The West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency voted unanimously on Aug. 4, 2025, to transfer $7,730,000 to the West Palm Beach Police Department to purchase mobile anti-vehicle barricades, according to Resolution 25-32F.

Carlos Rodriguez, the CRA security manager, described the procurement as a preventative public-safety investment designed to protect crowds at frequently held downtown events. "We're taking a preventative approach to try to mitigate any of these incidents from happening here," Rodriguez said during the presentation.

Lieutenant Hagen of the West Palm Beach Police Department told the board the city borrows barricades from other counties for large events and that owning a set would reduce that operational friction. He described the barriers as modular, quick to deploy and used by other municipalities and agencies; the purchase would make equipment available for roughly 220 days of road closures the DDA and city expect in a given year. "Protecting the people who are coming to these events are paramount, and that's what these barricades will help do," Lt. Hagen said.

Nut graf: The resolution authorizes a CRA-to-Police Department transfer to buy modular vehicle-stopping barricades; deputies and commissioners said the equipment will let the city harden event footprints quickly, reduce borrowing and support a proactive event-management model. Staff said special-events rules will be updated so non-city events that require road closures also follow deployment procedures and cover associated costs.

Commissioners raised operational questions. Commissioner Ward asked whether non-city sanctioned events would be expected to use the barricades and whether cost recovery would apply; staff said special-events and permitting staff are developing rules to require the barricades and to recover deployment costs for privately run events. Commissioner Badoozzi asked staff to ensure training and placement protocols accompany the purchase; staff agreed that appropriate training and deployment planning are part of implementation.

The board then moved and seconded the resolution; the motion passed unanimously. The resolution number in the agenda was shown as 25-32F and staff recommended transferring the funds to the police department to buy the equipment.

Ending: Staff will return with contract and deployment details and with any special-events permitting rules that align private-event use with the new equipment and staffing requirements.