Text of article:
Watchdog report: Bidding for CHP pistols faulted
Gunmaker claims procurement process favored rival firm.
By Andrew McIntosh -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, June 11, 2006
Story appeared on Page A23 of The Bee
CHP Range Officer J. Tomlinson fires a 4600TSW at the agency's West Sacramento range. The state's contract with Smith & Wesson is under fire because another gunmaker offered new pistols for $2.2 million less.
Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton
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The California Highway Patrol restricted bids on a $5.3 million gun contract to a single Smith & Wesson pistol, even though a rival manufacturer offered almost identical weapons for $2.2 million less.
SigArms Inc. alleged in April 10 letters to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and CHP Commissioner Mike Brown that the state's decision to favor Smith & Wesson was improper and contrary to state contract regulations, which require competitive bidding for big government purchases.
"Historically, when governments or companies have not used the competitive bidding process, waste and corruption have often been the result," SigArms general counsel Eric Cook wrote.
The CHP confirms it restricted bids to a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol, but it denies that it breached state rules.
In a letter to SigArms, Commissioner Brown said the decision favoring Smith & Wesson was made to save taxpayers' money and prevent CHP officers from being hurt while learning to use new pistols. His letter was obtained by The Bee under the state Public Records Act.
Last month, Smith & Wesson announced the CHP had ordered 9,736 semiautomatic pistols, known as the 4006TSW. The guns will replace 7,718 older Smith & Wesson 4006 pistols that the CHP bought in the 1990s, ensuring a large stock for new recruits.
The contract was signed after what state officials described as a round of competitive bidding overseen by the Department of General Services.
Yet there was nothing competitive about the bidding, according to memos and bid documents obtained under the state Public Records Act.
A rush to quickly fill the holsters of new recruits may have been the reason why the CHP wanted Smith & Wesson.
Assistant CHP Commissioner Kevin Green said his agency was running out of older 4006 duty pistols. The Highway Patrol had fewer than 200 in stock, with more recruits ready to graduate from the academy, Green said.
CHP administrators said they believed they didn't have time to run a formal evaluation process involving several competing guns.
"If we had done a study, it would have taken several months to complete," Green said.
The Department of General Services issued invitations to bid for the CHP gun deal in late March.
General Services invited potential suppliers to deliver 9,736 new pistols over three years, but included a condition: All bids must offer only the Smith & Wesson 4006TSW semiautomatic pistol.
When SigArms, a seller of rival semiautomatic pistols based in Exeter, N.J., learned of the brand and model restrictions, it denounced the process as a sham.
In his letters to Brown and Schwarzenegger, SigArms' Cook said his firm sells two pistols that meet all CHP specifications, except those involving the Smith & Wesson brand and model.
Cook urged Schwarzenegger and Brown to drop the restrictions and hold an open competition.
SigArm pistols are used by the Nevada Highway Patrol, the U.S. Secret Service, federal air marshals and 17 major state police agencies. Police agencies in Sacramento city and county use SigArms Sauer pistols.
Rita Hamilton, a General Services deputy director, answered Cook's letter on April 26 -- after the bid deadline expired. She said the brand and model restrictions did not breach state regulations.
"The CHP has determined that this weapon has unique performance factors that warrant limiting this purchase," wrote Hamilton, without elaborating.
Despite picking a sole brand, Hamilton said General Services had established that its gun purchase could be made using competitive bidding.
DGS identified four companies "capable of bidding" to supply Smith & Wesson 4006TSW pistols, in addition to manufacturer Smith & Wesson itself, she said.
The General Services' rules for the gun contract required that all bidders be factory-authorized distributors or the manufacturer.
Smith & Wesson, based in Springfield, Mass., almost never directly bids for state deals to avoid angering its distributors, said the company's marketing director, Paul Pluff. Smith & Wesson's Web site lists just one distributor for law enforcement weapons in California -- All State Police Equipment of Pomona. All State was the only bidder to meet CHP terms.
The remaining three firms on the state's list of "capable bidders" could not and did not bid.
The first was Pro Force Law Enforcement in Orange County. President Bryan Tucker said he's a dealer, not a distributor, and cannot bid on deals involving more than 25 guns in California.
The second, Adamson Police Products of Hayward, was not a factory-authorized distributor in April. The third was American Shooters Supply of Las Vegas. It is a Smith & Wesson distributor, but only for Nevada.
SigArms submitted a $3.1 million bid offering its semiautomatic pistols despite the CHP restrictions, but it was disqualified.
All State general manager Anthony Taylor denied his firm was guaranteed to win the CHP contract.
"There's other people who could have bid on this," Taylor said. When pressed, he could not name them.
Department of General Services spokesman Bill Branch said the state is not required to do an "an exhaustive pre-bid investigation" to identify which companies meet requirements. "That would be putting the cart before the horse," he said.
Paul F. Dauer, a Sacramento attorney who specializes in government procurement cases, said state law prohibits bureaucrats from drafting restrictive requirements to limit contract competitions.
The SigArms offer quoted guns at $599 each, while Smith & Wesson's quoted $683 each.
SigArms also offered a $349 per gun trade-in for the old CHP Smith & Wesson 4006 pistols -- a total credit of $2.7 million. Smith & Wesson offered a trade-in credit of $170 per gun.
In an April 6 letter responding to SigArms' offer to sell the CHP guns, Commissioner Brown said that his agency had 15 years of training invested in the Smith & Wesson 4006 pistol and that the CHP was unwilling to change its weapon, even though the newer 4006TSW is not identical.
"The dependability and performance of the currently issued pistol has been proven in the field, allows for the use of existing training magazines and magazine pouches, and does not require additional training for personnel," Brown wrote. "Converting to a different weapons system will require a learning curve that could jeopardize officer safety."
Brown's letter suggested it would also be "very costly" to switch weapons, but didn't estimate the extra costs.
Branch said General Services officials never asked for details or challenged the CHP's cost claims.
Assistant CHP Commissioner Green said he made "a business decision" favoring the S&W 4006TSW.
Green said training employees on a different pistol would cost $780,000, requiring more than 7 million rounds of ammunition or 1,000 rounds per officer.
He said it would cost an additional $200,000 to buy holster pouches for magazines, which hold cartridges for extra bullets.
CHP weapons inspection officers would need training to disassemble and inspect the new guns, Green said.
Steve Griffin, a director of the California Highway Patrolmen's Association, a labor group that represents nonmanagement CHP officers, disagreed that a different gun would risk safety and boost costs.
"My concern is that members get the best weapon. Different semiautomatics are familiar enough so that safety really wouldn't be an issue if you switch," he said. "As for concerns about retraining, I'm unfamiliar with that line of thinking."
The new Smith & Wesson pistols don't fit the old holsters, so more money will be spent buying new holsters, boosting costs, Griffin said.
CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader confirmed the new holsters have been ordered for an extra $380,518.59.
John Martin, a gunsmith instructor at Lassen Community College in Susanville, said he understands why the CHP wants to stay with a familiar weapon. "It's a very functional, proven firearm," Martin said. "But I would give the Sig a little higher marks on the reliability front."
In Nevada, neither cost nor safety concerns deterred officials from considering six pistols when shopping for guns for the Nevada Highway Patrol in 2005.
California and Nevada decided to replace their existing Smith & Wesson 4006s because of age-related problems and malfunctions. Green and Griffin said CHP gun barrels had some hairline fractures.
The Nevada selection process for a new pistol stands in sharp contrast to the CHP's approach.
Nevada issued a formal request for proposals and invited a half-dozen manufacturers to pitch their products, said Kimberly Evans, a Nevada Department of Public Safety spokeswoman.
An NHP committee tested and evaluated the pistols. In late 2005, the NHP picked and bought 455 SigArms Sigauer 229 pistols. Officers retrained on the new gun using between 300 and 400 rounds of ammunition, Evans said.
"Our evaluation was thorough and complete," Evans said. "You can't be arbitrary about important decisions."
