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HomeMy Public PortalAbout12) 9A Citizens' Option for Public Safety ProgramCity Council February 21, 2012 Page 2 4. On December 15, 2011, the County of Los Angeles Chief Executive's Office notified the City that it will receive $100,000 from the Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Account (SLESA) for the Citizens' Option for Public Safety (COPS) program 5. In Fiscal Year (FY) 1997-98, the SLESF funds were used to purchase equipment for the Sheriff's Department. Beginning with FY 1998-99 through FY 2010-11, the SLESF funds were used to partially fund one motorcycle traffic enforcement deputy. ANALYSIS: The Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Account (SLESA) for the Citizens' Option for Public Safety (COPS) program, otherwise known as the COPS grant, provides cities with annual funding to supplement their front line law enforcement services. The City is required to hold a public hearing, apart from its usual budget hearings, to consider the written request from the Chief of Police (i.e., Captain Christopher Nee) for use of the funds. The public hearing has been noticed as required. Community members may be present to provide alternate suggestions for use of the grant. The COPS grant is administered by the County of Los Angeles Chief Executive Office where funds for FY 2011-12 are allocated to eligible cities in three installments. The City is slated to receive $1 00,000, and to date has received two installments for a total of $78,102.63. City and Sheriff's Department personnel met to discuss the expenditure of the COPS grant and recommend that the funds be expended in the following areas shown below: Dedicated Deputv Position ($75,000) The Sheriffs Department recommends that $75,000 be used to create a third dedicated deputy position, which will be assigned the City's Special Assignment Team. The duties of the new dedicated deputy position will be multifaceted with a wide array of tasks and assignments which include the following: • The new deputy will become familiar with the concept of Community Oriented Policing, by interacting with the community to build a foundation of trust. This will be established through programs such as the Neighborhood Watch and Business Watch meetings. Community Oriented Policing works with all community members to address quality of life issues in the City. • Implementation of the "Community Safety Plan." The Community Safety Plan is a program designed to engage the community in one on one discussion with deputies regarding any issues the community member may have. The deputy will obtain information from the community member (i.e., name of reporting party and issues of concern) and will document the final disposition and any City Council February 21, 2012 Page 3 action taken. The deputy will notify the reporting party once the issues of concern have been addressed. If the issue is not handled immediately and requires an in-depth investigation, the deputy will notify the reporting party of the on-going investigation(s). • The new deputy will serve as the Emergency Disaster Liaison Coordinator with City staff. The deputy will work with City staff to coordinate an integrated response between local agencies. The deputy will be trained in the Incident Command System (ICS) in accordance with Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) and National Incident Management System (NIMS) standards. • The new deputy will assist the team in specialized surveillance and saturation operations (e.g., burglary suppression, probation/parole checks, wanted persons/warrant checks, etc.). The new dedicated deputy position will increase the availability of deputies to City staff and the community, and response times for priority and emergency calls may also decrease because more deputies will be available to respond. Additionally, a deputy from the special assignment team will have scheduled office hours in City Hall on selected days, making them readily available to City staff and the community. The cost of the new dedicated deputy position will be approximately $75,000 and will be entirely funded with COPS grant funds for the remaining five months (February-June) of FY 2011-12. Specialized Overtime ($25.000) Staff is recommending that $25,000 be used for specialized overtime at the City's direction (e.g., patrol saturation operations, directed traffic enforcement, burglary/theft suppression, etc.). This will provide resources to proactively identify and address law enforcement related issues in the City. The overtime expenditure will also provide for directed patrols in response to citizen complaints such as speeding and failing to yield pedestrians in crosswalks, etc. CONCLUSION: The addition of a third dedicated deputy position to the special assignment team and the specialized overtime will provide the Sheriffs Department with additional resources to improve overall policing service needs and quality of life issues in Temple City. City Council February 21, 2012 Page 4 FISCAL IMPACT: When the City Council adopted the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011-12 City Budget, the COPS grant was unavailable and the third dedicated deputy position was not included in the FY 2011-12 City budget. The Sheriff's Department is providing the City the dedicated deputy position at a reduced grant rate of $173,612 per year, compared to the regular rate of $226,416 because grant funds are being used to fully fund the position for the remaining five months of FY 2011-12. The status of the COPS grant for FY 2012-13 is unknown at this time. The City Council can review the status of the third dedicated deputy position during the budget study session for the FY 2012-13 City budget. If the COPS grant is available in FY 2012-13, the City Council has two options. The City Council can: 1. Retain the third dedicated deputy position, at which time, it will be partially funded (up to $100,000) with COPS grant funds. The remaining portion of the position may be funded with General Funds or other eligible specialized funds; or 2. Eliminate the position. If the COPS grant is unavailable in FY 2012-13, the City Council has two options. The City Council can: 1. Retain the third dedicated deputy position, at which time, it will be fully funded at the regular rate with General Funds or other eligible specialized funds; or 2. Eliminate the position. The City Council is requested to approve a budget amendment for the COPS Grant revenue account (13-830-34-3402) in the amount of $100,000 to reflect an increase in revenue for funds received from the COPS Grant. A budget amendment is also necessary for the Law Enforcement -General Law expenditure account (01-950-61- 471 0) in the amount of $75,000 for the addition of the third dedicated deputy position and for the Law Enforcement-Special Services expenditure account (01-950-61-4730) in the amount of $25,000 for the specialized overtime. ATTACHMENTS: A. Letter from Sheriff's Department Dated February 15, 2012 B. Sheriff's Department Hours of Service & Estimated Charges (SH-AD 575) C. Duties of the New Dedicated Deputy Position County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Headquarters 4700 Ramona Boulevard Monterey Park, California 9 I 754-2169 February 15, 2012 Jose Pulido, City Manager City of Temple City 9701 Las Tunas Drive Temple City, California 91780 Dear Mr. Pulido : Temple Station personnel have reviewed the annual request regarding the expenditure of supplemental law enforcement services accounts (SLESA) funds established by SB 823 (Poochigian). It is recommended the available SB 823 funds be utilized to fund an additional dedicated deputy for the Temple City Team for the remaining five months of the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The cost of the deputy position will be approximately $75,000. We recommend the remaining balance of $25,000 be used for specialized overtime at Temple City's direction (i.e. patrol saturation operations, directed traffic enforcement, burglary/theft suppression, etc.). Should you have any questions or require additional information, please contact me at (626) 292-3300. Sincerely, LEROY D. BACA, SHERIFF ~~ Christopher . Nee, Captain Commander, Temple Station 7/'Jradi.lion of c'ieruice rSince 1 <1.50 Attachment C Temple City Newly Assigned Team Member Duties The duties and responsibilities of a Temple City Team Member are multifaceted with a wide array of tasks and assignments. The Team Member would be mentored in the many facets of the position, including the transition from patrol into the team environment and expectations of the position. The deputy would be apprised of the overall mission to work with the community and city staff, to promote a safe prosperous community, in which the residents can take pride and raise their families with confidence. The mentoring would start with the deputy learning the overall responsibilities of each team member, while assisting with the implementation of the Strategic Plan, including Area and Business Watch Meetings and assuming the role as the Emergency Disaster Liaison with city personnel. The Team Member will become familiar with the concept of Community Oriented Policing, in which deputies interact with the community to build a foundation of trust. This concept will be established through programs such as Area and Business Watch Meetings, where community members meet with law enforcement in a relaxed atmosphere to discuss crime trends, crime prevention and various concerns within the community to maintain the quality of life in Temple City. The newly assigned Team Member will assist other Team Members with obtaining information from the citizens or the business community and documenting the incident on a newly implemented form referred to as the "Community Safety Plan." The Team Member will complete the form consisting of the reporting party's information, the issue of concern, the action taken and the final disposition. Once the issue of concern has been addressed, the Team Member will be required to notify the reporting party of the outcome. However, if the issue of concern is not handled immediately and requires in depth investigation, to include surveillance, additional personnel or resources, then the reporting party will be notified of the ongoing investigation. This type of service will let the reporting party know, that their concerns are important and taken seriously. Thus , building the foundation of Community Oriented Policing and creating a bond between law enforcement and the community. Furthermore, once the matter has been resolved, the Team Member will maintain a record of the incident, if the issue should arise in the future. In addition, the Team Member will assume the role as Emergency Disaster liaison Coordinator with city staff in the event of a disaster or major emergency requiring law enforcement. The Team Member will work with city personnel to coordinate integration between local agencies under emergency operations. The Team Member will receive training in Incident Management, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and coordinated by Department resources. The Team Member will be required to maintain an open line of communication with representatives from the local agencies in the event of an unexpected emergency or event. This type of communication should ensure a coordinated and timely response . In addition, the Team Member will be required to coordinate an unexpected and unscheduled emergency or disaster training with city staff and local agencies on a yearly basis . In conclusion, the added deputy position will not only allow for the creation of the Emergency Disaster liaison postion, but will also enhance the effectiveness of the team on a daily basis . The new position will allow us to have a deputy on hand to not only conduct special operations, but to assist with area watch groups, the business watch, as well as to address the specific concerns of Temple City Residents .