The most common terms appearing in justice/public safety and homeland security solicitations during May were fire alarm and alerting, camera/surveillance and radio. The below word cloud provides a visual interpretation of key-term frequency.

• Number of public safety bids: 1,154
• Top three states (by number of solicitations released): California (119), Pennsylvania (115) and New York (78)
• Top three keywords: fire alarm and alerting, camera/surveillance and radio 

In the May 2012 recap, Deltek reported that states were putting projects on hold until the beginning of the new fiscal year (July 1 for most states) as already tight budgets became even more constrained. Fortunately, that does not seem to be the case this year, as numerous solicitations have been released for projects across the country in the last couple months. This may be due to the fact that earlier this spring, when cities and counties are usually moving forward with projects, many chose to hold off on releasing solicitations until the impact of the sequester became more clear. Quite a few of these solicitations were released for statewide projects such as one released by the Alaska Department of Law for a criminal case management system. The RFP was released in early May after an RFI was issued in 2012.

California also released a statewide solicitation for its live-scan fingerprint and associated services project. An RFI was originally released in 2010, and the formal solicitation was developed for more than two years. 

On a more local level, Atlantic City, N.J., released a solicitation for a computer-aided dispatch and records management system consultant. Eight vendors responded, which highlights the fact that, even with a greater number of solicitations released at this time of year than normal, competition is still very tight.

While many states, cities and counties have recently moved forward with long-awaited projects, it does not mean that the fiscal crisis is over or that entities are freely moving forward with the purchase of systems. Many projects released in May were larger projects that had been through numerous planning stages and for which money had been sought for years. For the most part, localities are still struggling to find funding for their projects, and some have even decided not to move forward with initiatives no longer deemed feasible. For example, Alaska decided in May not to re-issue an RFP for its video technology interoperability consulting study. Two previous solicitations had been released for this project; however, the state is unlikely to receive funding for it in the near future and decided not to spend any additional energy on the effort.

Analyst’s Take

Vendors should take advantage of those states that still have funds remaining for this fiscal year and be sure to look out for any additional RFPs. Most likely, the majority of localities are still working on planning projects and will wait until the new fiscal year begins in July or until grants are awarded in early fall. This presents a great opportunity for vendors to reach out to program officers and provide information on their products and capabilities prior to solicitations being finalized.

Vendors should take the chance to offer demonstrations whenever possible so that government decision-makers can see the benefits of the solution up close. While states may be feeling slightly better about the impact sequestration may have on their organizations, there is still likely to be some fallout, particularly for those that are relying on grants. It is therefore critical that vendors do as much as possible to get their name in front of purchasers during a project’s planning stage.

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This year, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory made it clear that the state’s reliance on quick fixes is over and that his goal is to begin focusing on long-term reparations to ensure the state’s ability to provide for its citizens.

The below graph provides a visual representation of North Carolina’s budget from FY 2010 through FY 2015.

Governor McCrory’s major focus areas include increasing the State Repair and Renovation Fund to launch a 25-year plan to replace and upgrade aging infrastructure. He is also looking to increase the Information Technology Systems Reserve in an effort to fund high-priority IT projects taking place throughout government agencies. These are quite ambitious projects given the state is only increasing the overall budget by 3.6 percent in the first year, and while the governor has indeed asked for a significant increase in the IT Systems Reserve, it comes at the cost of the Office of Information Technology. While the IT Initiative Reserve is set to increase by nearly $35 million between FY 2013 and FY 2014, the Office of Information Technology is losing more than $39 million. Therefore, technology dollars are more so reshuffling existing resources, and there will actually be less money available in the next few years for IT projects.

Overall, the structure of the state’s departments has remained unchanged over the past few years. The one significant exception is the dissolution of the states’ Departments of Correction and Crime Control and Public Safety, and the advent of the new Department of Public Safety. Funding for the new department remained consistent with the funding levels of its predecessors, and no major initiatives, IT or otherwise, are planned for the next two years.

Unfortunately, not all budget changes involved a simple reshuffling; some departments lost significant amounts of money. The biggest loser was the state’s Department of Commerce, which lost more than $3 billion, followed by the Department of Transportation’s $1.5 billion loss, though it is likely that at least some of that loss was transferred to the Repair and Renovation Fund. 

Analyst’s Take

The small increase in the state’s overall budget means that most departments will maintain the status quo for the next two years. Few costly initiatives are planned, and as the governor stated, the next few years will be used to set the stage for long-term growth.

While the overall budget remains fairly steady over the next two years, the IT budget has dropped significantly, which will likely have an impact on spending for the next few years at least, especially for those interested in the community development, general government and natural resources verticals. As expected, health care continues to be a growth area as well as economic development and regulation, which will likely be heavily focused on regulation and compliance.

Vendors interested in finding out more about North Carolina should check out Deltek’s state profile application.

The most common terms appearing in justice/public safety and homeland security solicitations during April were fire alarm and alerting, camera/surveillance and radio. The below word cloud provides a visual interpretation of key term frequency.

• Number of Public Safety Bids: 1,400
• Top three states (by number of solicitations released): California (175), New York (95) and Pennsylvania (75)
• Top three keywords:  fire alarm and alerting, camera/surveillance and radio

Frequency of terms:

• Radio: 8 (4 state, 11 local)
• 911: 1 (3 state, 1 local)
• Computer Aided Dispatch (1 state, 3 local)
• Records Management System (1 state, 2 local)

Like March, April was a slow month for justice and public safety (JPS) procurements; and while numerous solicitations were released, there seemed to be little movement on projects in the early development stages. Many governments are waiting on funding to move forward with projects, and agencies widely differ in their approaches to how much work they put into a project prior to securing funds.

While some states are hesitant to spend a lot of time planning and developing specifications for projects that may never receive funding, others like Georgia work to have a nearly completed plan in place so that a project can move forward quickly once funding is secured. Vendors should be aware of these different approaches and have patience with governments that are unwilling to spend large amounts of time consulting with vendors early on. 

Many governments further along in project planning took big steps in April by releasing RFPs or RFIs, many of which were large in scale. Waukesha County, Wis., released an RFP for a trunked radio system, while Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, released one for a new 911 system. These major projects, which have been in the works for several years, are likely to be among the most expensive these entities will undertake for some time.

Numerous entities also released solicitations for smaller projects, such as Cook County, Illinois’ inmate telephone audit and the Florida Department of Corrections’ inmate telephone system. Given the fact that inmate phone systems tend to be paid for by users rather than the government, these projects often require less lead time; therefore, vendors would be wise to contact project managers sooner than later to share their expertise before a solicitation is released.

Analyst’s Take

Vendors should gear up for a couple busy months as late spring and early summer tend to be extremely active for projects before the summer lull strikes in July and August, which tend to be slow due to vacations and scrambles to cover holidaying colleagues. For entities with July budgets, these months also act as planning weeks when solicitations and projects are worked on behind the scenes as agencies decide what to do with their funding. Many states and localities are also waiting to find out if they have received money from grant applications submitted in spring, such as the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program, for which applications are due May 30, 2013. Therefore, vendors should work particularly hard in the next few months to identify and make connections for projects that may be waiting on money from grants and the next budget cycle. 

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Last April, Deltek utilized the Federal Communications Commission’s PSAP Registry to give vendors an overview of public safety answering points (PSAPs) in counties nationwide. Now, we’re using the current registry to detail information on consolidation efforts and other changes that have taken place across the country in the last year.

Consolidation projects have been taking place for the last few years as cities and counties work to become more efficient and, ultimately, save more money; however, the total number of PSAPs actually increased by 64 from 2012 to 2013. Still, of the 8,393 PSAPs, only 7,485 act as the primary call-taking location – 908 are considered “orphaned” and are no longer utilized. These orphaned PSAPs will not be included in future filings with the FCC.

Just as in 2012, Texas has the most PSAPs (667), followed by California (587) and Illinois (422) – all three states also saw slight increases in their total number of PSAPs year to year.

New Hampshire still has the fewest PSAPs (5), and Delaware’s nine puts it second from the bottom. Washington, D.C. held that spot in 2012, but an increase from seven to 11 PSAPs now ties the district with Vermont and Hawaii for having the third lowest number.

As of April 2013, a total of 719 PSAPs have changed name, state, county or city compared to only 679 that had as of April 2012. The majority of these took place in California, followed distantly by Nebraska – providing further evidence that dispatch centers in many locations are consolidating efforts and working to cover a wider geographical span.

The below chart provides a visual representation of PSAP locations by city and county in 2012 and 2013, as well as information on where vendors can find the most opportunities.

Analyst’s Take

The number of dispatch opportunities in each of the regional areas has remained steady since 2012, with nine solicitations in the works in Los Angeles and Boston, and 12 within 100 miles of Chicago and 21 within 100 miles of New York City. This should provide some hope for vendors that cities and counties are still interested in purchasing dispatching technologies despite the tough economic climate.

Dispatch technologies are among the most vital tools that police use, and localities have little choice than to purchase new ones once they reach the end of their life cycles. This trend, along with increasing number of PSAPs, is likely to continue as individuals’ ability to report where and when crimes take place becomes easier. 

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Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is utilizing his fiscal year 2014-2015 budget to highlight Michigan as the nation’s “comeback state,” calling for both fiscally responsible and innovative spending to ensure a bright future. With no big surprises, education, health care reform, and transportation are among the state’s top investment priorities. More than 75 percent of the budget is dedicated to education and health and human services, and state spending will go hand in hand with outcome measures and performance metrics.

The FY 2014 budget totals $51.8 billion, a 7 percent increase from FY 2013. The FY 2015 proposed budget tops $53 billion. Table 1 below represents the total budget starting in FY 2010.

Michigan’s FY2014-2015 budget is spot on with Governor Snyder’s goals to increase better health outcomes, education, and transportation for Michigan citizens. Touted as the “comeback state,” Michigan is turning a corner as employment rates and personal income rise. The unemployment rate is decreasing faster than the national average, and the housing market is starting to gain momentum. Further, the governor has called for a focus on long-term solutions and assistance for struggling local entities. For a deeper dive into the state’s budget, please click here for an Analyst Perspective (log-in required).

Deltek is currently tracking more than 30 core-IT opportunities in the state of Michigan, valued at an estimated $3.3 billion. Vendors interested in forming a partnership with the “comeback state” should visit our Michigan state profile to access procurement information, budget documents, and key contacts.

Every April, National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week celebrates the work that telecommunicators engage in every day to keep their communities safe. These individuals are often the first line of defense in the face of tragedy and work to keep everyone calm on what may be the worst day of their lives. When a call comes in to 911, they are the ones charged with gathering salient information, determining which agencies are best to respond, and dispatching first responders.

Public safety telecommunicators also provide key instructions for individuals calling in with an emergency, whether instructing them where to hide during a home invasion or how to give CPR and clear an airway.  

Telecommunicators rely not only on their extensive training and people skills, but also a complex network of technologies to ensure the appropriate help arrives at the correct emergency location as quickly as possible. In the past year, communities nationwide have recognized the importance of these essential technologies and have sought to upgrade or replace antiquated systems.

In the past year, several solicitations were released for the following technologies:

• 911 (Enhanced and Next Generation): 24 
• Records Management Systems (RMS): 19 
• Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD): 13 
• Automatic Vehicle Location Systems (AVL): 7 
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS): 6

Many public safety priorities for 2012 and 2013 emphasize increasing utilization of these systems and improving first-response efforts, which rely heavily on cooperation of neighboring jurisdictions or agencies in the event of an emergency. Increased interoperability coupled with the ability to receive information in real time has greatly enhanced overall telecommunications.

While most state and local governments manage their own dispatch centers, there is likely to be a continued focus on consolidation and partnerships between agencies to curb costs and improve efficiency. Dispatch equipment such as CAD, RMS, GIS mapping and AVL technology are typically procured through a formal solicitation process. Usually, CAD and RMS equipment are procured together, but as most of these technologies require integration, agencies may choose to procure all equipment within a technology suite. This helps agencies save time and money and allows for simultaneous upgrade and implementation processes.

The upgrade or enhancement of 911 systems to next generation has been on the radar of many governments over the past few years due to many systems becoming obsolete. Next generation 911 advancements have put pressure on agencies to incorporate new capabilities into 911 systems, such as the ability to receive text-to-911, video streaming and picture messaging. Most 911 projects are implemented through a formal procurement process, and some agencies even prefer to utilize an RFI or hire a consultant prior to formal implementation. Despite tight budgets, agencies will likely continue to put forth the effort to ensure the most efficient and advanced dispatching technologies are purchased because, like dispatchers, these systems are central to the mission of public safety agencies.

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