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Running head: CAPITAL EXPENSES

Capital Expenses Analysis

Cindy Pontes

LEPS 590

Dr. Darrin Grondel

November 12, 2018

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CAPITAL EXPENSES

New Facilities – Capital Expenses:

Currently, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) occupies 1.4 million square feet of state-owned

facility space and 788,104 square feet of leased facility space for a total of 2.2 million square feet

statewide, which includes the following (California Five-Year Infrastructure Plan, 2017):

• Headquarters Facilities

• CHP Academy

• Division Offices

• Area Offices

• Dispatch/Communication Centers

• Other Facilities - CHP has 34 resident posts, 8 air operations facilities, 17 commercial vehicle

enforcement facilities, 22 scale sites, and 287 telecommunications sites.

Many of the existing CHP facilities are outdated and need to be modernized. Space is not

adequate for personnel and required functions. The current land is not large enough to house these

new facilities. As a result, the majority of our offices will need a new location. One of the driving factors

are personnel growth. The CHP staff has grown from 9,289 authorized positions in 1992 to more than

11,000 positions currently, an approximately 18-percent increase (California Five-Year Infrastructure

Plan, 2017).

Another major factor is evidence retention. The responsibility for evidence retention was

transferred from the courts to law enforcement agencies in the early 1980s. Evidence retention
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timeframes were changed from 90 days to up to four years after all legal actions are complete. Evidence

rooms in many older area offices were not originally designed for evidence storage, are inadequately

sized, and often lack proper ventilation to allow for toxic substance handling (California Five-Year

Infrastructure Plan, 2017).

The five-year infrastructure plan proposes $512 million from the Motor Vehicle Account

(MVA) to continue replacing area offices (California Five-Year Infrastructure Plan, 2017). This plan falls

in line with the goals of our Department and our Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement

Agencies (CALEA) Accreditation. On November 20, 2010, the CHP received its initial accreditation under

the CALEA Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. Upon receiving this honor, the CHP

became the largest CALEA-accredited law enforcement agency in the nation (CHP, 2018).

CHP sought certification in our evidence rooms. However, due to space limitations, ventilation

issues and other safety concerns in our aging facilities, we were not successful. New facilities will assist

in our accreditation and certification processes.

We are in dire need for a new office, and my command has been slated to be replaced since

2013. However, we have been unable to find land large enough to accommodate our needs that are not

in the flight path of the Santa Barbara Airport. Finding land and working with the Department of

General Services (DGS) has proven to be a daunting task. The height of our tower has limited the area

we can look for land. In any beach city, land is at a premium, and community members who paid a

million dollars for their condo do not want a CHP station built next to them.

The capital expenses for new facilities will assist the Department in achieving our goals. New

area offices will also present a positive and professional image of our agency to the public. Our current
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office has not gotten needed repairs because we are slated to get a new office, and the state does not

want to invest in an office that will ultimately be demolished. However, since it has now been five years

and we still have not been able to secure land for a new facility, they are starting to spend money on

fixing up the existing building.

Recommended modifications:

I do not recommend any changes to the capital expenses for new facilities. My

recommendation is to make working with DGS more user-friendly for the area commanders. Also, DGS

employees should not be allowed to speak at public community meetings for new building locations.

The commanders have built relationships with the local community leaders, and DGS has not, yet they

are representing the state (which the community sees as the CHP), and sometimes the things they say

are detrimental to community relations and support for the CHP. We experienced this in Santa Barbara

when DGS spoke at a community meeting and said some things that were not received well by the

community. The next meeting little kids had “Not in my backyard (NIMBY)” stickers on their shirts.

Things went south quickly, and we are still searching for land.

Wireless in-car camera system capital expenses:

The CHP has outdated Mobile Video Audio Recording Systems (MVARS) in our fleet. We are also

looking at purchasing body-worn cameras (BWC) in the future (the funding has not yet been secured for

BWC). The Department has set aside $52.5 million from the Motor Vehicle Account to purchase a new

wireless in-car camera system, and fund 12 additional positions phased in over three years to upgrade

the existing MVARS system to a wireless system with the ability to integrate with BWC’s (DOF, 2018).

This is definitely in line with our goals to enhance public trust. Our MVARS and BWC pilot projects in
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Oakland and Stockton have provided transparency to the public and shown our officers are doing the

right thing the majority of the time. The CHP continues to strive to be a leader in law enforcement and

purchasing new technology for a wireless in-car camera system that can integrate with BWC’s in the

future is right in line with our goals.

Recommended modifications:

I suggest the Department continue to look to purchase leading technology in the future. I

would not change our capital expenditures for new in car camera systems. However, I would

recommend our Department include language in our request for proposals (RFP) stating if technology

improves before the purchase of the new equipment, we will get the most up to date technology.

Unfortunately, most equipment is outdated by the time it gets to the field. With clauses of this nature

included in the RFP’s, we can avoid this in the future. We cannot be leaders in law enforcement with

antiquated equipment.

References

2017 California Five-Year Infrastructure Plan (2017). Retrieved from: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2017-

Infrastructure-Plan.pdf

CHP (2018). Retrieved from: https://www.chp.ca.gov/home/about-us/accreditation/calea-

accreditation

Department of Finance (DOF), California Budget 2018-2019 (2018). Retrieved from:

http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2018-19/pdf/Enacted/GovernorsBudget/2500/2720.pdf