Security Services for Code Enforcement Assistance

As is the case in many cities, Lake Forest is experiencing an influx of unpermitted sidewalk vendors, including illegal street food vendors. These vendors have setup operation illegally on the sidewalk with cooking grills, propane tanks, canopies, and raw and cooked food items. The Lake Forest enforcement team ("enforcement team") actively enforces the Lake Forest Municipal Code (LFMC) and the Health Code. The City continually collaborates with the Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA) and other agencies to enforce regulations and educate vendors on obtaining the necessary permits (if possible) and conducts confiscations of unpermitted cooking equipment and food items when necessary. The enforcement team is made up of personnel from the City, OCHCA, and a hauling contractor. The City seeks additional support to address these recent unauthorized activities, s pecifically with unarmed security services to aid during enforcement actions and confiscation impoundments. The role is crucial for maintaining safety and managing on-site crowds, inclusive of vendors and customers, which can range from 5 to 15 individuals. On any given day, there may be 2 to 3 food vendors set up illegally. On a daily basis, the City intends to stage security officer(s) at each of the locations during evening hours to deter the setup of street vendors. 2-4 days per week, the enforcement team may initiate confiscation enforcement operation. The enforcement team usually schedules an enforcement operation one to two days beforehand and informs the enforcement team members at that time. On the day of enforcement, the enforcement team makes contact with the illegal street vendor and initiates the confiscation process wherein the contract hauler will load up all unpermitted cooking devices and food. Security presence and assistance is needed to ensure efficient operations and the safety of the enforcement team, hauler, vendors and customers that are present. The City seeks a partner who understands the sensitive nature of this task and upholds the highest standards of professionalism and discretion. We invite proposals from consultants who are ready to take on this challenge and aid the City of Lake Forest in its essential code enforcement operations.