This project will fund an ICOR Caliber Flex EOD robot for the Plano Police EOD team. The City of Plano has a bomb robot that has exceeded its useful capability. The manufacturer is no longer supporting the robot platform and batteries for the robot are no longer made. The robot is non-functional. Purchase of the bomb robot allows the EOD team to continue EOD operations, with a robot providing initial scene overview and potential device interrogation and disruption rather than putting an EOD team member in harm’s way.
The robot chosen for this purchase will be the ICOR Caliber Flex EOD, which is the industry standard for American law enforcement EOD for small robots. All law enforcement bombs techs in the United States are certified at one location – the Hazardous Devices School (HDS) at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. The instructors at HDS train all certified bomb techs on Remotec bomb robot products. HDS is the only location where bomb techs can get certified in robot operation. The one week robot school is required and part of the bomb tech certification program.
The purchase of the ICOR Caliber Flex EOD will be made from GSA Contract No. GS-07F-0430V in the amount of $195,747.27 with funds provided by the 2021 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) HSGP Grant ($90,000) and Police Department Treasury Forfeiture Fund ($105,747.27)
If funding is not approved, the Police Department’s Bomb team will continue to respond to incidents but will have a limited capacity and would result in the loss of grant funding.
The City is authorized to purchase from the State Contract list pursuant to Chapter 271 Subchapter G of the Texas Local Government Code and by doing so satisfies any State Law requiring local governments to seek competitive bids for items. (GSA Contract No. GS-07F-0430V. City of Plano Contract No. 2022-0520-O.)