REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
April 28, 2016
FROM: JERRY P. DYER, Chief of Police
Police Department
BY: ROBERT NEVAREZ, Deputy Chief
Administrative Services Division
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to accepting funds from the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) and entering into Addendum No. 3 to the Agreement with partner cities and Fresno County:
1. Accept funding of $849,662 from the BSCC; and
2. Approve Addendum No. 3 to the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Fresno, Cities of Clovis, Coalinga, Firebaugh, Fowler, Huron, Kerman, Kingsburg, Mendota, Orange Cove, Parlier, Reedley, Sanger, Selma and the County of Fresno
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council authorize the Chief of Police to enter into Addendum No. 3 to the joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Fresno, Cities of Clovis, Coalinga, Firebaugh, Fowler, Huron, Kerman, Kingsburg, Mendota, Orange Cove, Parlier, Reedley, Sanger, Selma, and the County of Fresno, to accept funding in the amount of $849,662 from the BSCC.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As a part of the 2012 State Budget and subsequent budget years, the Governor’s Office approved three years of state funding allocations to local law enforcement statewide for front-line law enforcement needs. The state charged the BSCC with developing a formula for disbursement. Fresno County as a whole was designated to receive $3,887,209 over a three year funding cycle, with the Fresno Police Department identified as the fiscal agent. An additional allocation of $849,662 was disbursed in September 2015 to the Fresno Police Department and a spending plan was recently finalized through the appointed committee consisting of Chiefs of Police from all law enforcement agencies in Fresno County.
BACKGROUND
Throughout the state, local law enforcement has faced budget reductions and staffing challenges. To mitigate these changes, the State’s FY 2013 budget included funding for municipal law enforcement agencies, which were legislatively identified for a period of three years; however funding beyond that period is possible.
BSCC voted to distribute the funding in grants based on a formula which divided funding among California’s counties, based on a number of factors including local budget cuts, crime trends, and the ability of the local agencies to use the funding effectively.
Fresno County received $1,019,600 in the first year, $1,168,285 in the second year, $1,699,324 in third year, and most recently $849,663 in year four, for a total of $4,736,872. The City of Fresno was identified to be the fiduciary agent for this funding and allocate the funds based on the collective decision of local law enforcement. The spending plan and county-wide allocation of funding was outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding, with an Amendment 1, Amendment 2, and Amendment 3 for each funding year.
Funding provided by the BSCC is intended for front-line law enforcement needs throughout Fresno County. We have committed to using funds regionally, in partnership with other service providers; drawing upon data, and focusing on high-risk, serious, violent or habitually non-compliant offenders.
Fresno County’s Plan
Regional Data Sharing/Analytics
Public Engines, Inc., and PredPol Predictive Policing are centrally located hosted services which provide a combination of data visualization and predictive crime analytics. This software is made available to each participating police agency for a total county wide cost of approximately $177,000 per year. A total of $302,605 has been earmarked toward Regional data sharing capabilities and includes the projected costs for the Public Engines and PredPol Predictive Policing software packages to be paid for the partnering agencies identified in our existing MOU.
In conjunction with funding for analytics and predictive policing, we will be utilizing $30,000 in grant funding to subscribe to CopLink, a data integration software package that will aid in integrating all county data into the system.
Countywide Crime Analysts
Crime analysis plays a critical role in devising solutions to crime problems and formulating crime prevention strategies. Analyst positions will allow us to effectively implement a regional effort to track and monitor crime trends; and put solutions into place to impact these trends.
The current spending plan incorporates six Community Outreach Specialists for Crime Analysis purposes and will be assigned to the Fresno Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center. Currently, there are seven employees that focus on Crime Analysis throughout Fresno County. The Clovis Police Department employs one with BSCC funding to focus on crime trends and patterns in the City of Clovis. The Fresno Police Department employs six; one housed at the Kingsburg Police Department for the east-side of Fresno County law enforcement agencies, one is housed at the Kerman Police Department assigned to the west-side of Fresno County law enforcement agencies, and four are housed at the Fresno Police Department assigned to the City of Fresno.
• City of Clovis - $106,403 is allocated for the salary and fringe costs for one Crime Analyst and operational costs to include necessary training, and supplies for FY 2016 with an additional $109,203 to be incorporated in the FY 2017 budget;
• City of Fresno - The FY 2016 budget includes $406,941 in appropriations for Fresno and an additional $434,459 will added to the FY 2017 budget through the budgeting process. The appropriated funds will pay for the salaries and fringe benefits of the six Community Outreach Specialists performing crime analysis duties.
Prisoner Transportation
The use of Fresno Police Cadet IIs and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office Reserves as prison transport units throughout the County is a new addition to this program. Cadets and Reserves will be assigned and paid by BSCC grant funding to provide prisoner transport for all law enforcement agencies within Fresno County. The use of transport personnel will free up sworn officers to remain in their jurisdiction and allow them to continue handling calls for service.
• County of Fresno - $90,000 is allocated to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office to hire existing Reserve Officers to perform prisoner transport duties in the smaller cities and the unincorporated areas of Fresno County;
• City of Fresno - The FY 2016 budget includes $90,000 for two (2) Cadet IIs to provide prisoner transport for the Cities of Fresno and Clovis.
Mental Health Triage Services
Many police calls involve persons suffering from mental illness. When these persons do not receive proper treatment, they are more likely to generate future calls for service. As such, the importance of a field response to mental health issues by a trained clinician is essential. Triage services will be provided to those in need immediately in the field resulting in more clients receiving the necessary treatment and services.
• County of Fresno - the total cost for seven (7) Mental Health Care Works and associated costs will total $350,000 and is budgeted in FY 2016.
Mental Health Training
Funding for Mental Health Training is an important priority for law enforcement, therefore $58,000 has been budget in FY 2016 and dedicated to bring Crisis Intervention Training and other Mental Health related training to local law enforcement in Fresno County. This allocation includes the cost of the training, facility costs and overtime for sworn officers to attend the training. By offering overtime to agencies we help agencies to offset the costs of losing an officer in the field due to training.
Video Policing
Technology can be a tremendous asset when attempting to solve and possibly prevent criminal activity. BSCC grant funding will be used to enhance each agency’s video policing program to include hardware, installation, software and services. These allocations will be incorporated into the FY 2017 budget.
• Small Law Enforcement Agencies - other than Fresno and Clovis, each municipal law enforcement agency in Fresno County will be allocated $10,000 each for their agency’s video policing needs totaling $120,000;
• City of Clovis - will be allocated $25,000 to enhance its video policing program;
• City of Fresno - will be allocated $131,000 to enhance its video policing program in the form of equipment and service.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a “project” for the purposes of CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local Preference was not considered because accepting funding from the State does not include a bid or award of a construction or services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for this program will have no impact on the City of Fresno’s General Fund. Funding for this project will be incorporated into the FY 2017 budget through the budgeting process.
Attachment:
Addendum No. 3 to the Memorandum of Understanding