Every day a chief or sheriff will receive several emails and correspondence from vendors. This phenomenon exponentially increases when a chief or sheriff attends a conference as the vendors receive the conference attendees list for perspective contacts. I do not have an issue with the vendors contacting me since they are doing their job. To be honest, there are times I wish I did not have to deal with purchasing, for I could make a grave mistake. Sometimes what I think is ‘nicky- neat” may not be an option for my department. Therefore, let us take a long look at what we are doing when we go shopping for the department.
One question you must examine is what your officers actually need. You will have to justify if these are true needs or wants. I could probably publish a decent article on how to foolproof the purchasing process for the entire procedure is an unappetizing adventure, but one that every agency head really needs to know about. I had some commanders from various departments quizzed on their purchasing process to glean their lessons learned and below are their responses. Most of these you have probably said as well.
More competition gets lower prices – this is a reason why we seek bids or demand three bids on some larger purchases. Some products they sell, well there is not that much wiggle room for profit but you must try. If you have to select over a few bucks, review the customer service and customer support track records before you select the lowest price.
You need to get what is useful to you, and not just the cheapest substitute- I was once told that the joy of a cheap price fades away after the widget breaks. If you cannot afford quality, rethink. The cheapest substitute may not be the product you entrust with your officers’ lives. One old saying in Policeland is that your life is built upon the lowest bid, stop and think about that for a moment.
Do not go crazy designing technical specs for some special item just for your agency - If perfectly good off-the-shelf products are available, or could be slightly modified to work, go with it. Custom designed items are good but two things. One you become the ‘beta tester’ and two, it is going to cost you dearly. Just the word ‘custom’ jacks the price up. Another reminder is that when they release the updated model or the new, improved version it could be out of your specs.
Specs are best if they concentrate on the functional performance of the item, rather than the technical design - which requires a lot of technical knowledge to do correctly. This is usually electronics here, but performance is the key not design.
You must have a testing and quality – One of the most thorough testing groups is the Alaska State Troopers. These Troopers test products for functionally in the extreme climate they work in. If it works, go to step two. Their process assures those in the field that this equipment will work for them under their conditions. The days of testing and evaluation are changed. The freebies have dried up. One suggestion is to find other departments that have selected the latest widget and request their testing/evaluation input.
You need a legitimate bid process, and not a set of specs that are so specifically engineered that only one company can win. Every municipality has a recommended bidding process, use that and do not reinvent another that will become a legal quagmire.
It's critical to get user feedback - Anything that the officers use daily allow them to use or evaluate before you buy. Allowing end-users to be part of the process shows that you respect them, and helps them "buy in" to the product. If they picked it, they should like it and use it. Again, do not select on price or your favorite salesperson allow staff input.
NOTHING IS A BARGAIN IF IT DOES NOT WORK – I received this response several times so it is in all capitals. Not yelling but I heard this repeatedly, so take heed.
Be very careful using sole source agreements with companies instead of bidding; and always negotiate for price, even on a sole source deal. Sometimes they will feel as if they have you over the barrel (and they do). Sole source or proprietorial based products will become a costly nightmare when you have to repair them. In addition, the availability of replacement parts will become a pain as well.
Do not be put off by any purchasing authority's policies or statement that it is too complicated. If you have this step in your process learn to work with your organizations purchasing polices and understand them before you buy. Invest the time with them and their ways before a process starts. Timelines can be critical and you do not want to rush on major investments.
I am sure you have your own insights on the purchasing process. A department’s budget officer gave one additional piece of advice to me, which is golden advice. Treat every purchase as if your life depended on it and you were using your money. Yes, lives depend on your purchases and we are the stewards of the tax dollar, well said.
One chief replied to my survey with a suggestion of writing “Why your chief is such an idiot?" His point being, of course, that he or she is not an idiot, and that things seem very different when you are responsible for an agency. His example was when the chief decides not to buy new cars. The cops are annoyed that they have to drive ratty old cars; the sergeants are annoyed that they have to do endless paperwork to get the old cars fixed. However, to the chief, it means that he does not have to lay anyone off, which was his, only other option given the budget. My response to this is that chiefs and sheriffs can do a better job with communicating to their staff on budgets and purchases.
The entire goal here is to get the best products to the officers in the streets. We as administrators must address budgets, political approvals and officer safety, not an easy quest but somehow we manage.
