REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
July 30, 2015
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 Board of State and Community Corrections and entering into Addendum No. 2 to the Agreement with partner cities and Fresno County:
1. Accept funding of $1,699,324 from the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC); and
2. Authorize the Chief of Police to enter into and execute Addendum No. 2 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; and
3. ***RESOLUTION - 1st amendment of the Position Authorization Resolution No. 15-491 (PAR) to increase the Police Department’s Community Outreach Specialist position by one (1) person
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council authorize the Chief of Police to enter into Addendum No. 2 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 $1,699,324 from the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC), and authorize the First Amendment to the PAR to increase the Police Department’s Community Outreach Specialist position by one person.
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 Bureau of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) with developing a formula for disbursement. Fresno County was designated to receive $3,887,209 over a three year funding cycle, with the Fresno Police Department identified as the fiscal agent. The Fresno Police Department has received the final allocation of $1,699,324 and a spending plan developed through the appointed committee consisting of Chiefs of Police from all law enforcement agencies in Fresno County. Council approval is needed to authorize the First Amendment to the PAR outlining the increase of one Community Outreach Specialist.
BACKGROUND
Throughout the state, local law enforcement have faced budget reductions and staffing challenges. To mitigate these changes, the FY 2013 state 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 use the funding effectively.
Fresno County received $1,019,600 in the first year, $1,168,285 in the second year and most recently the final allocation of $1,699,324 for a total of $3,887,209. One city in each county was identified to be the fiduciary agent for this funding and allocate the funds based on the collective decision of local law enforcement. In 2013, members of the Fresno Madera Counties Police Chiefs’ Association and a representative from the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office met to discuss the allocation of first year funding and agreed to designate the Fresno Police Department as the fiscal agent on behalf of the Association. The spending plan and county-wide allocation of funding was outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding, with an Amendment 1 and Amendment 2 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 probation and 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. Predictive Analytics is a centrally located hosted service and provides for both data visualization and predictive crime analytics. The software is made available to each participating police agency at an affordable cost ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per year per agency - the total county-wide cost is $100,980 per year. A total of $100,980 has been earmarked toward Regional data sharing capabilities and includes the projected costs for the Public Engines software package to be paid for the partnering agencies identified in our existing MOU.
Recognizing that a computer programmer can create a program and database similar to Public Engines, $70,000 was set aside to fund a computer programmer to develop a predictive analytics system. Once created, we will eliminate the annual cost of Public Engines for all law enforcement agencies in the County of Fresno. In conjunction with funding for programming, 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 one additional Community Outreach Specialist for Crime Analysis purposes and will be assigned to the Fresno Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center. Currently, there are six 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 five; 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 three are housed at the Fresno Police Department assigned to the City of Fresno. Due to the increased need for predictive policing and crime trends/patterns analysis, the Association has decided that there is a need for one additional Community Outreach Specialist for the City of Fresno work load.
• 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;
• City of Fresno - The FY 2016 budget includes $406,941 in appropriations for Fresno. 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 - $100,000 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 $150,000 has been 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 helping agencies offset the costs of losing an officer 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.
• Small Law Enforcement Agencies - other than Fresno and Clovis, each 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 $150,000 to enhance its video policing and body worn camera 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 currently exists in the FY 2016 budget.
Attachments:
First Amendment to Position Authorization Resolution
Addendum No. 2 to the Memorandum of Understanding