Title
Sheriff's Office and Probation Department recommending the Board approve and authorize the Chair to:
1) Sign Amendment I to Agreement 4097 with KP Research Services Inc., for pre-employment background investigative services to increase compensation to a not-to-exceed amount of $140,000 for a term ending on October 6, 2022;
2) Sign Amendment II to Agreement 3923 with Michael W. Frasier of Frasier Group Investigations for pre-employment background investigative services to increase compensation to a not-to-exceed total of $140,000 for a term ending on May 22, 2022; and
3) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to increase or extend the Agreements on an "as-needed" basis as long as funding is available within the requesting departments' budget.
FUNDING: General Fund.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The Sheriff’s Office and the Probation Department have had an agreement with both KP Research and Frasier Group Investigations for the past two years to provide “as-needed” pre-employment background investigative services. The amendments being requested to be approved by the Board will add funding to each respective agreement by $71,000 each. The Sheriff's Office nor Probation had not worked extensively with either KP Research or Frasier Group Investigations therefore the value of the initial contracts that were set up were made for amounts only addressing short term needs. The intent was to the evaluate the services provided and if the backgrounds performed by KP Research and Frasier Group Investigations were acceptable we would come back to the board to add funds.
Conducting backgrounds for potential law enforcement personnel is a very labor intensive process. The Sheriff's Office and Probation conduct extensive reviews on the backgrounds of potential employees to ensure El Dorado County is hiring reliable and trustworthy individuals of integrity and skill.
The Sheriff's Office and Probation contract with two vendors for the same service in order to have flexibility when faced with back logs. If one vendor is overstretched with other customers, the Sheriff's Office and Probation have the ability to utilize the vendor that is able to process a background the quickest. Amendment I with Frasier Group Investigations was to replace Exhibit B and added Exhibit C, which added costs for additional expenses related to travel, fees and meal per diem.
In 2020, the Sheriff's Office received 1,466 job applications. In total, we conducted 121 background investigations. Of that number, roughly 70 backgrounds were sent to either FGI or KP for the initial background investigation. Once FGI and KP are done, the background report comes back to the Sheriff Office where it is assigned to one of our investigators for further follow up and investigation. Many times, we need to make more contacts with relatives, friends, prior employers, home visits, and Computer Voice Stress Analysis (CVSA) exams. It is important to know that all 121 backgrounds were started and passed through one of our Deputy Detective investigators prior to completion. Since 74% of candidates who make it to background fail or withdraw, we are constantly starting new background and sending backgrounds to FGI and KP.
ALTERNATIVES
Failure to approve this contract would result in the inability of the Sheriff’s Office and Probation Department to utilize these essential services.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
N/A
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
County Counsel has approved the amendments.
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
No change to Net County Cost. Funding for these services is budgeted in the Sheriff's and Probation’s operating budget each year and will continue to be budgeted in future years.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
Please return one signed Amendment of each contract to the Sheriff's Office for distribution.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Public Safety
CONTACT
Undersheriff Bryan Golmitz