Suffolk County Seeks Advertising and Marketing Firm For Police Drive

Suffolk County, with a population of 1.5 million, is Long Island’s eastern-most county, and covers an area of approximately 900 square miles, 20 miles at its widest part and approximately 86 miles in length.

The County of Suffolk is a municipal corporation of the State of New York with an annual operating budget of approximately $2.6 billion. The County employs approximately 12,000 employees, with main offices located in Hauppauge, Yaphank, Riverhead, and several smaller locations. The County of Suffolk is an equal opportunity employer. The Suffolk County Police Department is operating under a federal consent decree to remedy prior under-representation of minorities and women in its approximately 2,400 sworn member force. On a semiannual basis, the Police Department reports the number of African Americans, Hispanics and females currently employed on the force to the Department of Justice.

The Department is required to conduct an advertising campaign during the nine month period prior to the closing date for the submission of applications for the entry-level exam for Police Officer.

Approximately 20,000 persons are expected to compete for positions created through attrition and retirements. Due to fiscal constraints, the actual number of hires expected to be made from the current four year Police Officer recruit hiring list is unknown. Similarly, the actual number of hires made from any future Police Officer recruit hiring list could not be estimated at this time.

Civil Service requirements for hiring include a written test, medical evaluation, personality evaluation, polygraph exam, physical fitness exam and background investigation. Minimum requirements for applicants at time of hiring include U.S. citizens in possession of a high school diploma or GED equivalency, having a valid New York State driver license, and no prior felony conviction. The advertising campaign should focus on minorities and females most likely to meet the rigorous civil service testing standards. At a minimum, the media used by the campaign must include social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc.), television, radio, and newspapers, including radio stations and newspapers which predominantly serve or are directed towards the African American and Hispanic communities.

High Schools, technical schools, churches, community groups, organizations, and places of business in the Counties of Nassau and Suffolk, as well as the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens should, at a minimum, be targeted for distribution of posters and brochures – especially those predominantly serving Hispanic or African American communities.

Colleges historically serving minorities and females should be considered for targeted outreach. Active duty and reserve military personnel should be targeted as well. Publications such as the Navy

Times and Army Times, reach vast numbers of qualified service members. New York Civil Service Law and New York State Military Law provide additional accommodations in taking the exam, as well as for when the personnel are discharged from active military service.

Honorably discharged military personnel meeting certain criteria may also receive additional credits on the written portion of the exam.

The objective of this RFP is to select the consultant who can best attract women and minority applicants that can successfully compete in the rigorous selection process. African American, Hispanic and female applicants must be drawn in sufficient numbers to ensure the process meets the needs of the federal consent decree while complying with New York State and local civil service laws.

Scope of Work:

Proposals must contain the following information:

1. An executive summary highlighting the technical aspects of the Proposer’s proposal. The executive summary should clearly specify the service(s) that the Proposer will provide. After providing a written summary of the proposed campaign for the 2019 Police Recruitment Drive, the Proposer may be required to present a more detailed oral and visual presentation at the scheduled presentation appointment.
2. A statement of any interpretations, qualifications, assumptions or concerns regarding the provision of advertising services.
3. A statement and discussion of anticipated campaign difficulties and problem areas, together with potential or recommended approaches for their resolution.
4. A timeline of tasks to be performed. In addition provide further outline/narrative describing each section of your timeline including tasks that will be performed and qho specifically will be responsible for those tasks.

Due Date:

May 17th, 2018

Address:

Thomas J. Malanga

Intergovernmental Relations Coordinator

Suffolk County Purchasing Office, Room 103

335 Yaphank Avenue, Yaphank, NY 11980

Firms with experience working in NY with law enforcement agencies include Rubenstein Communications and 5WPR.