Miami Beach Completes Public Safety Project

Challenge: Miami Beach Police Department Seeks to Complete Public Safety Project

With seven miles of sunshine, scores of boutique shops and hotels, amazing cuisine and top-shelf nightlife, the City of Miami Beach, Florida is one of America’s top tourist destinations. No wonder, then, more than 26 million people visit the area every year. Those tourists are an economic engine for the city, spending nearly $21 billion in 2022 alone.

Given the importance of the tourism industry to the area’s overall economy and the annual influx of visitors to a city of approximately 80,000 locals, safety is paramount. People won’t travel to an area they perceive as dangerous, and a community won’t risk security in exchange for prosperity.

Enhancing security for residents and visitors is exactly what the Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD) had in mind when its leaders endeavored to install new closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras along the area of Ocean Drive, the city’s most popular thoroughfare. MBPD also redesigned the security monitoring system within Lummus Park, a major point of interest of locals and visitors, as part of a broader initiative, the Lummus Park Connectivity Project.

When it came time to execute this highly visible project, the MBPD opted for Gordian’s Job Order Contracting (JOC).

“I don’t believe we could have done the projects without Gordian’s JOC program,” Detective Roland Aragunde, Detective – MBPD Technical Operations Unit

Solution: Gordian’s JOC Helps the Helpers

For over 30 years, Gordian Job Order Contracting programs have helped the public sector complete routine, operational work. An indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) construction procurement solution, JOC is famous for accelerating time to construction, delivering transparency and cost control, and creating trusting relationships between owners and contractors. In many ways, the Miami Beach CCTV camera installation project was an ideal candidate for JOC.

If MBPD officials had used a traditional construction procurement method, they would have had to send the work out for bid, evaluate the bids, negotiate prices with contractors and eventually begin work months later. Contrast that experience with the Gordian JOC process.

Contractors bid a multiplier on a Construction Task Catalog® (CTC), a collection of construction costs developed and published by Gordian cost engineers specifically for Miami Beach. In a matter of weeks, MBPD awarded the work to a trusted contractor, South Florida Electrical Consultants, and began creating a safer community in less time. Using preset costs from the CTC helped the MBPD budget accurately. A Price Proposal review by their Gordian representative ensured they paid a fair market price for the work and eliminated the need for contentious price negotiations. Finally, since this project was funded partly by a public bond, it helped that it was managed on Gordian’s secure, cloud-based software that empowers local officials to prove they were acting as good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

Speed, transparency, cost control, trust. All tenets of a JOC project were in play.

Job Order Contracting is just one solution Gordian offers to help state and local government officials deliver positive results for their communities. Click here to learn more.

Result: Collaboration and Speed Create Successful Outcomes

South Florida Electrical Consultants began work in May of 2020 and finished in early 2022. In that time, they began the first phase of the Beachwalk CCTV Project, an open promenade where people bike, jog and explore Miami Beach along its seven miles of beaches. South Florida Electric installed almost 50 new security cameras along the Beachwalk while also bringing connectivity for further expansion. MBPD trusted the contractor to work without disrupting this high-volume tourist area, and the contractor delivered without any logistical issues. This trust is a feature of JOC, as project owners and contractors often establish long-term relationships built on open communication and mutual benefit, according to a report by NIGP and Gordian.

Work associated with the Lummus Park Connectivity Project included fiber communication for the new CCTV system, a hub to connect the Police Department’s Mobile Command Vehicle and fiber connectivity back to the Police Station. MBPD leadership considers this project ground zero for expanding area connectivity.

MBPD Detective Roland Aragunde of the Technical Operations Unit oversaw the projects from their inception. “I don’t believe we could have done the projects without Gordian’s JOC program. Our contractor, South Florida Electric Consultants, truly became a partner on our journey. What we have done will provide the foundation for future growth, improving telecommunication across the city and enabling the Police Department to use all the technologies available to provide world-class public safety. Our CCTV Project provides actionable data in real time and helps our detectives solve cases with video evidence. I want to thank our partners who made these projects possible, South Florida Electric Consultants, Axis Communications, Corning Optical Communications, the City of Miami Beach Procurement/Information Technologies/GO Bond team and the residents of Miami Beach who made our Public Safety General Obligation Bond possible,” Detective Aragunde said.

The new cameras serve the city as a crime deterrent, and residents and tourists can rest assured that their security is being tended to. Planning for further development of the Beachwalk is currently underway along with various CCTV projects on roadways and parks.