HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Crime Control And Prevention District - 08/13/1997 f
MINUTES FOR THE
46/ CRIME CONTROL DISTRICT MEETING
AUGUST 13, 1997 - 12 NOON
CHIEF'S CONFERENCE ROOM, CCPD
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Laurie Cook
Dr. Joseph Lopez, Alternate
Fernando Morales
Sam Granato, Alternate
Rose Vela
Marta Huerta
OTHERS PRESENT:
Jorge Cruz-Aedo, Finance Director
Pat Eldridge, Administrative Asst.
Police Chief Pete Alvarez
Asst. Chief K. A. Bung
Jimmy Bray, City Attorney
Dr. Maria Luisa Garza, La Raza
Cmdr. Bryan Smith
Capt. Mark Schauer
Capt. Wayne Tisdale
Bill Hennings, City Manager
Laurie Cook began the meeting with the approval of the August 1, 1997, minutes.
She stated that Dr. Lerma had one correction to the minutes on page 11, third
paragraph, first sentence. It should read, "Dr. Lerma said she raised that
question because she knows in some professions that there have been alternative
methods of certifying people". The rest of the sentence was deleted. Marta
hit Huerta moved the minutes be approved, Rose Vela seconded, and the motion passed.
Ms. Cook said Cefe Valenzuela could not attend the meeting and his alternate was
unable to attend, but Dr. Lerma's alternate is present, Dr. Joseph Lopez. Ms.
Cook asked those present to introduce themselves. She said the second item on
the agenda is the discussion of the request from Sheriff Olivarez. She said it
was her understanding that he would attend the meeting, so she decided to table
discussion until his arrival. She said before the plan is reviewed she wanted
to tell the Board there is a new revised plan and it does have highlights and
strike outs but what she would like to do is begin where the Board left off on
Monday. She said she would like Jorge Cruz-Aedo to tell the Board the City's
recommendation on the administrative costs.
Mr. Cruz-Aedo said on Monday he shared with the Board that the City was looking
at indirect costs in the range of 18 to 24%. The numbers turned out to be quite
substantial and he could tell from the Board's reaction that the numbers were
surprising to them. He stated in discussing the matter with the City Manager,
he asked him to address the Board on his behalf, as well as the Finance
Department. The indirect cost methodology they used is one that is applied not
only to federal grants but to internal operations. However, since this program
is such that the City wants to get as much out it as possible it is the City
Manager's recommendation to the Board that the City not charge any indirect costs
to this program and the City's direction is to work with the Budget Office and
the Police Department budget in subsequent years to recover those costs in
alternative ways but not have those costs as part of this program. He said
eliminating this issue for consideration will allow the Board to move more
quickly through the programs.
Ms. Cook said she wanted to thank Mr. Cruz-Aedo because it saves the Board a lot
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of discussion. This will allow the Board to continue with their main objective
of adding officers. Ms. Cook said she would like to vote and approve that
recommendation. She asked for a motion that the administrative percentage
recommendation be zero. Ms. Vela made the motion, it was seconded by Fernando
Morales, and unanimously passed. The Board proceeded to the plan under the
Police Legal Advisor.
Ms. Vela asked where the legal advisor would be placed and whether it would be
an evening-type job.
Chief Alvarez told her it would be an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job and that person would
be on call to be able to respond 24-hours a day being based at the Police
Department.
Ms. Cook suggested that information be added into the proposed project activity.
Mr. Granato said under the number of individuals arrested under nuisance
abatement law there are no arrests under nuisance abatement, he said it is a
civil suit.
Chief Alvarez said PD is anticipating getting involved in it.
Mr. Bray said it should read number of suits instead of arrests.
Mr. Granato said it should read number of civil suits filed.
Capt. Schauer suggested it read "number of actions taken under nuisance abatement
law".
Dr. Lopez suggested another possible measure would be the legal advisor providing
orientation or in-service.
Mr. Bray suggestion the addition of hours of training provided.
Chief Alvarez said legal updates would fall into this category.
Mr. Morales asked if a survey would be conducted for each task.
Ms. Cook said that it will be one annual survey to address the citizens
perception of fear of crime.
Mr. Morales said the Board talked about setting aside $5,000 to $6,000 to pay for
the surveys.
Dr. Lopez suggested it read hours of training provided and number of participants
trained.
Ms. Cook asked if the gang ordinance was addressed in the evaluation. There is
an objective to pursue an anti-gang ordinance. She questioned how that would be
measured. That is the only measure that has not been addressed.
Mr. Bray said the City Council has to ultimately pass the plan and an anti-gang
ordinance is drafted.
Dr. Lopez suggested that it should read not only passing an anti-gang ordinance
but awareness.
Mr. Granato suggested under measurement the wording "pursuing an anti-gang
ordinance/ordinances strategy" be added.
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Ms. Cook moved onto the expansion/automation of pawn shop detail.
Mr. Granata asked about an ordinance mandating the use of the pawn shop tickets
and stating that the pawn shop operators must submit them to PD. He thinks there
is already a law that they have to submit them, but he is not certain they have
to do it electronically.
Mr. Bray said as he recalls there is something in state law that states
submission of them. He said basically what has happened over the years all
reporting is sent to Austin and the Board controls them to some degree, therefore
authority is less.
Ms. Eldridge said there are some shops that are nationwide chains that are
already downloading in other cities. She said what happens is the information
is downloaded on a PC and entered into the records management pawn shop module.
It would still represent half of the tickets coming in so there are a lot of them
that have to be done manually.
Chief Bung said that the number represents a little more than half. There are
three pawn shops downloading at present and he said we will assume the shops not
downloading at this moment will cooperate.
Chief Alvarez said cooperation is not a problem. He said a lot of pawn shops
have been contacted and they are eager to cooperate. It is just a matter of
implementation and having the personnel required to do the work. The objections
would come from the two or three pawn shops that are not automated. The Board
is very strong and has a lot of control on the pawn shops.
Mr. Granata asked how it would be accomplished. He asked if it is a dial-up
service where it is downloaded through phone lines or are we provided with a
L11, diskette.
Ms. Eldridge said there are different levels. It depends on the expense. It
could be done through modem or PD could require them to drop off a diskette.
That type of thing would have to be worked out.
Ms. Cook asked, as the pawn shops become automated, if there is a possibility
that in the future not as many people will be needed for this division.
Ms. Eldridge said because PD is totally manual at present, that question really
cannot be answered at this time. There are 160, 000 pawn tickets coming in
annually and she does not think PD is in a position to say three employees are
sufficient.
Chief Bung said that once the system is on line it will generate more work than
anticipated.
Ms. Huerta said with the two years that the Board is working on it is safe to say
that there will sufficient work for the three employees requested.
Ms. Eldridge said another element is not only the data entry but when the
employee knows of a piece of property that is stolen, they have to prepare the
paperwork for the detectives. So there is another step they have to take adding
another level of work.
Ms. Cook asked if other cities with this program in place have been contacted and
whether they are seeing an increase in recovered property.
Chief Bung said from the research done indicated that there was a substantial
4111, increase in locating stolen property. It also eliminated a fencing opportunity.
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Chief Alvarez said the program is very effective but justice is not being done
to it because of the lack of resources to implement it to its fullest.
Ms. Cook asked Ms. Eldridge under how it will prevent/control crime to add the
prosecution of individuals involved in committing offenses.
Dr. Lopez suggested the addition of an item that says the public will be educated
about the program.
Cmdr. Smith said the public will be educated. He said as it stands right now
surveys of citizens' homes have been done on a routine basis each year and what
he would do is update the program to include this capability.
Ms. Cook said she would like this item added as a measure.
Cmdr. Smith said PD has Operation ID telling people how to mark their
merchandise, write down serial numbers, etc. Citizens are already provided with
this information. He said the only thing that PD would add to that program would
be to tell the citizens that we now have means of following up on the
merchandise. He said the criminals that pawn stolen goods are repeat offenders
and by arresting and prosecuting one person, 50 to 100 property crimes are being
prevented.
Ms. Cook suggested adding the following wording under objectives "preventing
additional burglaries by catching a person who is a repeat offender". She was
wondering if that was attainable.
Mr. Granato said that is something that PD would like to attain, but it is
difficult getting cooperation. Anything that has to do with identification from
the pawn shops will always be difficult. But the goal will always be present in
identifying repeat offenders and prosecuting.
Capt. Tisdale said one of the objectives of this program is actually identifying
repeat offenders and what is called targeting so he suggested a statement be
included that PD targets repeat offenders through identification of pawn
transactions.
Ms. Eldridge said she added two objectives: to educate the public on the
importance of tracking serial numbers through the existing operation
identification program and to identify and target repeat offenders through pawn
tickets. Under measures she added number of operations
identification/residential surveys and generation of investigative leads.
Ms. Cook moved the Board to the item of expansion of the Traffic Safety Section.
Mr. Granato said one of the main concerns among people associated with R.I.D. and
M.A.D.D. is that PD does not have enough DWI enforcement. There needs to be more
emphasis in this section concerning heavy involvement in DWI enforcement.
Ms. Cook said at one of the other meetings the Board had conversation about
citizen respect for law enforcement. She thinks there is a lack of respect
because she thinks there are so few officers that can handle traffic detail. It
has got to the point where people ignore it and it increases disrespect for law
enforcement in general.
Chief Alvarez said he believes something should be added to say increase public
awareness in an attempt to get the public to comply with the traffic laws. He
said there are more people killed on the highways in Corpus Christi than killed
by guns or knives. There are 18 traffic fatalities to date, with 26 fatalities
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at this time last year. He said two officers to the traffic safety section is
` almost nothing but they would be assigned to do a number of things. He said the
DWI problem certainly exists on top of the ever-growing traffic situations in the
city. He said the city has outgrown the freeways and our freeway system cannot
handle the volume of traffic. All of that is a problem that the traffic safety
officers have to face. He said if there were added police presence on the
freeway he believes there would be more compliance to the traffic laws.
Ms. Huerta asked if all the traffic units are equipped with radar.
Chief Alvarez said they are and with these two additional officers there will be
two additional radar units.
Ms. Huerta asked about cameras.
Chief Alvarez said all of the traffic units are not equipped with cameras. He
said there are several video cameras and there are a lot of problems with them.
Cmdr. Smith suggested adding wording such as "specialized traffic enforcement to
improve DWI enforcement or high traffic area enforcement".
Mr. Granato said he would like to decrease the emphasis on item one under
objectives "to increase the number of traffic citations written" because he said
it gives the impression of revenuers rather than traffic enforcers.
Chief Alvarez suggested rewording it as "increase public compliance with the
traffic laws".
The Board agreed on Chief Alvarez' rewording of item 1.
Ms. Cook said she liked Mr. Granato's suggestion of specialized traffic
enforcement which would include DWI and Dr. Lopez' suggestion of the analysis of
high traffic or incidence areas. She said she would like some wording added
regarding high traffic and incidence areas and where DWI enforcement is mentioned
include some kind of concentration areas where there is a high incidence of
traffic accidents.
Capt. Granato asked if the Chief had the percentages of accidents that are
alcohol-related.
Chief Alvarez said this year is over 50%, out of the 18 over 50% are alcohol-
related. He said last year it was over 60% out of the 26. So the percentage
involving alcohol is high.
Mr. Granato suggested adding more than two officers for traffic safety because
of the high percentages involving alcohol-related fatalities.
Ms. Cook said when the budget is discussed, this suggestion will be reviewed.
Ms. Eldridge said grant funding is becoming available through S.T.E.P. They have
awarded PD "comprehensive S.T.E.P." which will be in combination of DWI
enforcement, speeding, and seat belts, allowing PD to use those three elements
throughout the year rather than having grant monies for DWI or traffic. It will
allow PD to do DWI enforcement during holidays.
Chief Alvarez stated a lot of this can be accomplished through overtime.
Mr. Granato said that might be an option instead of adding two officers, adding
money for overtime.
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Mr. Granato suggested that reducing the number of DWI-related accidents, injuries
lir and deaths be added to the background information.
Cmdr. Smith suggested wording such as, "increase or enhance enforcement to reduce
DWI-related accidents, deaths, and injuries".
Mr. Morales asked when the majority of alcohol-related accidents occur.
Chief Alvarez said they occur all the time.
Ms. Cook moved onto support personnel saying it includes MDT/AVL that was
discussed earlier.
Capt. Tisdale told the Board under MDT/AVL there is a mixture. In some units
such as the Prisoner Vehicle Transport unit it does not need a computer which is
a mobile personal computer, it just needs a terminal which is an MDT. They will
not be entering reports. Whereas in a patrol fleet where there will be officers
interacting and getting information from criminal histories, those will be
provided the enhanced mobile personal computers that have docking stations in
them. There is a big difference based on need where the technology will be
placed.
Ms. Cook said this item seems straightforward.
Dr. Lopez said under measures include the hours of training.
The Board moved to the next item which is video imaging system.
Mr. Granato said a big concern is the cost of film and developing of the film.
He asked Chief Alvarez if any consideration had been given to adding the digital
cameras that do not use film in order to enhance capabilities. He suggested the
addition of digital cameras as a budget item.
Ms. Huerta asked whether the video imaging will be a completely new system that
PD will implement.
Chief Alvarez said the Sheriff's Department has this system and he wants to link
with them so that PD will have access to it, saving officers' time. He said the
PD is the one that takes the pictures. There are 12 ID technicians stationed at
the county that are employed by the PD. They are the ones that take photos and
fingerprints. They do the work so PD wants the right to have access to their own
work and make certain it is easily accessible to them.
Ms. Cook said she understands that all that information is put into a computer
at the county and there is a computer at PD that is linked, which will be
equipment at both places.
Mr. Granato asked if the photo imaging at the county is color or black and white.
Ms. Eldridge said it is color.
Mobile data terminals for investigative personnel was discussed.
Chief Alvarez said PD applied for a grant to purchase 100 terminals. That grant
was approved but Special Services and Criminal Investigation Division were not
included, so six MDT terminals are being requested to add three to each division.
Capt. Schauer said the real advantage of these terminals is during interdictions
where the information will be available immediately.
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Mr. Morales asked if most officers are proficient in typing.
Capt. Tisdale said MDT/AVL training will be conducted. There are substantial
uses with the system besides the information, but also to produce information in
the field when witness statements are needed and identification needs to be made
on the spot where pictures or information can be downloaded. It can also be used
to type up a statement from a witness that is reluctant to come to the police
station. Those can be produced on the spot.
Mr. Morales said that if there is extensive typing to be done, it seems to him
that would slow down production.
Capt. Tisdale said that if there is extensive typing such as in a homicide
investigation that would be typed at the station.
Cmdr. Smith said the majority of work for Special Services and CID would be
running checks in the field more so than doing reports. The patrol officers will
be doing more reports. So the thing the Board is working on as part of this
project would be more for the investigative information such as running criminal
history background checks.
Capt. Schauer suggested the wording under objectives item 2 to read "provide
officers with the ability to enter expanded reports from their vehicle during an
investigation".
Ms. Cook began the discussion of replacement of high mileage vehicles. She said
there was considerable discussion on this item at Monday's meeting.
Ms. Huerta asked if the officer is responsible for maintaining his own vehicle.
Mr. Granato said to a certain extent he is responsible.
Chief Bung said Maintenance Services does maintenance of the vehicles. They
notify PD when the vehicle needs servicing. There are civilians responsible for
transporting the vehicle to Maintenance. He said the attitude among officers is
if they happen to have a good vehicle they want to keep. If they send it off to
Maintenance they may not get back as good a vehicle. So the main objective of
this item is to reduce the overall mileage of the fleet so there is a little more
interest in turning in the vehicle. He said once an officer has a 40,000 mile
vehicle, he/she is reluctant to give it up because they are afraid of what they
will get back.
Mr. Granato said there is nothing under this item about the prisoner transport
vehicle.
Chief Bung said that it is already funded.
Mr. Granata asked if that were just one and if so is there any way money can be
obtained for a second. He said you have two transport officers working and one
is in a police vehicle and one is in the transport vehicle. He believes the
transport officer driving the police vehicle is at risk because people think he
is a police officer and only three people can be carried in that car at a time.
It also ties up a police-package vehicle. He would like to include an additional
transport vehicle under the budget items.
Ms. Cook said she would put it on the list for discussion under the budget.
Ms. Eldridge said under objectives item 4 she will word it "to provide officers
with reliable transportation" instead of "investigators".
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Ms. Huerta said this plan includes replacing four crime scene vans. She asked
if PD has any now.
Ms. Eldridge said they are replacements.
Mr. Morales said he would like to see a more positive statement under how the
program will prevent/control crime.
Ms. Eldridge said it should state, "to provide reliable and efficient
transportation for officers who respond to calls for service and officers who
conduct field investigations".
Ms. Cook said the Board should review the budget at this time and then look at
the changes made on August 11.
Dr. Lopez suggested changes in the construction of the document under the goals
of the Crime Control District.
Mr. Morales said he would like the Board to reconsider the survey. He thinks the
survey does not apply to some of the things the Board is doing and he believes
the $5,000 or $6,000 that is being spent of this survey can better be used. He
thinks getting information for the public can be done in other ways such as
publicizing the success of the program through news conferences.
Ms. Cook said the Board will consider both these items while discussing the plan.
Ms. Cook said the two-year budget will be reviewed by the Board. She said the
budget was changed to 14 months to pickup the additional revenue. She said the
uniform officers listed in the top portion of the budget do include equipment.
She said same thing as you move down support staff, the equipment is included.
She said the 5% indirect costs should be deleted since there was an agreement
that would be zero. So the total will change.
The Board discussed the budget in detail. Ms. Cook said the ending balance
number is a reserve number so she told the Board to keep that in mind. What is
being projected after year three under projected transfers from revenues will be
zero based. It will leave it with a reserve balance from year three through year
five of $2.3 million, so that is what the particular balance is showing.
Ms. Eldridge said in the budget does not show 100E staffing, in other words the
attrition rate has been allowed for, in some cases 98% and 90% in cases of the
dispatchers.
Ms. Cook said what Ms. Eldridge is saying is while the Board is showing under
support staff ten dispatchers the fact is that instead of having money for ten
dispatchers you know that there will be one or two vacancies. She said there is
a formula used to include a percentage of vacancies. So they have been budgeted
at 90% instead of 100% of salary costs. Ms. Cook said that officers have been
budgeted at 98% so Ms. Eldridge is budgeting for some vacancies for officers.
Ms. Cook began talking about additional funding in the budget, dollars for
traffic safety, purchase of digital cameras, purchase of a transport vehicle, and
reconsidering the survey which will all affect the budget.
Mr. Granato said he would like to discuss the Juvenile Curfew & Truancy
Assessment Center. He said he had suggested outsourcing or contracting this with
an existing community based program in social services. He said he believes a
lot of this cost can be saved and with that money other items can be
accomplished. He said he invited Dr. Maria Luisa Garza, La Raza, to give the
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` Board an idea of what that program does, is capable of doing, and is willing to
do.
The Board turned the meeting over to Dr. Garza. She explained to the Board in
detail the services and funding of La Raza. She said they have eight different
programs in targeting troubled youth.
Ms. Cook asked Dr. Garza what she is talking about when she said judges are
ordering counseling in lieu of community service or fines.
Dr. Garza said the judges are ordering counseling for truancy violations or for
anything that comes from the school's truancy officers. They usually send in the
infractions to the judges and then the parents and children go before the judge,
then the judge sends them for counseling. If they are referred they are able to
work with them. She told the Board if they see fit to have La Raza help with
troubled youth and their families they could do it for less than $70,000. The
would include a police officer on site. She said it is not a secure facility.
State regulation says the children can come and go from the premises. If they
had the presence of a police officer she believes the children will not try to
leave. If they had at least one more counselor to take care of the caseload she
thinks they will be able to do a much better job.
Ms. Huerta asked if the facility is open 24 hours a day and how many bodies the
facility can house.
Dr. Garza said the facility is open 24 hours a day and has been since 1983. They
are licensed for 16 beds.
Ms. Huerta asked the capacity of the center at present.
ihr, Dr. Garza said they had six children and two families.
Ms. Huerta asked what the $70,000 would provide.
Dr. Garza said it would cover the salary of a police officer, one more counselor,
and maybe a part-time data entry clerk. She said they do not need rent, lights,
or telephones.
Mr. Granato said typically for a curfew center there may be an influx of 20 kids.
He asked if Dr. Garza's facility would be able to accommodate this amount while
they are waiting to be picked up by their parents.
Dr. Garza said they could accommodate them because they do not have to go into
the shelter, they do not need a bed, they can sit in the counseling section area
and wait to be picked up.
Dr. Lopez said he would like to compliment Dr. Garza's organization for all the
services offered to the community and they certainly work with the school
district in a number of ways.
Ms. Cook said she would like to suggest that this decision be left to a permanent
board and let them make a decision on whether it would be a new facility or be
something that would go through an existing organization.
Mr. Granato said that would present a problem because what goes on the ballot
will be based on the budget before the Board. It would be misleading to the
public that the Board intends to create the Juvenile Curfew 6 Truancy Assessment
Center when in reality it may be outsourced.
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` Ms. Huerta said she agrees with Ms. Cook in that the permanent board will be in
111, a better position to make the decision because this item needs to be reviewed
more. If it is a possibility maybe the Board should review it more because there
is a significant difference in the costs and that money could be applied to more
officers or more police vehicles.
Ms. Cook said obviously the operational costs of approximately $250, 000 would be
a savings. She said she would suggest there be a line item with a dollar amount
listed. She said she agrees with Ms. Huerta in that the Board does not have
enough time to make a decision. She said the Board can make changes to the plan.
She said she understood that the Board would adopt something today, it is
published, it is what the presentation to the Council would be next week, and
after there is significant input from the Council, the Board can still meet and
make changes before the public hearing.
Mr. Bray said the Board can meet again to look at the issue further. If this
service were to be contracted out an RFP would have to be developed to establish
specific needs and goals and get a concrete proposal from whatever entities are
available. He suggested that the Board might want to make it clear by inserting
some language under the proposed project activities. He said after the first
sentence it would say, "estimates are based upon a City-administered program,
however before implementation comparative proposals should be accepted from other
service providers and any savings should be reallocated to other priority
functions". So the plan to the public upfront would state that this is the best
estimate now, but that the Board would suggest entertaining other proposals and
then if money can be save reallocate it to other things.
Ms. Cook said there will be considerable input to the Council on Tuesday. She
said the Board needs the ability to discuss it because at some point it has to
be agreed on. There may be a need for an additional meeting after the
presentation. She suggested the Board allow for the language Mr. Bray suggested
allowing for flexibility because it is not something that can be decided on
overnight. In the law itself the Board is able to make amendments and
reallocations based on the sales tax as it comes in because costs change. If
there is a way to do this more efficiently Dr. Garza would appreciate the time
to assess what it is the Board is talking about and make a full proposal.
Mr. Granato said he would like to put it in the form of a motion inserting
language that if the Board does outsource it, any savings realized would be used
to put storefront police operations in the projects.
Mr. Cook suggested that the Board wait to put specific language as Mr. Granato
is suggesting until after the Council presentation.
Mr. Morales said the Board should have the flexibility to leave it open. He said
suppose Dr. Garza's number is too low and higher than $70,000. He would like for
the Board to have the flexibility of somehow putting it in the plan and
suggesting the outsourcing.
The Board discussed the possibility of storefront facilities with the possible
savings if the curfew and truancy assessment center were outsourced.
Chief Alvarez reassured the Board that item will be implemented in the future
after the foundation of the five-year plan is in place.
Ms. Cook said because the Chief has stressed that he believes in that particular
program but there are not enough officers, she thinks it would be helpful to have
a statement such as that in the plan, stating that at some point if enough
officers were available this is a program the Chief would like to implement.
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Ms. Eldridge said she included the following statement, "the result of the
consultant study will be utilized in conjunction with the post Crime Control
District Plan in providing the optimum distribution of sworn officers funded
under the Crime Control District". She said that states that the management
study will be used in conjunction with the plan.
Ms. Cook said she agrees with the wording that Mr. Bray previously suggested with
concerning flexibility and Ms. Vela's suggestion on page 3 of the plan under
violent crime and gangs saying, "establish or fund an existing 24-hour Juvenile
Curfew and Truancy Assessment Centex". She said what the Board is trying to do
is allow for flexibility of looking for the most efficient ways to use funds to
provide this service.
Ms. Vela said she believes the plan should state that any funds saved from the
Assessment Center would be allocated to the possibility of establishing
storefronts.
Chief Alvarez said he agrees there should be some type of verbiage in the plan
addressing storefronts.
Ms. Huerta asked the Chief if it would be possible to use the officers working
under directed patrol also at the storefront locations.
Chief Alvarez said under the directed patrol program the officers will be working
with the advisory councils in seeking their input of what their concerns are and
what they think the problems are in those areas. These officers will be
available to address these problems, being mobile and flexible to go to different
areas of the city. He said at present the PD has Community Relations go talk to
the public. He stated that the PD has a mobile storefront concept in the
Winnebago that is available to move around to different areas of the city.
Ms. Cook asked Mr. Bray if another meeting can be scheduled to review the
remainder of the plan.
Mr. Bray said the resolution has to be published in the newspaper no later than
Saturday, August 16, which means the notice is going to the newspaper today. He
said the Board can approve the plan on Friday but the biggest obstacle would be
that there is not 72 hours for opening meeting postings, and the Board is
required to comply with the "Open Meetings Act".
Ms. Cook suggested that the Board recess and return to complete the review and
approval of the plan.
Mr. Bray said the Council will need the plan in their packets on Friday. He said
before the Board considers recessing they should agree on the flexible language
that he suggested. He said he needs to add to his statement, therefore it should
read, "estimates based upon a City-administered program, however before
implementation comparative proposals should be accepted from other service
providers and any savings would be reallocated to other priority functions such
as community-policing and storefront concepts".
Ms. Cook asked Mr. Bray whether the dollar amounts for personnel under the
Juvenile Curfew and Truancy Assessment Center should be left in or put it in as
a line item stating a certain amount has been allocated for the center.
Mr. Bray said once the statement has been added that the Board is looking at
proposals it does not make a difference if the dollar amount remains, because it
is clearly stated that the Board may do something else.
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The Board recessed at 3:40 p.m. and reconvened at 5:22 p.m.
Ms. Cook continued reviewing the plan. She said Ms. Eldridge previously stated
that maintenance costs for the video imaging system be added to the budget and
the survey added. She said the other three things listed for discussion for the
budget and plan as a whole is the Traffic Safety Section (either officers or
overtime) , digital cameras, and the transport vehicle.
Ms. Vela asked if Sheriff Olivarez' request will be discussed.
Ms. Cook decided that item should be discussed at this moment. She stated that
every Board member should have received a copy of his letter. The actual request
is not a dollar amount it is a letter to the City Manager requesting additional
funding for the jail. She said she will let the Chief speak to the issue of the
jail and she will discuss the suggestion by the Sheriff to include two members
to the Board. She stated that the Board members were appointed by the City
Council and the statute states how that occurred and so the Sheriff's request to
be allowed to appoint members to the Crime District Board will not be allowable.
Mr. Bray said that the City Council appoints everyone but the chairperson, and
those Board members can appoint an alternate. He said there is no provision for
the County to have a seat on the Board.
Ms. Cook stated the question raised to her is why was the Sheriff not asked to
be on the Board. Her response was that the Board is not able to do it according
to statute. She said she told the Sheriff that he could attend the meetings.
Ms. Cook turned the meeting over to Chief Alvarez.
The Chief told the Board that PD entered into a contract with the Sheriff's
Office regarding jail consolidation. He said they are paid $275,000 a year by
PD to house the PD's prisoners. He stated he will ask Chief Bung to expand on
this subject because he was very much involved in the implementation of the
consolidation contract.
Chief Bung said that PD entered into an agreement with the County in September
1991 for consolidation of the jail. The contract specifically states that PD
would house 12 ID technicians and one supervisor at the county. The amount of
$275,000 is supposed to house arrests by PD of Class "C" misdemeanors. At the
moment PD takes approximately 5, 000 to 6,000 Class "C" offenders to the jail a
year. He stated that according to the contract the $275, 000 can be renegotiated
each year in September. He said there is a mechanism in place to compensate for
the amount of prisoners generated by the PD. He stated that all prisoners above
the Class "C" misdemeanor have always been the county's responsibility.
Mr. Granato said at the present the county is being compensated for PD's Class
"C" prisoners.
Ms. Cook asked if at present the PD still pays the county $275,000, plus provides
the county with 12 ID technicians and one supervisor.
Chief Bung said that is still the case at the county. He said the amount is
calculated by the federal government marshall's formula and what they pay to
house their prisoners. That is how they arrived at the $275,000 figure.
After further discussion on the Sheriff's request through letter, the Board
decided that the contract's amount of $275,000 is sufficient to house the PD's
Class "C" misdemeanors.
Ms. Cook said she would like the minutes to reflect that the Board did discuss
[
12
�+ 410
and consider the letter submitted by Sheriff Olivarez, but no action will be
Iher taken on it.
Ms. Cook said the Board will return to the budget and discuss the additional
items of traffic officers, transport vehicle, and the survey.
Discussion began on the issue of traffic officers. The Board discussed including
funds for overtime for DWI enforcement.
Ms. Eldridge discussed with the Board the SPEED S.T.E.P. grant that PD has in
place and had in the past.
Mr. Granato said if the Board could fund 26 additional weeks with four additional
officers being paid overtime there can be a DWI enforcement running year round
in conjunction with SPEED S.T.E.P.
Ms. Eldridge said it could be run four days a week, four hours a day.
Ms. Cook said that to run this program would cost $47,000, plus 20% for fringes,
putting it close to $60,000 then a lieutenant is still needed and so is a
breathalyzer. She said the Board can fund the additional 26 weeks at $75,000.
Ms. Eldridge said the lieutenant cost in the SPEED S.T.E.P. grant was $13,312 and
the breathalyzer operator would be another $8, 736.
Ms. Cook said she has an amount of $82,000 already and she thinks the estimate
on the benefits is low, making the amount between $80, 000 to $90, 000. She said
first of all the Board needs to decide if this is an item they want in the
program. They are really tight in years four and five. The Board is just
talking about years one and two as far as the budget is concerned, which is
something that would be suggested for a short duration for a one to three year
period then if the permanent Board decided they wanted to continue the program,
they can include it in the budget.
Mr. Granato said he thinks it is an item that needs to be in the budget for at
least the first two years.
Ms. Eldridge said the SPEED S.T.E.P. grant just received is for three years
beginning in October so it almost runs concurrently with the two-year budget of
the Crime Control District.
Ms. Cook said if the Board wanted to add two years it would compliment the SPEED
S.T.E.P. grant. She asked if that is something the Board would consider adding.
Ms. Eldridge said she believes the Board should really consider the vehicle issue
for the additional overtime officers. She said the grant is PD's first
obligation to put officers on the street, but if vehicles are not available then
something that is under the Crime Control District will have to be foregone
because the grant is a federal obligation. She said the replacement vehicles
under the Crime Control District will not be received until April 1999.
Mr. Granato said in a 26-week period the grant will be using five vehicles. He
wanted to know how that will interfere if these vehicles will be used since
SPEED enforcement runs in the mornings.
Ms. Cook said if these cars are being used during peak evening times it will not
interfere with the vehicles being used for SPEED enforcement.
Chief Bung stated that is when they are sent off for maintenance.
13
fnl V
Mr. Granato said additional officers will not be added to the program and the 26
lir weeks is just being extended with four officers and a supervisor so no cars will
be taken away that were not already going to be utilized for the SPEED program.
Chief Bung said he understands what Mr. Granato is saying in that this is not in
addition to it, it is an extension of the program.
Ms. Eldridge said there will be fuel costs.
Ms. Cook said the fuel costs will have to be added. She said $82,000 might be
a good estimate. She asked Ms. Eldridge the amount of the entire grant for the
six months.
Ms. Eldridge said for the full year for both SPEED and DWI it is $114,000. SPEED
S.T.E.P. is only two days a week, three sites.
Chief Bung said there are 15 vehicles down a day, which subtracts from the total
number of the fleet. He said because PD is running so tight Maintenance Services
has to run seven days a week to maintain the fleet.
Mr. Granato said if that money is included in the budget the Chief might decide
he wants to double the size of DWI enforcement program between Christmas and New
Years.
Chief Alvarez said traffic enforcement is very important.
Ms. Eldridge said if there is three days a week for DWI (the grant is four days
a week) it will be $34, 934 for the officers' salary, do not add a lieutenant,
breathalyzer operator would be $6, 552, and add 20% for fringes, add mileage at
$10,000, the total would be $49,795.
Ms. Cook said it would be around $60,000 or $20, 000 per day, it will be $60, 000
for three, $80,000 for four. If the Board wants to continue the grant as is
$80,000 would be added, if they want to drop down to three it would be $60, 000.
She said first she needs consensus to add this item. She says all the Board is
in agreement with adding this item, the Board just needs to decide if they want
three days or four days.
Ms. Huerta asked which three days they would be used.
Chief Alvarez said if there were used three days that would be Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday. If there were an additional one added that officer would be used
on Wednesday.
Ms. Cook asked for a motion to add $80, 000 to the budget for years one and two,
adding DWI enforcement four days a week. Mr. Granata made the motion, Ms. Huerta
seconded, and the motion passed. She moved on to digital cameras.
Mr. Granato said he thinks digital cameras are a tool the investigators,
especially the Juvenile Enforcement Team, use. He said the imaging cameras are
much cheaper. Their purchase cost is a little bit higher than a normal camera
but in the long run using digital is much cheaper. There are two different
prices of the cameras. He said J.E.T. could use four cameras, two for day shift
and two for evening shift. Special Services he believes has a grant for two.
He said these cameras with good resolution run $7,000 each. He said the pictures
can be printed off of the photo imaging system.
Ms. Cook said these cameras should be included in the budget under the officer
( costs such as Juvenile Enforcement Team.
14
V V
Ms. Huerta said if they are included in J.E.T. the public will be more likely to
provide them than they would otherwise because of the gang problem.
Ms. Eldridge said she believes the grant funding for two of these cameras for
Special Services will be approved.
Ms. Cook said that four of these cameras will cost $2,800. She asked each Board
member if they approve of adding this funding to the budget. Ms. Huerta moved
the addition of the cameras, Ms. Vela seconded, the motion passed. Ms. Cook
moved on to an additional transport vehicle.
Mr. Granato asked the price of the transport vehicle PD is purchasing out of
their budget.
Ms. Eldridge said she received a memo from Jim Davis, Maintenance Services, in
October 18, 1996, that states a prisoner transport vehicle costs $41,800.
Ms. Cook said she is wondering if this amount could be added to a line item.
Ms. Huerta suggested adding it to the replacement of high mileage vehicles. She
asked if something like a crime scene van sized vehicle could be purchased to be
used as a prisoner transport vehicle.
Chief Alvarez suggested purchasing a regular transport unit.
Chief Bung said the unit should be a designed wagon.
Ma. Cook said the amount of $40,000 will be used as a guide to purchase the unit.
Ms. Eldridge told the Board that the cost of maintenance on a 24-hour a day
police packaged vehicle per year is $7,000, fuel is $2,000. So the maintenance
cost on a transport vehicle would probably be less.
Ms. Cook suggested that the money for the transport vehicle be included in the
budget and maintenance just continue to stay in the City's general fund since
there is a maintenance line for the unit.
Mr. Morales made the motion that the Board allocate $41, 800 for a transport
vehicle. Ms. Huerta seconded, and the motion passed.
Ms. Cook said the transport vehicle will be added in year one and hopefully it
can be included in one of the other initiatives. She said the Board will at this
time discuss the reconsideration of the survey which will be used as an
evaluation tool. She said Mr. Morales had previously expressed his opinion that
maybe there is another appropriate way to perform this task.
Mr. Morales said he thinks that if the Board wants to change the public's
perception he believes the best way to do it is through media. In his opinion
it would be a much more efficient way, by calling for example news conferences
after the first year or every quarter. This would get the word out about the
success of the plan. He thinks people understand statistics. He used as an
example the Crime Stoppers Board saying they have 97% arrest success. He
believes the general public understands those type of statistics better than a
survey and they will feel more secure. He said the Board has been talking about
redeployment of walking motors, bicycle patrol, the school police partnership,
and things that the general public do not understand, and he thinks the Board
cannot make the public understand these items with a 30-40 question survey.
411, Dr. Lopez said the thing Mr. Morales described about public relations and
15
160 400
education are strategies to educate. To assist percentages he thinks the survey
ihr would make an assessment to determine the baseline. The survey would measure the
perception. The Board will have to make certain something is designed that does
speak to various facets of the program.
Mr. Morales said Dr. Lopez had a very good point, but what he is saying is that
he thinks the Board has enough measures and he does not think they need a survey.
He thinks they can communicate successes to the public and will receive positive
perceptions.
Dr. Lopez said that it is one thing to educate by statistics where the impact is
not known making an assumption that it is positive or negative.
Mr. Morales said he thinks the general public will remember what media is showing
on the television and they will remember that more than a survey.
Dr. Lopez said it is not the survey, it is the questions on the survey that can
relate success of the plan.
Ms. Huerta said that both the survey and media will accomplish the same thing.
Ms. Cook said the survey is meant to be part of the evaluation process.
Mr. Granata said he thinks Mr. Morales is trying to say that Crime Stoppers have
been advertised a number of years and because of the media they have a special
segment on television and radio that has saturated the public's mind and they
know about Crime Stoppers. He said in the case of the Crime District what the
Board is trying to do is determine what the attitudes are right now.
Mr. Morales said he thinks each Board member has an idea of the public's attitude
on crime. This Committee has been on the front page and headline news for the
last week. He said in his opinion the $6,000 can be better utilized.
Ms. Cook said she thinks the reason the survey was included is because the Board
is required under the statute to have evaluation measures and one of the ways the
Board felt they could measure that particular goal of reducing the publics' view
of crime was through a survey. She said if the Board is going to add the cost
of the survey a motion should be made. She said there could be a post and "pre"
survey, which will be three surveys as opposed to five. It will be $6,000 in
98/99 and $6,000 in the year 2000 and 2001.
Dr. Lopez made the motion to add the survey cost of $6, 000 to the plan, Mr.
Granata seconded, motion passed, with Mr. Granata, Ms. Cook, Dr. Lopez in favor,
Mr. Morales and Ms. Vela opposed, and Ms. Huerta abstaining.
Cmdr. Smith said that Community Relations will be capable of spreading the word
through media about the plan.
Ms. Cook continued the meeting with discussion of the changes made to the plan
on August 11.
The Board discussed the Legal Advisor item. Ms. Huerta suggested that the in-
service training the Legal Advisor would provide to officers at the Training
Center be added as an objective. Ms. Eldridge said she would add the following
wording "reduces exposure to civil liability, effective law enforcement through
police officers making informed decisions, and protecting citizens' rights".
The Board began discussion and review of the changes. Ms. Cook said that Ms.
Eldridge shaded the changed areas with gray.
(hr
16
• 1110 V
( Mr. Hennings joined the meeting.
hr Dr. Lopez suggested that the key areas in the beginning of the plan be called
target areas. Then under each Roman numeral they be called initiatives. He said
he is just suggesting a structure change for easier reading and understanding.
Ms. Eldridge pointed out a change in the timeline saying that all hiring will be
in year one, two, and three.
After review of the changes, Ms. Cook told the Board that they need to decide if
the plan is what they want to adopt today. She said that is the plan that will
be made public and presented to the Council on Tuesday, August 19.
Mr. Bray distributed a resolution to be signed by the Chairperson and approved
by the Board. This resolution is approving a proposed two-year crime control
plan and a two-year budget plan for the proposed Corpus Christi Crime Control and
Prevention District and calling a joint public hearing with the City Council on
August 26 at 2 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.
Ms. Cook asked that a motion be made to approve the resolution. Mr. Granato
moved the resolution be approved, Dr. Lopez seconded, and the motion passed.
Mr. Bray said the Board talked about changing the schedule on the September 9
meeting of ordering the election. He said he will post the open meeting notice
for September 9 for 9 a.m. to be held in the Chief's Conference.
Ms. Cook said the only thing on the agenda for September 9 will be calling for
the election.
Mr. Bray said the meeting on August 19 with the Council will be a full discussion
ihr
of the plan they will receive in their packet Friday. It is possible the Council
may have some changes. He asked the Board if they wanted to schedule a meeting
so it can be posted because meeting notices have to be posted 72 hours in
advance.
The Board decided to set a tentative meeting for Thursday, August 21 at noon to
discuss possible changes to the plan by the Council.
Mr. Bray said August 26 is posted as being a joint hearing with City Council
which will be during the Council meeting which begins at 2 p.m. Final action on
adoption of the plan will be taken on that day and the Council will approve the
plan. He said the Board and Council would vote separately on the plan. He said
it would be best to resolve and adopt a plan on August 19.
Ms. Cook encouraged all the Board members to attend the August 19 meeting in case
Council Members have any questions. She said she will present the overview of
the plan and the Chief will go through the specifics and all the Board members
can be available to answer any questions presented.
Ms. Eldridge said the plan with changes made at today's meeting will be delivered
on Friday, August 15, including the alternates.
Mr. Hennings said he would suggest a large turnout at the August 26 public
hearing to speak and urge the Council to proceed with the plan. He believes this
would send a strong signal of support.
The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
9 17
SEP-09-1997 1116 P.03.475
egiOC pRMINT FOR INSTRUCTIONAL
r PLIME TATION ANO SCHOOL OPERATIONS
CD IndepeusnCdehnritsti mace• e.Execute
elxeexa FAX: :12a.a/e
SSchool
411. District ea+ Lacp.d • a_o Cower 110 Carpus rte.TexasTe4030110
TO: Ms. Laurie Cook
FROM: Joseph G. Lopez, Ph.D., Executive Director for Instructional
Implementation and School Operations
DATE: September 8, 1997
SUBJECT: CORRECTIONS TO MINUTES FOR THE CRIME CONTROL DISTRICT
MEETING -AUGUST 13.1997
P 2
Reads:
Dr. Lopez suggested another possible measure would be the legal advisor providing
orientation or in-service.
Should Read:
Dr. Lopez suggested another possible measure would be the legal advisor providing
orientation or in-service to officers.
Reads:
Dr. Lopez suggested It read hours of training provided and number of participants
trained.
Should Read:
Dr. Lopez suggested that measures of evaluation should include hours of training
provided and number of participants trained.
Reads:
Dr. Lopez suggested that it should read not only passing an anti-gang ordinance but
awareness.
Should Roads:
Dr Lopez suggested that the objective should reed not only passing an anti-gang
ordinance but awareness of antigang ordinance.
Bagful
Reads:
Dr. Lopez suggested the addition of an item that says the public will be educated about
the program.
SEP-09-1997 11:15 P.04/05
4110
taw Should Road:
Dr. Lopez suggested the addition of an item that says the public will be educated about
the implementation of the program.
,Pagel
Reads:
Dr. Lopez said under measures include the hours of training.
Should Read:
Dr. Lopez said that under measures to include the hours of training.
Page 8
Roads:
Dr. Lopez suggested changes in the construction of the document under the goals of
the Crime Control District.
Should Read:
Dr. Lopez suggested that changes in the construction and format of the document
should be made in order to clarify goals of the Crime Control District There should
be consistency and clarity in language and the terminology utilized.
Page 9
Reads:
Dr. Lopez said he would like to compliment Dr. Garza's organization for all the services
offered to the community and they certainly work with the school district in a number of
ways.
Should Read:
Dr. Lopez commended Dr. Garza%organization for all the services offered to the
community, but the proposal presented by Dr.Garza was for an already existing
one and not one specifically designed as in the Board's proposal. The board
should explore other services providers to meet the needs of the program and
proposals would have to be submitted consideration.
Page 15-16
Reads:
Dr. Lopez said the thing Mr. Morales described about public relations and education are
strategies to educate. To assist percentages he thinks the survey would make an
assessment to determine the baseline. The survey would measure the perception. The
Board will have to make certain something Is designed that does speak to various
facets of the program.
• r. SEP-09-1997 11:17 P.05/25
0 *410
Should Read:
ther Dr. Lopez said the examples Mr. Morales provided described public relatims and
could be used as strategies to educate. The survey would be used to assess
perceptions and to determine a baseline for measun. The survey would measure the
perception. The Board will have to make certain the instrument is designed to
address various facets of the program.
Reads:
Dr. Lopez said that it is one thing to educate by statistics where the impact is not known
making an assumption that it is positive or negative.
Should Read:
Dr. Lopez said that i is one thing to educate by statistics but the impact will not be
know whether it is positive or negative.
Roads:
Dr. Lopez said it is not the survey. ft is the questions on the survey that can relate
success of the plan.
Should Read:
Dr. Lopez said that it was not the purpose of the survey. The response to the
questions on the survey will help In determining the success of the plan.
Page 17
Reads:
Dr. Lopez suggested that the key areas in the beginning of the plan be called target
areas. Then under each Roman numeral they be called initiatives. He said he is just
suggesting a structure change for easier reading and understanding.
Should Read:
Dr. Lopez suggested that the key areas in the beginning of the plan be called target
areas. Then under each Roman numeral the areas could be called initiatives. He
said he is just suggesting a structure change for easier reading and understanding.
TOTAL P.