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CONSIDERATION OF AUTHORIZATION FOR THE PURCHASE OF LEXIPOL POLICY SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES IN THE AMOUNT OF $19,400 TO PROVIDE WEB-BASED POLICY MANUALS WITH AN INTEGRATED TRAINING COMPONENT AND BUDGET APPROPRIATION FROM THE STATE SEIZURES AND RESTITUTION FUND.
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BACKGROUND: Police policies codify the expectations that management and the community have for the Norman Police Department’s accomplishment of our mission in accordance with our stated values and vision. It is necessary that these policies reflect state and federal laws, are updated with changing statutes, case law, and regulations, and reflect up-to-date industry standards and best practices. While accreditation standards ensure the Police Department has policy outlines, they do not provide guidance for what policies should actually say or what is required legally or expected by the industry. Responsible policing starts with sound, defensible and up-to-date policies where employees know and understand expectations.
DISCUSSION: Lexipol provides customizable, state-specific, web-based policy manuals with an integrated training component that helps public safety organizations operate more efficiently and effectively and has proven to reduce the number of litigated claims against agencies and claims paid by their governing bodies. Lexipol serves over 1,800 law enforcement agencies in 24 states. They launched the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Policy Manual in May of this year, and, through the Oklahoma Mutual Assurance Group (OMAG), already have over 40 Oklahoma law enforcement agencies signed up. Additionally, Lexipol is committed to ensure the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) accreditation standards are mapped in their Oklahoma policies - reducing the employee hours required for noting, updating and managing the accreditation process.
The Lexipol policies are written by legal and public safety professionals who constantly monitor major court decisions, legislation and emerging trends. A Lexipol subscription provides regular updates in response to legislative mandates, case law and the evolution of best practices. Each month, Lexipol provides customizable, scenario-based training bulletins that link directly to the policy manual. Agencies can customize the Daily Training Bulletins to address agency-specific topics.
For this reason, we believe the use of funds from the state seizure account would be appropriately used to subscribe to the Lexipol service. While customizable, this product will ensure the Norman Police Department’s policies are in-line with legal, industry and community expectations.
This action is to activate the subscription for Lexipol Policy service for FYE 2016. The initial activation will be purchased by use of state seizure funds through the Police Department and an additional year’s funding from the state seizures funds will be requested in the FYE 2017 budget process. Lexipol is a sole source vendor for this service and it is requested to waive Chapter 8, Section 8-204 (b)(4) of the Code of the City of Norman competitive bidding process.
RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the subscription to this service be approved and that $19,400 be appropriated from the State Seizures and Restitution Fund balance (025-0000-253.20-00) to State Seizures-Training (025-6035-421.46-04).