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Item 1.

City Council Work Session
Date:	11/07/2022
Title:	Public Safety Update
Presented by:	Chris Kukulski, City Administrator
Department:	City Hall Administration
Presentation:	Yes
Legal Review	No

RECOMMENDATION

Review the materials in preparation for presentations and a conversation with fire, code enforcement, legal, police and administration on safety and the implementation of the public safety levy.

BACKGROUND (Consistency with Adopted Plans and Policies, if applicable)

The following information was provided by each of the key departments directly related to improving public safety:

Fire Department – see attached PowerPoint presentation.

Code Enforcement – Code Enforcement continues to move ahead with implementation of its Public Safety Mill Levy directed goals and resources. The focus is in three main areas – property abatements and improvements to the court ordered abatement process; staff additions, changes, and budget allocations of the PSML resources; and a significant role in the newly formed Nuisance Property Team.
The headings and bullet points below outline the work the Code Enforcement Division has been working on since the beginning of 2022.

1. Abatements Since January and Abatement Process Improvements:

Abatements Completed this year:

1. 202 Jackson - open storage/junk vehicles
2. 2112 Main Street - open storage
3. 702 N. 16^th - open storage
4. 245 Birchwood – open storage
5. 1702 Avenue D – clear vision/illegal fence
6. 835 Miles Ave – open storage

7. 3294 Windmill Circle - open storage

8. 3714 5^th Avenue South - open storage/now boarded structure
9. 416 Kuhlman – open storage

b. Upcoming abatements (orders issued by court):

1. 824 Dorothy Lane – open storage
2. 13 Monroe – open storage
3. 910 Lynch – open storage

c. Abatement Process Improvements

i. Improved coordination with Municipal Court and City Legal means shorter time from court ordered abatement to clean-ups
ii. Utilizing more city departments to complete abatements
iii. Recycling anything we can to offset some of the costs of the abatements

2. Staffing and Budget update - All PSML approved positions (3) have been filled to date

Commercial code officer II in place (PSML Position). Officer focus:

i. Graffiti, sober living homes, marijuana ordinance, massage facilities, commercial properties, business licenses, sign compliance, etc.
ii. Taking point on all things graffiti

b. Nuisance property code officer II in place. Officer focus:

i. Abandoned, decaying, and dangerous structures
ii. Clearing old cases and initiating new cases for problem properties
iii. Working closely with legal to bring civil actions in District Court for those properties that exceed the $9,500 assessment limitation
iv. Developing methodical process to complete larger abatements that could result in City-initiated demolition

c. Residential officers – One remaining vacancy to fill (2 PSML Positions). In recruitment process and plan to hire and have trained by year end
d. New Enforcement Areas – January 2023 is the target date to implement new code enforcement areas with full staffing (5 enforcement areas)
e. PSML funds for staff and operations expended in FY23 per CE allocation

FY2022: Spent $81,028 for two vehicles - new to fleet
FY2023: Spent $16,000 on vehicle from Planning
- PSML increase to Payroll for July 1 to November 1: $35,000
- Equipment: $5,000 (estimated)
- Software: $5,232 (ticketing)
- Phones: $540
- Training: $635 (Hi-C costs)

Total FY2023: $62,4073.

Nuisance property team

Nuisance property code officer II and code manager working closely with this team
Team includes additional city departments (fire, building, CPC, etc.)
Developing a system to track and update properties added to the team’s list using GIS mapping and secure log in for those on the team to access and update reports to Admin.
Properties are being listed on briefing (BPD) for area checks all three shifts

Prosecution - The legal department has hired a Victim-Witness Specialist as part of the implementation of its strategy to address public safety issues. Seven positions were authorized following passage of the public safety mill levy. We have only been able to hire one position, a Victim Witness Specialist. However, there is insufficient office space to continue to hire other positions that have been approved/authorized as a result of the PSML – all staff that can comfortably office-share are currently doing so. It is not practicable to rent separate space for one or two positions because of training, collaboration with other members of the prosecution team, and the need to be accessible to the court. With the retirement of a legal secretary, we plan to use that space to hire an additional prosecutor in the next 2 months. However, this affects administrative staff duties since we will not be replacing that position until there is sufficient office space.The legal department continues to work on strategies to streamline charging decisions with the police department to get certain cases charged directly through BPD instead of waiting for prosecutor review. We are also working on practices within the office to try different strategies for drafting charging documents to streamline the process.

The following data shows the total number of cases filed compared to the total number of cases referred for filing through September 30:

Year	PFMA	VOOP, PIC, Stalking, Sexual Assault	NCO Violations	Total Cases Filed	Total Cases Referred	% of Referred Cases Filed
2016	345	144	94	583	824	70.7%
2017	340	110	125	575	875	65.7%
2018	311	90	89	490	790	62.02%
2019	331	70	99	500	878	56.90%
2020	365	103	97	565	1,204	47.08%
2021	491	128	167	786	1,101	71.38%
2022*	270	114	96	480**	871	55.10%

*Through September 30, 2022

In the 15 months that we’ve had authorization for two DV Prosecutors, one prosecutor has been solo roughly 6 of those months due to hiring and turnover. After Brad was hired in 2021, and before he transitioned into the DV role, he charged a significant amount of unfiled cases, as evidenced by the large spike in overall filings that year. Realistically, an achievable target for case filings would be between 60 and 70%. We are currently off that target, though we are on pace to set our second-highest case filing record in the last 7 years.

We are also paying close attention to legislation to improve safety and specifically the impact of sober living facilities. We support each of six bill drafts coming out of the legislative Criminal Justice Oversight Committee (CJOC). The committee approved three during their August meeting and the other three are expected to be approved November 15. Each draft can be reviewed on their web-site. CJOC 2.2 deals specifically with sober living homes. Additionally, even if the sober living bill is introduced and passes, the separate issue of offender supervision is an area that DOC needs to address by implementing more stringent supervision requirements of offenders in these homes and the community at large.

Law Enforcement – see attached PowerPoint presentation.

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RECOMMENDATION

BACKGROUND (Consistency with Adopted Plans and Policies, if applicable)

ALTERNATIVES

FISCAL EFFECTS

Attachments