Title
A Resolution Of The City Commission Of The City of Hollywood, Florida, Authorizing The Expenditure Of Federal Law Enforcement Funds Pursuant To The Federal Comprehensive Crime Control Act Of 1984 For The Purchase Of A Towable Patrol Vessel (Skiff) In An Amount Not to Exceed $19,600.00 To Be Utilized By The Police Department's Marine Patrol Unit/Dive Team; Authorizing The Department Of Financial Services To Establish Account(s) As May Be Needed; And Further Authorizing The Recognition Of Revenue And Appropriation Of Net Assets In Fund 12 To Those Accounts.
Body
Staff Recommends: Approval of the attached Resolution.
Explanation:
The attached Resolution seeks City Commission authorization for an expenditure of federal law enforcement forfeiture funds to purchase one (1) towable patrol vessel for use by the Police Department's Marine Patrol Unit/Dive Team. The Federal Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 requires that the Police Department obtain approval for such expenditure from the City Commission. The actual purchase of the towable patrol vessel will be in accordance with the City' Purchasing Ordinance. The use of the Federal Law Enforcement Forfeiture Funds to purchase said vessel is a permissible use of such funds under the Act.
The City of Hollywood is a large, coastal city of 140,000 residents. The City has an almost seven mile length of beachfront and Intracoastal Waterway. On the City's northern edge is one of the busiest ports, Port Everglades and running south from the Dania Cut-Off Canal is the C-10 Canal and its many smaller canals and tributaries. The City has two active Marinas, 4 public boat ramps and multiple land locked lakes of various sizes.
The Hollywood Marine Patrol Unit (Marine Unit) currently deploys two vessels into daily Patrols of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and the Atlantic Ocean. The two vessels are large hull vessels and are equipped with oversized power units to handle this specified type of patrols. As such, the Marine Unit is unable to provide the appropriate patrols for residents in the C-10 Communities because the ocean going vessels have an inherent height profile that restricts access to the C-10 canal and other similar waterways. Several of the largest lakes, such as West Lake and TY Park Lake, are located in public use areas. Many of the other lakes and ponds are in residential areas. Without a smaller, towable type vessel, patrolling or responding to incidents within these areas is currently not a practical option.
Due to the obstructions and/or obstacles, such as low fixed bridges, shallow water and other hazards, much of the navigable waterways, canals, and tributaries west of I-95 are not accessible by the current vessel inventory. This is true of the C-10 Canal, which cuts south from Dania Cut-Off Canal to Hollywood Boulevard at Stan Goldman Park. The C-10 Canal Spur also divides the City, running west from about 28th Avenue, west of 56th Avenue, between Sheridan Street and Stirling Road. The Police Department has seen incidents of criminal suspects using these canals and waterways as a concealed means of travel, targeting homes along these corridors. Random patrol of these areas with a marked vessel would help mitigate these types of incidents and be a welcome site to the homeowners along these waterways. There have also been incidents where Officers and K-9 are tracking criminal suspects, using these natural obstacles as a perimeter. Motivated criminals will either use the bank, docks or seawalls in an attempt to conceal their movement while attempting to avoid capture, or will swim across such natural barriers. The use of a marked vessel in these situations would greatly enhance the ability of the Patrol Sergeant to set containment.
Further, the use of smaller towable patrol vessel will greatly increase the ability of the Hollywood Police Dive Team to respond to incidents and conduct its mission. Having a vessel to transport team members and equipment to scenes and/or being available to be used as an "on station" platform from which to conduct their missions would increase Diver safety. By utilizing the towable vessel, it would drastically reduce the requirement for Divers to swim long distances to reach their working area, and reduce fatigue, overexertion and air consumption. Even with Teams current Dry Suit diving capability, in instances where the water conditions are considered Hazards (due to pollution or other factors) operating from a floating platform (vessel) and limiting the time Divers are exposed to such environments in extremely important to reduce the risk of exposure and contamination. This is especially important in land locked lakes and ponds where contamination or biological (bacteria) concerns are more likely. Further, having a smaller vessel to uses as a tending vessel will also conform to the industry standards and help to ensure safe dive operations. The US Dept. of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, categorizes Public Safety Dive Teams. Type I are the most basic and Type IV are the most advanced. For all four types, they list as a minimum capability "a towable motorized vessel capable of transporting the team and its equipment."
Recommended for inclusion on the agenda by:
Wazir A. Ishmael, Ph.D., City Manager
Frank G. Fernandez, Chief of Police