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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgreements/Contracts - Sheriff & Jail (003)Ryan Rectenwald Undersheriff Office 509-754-2011 ext. 2017 Cell 509-750-7304 rectenwald@grantcountywa.gov Ken Jones Chief Deputy Field Operations Office 509-754-2011 ext. 2018 Cell 509-750-7303 kjones@grantoountywa gov T. Dustin Canfield Chief Deputy Special Operations Office 509-754-2011 ext. 2021 Cell 509-237-8610 dcanfield@grantcountywa.gov Joe Kriete Chief Deputy Corrections Office 509-754-2011 ext. 2026 Cell 509-750-2710 jkriete@grantcountywa.gov Darrik Gregg Chief Deputy Emergency Management Office 509-754-2011 ext. 2001 Cell 509-237-3552 dgregg@grantcountywa.gov Grant Coun SHERIFF Tom Jones, Sheriff 12/30/2019 To: Board of County Commissioners From: Sheriff Tom Jones Re: Termination of Agreement for Services; Huntleigh USA Corporation Dear Commissioners, I am requesting to terminate the Agreement for Services with Huntleigh USA Corporation effective January 1, 2020. Huntleigh USA provides Grant County security surveillance cameras in several areas around the county. The purpose of the request to terminate the contract is, in short, breach of contract, lack of service and lack of response to maintain and repair the surveillance cameras. Attached is a detailed letter from Chief Deputy Ken Jones explaining the deficiencies and the specifics of breach of the contract. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, 9To.Jo Sheriff Tracy Williams Administrative Assistant Office 509-754-2011 G, E I V ext. 2014 Cell 509-237-2278 P��. 3 o Z�I9 twilliams@grantcountywa.gov : _ GRANT COUNTY COMfo;ISSIONERS V 12/2018 Dated this (ems day oit 20im Bard of County Cantnissioners Grant County, Washington Approv, Qig=V Abstain Dis�#2-Dist # 1 Dist # I Dist Dist # 2 Dist # 2 Dist Dist # 3 Dist # 3 P.O. Box 37 • Ephrata, WA 98823 • www.grantcountywa.gov/sheriff 509-754-2011 ext. 2001 • 509-754-2058 Facsimile Administrative Offices in the Law & Justice Center, 35 C St NW, Ephrata, Wash. Grant County ------ ------ S ;. ag H R _1PP I qNr c —v i Tom Jones, Sheriff P.O. Box 37 • Ephrata, WA 98823 • www.grantcountywa.gov/sheriff 509-754-2011 ext. 2001 • 509-754-2058 Facsimile Administrative Offices in the Law & Justice Center, 35 C St NW, Ephrata, Wash. V 12/2018 26 December 2019 Ryan Rectenwald Undersheriff Office 509-754-2011 ext. 2017 Cell 509-750-7304 rectenwald@grantcountywa.gov Mr. Robert Soelberg Huntleigh USA Corporation Ken Jones Chief Deputy 545 E. John Carpenter Field Operations Suite 175 Office 509-754-2011 Irving, TX 75062 ext. 2018 Cell 509-750-7303 kjones@grantcountywa.gov Re: Termination of Agreement for Services for Breach of Contract T. Dustin Canfield Chief Deputy Special Operations Dear Robert, Office 509-754-2011 ext. 2021 Effective at the end of day, 31 December 2019, Grant County is terminating Cell 509-237-8610 dcanfield@grantcountywa.gov the Agreement for Services (Agreement) executed 4 May 2016 between the County and Huntleigh USA (Huntleigh). The term of this Agreement was contracted to end Joe Kriete 3 May 2021. Early termination is made necessary by Huntleigh's on-going and Chief Deputy Corrections serious breaches of its contractual obligations under that Agreement. Office 509-754-2011 ext. 2026 The Grant Count Sheriff's Office finally must acknowledge neither its y y g Cell 509-750-2710 jkriete@grantcountywa.gov escalating concern over Huntleigh's lack of response to our complaints nor the deterioration of service will be remedied such that Huntleigh will fulfill its Darroverall ik Gregg obligations under the Agreement. The Agreement obligates Huntleigh to provide: Chief Chief Deputy Emergency Management Office 509-754-2011 • Security surveillance services, including dispatch center over -watch of ext. 2001 Cell 509-237-3552 our cameras 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year; dgregg@grantcountywa.gov . Software, including storage equipment of video for a minimum of 60 days; Tracy Williams Administrative Assistant • Hardware, including cameras, mounting brackets, electrical junction Office 509-754-2011 boxes, etcetera; and ext. 2 • Installation and maintenance of all equipment owned by Huntleigh Cell 509-2337-7- 2278 twilliams@grantcountywa.gov USA. P.O. Box 37 • Ephrata, WA 98823 • www.grantcountywa.gov/sheriff 509-754-2011 ext. 2001 • 509-754-2058 Facsimile Administrative Offices in the Law & Justice Center, 35 C St NW, Ephrata, Wash. V 12/2018 Termination of Agreement for Services 26 December 2019 Page 2 of 3 You and I have discussed repeatedly and often a number and variety of declines in Huntleigh's service. The issues we have been able to rectify frequently required direct involvement by Grant County's Technical Services Department. In other cases, the Sheriff's Office was required to wait—sometimes two to three months—until you were able to return to Grant County for site evaluation. Cameras remained inoperable while we waited. Your original presentation to our office and the Board of County Commissioners described surveillance services operated from a Las Vegas, Nevada dispatch center, with a Huntleigh employee specifically assigned to monitor our cameras 24 hours a day, seven days a week, an employee with the ability to assist when Grant County experienced an active call for service. I and other deputies have called this service only to discover Huntleigh dispatchers unfamiliar with our cameras and entirely lacking in the understanding necessary to manipulate them, or to search or assist with events in progress. They have also been unable to assist in locating records of past events. Huntleigh's software services have been similarly dismal. The Sheriff's Office recognizes there was an original issue involving your battle with a third party vendor. However, the replacement platform, while user-friendly, has suffered its own issues, issues that took some time to resolve. We are still struggling to obtain incident histories in criminal investigations, discovering needed video footage was no longer available or had never been captured to begin with. Huntleigh's proposed remedy—installation of a storage unit at our facility— has yet to function properly and video from your cameras has had issues maintaining steady recordings. Huntleigh expects our Technical Service employees to either physically restart the new storage unit to existing hard drives or to open technical channels so Huntleigh can remotely view the storage unit. These are services that should be performed by Huntleigh. It not financially feasible to ask Grant County Technical Services to divert employees from its own priorities in favor of performing services allocated to Huntleigh under the Agreement. Huntleigh's hardware has also been problematic. Although the cameras and hard drives have been, for the most part, durable, Huntleigh has no functional plan in place for their repair when they do fail. Our office has been placed into the middle of extended disputes between Huntleigh and Basin Network over which company bears responsibility for these failures, with the result that Grant County continues to be billed by both entities without resolution from either. Instead of assisting in the installation of two additional cameras in the Desert Aire area, the Sheriff's Office assembled cameras and delivered them to our Public Utility District for installation. Installation was not the PUD's responsibility. Continuing to impose on the excellent, longstanding relationship between the County and the PUD is becoming awkward and embarrassing when Huntleigh is responsible for the installation under the Agreement. Further, this installation involves yet Termination of Agreement for Services 26 December 2019 Page 3 of 3 another unreasonable and unacceptable time lapse between implementation and functionality. It appears three circumstances contribute to the current unfortunate situation: distance, conflicting job duties, and inadequate resources to provide acceptable service. The distance between Huntleigh's base of operations in Las Vegas, Nevada and Grant County, Washington has made it increasingly difficult for Huntleigh to provide on-going service responses necessary to ensure the camera systems remain functional. You, as Huntleigh's representative under this Agreement, have insufficient time to spend in Grant County when you are able to make the trip and often need to leave the area to attend to other duties before resolution of all our outstanding issues. Finally, and perhaps, most significantly, Huntleigh's ever -lengthening response time for physical inspections and repair is not only frustrating, it is dangerous and compromises our ability to provide the level of surveillance contracted for under the Agreement. From inception, Grant County has experienced numerous moments where some or all of the system has gone down. Months have passed before downed cameras and failed data collection systems have been restored. Despite this, the Sheriff's Office has continued to make full payments under the Agreement. This will no longer continue. This letter is Huntleigh's formal notice that, effective January 1, 2020, Grant County will no longer be bound to its obligations and is hereby terminating the Agreement. tKennh M. Jones Field Operations Ch e eputy Grant Countv Sherif ffice KMJ:kwm