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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPUB SFTY CMSN - 03/12/08 �-�[x�„�„ � � CITY OF PALM DESERT i-��-�, �` � REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING . APPROVED MINUTES Wednesday, March 12, 2008 — 3:30 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Kirkwood called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: Commissioner James Butzbach Vice Chairman Martin Nethery Commissioner James Larsh Commissioner Rick Lebel (arrived at 3:42 p.m.) Chair Gloria Kirkwood Also Present: Councilmember Cindy Finerty Sheila R. Gilligan, ACM/Community Services Division Frankie Riddle, Director of Special Programs Chief Dan Wilham, Palm Desert Police Department Lt. Frank Taylor, Palm Desert Police Department Chief Dennis Dawson, Riverside County Fire Department Chief John Rios, Riverside County Fire Department Chief Jorge Rodriguez, Riverside County Fire (arrived 4:25 p.m.) Captain Jose Rodriguez, Riverside County Fire Department Ryan Stendell, Management Analy�TY COUNCIL ACTION: Mary P. Gates, Recording Secretar�ppROVED�--�- DENIED R�CEIVED-«.�t1�.�,_, �THER III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 1�EETING DATE - � None ��: r � N(}ES: ABSENT:_�l1 r�n� �1BSTAIN: � �ERIFIED BY• :�riginal on File wit City Clerk' s Off APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Minutes of the Public Safety Commission Meeting of January 9, 2008 Rec: Approve as presented. Upon motion by Commissioner Butzbach, second by Commissioner Larsh, the Consent Cafendar was approved as presented by a 4-1 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Introduction of New Palm Desert Police Chief Dan Wilham Chief Wilham introduced himself to the Commission and said he was available 24 hours per day and, except for home numbers, he had all of Captain Steve Thetford's old telephone numbers. He said if anyone had any issues about the Police Department, they could call him, and he would be happy to discuss said issues with them. He added that he and Captain Thetford had basically the same philosophy as far as operations in Palm Desert. B. Introduction of Palm Desert Police Officers Steve Rivera and Van Snapp Lt. Taylor introduced Palm Desert Police Officers Steve Rivera and K-9 Van Snapp. Upon question by Commissioner Butzbach, Officer Rivera responded that Van Snapp was trained in general patrol at this time, which he would be doing for six months to a year, after which time he would be scheduled for narcotics training. Note: Commissioner Lebel arrived at 3:42 p.m. C. Palm Desert Fire Services Monthly Report for November 2007, December 2007, and January 2008 Commissioner Larsh noted an item in the November repo�t about two Trader Joe's customers who performed CPR on a man in a check-out aisle until medical personnel could arrive and take over. 2 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 He said he hoped the Fire Department got the names of the two women so they could be thanked. Chief Dawson responded that once the fire truck arrived and emergency personnel took over, the two women disappeared, and neither Trader Joe's nor the Fire Department had been able to identify and contact them. Commissioner Butzbach moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Palm Desert Fire Services monthly report for November 2007, December 2007, and January 2008. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Larsh and carried by a 4-1 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. D. Palm Desert Special Enforcement Teams Monthly Statistics for January and February 2008 Lt. Taylor said there had been several staffing changes. Deputy LaBrecque, who the Commission met some time ago, was now assigned to the station County position for the Coachella Valley Narcotics Task Force. Deputy Mike Moon, who was on the Target Team years ago, was now back on the Special Enforcement Team. He said he would ask Deputy Moon to come to the next Public Safety Commission meeting for introduction. Upon question by Councilmember Finerty, Lt. Taylor responded that Deputy LaBrecque was taking the place of Deputy Button and would cover Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, Palm Desert, and a portion of the County. Upon question by Commissioner Butzbach as to whether the City had participated in the Task Force in the past, Lt. Taylor responded that he did not believe there had been a dedicated City position in the past. He said there had been discussions over the years about this; however, when the Police Department has had issues in the past dealing with narcotics, it has received exceptional service from the County position. Mrs. Gilligan said what had come to the Commission previously was the possibility of adding that position; Captain Thetford said the position the County had was adequate and there was no need for a dedicated position for Palm Desert. She added that staff was putting together a draft budget proposal to the City Manager for March 24, 2008, and the proposal included several positions. Staff's concern was that there are currently nine vacancies in the Department. She said there had also been discussion about using 3 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 available space at the Washington Street Substation to set up a recruitment center. In addition, special classes had been added at College of the Desert. The goal was to get those vacant positions filled, and that was the priority from the City Manager's point of view. She noted that both the Fire and Police Budgets would be brought to the Commission at its April meeting with the City Manager's recommendation to the Council. Commissioner Lebel moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Palm Desert Special Enforcement Teams monthly statistics for January and February 2008. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Larsh and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. E. Traffic Team Report for January and February 2008 -- Includes Traffic Collision Statistics for December 2007 and January 2008 and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Statistics for January and February 2008 Lt. Taylor noted that Deputy Mark Hansen was taking the place of Deputy Rick Kothlow, who retired. He said he would introduce Deputy Hansen at the April Public Safety Commission meeting. Commissioner Butzbach moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Traffic Team Report for January and February 2008. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Larsh and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. F. Business District Team Report— January and February 2008 Commissioner Larsh moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Business District Team Repo�t for January and February 2008. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Butzbach and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. G. Canine Report— February 2008 Lt. Taylor noted this was a new report which the Commission would be receiving monthly. He stated that the City of Palm Desert would not be charged for Van Snapp's time whenever he is called out for an emergency in any area not within the City boundaries. Whatever city he gets called out to would be billed for that time. Commissioner Lebel moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Canine Report for February 2008. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Butzbach and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. 4 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 H. Request from Palm Desert Police Department for Authorization to Expend Cal Cops Grant Funds (Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Fund — SLESF) 2007/08 to Purchase Five Hundred (500) City of Palm Desert Police Uniform Patches in an Estimated Amount of$1,131.38 Commissioner Lebel moved to, by Minute Motion, recommend to the City Council approval of the subject request. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Larsh and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. I. Consideration of Fire Department 2007 Annual Report Chief Dawson reviewed the Annual Report, noting there were no significant commercial structure fires to report for 2007, although there were quite a few residential fires. One of the most significant events for the year was the power outage and the resulting implementation of the Early Warning Notification System, which worked quite well. Commissioner Lebel said he felt this was an excellent report overall and suggested consideration of several enhancements/changes for next year's report: • Under totat number of calls on page 3, add total dollar loss, average dollars per loss, and average loss per thousand residents, and compare that to the prior year of the National Fire Protection Association average losses per thousand for the California Fire Incident Reporting System. He said this would help the Commission to identify how Palm Desert's services compare with other agencies from a national or State-wide perspective. • Include information on the Fire Marshal's report relative to hazardous materials inspections/investigations. • Under the current system of staffing and operations, if there is a fire and arson investigation, the Fire Department has to call out a separate arson investigation unit to do the investigation. He suggested that all fires be investigated for determination of initial cause and origin, if not by the Company Captain then by someone in Prevention, and those statistics should be included in the report. • From time to time, suggestions have been made that perhaps we can do away with the fire prevention section and 5 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 transfer all of those inspection type activities to the Building Department or other agency. He felt highlighting the activities of the Prevention section would help to keep that from happening in the future. • The Police Department Annual Report included Department annual goals for the following year. Including that type of information, especially noting needs that have not been met or needs that are coming up that should be considered, would help the Commission and the City Council to identify things that the Fire Department might be requesting in the upcoming budget process. Mrs. Gilligan said staff would ask Chief Dawson to include goals for next year in his budget submission to the Public Safety Commission. Commissioner Lebel moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) Direct staff to forward the Fire Department 2007 Annual Report to the City Council as an informational item; 2) receive and file the report. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Butzbach and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. J. Consideration of Police Department 2007 Annual Report Lt. Taylor reviewed his report, noting that there were approximately 2,000 fewer calls for service in 2007. The Police Department had continued to use a proactive prevention strategy with a goal to reduce calls for service and increase quality of life in Palm Desert... He said that there had been several fatalities involving intoxicated drivers, and the Department was addressing that. A sobriety checkpoint mini grant had been received from the Office of Traffic Safety. A sobriety checkpoint was held in November, with another one planned for April and probably Labor Day as well, which was required for the grant. The Department also received the "Click It or TickeY' grant for seatbelt safety, which would run through the month of May. In addition, he said he had applied for a larger sobriety grant in the amount of $150,000 for a multi-faceted program to address several issues involving intoxicated drivers. Commissioner Lebel noted the statement on page 2 of the report that "Our three goals, Focus on Proactive Patrol Strategies, Increase the Quality of Life, and Reduce the Fear of Crime within our jurisdiction are symbiotic, in that one depends on the other for success." Further on in that paragraph is a statement that "...of equal importance is the education and prevention component, 6 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 which reduce the number of crimes and allow our personnel to focus on proactive law enforcement activities." He said he felt that tying those things together was really excellent, and he encouraged Lt. Taylor to consider that type of strategy in outlining and identifying programs when the budget preparation is done. He said one component or officer or section or division sometimes depends on the other for the success of the operation, and if someone would like to look at and perhaps target an individual component for reduction or elimination, to do that might have an impact on several other components. He feft that particular strategy tied in very well in the public safety arena, both for law enforcement and for fire protection. He said he knew that in fire prevention, the main philosophy and theme was education, engineering, and enforcement. In other words, they have to have a process of educating the business owner of the requirements, of assisting the business owner by assisting in engineering a solution to the problem if there is one, and at last resort, do the enforcement portion. From that aspect, prevention strategy has to rely on all three of those components in order to be effective. He urged Lt. Taylor to consider that train of thought in the budget process. Commissioner Lebel stated that page 4 indicated a ratio of 1.58 sworn officers per 1,000 residents. He said it did not indicate how that ratio compared with the national average, and he suggested that Lt. Taylor include that information in next year's report. Lt. Taylor said in the City of Palm Desert there were a multitude of issues that affected the statistics, and the report attempted to compare and analyze Palm Desert's own statistics and past trends. Commissioner Lebel said it was his understanding that the public safety element of the City's General Plan included a ratio of sworn officers per thousand residents as a target to try and achieve. He said it would be helpful for the report to indicate the current ratio as compared to the City's General Plan target ratio. He added that he thought it was an excellent idea to include the Traffic Division goals for 2008 on page 13 of the report. All in all, he felt this was an excellent report. Commissioner Lebel moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) Direct staff to forward the Police Department 2007 Annual Report to the City Council as an informational item; 2) receive and file the report. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Larsh and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. 7 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 K. Consideration of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Riverside and the City of Palm Desert for the "Avoid the 30 Enforcement Program" Lt. Taylor reviewed the staff report, noting that the City of Riverside had secured a grant to produce the "Avoid the 30 Program" for authorized DUI enforcement staff on an overtime basis. The MOU would authorize the Palm Desert Police Department to be a participating agency in this program. There would be no cost to either the City or the Palm Desert Police Department, as all overtime charges would be reimbursed by the grant. Mrs. Gilligan noted that the City had officially taken over control of Highway 74 on March 4, 2008, and should take control of Highway 111 in April. The street maintenance budgets would be increased accordingly. Upon question by Commissioner Lebel, Mrs. Gilligan responded that the City Attorney had not yet reviewed the MOU; however, she said it was not likely to change substantially from its current form. Commissioner Larsh moved to, by Minute Motion, recommend that the City Council approve the subject MOU between the City of Riverside and the City of Palm Desert to participate in the "Avoid the 30 Enforcement Program" grant, which will be administered by the City of Riverside. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Butzbach and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. Report from City Manager Relative to Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Program Officer Cost Analysis and Recommendation to the Cove Communities Services Commission Mrs. Gilligan reviewed the report, noting that at its meeting of January 23, 2008, the Cove Communities Services Commission received a report and recommendation from the City Manager, as Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee, that the city managers had determined it was in the best interests of the Cities of Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, and Indian Wells that each city be billed for actual time spent within the city rather than continuing with the current cost sharing formula of 80% Palm Desert, 10% Rancho Mirage, and 10% Indian 8 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 Wells. The procedure would include the officer documenting specific time spent within each city and the cities being billed accordingly at the current contract rate. Upon question by Commissioner Butzbach, she responded that this meant the amount could vary from month to month. Commissioner Butzbach moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the report. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Larsh and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. B. Update Relative to Video Surveillance Pilot Program Mrs. Gilligan reviewed the memorandum submitted by Senior Management Analyst Pat Scully, noting that staff would be requesting that the City Council include funds in next year's budget to increase the number of available grants to Palm Desert business owners. She said businesses that had participated in the program this year were listed on the back of Ms. Scully's memorandum. Staff felt the program had been successful this first year. Upon question by Commissioner Butzbach, Mrs. Gilligan responded that applications were still being accepted for next year's program. Commissioner Lebel asked that a status report be prepared next year on this program and include the program's effectiveness. He said while there was no data available right now to support whether or not it was really effective, it was good that there was a lot of interest in the program. In addition, it was good that there had been interest from other cities and countries regarding the program. Mrs. Gilligan said that information would be included in the information presented for the budget. Commissioner Butzbach asked whether it would be a safe analogy to make and discuss in social circles that as a result of the implementation of the EI Paseo foot beat, Segway program, regular patrols, and people who on their own have put in closed circuit television and recording devices, crime has been substantially reduced. He said he had not read or heard that much about major incidences recently, including jewelry stores. Lt. Taylor said there had been one jewelry store robbery in the recent past; however, there was great video footage, and the suspect was identified from that video. 9 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 Mrs. Gilligan said it would be safe to say we have a video surveillance program, it has been successful this first year, and we have seen a reduction in crime. Commissioner Lebel moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the report. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Larsh and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. IX. REPORT ON CITY COUNCIL ACTION (S) Councilmember Finerty said the Council would be looking for the Public Safety Commission's input as far as the budget. She said she was happy to see that one of the goals was for a Narcotics Task Force Officer, and a concern expressed at the last Council meeting was what would be done as far as recruiting, and Council would be looking at the Commission's recommendations. Mrs. Gilligan asked for an update on the status of the Entertainment Ordinance. Councilmember Finerty responded that this matter was stilf in a holding pattern while sound measurements continue to be taken. Commissioner Lebel noted that he was appointed as a member of that committee, and there had been two committee meetings. At the first meeting, there were a significant number of comments from the business community regarding both the entertainment ordinance and the noise ordinance. Staff went back and completely redid the ordinance to make it a much more acceptable ordinance to the number of people who were at the second meeting. There were still a number of comments received from committee members who felt things should be a little more well- defined, such as public nuisance. He said although the definition of a public nuisance is clearly accepted in the practice of law, one of the members wanted a very specific definition placed in the ordinance itself, and staff was still working on that. He said he felt City staff had been very responsive to the comments of the business community and had made a number of changes. Councilmember Finerty said she had attended the first meeting where representatives of the business community and restaurants with and without entertainment came out in force and did not seem to know much about the ordinance. Staff and the City Manager met with them, and they had appointed a group to work and represent them. She said she felt it would be a much better ordinance that everyone could live with. 10 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Comments by Public Safety Commissioners Commissioner Lebel reported on last week's Palm Desert visit by a television crew from Belgium. They toured Monterey Country Club, and he hosted them at his home. While they were not able to tour BigHorn Country Club, Teresa Maggio provided them with a very nice package of items. The crew also visited Rancho La Quinta, PGA West, Palm Valley Country Club, and Bower Security. He thanked Pat Scully for putting together a nice promotional packet of information. Mrs. Gilligan noted that Belgium has only one gated community, and these visitors wanted to come to the Valley to see what gated communities are like in the United States. Commissioner Lebel added that they were also going to Mexico City and then to Paris to do the same thing. The trip was scheduled to last approximately three week, and there would then be four to six weeks of editing before the video could be aired. He said he would request a copy of that video for the City. B. Update on the Citizens on Patrol Program Ms. Riddle noted that included in the packets were copies of comment cards received from businesses in the City regarding the Citizens on Patrol program. She noted this week there were patrols every day, with one on Sunday, two on Monday, two on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, four on Thursday, three on Friday, and two on Saturday. For the month of February, there were 453 patrol hours. She said they were going through some growing pains, which was to be expected, but they were working through those things. Some of the things they have come across while on patrol included vehicles with expired tags, people going through commercial trash bins, etc. Mrs. Gilligan said staff would make an official report to the Commission starting next month and would include the number of hours, what the members have done, comments, etc. 11 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 Upon question by Commissioner Butzbach, Ms. Riddle reported there were currently 22 members, with 3 additional applications pending. Commissioner Butzbach asked whether the City had an ordinance dealing with trash scavenging. Mrs. Gilligan responded that while there is a City ordinance, it is not regularly enforced because these types of incidents usually happen in the middle of the night. Ms. Riddle added that if a call is received, Citizens on Patrol members will respond. She noted that staff very seldom received any calls about this, with only two or three in the last several years. Councilmember Finerty asked at what point someone's personal trash, which is put out on a public street for pickup, becomes public. Lt. Taylor said he really could not answer that question but that this gives a reason for law enforcement to contact people who are doing this on a regular basis. He suggested that perhaps a story could be included in the BrightSide because there are people going around rustling through trash cans to try and find items for identity theft. Mrs. Gilligan noted that the City had a large shredding event scheduled for the weekend of May 3-4, 2008, and citizens are invited to bring out documents they want to have shredded. Lt. Taylor stated that people had had items taken from their trash that were used against them criminally, and case law was that people reaNy do not have a right to privacy in their trash can once they put it out into a public street. Commissioner Lebel said he had noticed on the Agenda for the City Council meeting of March 13, 2008, was an item to renew the contract with Burrtec for waste disposal. Mrs. Gilligan responded that this particular item was not necessarily to renew the contract. It was to get direction from the City Council as to whether or not to go out to bid or just negotiate with Burrtec, which is an established company in the desert, and whose contract is due to expire in 2009. Staff's recommendation was to negotiate with Burrtec. 12 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 C. Legislative Update Mrs. Gilligan stated that Senior Management Analyst Pat Scully was currently in Washington, DC, and she had spent two hours with Congresswoman Mary Bono earlier today. One of the subjects was Federal funding for the Interstate 10 interchange project, which had been moved up on the list for funding. She said the Congresswoman's office was incredibly helpful to the City of Palm Desert and was very responsive when the City needs something. Mrs. Gilligan noted that AB 811, which would provide the City the abifity to offer low interest loans for air conditioners and energy saving devices (such as pool pumps, etc.), had cleared the Assembly and was in the Senate to be reviewed by three different committees. Staff was hopeful it would be through the Senate in mid-April and that there would be an emergency signing as an urgency measure by the Governor so it would go into effect immediately versus January 1, 2009. She noted that the City of Palm Desert's energy program was written up in the Wall Street Journal, one of nine cities in the world. She said Palm Desert, California, and Aspen, Colorado, were the only two cities west of the Mississippi River. Not only was there a write-up, there was also a video on-line on the Wall Street Journal website. A gentleman with the Federal government was interviewed and said Palm Desert had the most aggressive program in the country and that it was taking a great step forward in setting a good example for other cities in helping to set their programs. D. Comments by Police and Fire Departments None 13 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 12, 2008 E. Comments by Staff 1. Fiscal Year 2008-09 Police and Fire Proposed Budgets to be Presented to the Pub�ic Safety Commission at Its Meeting of April 9, 2008 Upon question by Commissioner Butzbach, Mrs. Gilligan stated that staff would provide the preliminary budgets to the Commission as soon as they are received from the City Manager's office. XI. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Butzbach moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:05 p.m. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Lebel and carried by a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chairman Nethery ABSENT. \ ,\ _ Mary P. at , Recording Secretary 14