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Evansville safety board approves contract date fix, seeks bids for body armor and transfers retiring K9
Summary
The City of Evansville Board of Public Safety approved an amendment to correct the start date on the police department's annual physicals and lab-work contract, authorized advertising for sealed bids for roughly 67 soft body‑armor vests, approved transfer of retired K‑9 Kismet to his handler and cleared a list of surplus police equipment.
The City of Evansville Board of Public Safety on Feb. 26 approved an amendment to change the start date on the Evansville Police Department's annual physicals and lab-work contract and authorized several procurement and surplus actions for the department.
Police Capt. John McQuay told the board the amendment is limited to the contract's start date and that "everything else on the contract remains the same; it just had the wrong start date on the contract." The board approved the date correction by motion.
The board also authorized staff to advertise and solicit sealed bids for soft body armor vests. McQuay said the department expects to seek roughly 67 vests to support a five‑year refresh cycle for current officers and to outfit officers hired during the year, saying, "It's gonna be approximately 67, I believe." The board voted to permit public advertisement of the bid; McQuay said award recommendations will return to the board in open session after bid evaluation.
Separately, the board approved transfer of retired police canine Kismet to his handler, Eric Herman. The board also approved a request to surplus multiple items from police inventory, including a nonfunctional laminating machine, two 94 empty spray bottles, 10 boxes of face shields, 72 cans of disinfectant spray, 23 boxes of obsolete toner cartridges, and protective gear the department determined is past manufacturer warranty. McQuay listed the protective gear as "17 expired plate armor carriers with plates and 6 expired soft armor vests," and said returning those items to service would be a liability because the manufacturer's warranty period has lapsed.
Board President Ken Schulteis made the motions to approve the contract amendment, the bid advertisement and the surplus list; board members voted in favor of each item.
The police department said it will publish the body‑armor solicitation in the newspaper and accept sealed bids from local companies and distributors; final award decisions will be brought back as a separate agenda item for board action.
Less urgent administrative items approved included routine inventory adjustments and the formal paperwork to transfer Kismet to his handler; no new funding or policy changes were recorded in the discussion.
The board moved on to other agenda items after the approvals.
