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A Resolution of the City Commission accepting the recommendation of the Police Department to implement a Piloted Drone Program as a “Sole Source Procurement,” pursuant to Section 2-689 of the City’s Procurement Code.
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In 2022, the city engaged in a Pilot Program called "Drone as First Responder" utilizing the services of Bond for a period of 3 months. After the initial use of the program, it was determined that a longer period of operation would be needed to determine the usefulness of the program. During the pilot program it was determined that Bond is the sole supplier for all-inclusive rapid response UAS services for police agencies operating as Public Aircraft Operations.
The Coral Gables Police Department has decided to implement a Piloted Drone Program that will use drones to assist the agency in locating missing persons, identifying suspects, responding to in-progress crimes, and enhance security capabilities at special events. In addition, this equipment can be used to assess scenes of major car accidents, fires, or other natural disasters before first responders arrive.
This program will increase the efficiency of the agency’s response and provide additional capabilities not currently available. Bond is the only supplier comprehensively offering a list of unique, necessary attributes for providing these services on the level required by the Coral Gables Police Department and thus eliminates competitively soliciting for the services after the close of the pilot programming phase.
Under Section 2-689 of the Procurement Code, entitled “Sole Source Procurement,” an award may be made without competitive bids when there is only one source available to fulfill the needs of the City.