowplows and gravel trucks won’t be hooked in, for example – but the changeover could be done faster and cheaper, Schwent said.
The agency hopes that by partnering with the feds, it will avoid asking for more time and money to finish buying radios in the next budget cycle.
The federal system, however, had been built on Motorola equipment and software, and Washington would have to follow suit.
Schwent said details on the cost of radios won’t be available until the contract is signed, but Motorola has offered a large discount that allows the patrol to buy them within its $32 million budget for the contract. The price is roughly $26 million before taxes and potential future additions to the contract, he said. An additional $9 million will go toward upgrading mountaintop systems that relay radio signals and other work.
Other companies, including Florida-based Harris Corp., complained to the patrol that they didn’t have a chance to bid, Schwent said. And a spokeswoman for Maryland-based Thales Communications said her company has concerns and intends to contact the patrol. An official who could provide details of those concerns wasn’t available Friday.
One critic is Nick Ruark, the general manager of Quality MobileCommunications, a reseller of radio systems. Ruark said his Vancouver company is too small to hope to take part in the project, but that the deal struck him as a bad idea.
“The fact that the state can save some money is one thing, and that’s a good thing,” Ruark said. But a competitor might one day design a cheaper or better system, he said. “Seems to me that sole-sourcing, it essentially locks them into that one vendor and they’re not going to have any options in the future.”
State lawmakers also questioned the sole-source contract at a Thursday briefing. But Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, said afterward he was satisfied with the answers.
“It sounded to me like they had done their due diligence to make sure it was a fair process, so to speak,” he said.
Ruark questioned whether the system would allow various brands of radios to talk to one another, given that some features of Motorola radios depend on proprietary technology. Schwent assured lawmakers “interoperability” would actually improve.
State troopers should find it easier to talk to federal law enforcement, and many large Puget Sound-area police agencies – including King and Snohomish counties and the City of Seattle – use Motorola, Schwent said. State troopers also could talk to agencies that use different equipment but might not be able to use all of the system’s features, such as pinpointing a GPS location.
Deputy Pierce County Executive Kevin Phelps said the planned state system should operate fully with the upgraded county system that November voters agreed to fund with a sales-tax increase. He called the patrol’s partnership with the federal government “a prudent decision.”
A Motorola spokeswoman declined to answer questions before a contract is signed but said in a statement that the company is pleased to help “support the mission critical communications needs of first responders throughout the state of Washington.”
Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826
jordan.schrader@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/politics
Twitter: @Jordan_Schrader
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