The City of Champaign, Illinois recently posted a Request for Proposals (RFP) on their website seeking private firms to patrol the downtown area during weekends and events.
From the thirty-six page proposal document (provided in full below):
2.1 Services Summary: The City of Champaign seeks a firm to provide private security services in Downtown Champaign during the busiest days and hours for visitors to bars and restaurants in the Downtown area. The selected firm will provide security services to address public safety and order maintenance concerns on multiple nights per week. For the purposes of this RFP, “Downtown Champaign” shall refer to the area bounded by Washington Street to the north, 1st Street to the east, University Avenue to the south, and State Street to the west.
2.2 Background: Over the course of the last several years, law enforcement has been faced with the issue of large crowds assembling in the city-owned parking lots and on sidewalks and side streets in the downtown business district. Numerous issues and concerns have been brought to the attention of the Police Department to include groups loitering in and around businesses, open alcohol being consumed on public property and in the roadways, loud music from vehicles, trash and debris being left following these gatherings, shootings, fights and one homicide to date. In past years, the Police Department has been able to provide directed patrols and overtime details to help address some of the concerns. Currently, the Police Department cannot provide additional patrols to the downtown business district due to significant staffing issues and addressing the current uptick in gun violence.
2.3 Scope of Services: Provide private security services to address the Downtown area’s needs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, as well as on an as-needed basis. Beginning May 1, 2022, or as soon thereafter thru 12-31-22.
2.4 Vendor expertise: The vendor should summarize experience for all staff anticipated to provide security services under this agreement and describe its process for screening security employees prior to employment, and all relevant training required of and offered to its employees. While no specific experience requirements are being requested of individual staff members the firm itself should have a proven record of providing professional security services, particularly in the Champaign-Urbana area. The vendor must: 1) have up to 4 staff security personnel available to provide professional security services each week at least three nights per week; 2) possess the ability to utilize body-worn cameras; 3) provide daily and incident-based reporting; 4) employ a diverse workforce; 5) offer customizable uniforms; 6) have the capacity to provide unarmed and/or less-lethal options; 7) be able to provide both vehicular and foot patrol; 8) provide professional references; 9) provide for and describe a citizen complaint process.
It does not appear that the City has provided any dollar amounts for this endeavor. Click image for full 36 page PDF:
