The sheriff’s department has begged off on providing patrol, security and law enforcement services at the county hospital.
Instead, the county will extend its existing contract with the Colton Police Department for that service and will pay the city of Colton $2,703,419 to have the Colton Police Department oversee the safety and enforcement function at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center for the three-year period of October 1, 2015, through September 30, 2018.
The Arrowhead Regional Medical Center is the main campus of the county hospital. In order to maintain security and order and ensure safety, there is a requirement that a law enforcement agency with the power of arrest be available to coordinate with the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center’s security staff and handle any potentially dangerous situations,
According to William L. Gilbert, the director of the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, the agreement with Colton PD will allow for on-site law enforcement services at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) to enhance security services provided by ARMC security staff. The agreement approved this week provides Arrowhead Regional Medical Center with a variety of law enforcement services specific to the needs of a medical facility. Depending on the security situation, law enforcement’s role will include enforcing public health orders; securing the perimeter of contaminated areas; securing health care facilities; controlling crowds; investigating scenes of suspected biological terrorism; as well as protecting the health and safety of employees, visitors and patients.
Beginning in 2010, the county turned to the Colton Police Department to provide on-site law enforcement services at the county hospital. Because of its location inside the Colton City Limits, the hospital is removed from jurisdictions where the sheriff’s department operates. The closest city using the sheriff’s department is Grand Terrace, but the patrol for that city is run out of the sheriff’s department Central Division at sheriff’s headquarters on Third Street east of Waterman Avenue in San Bernardino. The county could have established a substation on the hospital grounds for the sheriff’s department, but did not.
According to Gilbert, with the extensions from the 2010 contract with Colton PD set to expire late this month, there was an effort to interest the sheriff’s department in reassuming the duties at the hospital. In setting up the parameters by which their agency would agree to provide the service, sheriff’s department officials seemed to purposefully overrespond to the request for proposal, elevating the cost of switching back to the sheriff’s department for law enforcement at the hospital well beyond what Colton would charge for its presence at the facility.
“Based on the identified needs of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, including the presence of sworn officers with the ability to detain and arrest on property, Colton PD and the county of San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department are the only two law enforcement agencies eligible to provide law enforcement services to ARMC,” Gilbert stated. “Arrowhead Regional Medical Center requested and received proposals only from these two vendors. A meeting was held with the sheriff’s department on July 21, 2015, to discuss and ensure clarity regarding the scope of services requested by ARMC. The proposal provided by the sheriff’s department included an extensive scope of work necessary for the sheriff’s department to support and respond immediately to ARMC, which was beyond the level of service requested by ARMC. Following the meeting with the sheriff’s department, it was determined that ARMC would pursue an agreement with the Colton PD, based on their proposal, scope of work and cost.”
Gilbert said “Colton PD law enforcement services will include four police officers on a rotating schedule for coverage 24 hours per day, seven days per week; a marked Colton PD patrol vehicle with the ARMC logo; and a police sergeant (20 hours per week) to provide supervision and coordination of all law enforcement activity.”