Board of Public Health and Safety Meeting - April 1, 2026
Board of Public Health and Safety Meeting - April 1, 2026
The Board of Public Health and Safety convened at 9:42 AM on April 1, 2026, chaired by Director Andrew Merkley. The board adopted the minutes from the previous month's meeting, then considered three agenda items concerning public safety contracts and services. All votes were unanimous.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The board unanimously adopted the minutes from the March 2026 meeting.
Discussion Items
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Item 040126A – Rejection of Low Bid for GTAC Devices (IFD): Kim B from the Indianapolis Fire Department requested rejection of the lowest bid for 30 rugged tablet devices (used by Chief Del Rosson) because the winning vendor failed to sign the contract despite repeated contact attempts. The second-lowest bidder was $1,000 more per device, a total increase of $30,000. Board members questioned the pricing difference and speculated the original bidder may have underbid. The motion to reject the low bid and award to the second-lowest bidder passed.
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Item 040126B – Two-Year Polygraph Contract with B&R Polygraph LLC (IMPD): Commander Seth Farrell and Lieutenant Alex Glass presented a proposed two-year agreement with B&R Polygraph LLC for pre-applicant polygraph examinations. The contract cap is $60,000, with a flat fee of $275 per exam. B&R Polygraph has been a reliable partner for three years, helping IMPD manage backlog and provide independence from in-house examiners. Board members inquired about the nature of the fee (per exam), expiration of polygraph results, and the candidate pool. The motion to approve the contract passed.
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Items 040126C and D – Therapy Provider Contracts for Non-Fatal Shooting Survivors (IMPD): Alexis Webster, Assistant CFO of IMPD, presented two contracts split from a $45,000 grant: one with Hope Haven Psychological Resource LLC and the other with Healing Our Roots. Both were selected through a request for qualifications process. The funding was split to cover different geographic areas (east and west sides) and to leverage different clinician rates. Hope Haven charges $80–$180 per hour depending on clinician level; Healing Our Roots charges a flat $150 per hour. Each survivor receives three therapy sessions. Antonia Bailey, Non-Fatal Advocate Supervisor, explained the referral process: advocates receive commander sheets from detectives, contact survivors, and connect them to therapy via in-person or Zoom sessions. The board discussed how the program interacts with the existing Hospital Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) and confirmed it covers all Marion County hospitals. The motion to adopt both contracts passed.
Key Outcomes
- Approved (unanimous): Rejection of lowest bid for GTAC devices and award to second-lowest bidder (total increase of $30,000).
- Approved (unanimous): Two-year agreement with B&R Polygraph LLC (cap $60,000, $275 per exam).
- Approved (unanimous): Contracts with Hope Haven Psychological Resource LLC and Healing Our Roots for therapy services (total $45,000, split between vendors).
Meeting Transcript
All right, well, good morning. It is 9 42. We will begin the April 1st, 2026 meeting of the Board of Public Health and Safety. My name is Andrew Merkley. I'm the director of the Office of Public Health and Safety. Abby, can you please call the roll? Sure. Lee. Here. Williams. Here. Ingram. Webster. Here. Great. Thanks, Abby. Has everyone had an opportunity to review the minutes from last month's meeting? Yes. Any uh changes or uh conversation about this? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to adopt the minutes. So move. The motion has been moved and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, the motion passes. All right. We'll move on to the first item on the agenda, item 040126A, and we'll hear from the Indianapolis Fire Department. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Kim B with the Anapolis Fire Department. With me today is Captain Matt Banner. He's over at IT Special Projects. And we're here to ask the board to reject the lowest bid for our GTAC devices. So I'll just get into it if that's okay. Yeah. Okay. So in December, we came to the board asking the board to approve as to award to a bid for the GTAC devices, which are the rugged tablets that uh Chief Del Rosson came in with. Once the contract was drafted, and once we um got legal approval and sent it to our our uh um our attorney and got it through the digital contract system, the vendor never signed the contract. Um and after repeated attempts to get in touch with the vendor um via calling and emailing um through I IFD and the purchasing division. Um we still never received a response. And um and so we are asking the board to allow us to move to the second lowest bidder um for those devices. Great. Any questions? Discussion. I guess what's the what's the difference in the two the contract of amounts between the two bidders? So it's about a um a thousand dollar difference and a total of thirty thousand dollars uh more for the set the second lowest. Okay.
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