Law Enforcement Agency Mini-Grants FY15

Solicitation: DTNH2215RQ-00241 Agency/Office: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Location: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration HQ NAICS Code: 541720, Testing Laboratories, $20.5 Million. Point of Contract: Vincent Lynch, Contracting Officer, ph(202) 366-9568 Title: Law Enforcement Agency Mini-Grants FY15 Description(s): Synopsis: This Sources Sought Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The purpose of this Notice is to identify potential qualified Small Business concerns that may be interested in and capable of performing the work described herein. NHTSA welcomes all qualified Small Business concerns, with the appropriate NAICS Code and past experience to submit their Corporate Capability Statements that demonstrate their ability to successfully accomplish the goals of the project as listed below. NHTSA does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses to this notice or otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made; no formal evaluation of the information received will be conducted by NHTSA. NHTSA may; however later on issue a Request for Proposals (RFP). However; should such a requirement fail to materialize, no basis for claims against NHTSA shall arise as a result of a response to this notice. BACKGROUND One of the key partners within NHTSA's Occupant Protection program is Law Enforcement Organizations and Agencies. These organizations and agencies strive to advance professional law enforcement services; promote enhanced administrative, technical, and operational law enforcement practices; and foster cooperation and the exchange of information and experience among law enforcement leaders and organizations throughout the world. State and local law enforcement agencies play a critical role in campaigns involving the High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) of restraint use laws forming the core of the occupant protection program. While HVE is an effective and proven countermeasure to increase seat belt use and reduce unrestrained fatalities, secondary laws provide unique challenges for law enforcement in these efforts. Many states without a primary seat belt law indicate that it is difficult to enforce the secondary seat belt law. By providing law enforcement new effective strategies in secondary states, agencies may be able to overcome some of the obstacles that a secondary law creates. Research has shown that secondary states with the greatest improvements in seat belt use had much greater levels of enforcement than secondary States with the least change; 3 to 4 times as many citations per capita (see "Analyzing the First Years of the Click It or Ticket Mobilizations"; Preusser Research Group, Inc. January 2010; Julie Tison and Allan F. Williams). However, NHTSA recognizes that the proven enforcement strategies along with a required combination of new strategies and interventions are needed to change the status quo of the 29 States with a safety belt use rate below the national average of 87 percent. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Occupant Protection Survey (NOPUS) indicate that the percent of unrestrained vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes remains alarmingly high, near 50 percent, despite a national seat belt use at 87 percent. To ensure continued progress in increasing the national safety belt use rate and in decreasing the number of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupant fatalities, the agency must continue to explore innovative strategies for increasing occupant restraint use. OBJECTIVE: The primary objectives of this Project are to: Develop, implement, and evaluate enforcement models which will include enforcement of the seat belt use laws and a community public information component within rural and/or suburban law enforcement agencies in secondary law states. These enforcement models will be innovative in nature and tested within law enforcement agencies in secondary law states to increase seat belt use and decrease unrestrained fatalities. Provide technical support to these agencies with the development of necessary enforcement, procedures, and planning data collection and administrative needs. Identify, collect and evaluate qualitative and quantitative data that adequately documents changes in enforcement activity specifically related to the following data elements for pre, mid, and post: - o Changes in seat belt use, before, during, and after the project; - o Changes in the number of citations issued; - o Changes in unrestrained fatalities. Process documentation and analysis are a critical component of this project, as the ability to replicate these innovative methods will be largely based on the success of the processes utilized to implement and sustain such methods. The contractor shall document the process of implementation of each of the methods for each location, as well as changes in enforcement of seat belt laws within the jurisdictions. Changes in seat belt use rates and unbelted vehicle fatalities shall be analyzed as well. Under this Contract, the Contractor shall become familiar with and develop this project's enforcement activities based upon the ideas and projects developed under the mini-grant projects with the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs Association law enforcement agencies and the grant projects associated with the "Minimizing Suburban Unrestrained Fatalities". As part of the draft work plan, the contractor shall submit a comprehensive plan detailing their recommendations on: (1) Site Selection Criteria; (2) Technical Assistance Plan for the law enforcement agencies; (3) Enforcement and Program Activity Plan; (4) Community Information Component/Earned Media Activities; and (5) Evaluation. The specific tasks for this project are as follows: Conduct a kick-off meeting. Develop and Coordinate a Site Selection Criteria and Application Plan for four (4) sites. Provide and Develop a Technical Assistance Plan Develop an Enforcement and Program Activity Data Plan Analyze Data. Prepare and submit monthly progress reports and invoices. Prepare interim and preliminary reports. Prepare a draft final report on the activities that occurred during the project and the results of the analyses for review and feedback. Prepare a final report with results and recommendations. Conduct a final briefing. The Contractor shall work collaboratively with the selected enforcement sites to collect seat belt use and enforcement data. A data collection process shall be developed and monthly reports and findings submitted to the NHTSA. A final findings report shall be submitted at the end of the project period. The report will include an overview of the evaluation project, the work plan, data collection methodology, trends, findings, and recommendations for replicability of the enforcement strategies. Capabilities: The corporate capability statement shall address the capabilities necessary to accomplish the scope outlined above as well as the additional tasks and characteristics given below: Conduct a comprehensive analysis of data to include at a minimum analysis addressing: (1) What is the seat belt usage rate before, during, and after the program?; (2) What is the number of seat belt and other citations issued by law enforcement officers before, during and after each program?; and (3) What can local law enforcement agencies do to have an effect on occupant protection fatalities and local seat belt use rates? Data on the mini-grant project activities, including the level of enforcement and the community public information component shall be analyzed and reported (e.g., number of seat belt citations, number of hours, what was the community public information component of the mini-grant?). Format of Corporate Capabilities Statement: Any interested qualified SB firms should submit their Corporate Capability Statement, which demonstrates the firm's ability and past experience in no more than 10 pages to perform the key requirements described above to the identified NHTSA point of contact listed herein. Any proprietary information should be marked as such. All respondents are asked to certify the type and size of their business organization is in-line with the requirements of this Sources Sought Notice, and must be received no later than 2 calendar days from the date of publication of this notice.