The functions of the Logistical Support Department are as follows:

• To organize and oversee the logistical support of all I.P. units;
• To manage the I.P.’s procurement and supplies network;
• To organize the distribution of all supplies, including food and food preparation

and serving;

• To manage and maintain the I.P.’s vehicle fleet;
• To maintain and improve the I.P.’s physical infrastructure (buildings).

The Department is organized in 4 Divisions (Supplies, Transport, Construction, Procurement & Sales) and 4 Units (Logistics Computerization, Headquarters Services, Economics & Resource Planning, Command & Control)

CHIEF FUNCTIONS

The Logistical Support Department organizes and administers the I.P.’s material economy and is responsible for the logistical support provided to the whole of the I.P. at all levels:

• It provides logistical support services to all units (this includes responsibility for quality assurance);

• It organizes the distribution of all supplies, including food and food preparation and serving;
• It manages and maintains the I.P.’s vehicle fleet;
• It maintains and improves the I.P.’s physical infrastructure (buildings), including searching for economies in this regard.

The Department is organized in 4 Divisions (Supplies, Transport, Construction, Procurement & Sales) and 4 Units (Logistics Computerization, Headquarters Services, Economics & Resource Planning, Command & Control)

OPTIMIZING RESOURCE USE

Cutbacks in the overall I.P. budget at a time when the internal demand for equipment and supplies is climbing have made it necessary to review the I.P.’s budget management in strictly economic terms. The result of this review has been an across-the-board reassessment of the economic justification of every purchase of supplies and services and the ‘civilianizing’ of all job positions, where the I.P.’s own employees have no relevant advantage over outside suppliers (catering supplies & services and vehicle maintenance are two examples).

Over and above its regular duties, in recent years the Department has been conducting a review of its own operations with the aim of upgrading quality of service and reforming working methods. These reforms have been backed up by changes in its internal structure in line with objective indicators of effectiveness and economy. The overall goal has been to have all logistics and support units conform to the international quality management standard, ISO 9002.

PROCUREMENT & SALES

As the name says, this Division has charge of all I.P. procurement. This includes drawing up — in consultation with the I.P. Legal Advisor — specifications, tenders, public announcements and advertisements. In 1998, the Israel Standards Institute confirmed that Divisional structure and performance conformed to international quality management standard, ISO 9002.

TRANSPORT

A third Divisional responsibility is the planning, procurement, garaging, testing, and allocation of all new vehicles entering I.P. service; vehicle maintenance, either in outside garages or I.P. repair-shops; the discard and sale of unfit vehicles; the management and control of fuel supplies; vehicle and driver licensing; dealings with manufactures and suppliers, both Israeli and foreign; and providing administrative services and supplies to all I.P. HQ units.

In 1998, the I.P. vehicle fleet numbered 4,000 4-wheeled and larger vehicles and 400 2-wheeled vehicles (motorbikes and scooters). Of these, 873 and 148 respectively had been purchased new that year.

Vehicle maintenance policy has been recast:

About half the fleet (vehicles up to 2000 cc) are now regularly maintained in outside ‘civilian’ garages and only the larger vehicles are still maintained by police workshops — a change that has allowed the I.P. to cut the number of its workshops from 34 to 26. The possibility of transferring more of the fleet to outside maintenance is under constant review.

A second change is to allow suppliers (of tires, oils, and batteries) to deliver directly to the workshops and thus shorten the time vehicles spend off the road.

Most recently, the I.P. has started the process of privatizing its fleet of trucks and buses.

SUPPLIES

The Division is responsible for the planning, storage, maintenance and distribution of all personal kit, office supplies, basic infrastructure appliances, firearms and ammunition (including field-testing new weapons and ammunition for possible future procurement), and fixed and portable catering equipment.

CONSTRUCTION

Another responsibility is the planning and construction of all approved new building, the oversight and direction of all construction offices and projects, the renovation and maintenance of existing facilities, the acquisition or rental of premises, and the management of asset portfolios and maintenance funds.

Projects in recent years have included the construction of many new police stations, the renovation of the Abu Kebir Remand Center and of police stations or their command & control centers. The Division has also been pushing forward a large-scale program for the earthquake reinforcement of existing structures.

LOGISTICS COMPUTERIZATION UNIT

The Unit’s brief is to computerize the whole logistics branch by a combination of new applications (e.g. ‘closed’ procurement and distribution networks) and upgrades of existing applications. The ‘jewel in the crown’ of this effort so far is the computerization of the entire vehicle procurement, standardization, and maintenance system. The integrated computerized management system, Lev, is being applied to the management of the Division’s own budget, manpower, equipment and supplies.

Almost all facets of Divisional operations have been or are on the way to being fully computerized and we are now turning our minds to ensuring that all systems match up to the standards required in the new millennium.

ECONOMICS PLANNING UNIT

The Unit was established in 1998 to draw up technical specifications and issue ‘smart’ tenders, undertake financial analyses and quality control, and promote all other aspects of economic and resource planning in the Division.