The Hemet City Council (Riverside County) approved a an emergency resolution to make it easier for police to get help or resources without the city having to go through an open bidding process.




The move, at the request of Police Chief Richard Dana, came after a series of attacks against a Hemet-based gang task force and city facilities, including a fire that was set Monday at a police training complex, according to the Southwest Riverside News Network.

According to the news network:

In a memo to the council, Capt. Dave Brown said a security assessment of city buildings indicates that public access lobbies “present a significant risk to city employees and resources. Immediate action is required to harden these facilities and the delay resulting from a competitive bidding process would result in increased exposure to criminal acts.”

According to Brown, the resolution gives the city manager the power to order “any action required to harden city facilities in response to this emergency without giving notice for bids to let contracts.” Brown has declined to specify what improvements are planned or how soon they would be in place.

On Monday, a fire damaged a mobile home used for police training. Police were looking to see if the fire was connected a series of life-threatening acts that started with someone rerouting a natural gas line into a gang task force building on New Year’s Eve.

In late March, four city code enforcement trucks were torched in the Hemet City Hall parking lot.

Click here to see more of the attacks that were made against the task force.