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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2021-06-29 minutes 1 Public Safety Committee Meeting Call to Order The June 29, 2021, Public Safety Committee meeting was convened at 7:30 a.m. by Councilman Schreiber. Attendance Present: Committee Members: Councilman Mark Schreiber, Councilman Scott Spencer, Councilman Derrick Spicer, Councilman Hank Vogt, and Councilwoman Laura Ward. Guests: Councilman Mike Lester, Councilman Ron Fitzwater, City Administrator Steve Crowell, Assistant City Attorney Dustin Birch, Fire Chief Matt Schofield, Police Chief Roger Schroeder, Captain Deric Heislen, Fire Division Chief Jerry Blomberg, Assistant Fire Chief Jay Niemeyer, Assistant Fire Chief Jake Holee, Lincoln University Police Captain Marcus Holmes, Police Lieutenant Chad Stieferman, Jefferson City Firefighters Local 671 President James Noah, and Finance Department Purchasing Agent Leigh Ann Corrigan. Approval of Minutes Councilwoman Ward noted the omission of punctuation on page three. Councilman Vogt made a motion to approve the minutes of the April 29, 2021 meeting. Councilman Spicer seconded the motion. Minutes were approved. Discussion of Agenda Items OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS Lincoln University Police Department Councilman Schreiber introduced Lincoln University Police Department Captain Marcus Holmes. Captain Holmes thanked Councilman Schreiber for the invitation to attend the meeting. He stated Dr. John Moseley is serving as Interim President of Lincoln University. LUPD’s inaugural Police Academy class graduated nine cadets on June 25th. Two of those cadets are now employed by LUPD. The next class will begin in August and 16 cadets have committed to attend. Captain Holmes advised the limit of the class will be 20 cadets. Emergency Fuel Response Councilman Spencer stated in light of the recent Colonial Pipeline disruption issues, he would like the City to have a plan of action for a secondary access to fuel in case of a similar local issue. He has discussed establishing priorities with Chief Schofield and Chief Schroeder. Chief 2 Schofield advised he has had department staff level discussions. There is a need to have a basic framework and a plan specific to incidents with different tiers of service to prioritize to maximize supplies. Chief Schofield and Chief Schroeder both agree a balance between information given to the public and information not discussed regarding the plan will need to be maintained. Sierra Thomas has also been involved in this discussion as the Jefferson City/Cole County Emergency Management Director. 911 Call Answering System Chief Schroeder introduced Captain Deric Heislen and Lt. Chad Stieferman, commanders of the Support Services Division which includes the 911 Emergency Center. Chief Schroeder stated the 911 call answering system is a critical component of the police department. The present vendor, Solacom, has ceased to be effective and renewing their contract is not a tenable option. There have been ongoing maintenance problems and poor customer service. The present system is six years old and at the end of its life expectancy with no updates available. The department intends to replace Solacom with the Intrado system. Lt. Stieferman advised several jurisdictions, including Boone, Moniteau, and Gasconade Counties, use Intrado. This system will enable the JCPD to seamlessly share calls and provide “agent roaming” which enables operators to operate from other jurisdictions as if they are in their own 911 center. It affords an additional layer of redundancy. JCPD’s operators have visited the Boone County 911 Emergency Center and talked with the operators using the Intrado system. Boone County is very pleased with the system’s performance and capabilities. Lt. Stieferman provided detailed information about the Intrado system and the advantages it would afford the 911 Center, as well as estimated costs of the contract and maintenance. Chief Schroeder advised a funding source has not yet been identified. Councilwoman Ward asked if performance measures could be written into the contract. Assistant City Attorney Birch advised Solacom has performance measures in its contract, but there are still significant problems occurring. Councilwoman Ward asked if the 911 Center phone lines and internet are with the same provider. Lt. Stieferman stated both are provided by CenturyLink, but each is its own separate system. The IT Department is researching a second internet source through Socket to keep the infrastructure running in case the CenturyLink internet would fail. He advised Intrado has layers of protection within their closed network. Drill Tower/Burn Building Review and Tour Councilman Schreiber stated the tour of the drill tower/burn building would be conducted at the conclusion of the agenda items. Chief Schofield advised the drill tower/burn building was constructed in 1992. The burn room is the small room connected to the drill tower. Live fire training was conducted in the burn room until 2017 when it was de-commissioned after an engineer deemed it beyond its service life due to extensive damage from years of hard use. The burn room has not been used for live fire training since that time. The fire department continues to use the drill tower for training, but does not conduct live fire training. A rail container (conex box) was fabricated by fire department personnel and has been used as a small fire training structure since 2019 as a stop gap measure. 3 The replacement of the burn room has been a “pink sheet” budget item for the past five years. Chief Schofield advised there are many options for repair or replacement, and he is not making specific proposals. He would like the new facility to provide the capability of meeting fires on multiple locations/levels and for high ropes training. In the past the fire department has hosted live burn training for other agencies across the Stat e. The police department’s SWAT Team and EMS have used the tower for training. New hires are sent to Columbia and to the Mid-MO Fire Training Academy for live fire training. Chief Schofield advised the standard for live fire training is held for all firefighters at least once a year. The advantage of having the training locally is during training, the firefighters are still available to respond to fire calls. Division Chief Blomberg stated having the live fire training at their facility is invaluable to continue to hone those particular skills. The State Fire School was moved from Jefferson City in 2017. Many factors contributed to the move, but a state-of-the art facility has the potential to attract the school back to Jefferson City, and the income that comes with a week-long school with participants from throughout the region. The fire department’s insurance rating has an improved from a score of ISO Class 3 to ISO Class 2. A permeant live burn facility is a criteria used to determine the score. Due to the drill tower and temporary construction for live fire training, those points remained but may not count in the future unless a more suitable facility can be secured. City Administrator Crowell advised the City is monitoring grant opportunities. OTHER BUSINESS Fire Department Update Chief Schofield stated it was a busy weekend for water-related events due to heavy rain and flooding. Fire personnel worked well with the Missouri State Highway Patrol (water division). He thanked the City Council for providing the funding for the water rescue training and equipment. City Administrator Crowell advised Public Works should be notified of storm water issues, as well as Cole County Emergency Management. The fire department has issued a press release reminding citizens that fireworks are not legal to sell or discharge within the city limits. Sky lanterns are a big concern since they can easily land on buildings and start a fire. The fire department is now at full staffing. Two firefighters were started on Monday, June 28th. Both have prior fire and EMS experience. After completing their OJT, they will be working on the trucks in early July. Councilman Spencer broached the topic of supporting the Amphitheater with public safety, and discuss the cost of over time for events during the budget process. Chief Schroeder advised there has been preliminary discussions of cost and he has an estimate of over time costs for the Amphitheater. 4 Police Department Updates Chief Schroeder advised the police department has five police officer vacancies. Nationally there is a low number of applicants applying, and the department has seen a pronounced decline in the past year and a half. It takes approximately one year, with selection and training, to replace an officer. The department is currently in the middle of a hiring process. There are six finalists, and Chief Schroeder hopes to hire three or four from those six. He did extend a conditional offer of employment to a candidate yesterday. The department has tried for approximately a year to hire a part-time building service worker for City Hall. There were no applicants, and the department is now resorting to contracting for the work. There is one veterinary assistant opening, and interviews for applicants are scheduled for July 7th and 8th. There were 25 applicants, and 9 will be interviewed. Sgt. Todd Bickel has been promoted to the sergeant position left vacant when Sgt. Joe Matherne retired. Sgt. Bickel has a degree from Drury University, has been with the department for nine years and was previously a member of the Community Action Team (CAT). Sgt. Bickel has been assigned to a patrol squad. Sgt. Andy Lenart has been transferred from the Patrol Division to the Special Services Division where he commands the Community Services Unit. Chief Schroeder is in the process of expanding the bike unit to be used for random patrol and during special events. Officers complete a formal training program. There are currently two bike training officers on staff. After a national search, Travis Schaller has been hired as the Animal Shelter Veterinarian. He comes from the State of California, but is originally from Missouri. An officer-involved shooting occurred on June 7th. Chief Schroeder is waiting on the Highway Patrol’s findings to be sent to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. There have been several officer- involved shooting incidents in the past three years. Chief Schroeder expressed his concern that due to mental health issues and many more people possessing guns, these incidents are becoming more common. Officers are exercising extreme restraint. The environment has changed and officers are responding to gun calls every day. Councilman Spicer stated people do not understand the amount of crime in Jefferson City, and that being understaffed is a critical situation. Sgt. Mike Ottolini and Officer Alex Clawson will receive the Missouri Valor Award from the Governor’s Office for their actions and bravery during an officer -involved shooting in April 2020. They will receive their awards September 1 at the Missouri State Highway Patrol Academy. This is a very prestigious award presented to only a eight recipients each year. Councilman Schreiber advised the City is looking at funding sources for police body cameras. Chief Schroeder stated the City Council will ultimately identify the source, and he is confident body cameras will be purchased. The officers want the body cameras. The estimated cost is $650,000 which includes two additional employees to administer the camera system. Storage is the biggest expense. Chief Schroeder stated that so far there has been no case law established regarding privacy issues. Councilman Schreiber stated the cameras are critical for the safety of 5 the officers and everyone in general. Councilman Spencer stated he appreciated the groundwork done by the police department. Other Updates The next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 29, 2021 at the police department. Tour Chief Schofield led committee members and guests on a tour of the drill tower/burn building and answered questions concerning the building and training needs. Adjourn Councilman Spicer made a motion to adjourn. Councilman Spencer seconded the motion. Meeting was adjourned at 9:05 a.m.