Public Safety Master Plan

The City of Surprise, Arizona (the "City") Fire-Medical Department (SFMD) and the Police Department (collectively, the "Public Safety Departments") are accepting Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) from qualified Offeror(s) to provide full professional consulting services and architectural planning to conduct a ten (10) year public safety master plan under this Request for Qualifications. The awarded Offeror will be expected to recommend models to assist the Public Safety Departments to achieve their organizational and programmatic goals, ensure alignment with the City's General Plan, the Mayor and Council Strategic Plan, and provide an appendix outlining the construction planning and development of the City's Public Safety Operations Center (PSOC).

It is the intent of the City to enter into a single contract with a qualified Offeror that has demonstrated the experience which can provide both professional consulting & architectural services under one award. The City will not maintain separate contracts and may assist in appointing an architect during negotiations.

The City of Surprise, Arizona was incorporated in 1960 and is located in Maricopa County, just 45 minutes from downtown Phoenix. The current population is over 165,000 residents and encompasses over 130 square miles with diverse land uses. The City operates under a council-manager form of government, with a six-member City Council elected by district, and a mayor elected at large for 4-year terms. The Mayor and City Council are responsible for appointing a City Manager who carries out council adopted policies and directs the day-to-day operations of the City. The City employs a total of 1,170 full-time and part-time employees, comprised of 22 departments that can be accessed by visiting the City of Surprise website https://surpriseaz.gov . The two (2) public safety departments are comprised of the Fire-Medical Department and the Police Department.

Fire-Medical Department

The Surprise Fire-Medical Department (SFMD) has a variety of responsibilities, including fire prevention, fire investigation, fire suppression, emergency medical services, hazardous material response, technical rescue, and emergency preparedness activities. The Department has 230 full-time employees and a budget of $48.8 million for fiscal year 2025, with specific allocations for different services and operations. The SFMD operates from eight (8) fire stations and supports eight (8) engines, one (1) ladder, six (6) ambulances, and two (2) battalion chiefs, all with advanced life support capabilities.

The Phoenix Fire Department dispatches all Department resources as part of a valley-wide automatic aid partnership, ensuring that the closest available unit is dispatched to incidents regardless of municipal location. This system provides fire suppression, emergency medical services, and other emergency rescue services to 5 million people. In 2024, the SFMD responded to 22,469 incidents system-wide, with 19,535 of these calls located within the City of Surprise.

In 2019, the SFMD was evaluated by the International Organization for Standards (ISO) for Public Protection Classification (PPC) and was rated a Class 1 in the urban areas and a Class 3 in the City's rural area. The Department has diligently worked over the last decade to improve its ISO rating and aspires to achieve a Class 1 status citywide. Despite some rural locations within the City of Surprise experiencing longer response times due to current roadway configurations, sparse population, and location of fire stations; the SFMD is committed to meeting the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) 1710 guidelines where possible.

The SFMD has established response time goals as a part of the organization's ongoing accreditation process with the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE). The individual goals for each response time metric are as follows:

• Call processing/Alarm Handling time of 1:00 (60 seconds)
• Turnout time of 1:00 (60 seconds) for EMS incidents
• Turnout Time of 1:20 (80 seconds) for Fires, Wildland, Hazmat & Technical Rescue incidents
• First Unit Travel Time (Engine or Ladder) of 6:30 (390 seconds) in an urban area
• First Unit Travel Time (Engine or Ladder) of 12:00 (720 seconds) in a rural area

Listed below are the published emergency response time goal statements for incidents occurring within the City of Surprise (COS):

• The SFMD will respond to a FIRE, WILDLAND, HAZMAT or TECHNICAL RESCUE incident in an urban area with a first unit (Engine or Ladder) response time of 8:50 (530 seconds) or less 90% of the time.
• The SFMD will respond to a FIRE, WILDLAND, HAZMAT or TECHNICAL RESCUE incident in a Rural area with a first unit (Engine or Ladder) response time of 14:20 (860 seconds) or less 90% of the time.
• The SFMD will respond to an EMS incident in an urban area with a first unit (Engine or Ladder) response time of 8:30 (510 seconds) or less 90% of the time.
• The SFMD will respond to an EMS incident in a rural area with a first unit (Engine or Ladder) response time of 14:00 (840 seconds) or less 90% of the time.

Police Department

The Surprise Police Department (SPD) serves our community with respect by upholding the constitutional rights, peace, and security of the public with purposeful engagement and meaningful partnerships. SPD consists of four (4) divisions headed by the Police Chief. The Chief is supported by one (1) assistant chief, four (4) commanders, ten (10) lieutenants and three (3) civilian managers to ensure the consistent operation of the four (4) divisions and the Office of the Chief. In fiscal year 2025, the Department’s authorized strength was increased to 187 sworn and 77 civilian professional positions, which operate within the $49M budget. Additionally, the Department values the services of 57 volunteers in a variety of capacities. The infrastructure consists of one (1) main police station located within the City of Surprise Public Safety Building at 14250 W. Statler Plaza #103, and the Property and Evidence Warehouse, Training Facility, and Readiness Center located at 13430 W. Westgate Drive. Receiving its fifth reaccreditation in 2024, Surprise Police Department has been accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) since 2007.

The largest division within the Department is the Patrol Operations Division, which includes uniformed Patrol Officers, School Resource Officers, Animal Control, and Prisoner Transport Officers.

The Criminal Investigations Division includes detectives from the Violent Crimes Unit, Property Crimes Unit, General Investigations Unit, Special Victims Unit, and Neighborhood Response Unit. Additionally, the Victim Advocate Unit, Crime Analysis Unit, Crime Scene Specialists, and a Case Support Specialist are also assigned to this Division.

The Office of the Chief is comprised of Professional staff, Training Unit, the Professional Standards Unit and Budget. Each unit reports to the Assistant Chief.

The Agency Support Division is responsible for maintaining the daily administrative support functions of the Department. Within this Division are the Community Relations/Crime Prevention Unit, Public Information Officer and Media Specialist, the Property and Evidence Facility, the Records Unit, Communications, Recruitment, Policy and CALEA, Employee Wellness, Cadets, Citizen Patrol Volunteers and Community Service Officers.

Emergency communications and 911 services are provided by the Department’s state of the art Communications Center. The Communications Center answered 57,724 911-calls in 2023, and 108,048 non-emergency calls for service. Officers were dispatched to 43,817 calls for service within the City of Surprise only and conducted 35,573 self-initiated calls for service during the same time frame. Priority 1 calls for service response times averaged 04:18 in 2023, and 06:55 for Priority 2 calls for service response times.

The Professional Standards Unit is assigned to the Office of the Chief and reports directly to the Assistant Chief. The Professional Standards Unit’s two police sergeants are responsible for the inspections and audits of the Department’s operations. Citizen comments and concerns as well as internal complaints are reviewed and investigated by the members of this unit.

The Tactical Support Division (TSD) includes the Traffic Unit, K-9 Unit, SWAT, Threat Liaison Officer, United States Marshals Service Task Force Officer, Crisis Negotiation Team, Bicycle Patrol, Unmanned Aerial Systems Program, and Special Event Planning and Operations.