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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Public Safety Commission 04/13/2016CITY OF PALM DESERT PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING APPROVED MINUTES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 — 3:30 p.m. Palm Desert City Hall 73-510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260 Administrative Services Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Kramer called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Chairman Terry Kramer Vice Chair Phyllis Harkins Commissioner Martin Nethery Commissioner James Butzbach Commissioner Gloria Kirkwood Commissioner Doug Luhring Commissioner Frank Taylor Also Present: Mayor Robert Spiegel Councilmember Susan Marie Weber Stephen Y. Aryan, Risk Manager Chief Dan Talbot, Palm Desert Fire Department Lt. Anthony Baur, Palm Desert Police Department Frankie Riddle, Director of Special Programs Donna Evans, Recording Secretary III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS NONE IV. PRESENTATIONS A. Introduction of Eric Cadden. Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 2 Mr. Stephen Aryan stated that Eric Cadden started working with the City of Palm Desert about a month ago. He has a CERT class scheduled on May 20-22, which is on a weekend. He'd like to make the class available for those people who work during the week and previously couldn't attend when the classes were Monday through Friday during the day. He also has a training program scheduled for the Standard National Incident Emergency Management System for all City employees. We're sorely lacking in this area; it's been at least 6-7 years since we've offered this type of training. Mr. Cadden has already done a couple of presentations to our Palm Desert residents. There were over 100 people in attendance at his most recent gathering and requests come in every week for presentations regarding emergency preparedness. The Commission welcomed Mr. Cadden. Mr. Cadden stated that he's very excited to be in Palm Desert and looks forward to all the programs that he's going to be able to implement. The first CERT class is scheduled, but it hasn't been advertised to the mass public because a couple of the HOA's have asked about it and he told him that he would send it out to them first. He already has eight people signed up after only one day of advertising. The commission wanted to make sure that it would be opened up to everybody. Mr. Cadden stated that he will definitely open it up to all residents, but he had a lot of interest in the HOA's. He explained that CERT is a Community Emergency Response Team and consists of a twenty -hour class where residents are taught skills on how to take care of themselves, their family, and their community in the event of an emergency. The class includes disaster medical operations, basic incident emergency system training, light search and rescue, fire extinguisher training and a mock disaster scenario at the end of the class. Vice Chair Harkins asked if there would be a re -certification course for those who had already been through the CERT training? Mr. Cadden stated that anyone can take the CERT class again, if they'd like to. He's hoping to instate a team for the City of Palm Desert, which would include monthly meetings with refresher classes and functional exercises. V. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES of the Regular Public Safety Commission Meeting of February 10, 2016. Vice Chair Harkins requested that the minutes of the Public Safety Commission of February 10, 2016 be pulled from the Consent Calendar as she was absent from that meeting; therefore, will have to abstain. Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 3 B. PALM DESERT SPECIALIZED UNITS End of the Month Report for February 2016. Commissioner Taylor requested that the Palm Desert Specialized Units End of the Month report for February 2016 be pulled from the Consent Calendar. C. RIVERSIDE COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT/CAL FIRE End of the Month Report for March 2016. Commissioner Kirkwood moved to receive and file item C.; Riverside County Fire Department/CAL Fire end of the month report for March 2016. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Luhring and carried by a 6-0-1 vote (AYES: Harkins, Kirkwood, Luhring, Nethery, Taylor, and Kramer; NOES: None; ABSENT: Butzbach). VI. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER MINUTES of the Regular Public Safety Commission Meeting of February 10, 2016. Commissioner Kirkwood moved to approve the minutes of the Regular Public Safety Commission Meeting of February 10, 2016 as presented. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Luhring and carried by a 5-1-1 vote (AYES: Kirkwood, Luhring, Nethery, Taylor, and Kramer; NOES: None; ABSTAIN: Harkins; ABSENT: Butzbach). B. PALM DESERT SPECIALIZED UNITS End of the Month Report for February 2016. Commissioner Taylor stated that it's good to see the Uniform Crime Reporting statistics on the report, but he had a question that referred back to the annual report. He commented that the numbers for 2015 are a little bit different. 2013 and 2014 numbers are correct, but 2015 is off. For example, the month end report for February states that there were 37 robberies, but the annual report states that there were 41. Lt. Baur stated that he would make the corrections. Commissioner Taylor moved to receive and file Palm Desert Specialized Units End of the Month Report for February 2016 with corrections to the 2015 Uniform Crime Report. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Nethery and carried by a 6- 0-1 vote (AYES: Harkins, Kirkwood, Luhring, Nethery, Taylor, and Kramer; NOES: None; ABSENT: Butzbach). Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 4 NEW BUSINESS A. FY 2016/17 PALM DESERT FIRE DEPARTMENT PROPOSED BUDGET Mr. Stephen Aryan stated that the proposed Palm Desert Fire Department budget for fiscal year 2016/17 has been vetted by the City Manager and staff. Every year there are two budget estimates; one is the Schedule A Estimate and the other is the Anticipated Estimate. The Schedule A Estimate includes all the positions at their top step, which is not a realistic snapshot. This is the way the State has their Schedule A prepared. Mr. Aryan stated that he reduces that estimate by approximately 7%, which is what is known as the Anticipated Budget and this is the amount that the Finance Department budgets for each year. This year the total is $12.6M, which is approximately 8% more than last year. This is directly attributable to the public employee retirement costs, as well as continued labor negotiations within the different bargaining units in the Fire Department. Mr. Aryan commented that white papers have been submitted for the budget; the largest one being the refurbishment of Medic Unit 233. This is a reserve unit which will go into front-line status and the unit that it replaces will go back into reserve status. Each year for the past two years, the City has been upgrading the basic life support engines, and adding a paramedic and calling it an Advance Life Support Engine. Previous stations that have undergone this conversion are Station No. 33 at Town Center Way, and Station No. 71 located at Portola/Country Club. This year, we're proposing an upgrade at Station No. 67 located on Mesa View, which serves South Palm Desert. Two of the other large ticket items are the Zoll X Series Monitor/Defibrillator, which is part of the conversion for Engine 67 to make it an advance life support engine, and the Stryker gurneys. The current gurneys are approximately seven -years -old and are ready to be replaced. A new gurney costs $15,000 and we need 6-7 gurneys. The Fire Department is proposing to lease the units at approximately $14,000/year for all of them. The lease would also include maintenance, which will save the City over $5,000/year. The total fiscal impact, including capital items as requested and approved by the City Manager, is $12.8M. Chief Dan Talbot described two incidents where patients were saved, due to the efforts of the crew at Fire Station No. 71. One of the patients is expected to walk out of the hospital and the other patient is still hospitalized, but is showing signs of improvement. Pit Crew CPR was utilized in both incidents and the dispatcher on the phone was able to instruct a layperson on how to begin CPR on the patient. A fire crew from No. 71 then initiated advanced life support upon their arrival. Mayor Spiegel asked about nursing home staff at facilities in Palm Desert calling 911 to take residents to the doctor and wondered if they were still having that problem. Chief Talbot stated that this is still happening, but the City is looking into a number of options such as potentially billing those facilities as a deterrent. If the Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 5 facilities know that the City provides free ambulance service, they'll take advantage of it, whereas, in other areas they'll call a private provider or arrange for some other form of transportation for that patient. The Fire Department is currently working with staff to develop an ordinance for the Council's consideration towards the end of this year regarding this issue. Mr. Aryan stated that a consultant is doing a study of this issue. Chief Talbot stated that all new facilities will have a requirement to provide a nurse or a physician on -site who can medically clear the patient without calling the Fire Department. The existing facilities will be encouraged to appropriately treat and care for their patients without calling 911. Those facilities are regulated through the State Department of Consumer Affairs and the Fire Department is also reaching out to them to see if they can offer some other options. Commissioner Taylor asked if AMR could be contracted to take care of some of these patients? Chief Talbot stated that when someone calls 911, the Fire Department will provide that service, not AMR. The Fire Department doesn't differentiate between a private home and an assisted living facility. This may be changing in the future as those rules are set by Riverside County EMS. AMR is licensed by the county as the primary provider for EMS services throughout Riverside County, unless there is an exclusive operating area. Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells have an exclusive operating area. The City could explore dispatcher triage so that when a person calls 911, the call -taker on the other end will ask the patient a series of questions and start to triage (sort) them out. The citizens in this community appreciate that they have free ambulance service. There are very few communities in California who provide that service. Mayor Spiegel stated that he takes pride in the fact that residents of Palm Desert don't have to pay for ambulance service, except for a small charge on their property taxes. It's minimal compared to the cost of an ambulance. Chief Talbot stated that it costs about $1,800 for an ambulance just to show up at your house. The cost rises depending on what type of medical service the patient requires. Vice Chair Harkins asked if the number of calls per household has an effect on how much public service is provided. What if a particular house has 12-15 calls per year? Chief Talbot stated that the Palm Desert Fire Department doesn't limit the number of calls per household. Households with multiple calls may be referred to Adult Protective Services or involve other agencies to make sure that the person gets the kind of care that they might require. Vice Chair Harkins moved to, by Minute Motion, provide direction to the City Council concerning the FY 2016/17 Fire Department Budget as presented. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Kirkwood and carried by a 6-0-1 vote (AYES: Harkins, Kirkwood, Luhring, Nethery, Taylor, and Kramer; NOES: None; ABSENT: Butzbach). Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 6 B. FY 2016/17 PALM DESERT POLICE DEPARTMENT PROPOSED BUDGET Mr. Stephen Aryan stated that the 2016/17 Palm Desert Police Department's budget is approximately $21.7M, which is around 9% more than last year. The City's public safety costs continue to go up each year. This is attributed to the retroactive increase from FY 2015/16 and it's anticipated to increase again next year by about 7.5%. Subsequent to this, Mr. Aryan attended the County of Supervisors meeting and received information that it'll be closer to 5%-6% next year, which will be a savings of 2%. It's getting to a point where the City has to look seriously at our Police services and see if there could be some shared costs with other cities in the future. Misdemeanor arrests are rising due to Proposition 47, which made a lot of felony crimes now misdemeanors. There are more jail bookings, which increases our booking fees. One of the savings that the City Manager and staff are proposing this year is to not fill the motor officer position, which is currently vacant. The savings would be approximately $300,000. Previously, Palm Desert Police had a sergeant who didn't ride a motor. By having a sergeant ride a motor, the department wouldn't be reducing the number of motors on the streets at any time. There will be no impact to public safety in terms of this recommendation. The ratio is still above the recommended level of officers per thousand residents. The current ratio is 1.59 sworn officers per thousand residents and the recommendation in the General Plan is a ratio of 1.5 sworn officers per thousand residents. There was a concern about the response times for Priority 1 calls increasing to close to six minutes. The number of calls has gone up. One of the items that the previous Lieutenant had shared was that the motors are usually the first responders to incidents. With the reduction in motors and the increase of calls, we could be going the wrong way. Mr. Aryan stated that the number of motors actually stays the same because we'll have a riding sergeant, whereas in the past, we did not. There was still concern that the City will still be reducing the number of available officers by one. Mayor Spiegel stated that the City is running into a problem. Last year Police and Fire consisted of 50% of our General Fund and now it's increasing. One of the things that we're going to try to do, if passed by the Council, is to add an item to the ballot to increase the transient occupancy tax by 2%. We're the lowest in the valley at 7% and we'd like to increase it to 9%, which would still be low compared to other cities. Palm Springs is 16% and some cities are at 30%. The Mayor asked how Palm Desert compares to other cities regarding the ratio of officers per thousand? Mr. Aryan stated that Palm Springs is a little higher than us but their costs are Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 7 substantially higher. He thought that they are at 1.9 sworn officers per thousand residents. The County is below one sworn officer per thousand. Mr. Aryan stated that the capital improvement requests are minimal this year. There's a request for a new motor, a pole camera and three ballistic shields. Councilmember Weber asked about the cost of $425.82 per misdemeanor arrest vs. the number of convicted misdemeanor arrests. Lt. Baur commented that he hasn't done an analysis on that, but he has been looking at the reasons for the arrests. A lot of them are arrests for public intoxication and usually involve transients. With Proposition 47, a person could potentially shoplift ten times from the same store on the same day and be site -released because the value of the theft has be above $950 for an arrest to occur. Councilmember Weber commented that there was a huge increase in the Police budget last year and another huge increase this year, which the Sheriff said was due to the police unions. Now next year, there might be another increase? Mr. Aryan stated that a lot of cities are in the same situation and it's not sustainable in the long term. Councilmember Weber stated that after a while there will be no money. There's got to be another way to handle this. Lt. Baur stated that the Police Department is trying to be good stewards with money. He explained that the booking fee is based on an average number of bookings per year to offset the County's costs. He commented that there's a PACT position opening and he's looking for a cost effective way to fill that position. Mr. Aryan stated that he's been meeting with the other Cove cities to see if there might be cost effective ways to combine some services and work together. This might help combat some of the unsustainable costs that the City is experiencing. Lt. Baur commented that one of the police unions just settled with the County and there won't be any raises at all and this is probably what's going to be trending in the future. He stated that he would be surprised if he saw any raises at the County level for quite some time. Commissioner Taylor commented that due to his ongoing relationship with the Sheriff's Department, he hasn't made any comments regarding the budget and he will abstain from this matter when it comes time to vote. Commissioner Nethery moved to, by Minute Motion, provide direction to the City Council concerning the FY 2016/17 Police Department Budget as presented. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Luhring and carried by a 5-1-1 vote (AYES: Harkins, Kirkwood, Luhring, Nethery, and Kramer; NOES: None; ABSTAIN: Taylor; ABSENT: Butzbach). Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 8 C. PALM DESERT POLICE DEPARTMENT ANNUAL REPORT Mr. Stephen Aryan stated that the annual report was provided to the Commissioners in their packets and that Lt. Baur was present to answer any questions. The Commission pointed out that the first line on page 26 should be adjusted. It states that "...average response time for Priority I (Emergency) calls for services in less than five minutes." The response time is actually almost six minutes and it hasn't been under five minutes in over three years. Five is a great number and it even used to be four minutes. The Commission agreed that the response time should be five minutes or less. A question was asked about footnote 1 at the top of page three of the annual report. Lt. Baur commented that this was probably a typographical error. A comment was made regarding the number of overtime hours for some of the Narcotics Task Force (208 overtime hours) and Gang Task Force officers (216 overtime hours) and wondered if this was something that could be reduced because this is an extra cost to the City. Lt. Baur agreed that this is an extra cost, but stated that it's significantly cheaper than the regular patrol rate. Vice Chair Harkins moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Palm Desert Police Department Annual Report as presented. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Kirkwood and carried by a 6-0-1 vote (AYES: Harkins, Kirkwood, Luhring, Nethery, Taylor, and Kramer; NOES: None; ABSENT: Butzbach). D. FIRE DEPARTMENT ANNUAL REPORT The Commission noted that response times are not in the annual report. Chief Dan Talbot stated that he will get the times for the Commission. It was suggested that the response times could be included in the next monthly report. Commissioner Nethery asked what the difference is between a fire engine and a truck company? Chief Talbot stated that a fire engine is the most utilitarian vehicle. It has hose, water and pump, as well as medical gear and is the primary response vehicle. A truck company has a mechanical ladder on top, does not carry hose, water or pump. It's main purpose is to provide back-up medical response for the engine companies and also carries all the tools and other necessary equipment on a fire or special rescue. Chief Talbot offered to bring a truck to a meeting, however, Commissioner Nethery stated that that wasn't necessary as the commissioners have an invitation to visit the stations. Chief Talbot stated that the truck is located at Station No. 33. The cost of the truck company is divided between the three Cove Community cities and responds to every structure fire. If someone is trapped in a vehicle the truck will bring the Jaws of Life, but it will not Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 9 respond to a vehicle fire. There are two sets of Jaws of Life in the City; one on Truck No. 33 and another set on Engine No. 71. Commissioner Butzbach arrived at 4:25 p.m. and apologized for being late, but stated that he got involved in a hearing at work that went longer than expected. Commissioner Kirkwood moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Palm Desert Fire Department Annual Report as presented. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Luhring and carried by a 5-1 vote (AYES: Harkins, Kirkwood, Luhring, Nethery, Taylor, and Kramer; NOES: None; ABSTAIN: Butzbach). VI11. CONTINUED BUSINESS NONE IX. OLD BUSINESS NONE X. REPORT ON CITY COUNCIL ACTION(S) NONE XI. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Citizens on Patrol Proqram Frankie Riddle stated that she's been working on building the relationship between the Citizens on Patrol Program and the Police Department. With Lt. Baur's assistance, the COPS have now been able to start meeting with dispatch and participate in the monthly briefings, which has helped to build familiarity. When dispatch has a call, they may request the assistance of the COPS if they're available. This seems to be beneficial and the COPS members enjoy working directly with dispatch. Radio Scanner Training has been implemented. Sgt. Adams brought in scanners and we were able to create different scenarios as if dispatchers were making actual calls to our officers out in the field so that they can listen and respond back and forth. The COPS really enjoyed this hands-on training and would like to participate in more trainings such as this. Operational changes were implemented for Fashion Week/Food & Wine events, due to the new location and the COPS responded very well to their assignments. B. Legislative Update Stephen Aryan commented that the City submitted a letter of opposition for SB 876, which is similar to the bill that the City opposed last year Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 10 which was the Public Right to Rest Act. It would make it almost impossible for the Police Department to enforce loitering laws in public spaces, which would include shopping centers, sidewalks and parks. Police and Fire Departments Lt. Baur stated that during the late part of March and the first part of April there was a rash of commercial burglary window smashes along the Washington/Hwy. 111 corridor. Indio, Bermuda Dunes, La Quinta and Coachella also suffered a significant increase in commercial burglaries. As of last night, there are two people in custody who are believed to be responsible for about 70% of the burglaries. Lt. Baur also received additional information that there is another operating party who is responsible for other isolated burglaries in Palm Desert. Chief Talbot commented that Chief John Hawkins recently underwent a triple bypass and has been released from the hospital and is doing well. The Fire Department is gearing up for the Coachella Music Festival. This year they're bringing in some additional federal assets for terrorism prevention/detection. Traffic during this event has improved throughout the valley because Golden Voice busses the participants to and from the venue. They're on track to bus 35,000 people daily throughout the valley. The hotels are full. Coachella sells out at 100,000 people. They're currently modifying their EIR to increase attendance to 125,000. Stagecoach is currently limited to 65,000 and they want to increase it to 85,000-90,000 in attendance. Part of the agreement with the City of Indio is that they're permitted to produce two festivals in the Fall (October). The festivals are limited, due to the polo season. The main part of the festival grounds are part of the Empire Polo Club. There have been a rash of arsons in the communities around Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells; specifically in La Quinta and Indio. An arrest was made last weekend and two suspects were booked into jail; one of them admitted to setting about 60 fires. The County Police Chiefs Association and County Fire Chiefs Association now have an agreement for active shooter response and how they intend to work together in this situation. The County Fire Department recently took a major grant and will be equipping each person on a fire engine with a helmet, vest and a specific trauma bag for an active shooter situation. They're currently in the initial stages of training. Commissioner Nethery asked about the medical responses which were significantly above the National average. He commented that he thought that most of the explanation for that might be that there are a lot Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 11 of retired people in this community and their increasing medical needs. Chief Talbot stated that a lot of it is driven by demographics, but specifically in this community, a good portion of that is driven by our care facilities who are taking advantage of us. There are fewer fires in Palm Desert because it's a newer community with most of the buildings being less than fifty years old. C. Staff Mr. Aryan stated that the biannual Family Safety Festival was not as well attended as previous years. The attendance continues to decrease as the years go by. He suggested evaluating the purpose of this program and see what we'd like to do with it. Perhaps we can re -invent it and either have it annually and also change the name of it. One idea for a name could be Spring Forward for Safety. We could also combine it with opening day of baseball or adding a 5k or Color Run to help increase attendance. The next CERT class with take place on May 20-22, which is a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Eric Cadden is the contact person for this training. The registration is on-line at Eventbrite.com. D. Public Safetv Commissioner Comments Vice Chair Harkins commented that she met with Captain Trevino and Lt. Lopez to discuss ways to engage the community in Palm Desert Country Club with the local officers. From that meeting came an idea; Coffee and Cake with a Cop. The first meeting was in March and was very well attended by the community and Lt. Baur was great and had five officers there. There was good communication amongst the community members. Another Coffee and Cake with a Cop is scheduled on May 17. Vice Chair Harkins commented that the meeting really made a difference. Lt. Baur stated that he received good feedback from the officers as well. Commissioner Butzbach stated that kids selling magazine subscriptions are coming into private, gated communities. They're usually 18-20 years of age and are from out of state and carry little to no identification. Their moves are tracked on GPS by a vehicle that's following them. Typically, they sneak onto properties and then have a scam of how they approach homeowners and say that they're the grandson or granddaughter of a neighbor down the street in order to sell magazines to them. They don't appear to be thieves. If security or law enforcement responds, it seems to depend on the deputy that's actually on the case as to what happens. The deputy either cites them or doesn't do anything or they were taken Public Safety Commission Approved Minutes April 13, 2016 Page 12 to the station. What happens to these kinds of people when they're brought into the station? Is there any further investigation? Lt. Baur stated that he recently dealt with a situation like that at Big Horn where two people were detained by security. They were able to use the City ordinance for business license and soliciting effectively. Typically, if the person has identification on them they'll be taken to a public area and set loose so that they don't just walk back into the same gated communities. Commissioner Butzbach stated that it seems like it's an annual trek through the valley. Lt. Baur stated that if they could tie them to the parent company or the sponsors, we could look at citing them. More research will have to be done to see how they're operating. XII. NEXT MEETING DATE — May 11, 2016 XIII. ADJOURNMENT With commissioner concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 4:52 p.m. (Z�amtd) Donna Evans, Recording Secretary