In a request for information (RFI) released March 15, the California Highway Patrol’s (CHP) Communication Centers Support Section seeks responses around a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) solution. This isn’t a solicitation, the CHP cautions; rather, it’s meant to survey the marketplace to learn what products or services are out there, and an approximate value of any future procurement. The CHP also wants to “validate information and functions for possible future solicitations,” according to the RFI. Among the takeaways:
- The CHP is a statewide law enforcement agency that employs more than 10,000 people, roughly 7,600 of whom are uniformed and 3,300 of whom are non-uniformed. Its uniformed people patrol more than 106,000 miles of road a year and its more than 2,500 patrol vehicles and more than 400 motorcycles travel millions of miles. The agency patrols roadways but also safeguards state buildings, the California Aqueduct, the power grid, and does security for Gov. Gavin Newsom, state constitutional officers, Supreme Court justices, Appellate Courts, and dignitaries. The CHP’s statewide implementation of its current statewide CAD system wrapped in 2012 and in 2014, the departments of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and Fish and Wildlife (DFW) were added to the CHP’s CAD system as “two additional, and fully operational, law enforcement dispatching agencies,” per the RFI. This RFI seeks to understand what’s “available in the marketplace to obtain the next generation CAD system given the size, scale, complexity, and statewide geographical needs of the CHP.” The CHP’s existing CAD solution is actually four disparate solutions which offer call taking and dispatch for the CHP, the Freeway Service Patrol, DPR and DFW. It has roughly 560 workstations; 26 communication centers; 3,200 patrol vehicles and motorcycles; and a “centralized and aggregated browser-based reporting system” for data from all four hubs that’s known as the Central Reporting System and which the CHP maintains. The system covers tens of thousands of “address points and premise records to denote commonly used intersections, points of reference, common place names, etc.” There are, generally, four production CAD systems, four disaster recovery (DR) systems, four training systems, one testing system and one development system for 13 individual systems.
- The CHP is interested in a single CAD solution with “no dependency on a middleware solution for remote access.” It would like that system to have 99.999 percent availability and no downtime during routine maintenance. The system should deliver efficient dispatching and accurate map locating as well as compatibility with Next-Generation 911, robust reporting and advanced data analytics. The system should be able to interface with allied agencies, be fully operational in DR, and DR should be updated in real time with each transaction of data. Cost estimates should delineate specific component categories where possible and estimates for items that may need to come from third-party vendors should also be included. The proposed technical environment’s design must take into account the “high-level technical needs of a modern CAD system” and vendors should feel free to suggest strategies that will help the CHP decide whether commercial off-the-shelf, modified off-the-shelf or an integrated product set would be best. Vendors should consider “all available software, platform, and infrastructure as service options (e.g., on-premises, cloud-based or a hybrid solution)” in their responses and the RFI may include multiple products or solutions.
- Among the areas of required response, respondents must indicate their “project implementation approach” for installation and configuration of CAD and mobile hardware and software, as well as for testing, training and support of go-live. Respondents should also describe their approach to transitioning to their CAD and mobile systems, including all required deliverables and training for more than 10,000 users statewide; issues in past implementations and how they were overcome; and the CHP’s responsibilities and requirements during any such project. Also vital is a description of the company’s DR plan including requirements for “as close to zero downtime as possible.” Also needed is a description of how the company’s CAD solution creates “standard reports of individual hardware and network issues, collection of calls, summary of activity logs, GIS concerns and other pertinent information,” plus examples of such reports. Respondents should describe whether their solution allows for two-factor or multifactor authentication for login, and describe security policies and procedures around virus prevention, patch management, malware and “any additional public safety answering point or system threats.” Respondents should also indicate whether their system is compliant with state Criminal Justice Information Services requirements, with National Emergency Number Association i3 standards, and with both Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 and Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program standards.
- The RFI is not intended to choose a solution or vendor but rather is part of the CHP’s business process review and market research effort around CAD and mobile system technology and program-related services. Responses to questions will come April 7. Responses to the RFI are due by 12 p.m. May 1. Confidential discussions and/or product demonstrations will happen May 31 and the RFI process is expected to be complete June 30.
