Redacted JA FY25-00196.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1)

J&A No.: FY25-00196

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), Federal Protective Service (FPS), Acquisition Division (AD) proposes to extend the ordering period of contract 70RFP218DEC000002, with Paragon Systems, Inc., for Armed Protective Security Officer (PSO) services located in Washington DC, within the National Capital Region (NCR), on a basis other than full and open competition.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action being Approved.

(a) Nature of the action: FPSAD intends to procure protective security officer services on a noncompetitive basis for up to two (2) months, from August 1, 2025, through September 30, 2025, to allow time to award the competitive follow-on effort and provide adequate time for transition. This action will result in a modification to extend the ordering period under the current contract to allow placement of a task order modification to continue critical PSO services at the two locations in Washington DC, for which the rate includes PSO services and supervision. The task order will only be issued/extended under this contract for the necessary length of time required, but not to exceed two (2) months allowing the additional time to award the follow-on effort. The current contract is set to expire on July 31, 2025. Nine of the 11 sites have already been recompeted and are on an effort that began on March 1, 2025. These remaining two locations are being realigned to another recompete (under RFQ #70RFP225QEC000026) due to the geography of the locations being better situated with the sites under this other recompete. This follow-on effort will also require a transition period of at least 30 days from the date of award to the performance start date. As such, this extension will allow time to award the follow-on effort and provide an adequate transition period to the new effort for this requirement.

(b) Name and address of the contractor:

Paragon Systems, Inc.

3900 Lincoln Park Drive Suite 300 Herndon, VA 20171

(c) Contract type: Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), Firm Fixed Price

(d) Estimated total value: $514,983.96 (two (2) months)

$514,983.96.

4. Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) implemented by FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Identification of Exception to the Buy American Statute

Not Applicable

6. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

Paragon Systems Inc. is currently performing Armed PSO services under contract 70RFP218DEC000002 at these two locations in Washington, DC. The contract is set to expire on July 31, 2025.

FPS AD is the process of the award of the competitive follow-on contract, for which the follow-on procurement has completed evaluations and is in the award phase with internal documents and reviews being completed.

However, due to unexpected delays, throughout the entire procurement process including the unanticipated additional and increased review/approval processes brought forth, the Government requires additional time to complete the procurement prior to issuing the award of the follow-on contract, which requires a minimum of a 30-day transition period.

Unanticipated delays occurred previously as the original requirements package provided by the Program Office required revisions to accommodate FPS HQ operational priorities to include continuous coverage for breaks (relief) at all posts (including Supervisory PSO posts), among other changes made to the Statement of Work.

These changes were communicated at the end of last 2024 fiscal year, as the Program Office determined these changes were necessary for these requirements for the new 2025 fiscal year. Delays also occurred in determining the best course of action in order to efficiently procure and align all sites within the correct geological location that’s suitable for the Government, based on 9 of the 11 sites having already been recompeted and awarded in March 2025. FPS also prioritized the award of a nationwide small business MAC that will be an agency wide contract vehicle. Additionally, the unanticipated additional and increased review/approval processes brought forth, has also delayed awarding the follow on effort. Therefore, the circumstances listed above necessitates an extension of the incumbent contract to allow for the solicitation, evaluation and award of the follow-on contract and the required transition period.

The follow-on requirement under this contract is in the final stages of being awarded and has an anticipated performance start date on or before October 1, 2025. The follow-on task order will have a transition period with a minimum of approximately 30 days from the date of award to the performance start date. This transition period enables the follow-on contractor to obtain all necessary equipment, licenses, training, and other certification/suitability requirements for its employees to be able to begin standing post at the start of performance. Due to extensive screening, training, health, licensing, and transition requirements for required for Armed PSOs under the FPS program, another Armed PSO firm cannot immediately replace the existing contractor without a significant and severe drop in overall security jeopardizing federal government personnel, visitors, and assets. Accordingly, it is also not feasible for any portion of the work to be segregated to allow for competition. The incumbent contractor, Paragon Systems, Inc., is familiar with the instant requirement, facility locations, and has a fully qualified staff in place and is the only contractor at this time that can immediately fulfill the requirement without delay and interruption of services. As a result, a short-term extension of services under the current contract is necessary to ensure a seamless transition takes place from the existing requirement to the follow-on effort.

Title 40 United States Code (U.S.C.) §1315 gives DHS the responsibility to protect Federal facilities and the people thereon. Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21), and the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) further refine DHS’s responsibility to protect buildings, grounds, and property that are owned, occupied, or secured by the Federal Government. These documents also establish U.S. policy for the protection and resilience of the Nation’s critical infrastructure and provide a framework for integrating efforts designed to enhance the safety of critical infrastructure. Given the reality of terrorist threats, it is in the best interests of DHS and the public to continue to allow the incumbent contractor to provide services until the follow-on effort is appropriately transitioned. Effective Armed PSO services are integral to the FPS mission to respond to terrorist attacks, domestic workplace violence, trespassing, disorderly conduct, and emergency medical situations. Armed PSO services also mitigate threats be detecting firearms, hazardous materials, and suspicious packages at these locations. Due to these critical roles, a modification to extend the current ordering period under contract 70RFP218DEC000002 with Paragon Systems, Inc. is required to allow placement of a new competitive contract to provide continued services to ensure uninterrupted service, a seamless transition, and to eliminate potential disruption in Armed PSO services.

7. Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many Potential Sources as is

Practicable.

The circumstance restricting competition for this acquisition is that “only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements,” pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. Therefore, no exception to the FAR 5.2 notification requirement applies, and FPS AD posted this requirement on SAM.gov on 7/14/2025, pursuant to FAR 5.201(b)(1)(ii). FPSAD intends to make this justification publicly available pursuant to FAR 6.305, via posting it on SAM no later than August 11, 2025.

8. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and

Reasonable.

The Contracting Officer has determined that the proposed rates will be fair and reasonable based on comparison of the proposed prices to historical prices paid for the same or similar items in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b)(2)(ii). Paragon Systems Inc. confirmed via email that they will not be submitting a price proposal for a rate increase for the 2-month J&A extension period

The price analysis table below shows the comparison in hourly priced rates from different contracts that were competitively awarded for PSO Armed Guard Services in Region 11, the National Capital Region, to the current fixed hourly rate which is proposed for the J&A period. All contracts have similar Statements of Work and similar training/certification requirements as they are all for Armed PSO services.

Contractor Contract Number Location Basic Hourly Rate

Difference From Current Contract

Paragon Systems, Inc. 70RFP218DEC000002 DC -

Triple Canopy 70RFP218DEC000018/

70RFP222FREC00019 DC

Triple Canopy 70RFP224DEC000011/

70RFP225FREC00018 DC

As shown above, the rates for the extension are competitive to the rates for other Armed PSO services in the marketplace. The CO/CS also notes that contract 70RFP218DEC000002 is the only remaining contract in FPS Region 11’s PSO contract inventory that contains supervisory PSO costs in the PSO bill rate; therefore, the comparison to other contract/task orders (that have separate CLINs for supervisory PSO services) may not be completely equitable. The PSO component of the bill rate would be significantly less if supervision was a separate billable element. Additionally, as Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) are in place under this