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CLOSED CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY BUFORD COUNTY.
[I. CALL TO ORDER ]
WE'RE GONNA CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.THIS IS A JOINT MEETING MEETING BETWEEN THE LAW ENFORCEMENT, CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND TON TOWN COUNCIL.
WE'LL START WITH PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE, LETTER BLACK, UH, PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
AND TWO, THE REPUBLIC FOR STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD AND INVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY.
OKAY, SO, SO WE'RE GOING KIND OF CO-CHAIR THIS THING, SO I'LL END IT OVER TO YOU AND YOU CAN DO YOUR ROLL CALL AND, UM, I'LL JUMP BACK IN AFTER A WHILE.
MR. BAILEY, WOULD YOU LIKE TO START A ROLL CALL, PLEASE? YES.
[III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES ]
CAN I, UH, GET A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES PLEASE? SO MOVED.[IV. PUBLIC COMMENT ]
ALONG.UH, IS THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? YES.
IS THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? YES, MA'AM.
I DON'T NEED, I DON'T THINK I NEED TO READ THE RULES FOR ONE COMMENT.
I'LL START AT TIMER JUST TO BE SAFE.
PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS WHEN.
MY NAME IS BETTY BLACK LIVE WITH 38 WILD GRASS WAY, UH, IN THE PINE WITCH, UH, COMMUNITY.
UH, WE HAVE A DIFFICULT SITUATION THERE WITH THE SCHOOL TRAFFIC.
UH, PEOPLE CANNOT GET INTO OUR COMMUNITY BECAUSE OF MCCRACKEN AND HOW IT'S LINED ALL UP.
UH, PEOPLE ARE TALKING DOWN IN THE COMMUNITY, BLOCKING THE STREETS RIGHT AS YOU COME IN.
WE'VE TRIED EVERYTHING AND WE'RE WILLING TO PAY THE POLICE, PAY SOMEONE TO DO IT, BUT WE ASKED IF THE POLICE CAN HELP US WITH THIS.
UH, IT'S A, IT'S, IT'S A SAFETY ISSUE FOR THE KIDS.
'CAUSE WE HAD TONS OF KIDS THAT WALKED SCHOOL.
THESE PEOPLE ARE SITTING ON THE STREETS, YOU CAN'T SEE AROUND THEM.
IT JUST, IT'S A BAD SITUATION.
I MEAN, IT'S A GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD.
I'M PERSONALLY AT THE POA AND I LOVE MY NEIGHBORHOOD AND WE HAVE GREAT PEOPLE, BUT MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT'S COMING IN THERE ARE NOT OUR COMMUNITY.
THEY COME FROM ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE FARM AND BLOCK OUR STREETS AND ALL PEOPLE CAN'T GET IN BECAUSE OF IT.
I'VE HEARD, UH, THAT WE CAN HIRE THE POLICE FOR THREE HOURS A DAY FOR CONTINUOUS THING.
WE'RE GOING TO DO ANYTHING TO GET THIS SOLVED AND MONEY HAS TO BE DONE DURING THE SCHOOL U SO, CLARIFY.
UH, WE DON'T NORMALLY COMMUNICATE ON PUBLIC COMMENT, BUT I'LL MAKE AN EXCEPTION TONIGHT.
SO ARE YOU SPEAKING AT, AT THE ENTRANCE RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE ENTRANCE TO MCCRACKEN? YES.
SO WE HAVE CROSSING GUARDS THERE.
WHAT, DURING SCHOOL WHEN SCHOOL'S TAKEN IN AND LETTING OUT? ARE THEY, I MEAN, THEY, I, I'VE GOT A COUPLE OF KIDS THAT GO THERE AND I TAKE 'EM, AND NORMALLY I HAVE TO SIT IN LINE FOR A WHILE TO GET THROUGH THE TRAFFIC, BUT IT SEEMED LIKE THEY WERE DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB.
I DON'T HAVE ANY PROBLEM THERE.
IT'S THE PEOPLE WHO JUST SIT ON PINEWOOD'S RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF PINEWOOD.
ITS, AND BLOCK ANYONE FROM COMING IN AND GOING OUT.
YOU'RE SITTING THERE FOR WHAT? I MEAN, WAITING.
SEE, THEY DON'T WANNA GET IN THAT LINE.
OH, YOU MEAN, IS THAT MORE WHEN SCHOOL GETS OUT THAN WHEN THEY'RE GOING TO THE OUT? SO THEY'RE WAITING THERE TO PICK UP WHEN KIDS, THEY HAVE A CHILD WALK UP.
I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING NOW.
SO HOPEFULLY CHIEF CAN SO LOOK INTO THAT.
SO MAYOR, WE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM ACROSS THE STREET WITH THE FARM.
UM, THEY WERE COMPLAINING OF CARS, PARKING ALL OVER AT THE FARM, AND THEN KIDS WALKING OVER WAITING IN
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LINE.AND SO WHAT WE ENCOURAGE AS THE FARM TO DO WAS PUT UP SOME NO PARKING SIGNS FIRST, UH, AND THOSE SPECIFIC AREAS, AND THEN WE CAN CERTAINLY ENFORCE THAT.
BUT THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN COME OUT AND TAKE A LOOK AT, AND THEN WE CAN GO FROM THERE.
YOU HAVE MY NUMBER? YES, MA'AM.
HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET IT RESOLVED.
[VI.a. Presentation from Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM). Jarrod Burguan ]
WE GOT OUR NEW BUSINESS CHIEF.DO YOU WANT INTRODUCE GARY? ABSOLUTELY.
GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
AND, UH, MEMBERS FROM THE LAW ENFORCEMENT SYSTEMS ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
UH, THIS PAST SUMMER WE HAD, UH, THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC SAFETY MANAGEMENT COME IN AND DO AN OVERVIEW AND A REVIEW OF OUR ENTIRE DEPARTMENT TO GIVE US AN IDEA OF WHAT SOME OF THE BEST PRACTICES ARE ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
UM, THEY'VE BEEN ABLE, JERRY, UH, BUR
UH, AND HIS TEAM, UH, CAME IN, I THINK THEY SPENT FOUR DAYS HERE, BUT PRIOR TO THAT, WE PROVIDED THEM WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT, UH, DATA FOR THEM TO LOOK AT AND COMPARED TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
AND SO HE'S HERE TO DO A PRESENTATION ON WHAT THEY LEARNED AND WHAT THEY PRESENTED TO US.
SO, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, SURE.
I GOT A MICROPHONE HERE, BUT CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME IF I MOVE AROUND A LITTLE BIT? IT'S JUST, OKAY.
SO, AS, UH, AS THE CHIEF SAID, MY NAME IS JARED WAN.
UH, I'M A RETIRED POLICE CHIEF, UH, FROM AN AGENCY OUTTA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
DID ABOUT 29 YEARS IN THE BUSINESS.
RETIRED IN 2019, AND I'VE BEEN DOING CONSULTING WORK.
UH, SOME WORK WITH DOMESTIC LEADER AND NATIONALLY SINCE THEN.
LION CHAIR OF THE WORK THAT I DO IS WITH THE COMPANY BY THE NAME OF, UH, CENTER FOR PUBLIC SAFETY MANAGEMENT.
UH, A LITTLE BIT OF THE HISTORY ON CPSM.
UH, IT WAS, UH, STARTED A COUPLE DECADES AGO AS A COMPONENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CITY AND COUNTY MANAGERS ASSOCIATION.
AND IT ESSENTIALLY WAS DESIGNED TO ANSWER A QUESTION THAT A LOT OF CITIES HAD THAT SAID, HEY, OUR POLICE AND OUR FIRE DEPARTMENTS ARE ALWAYS ASKING FOR MORE PEOPLE AND MORE RESOURCES.
HOW CAN WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE THE RIGHT SIZE POLICE DEPARTMENT, OR THAT WE HAVE THE APPROPRIATE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN PLACE TO POLICE OUR CITY? SO THAT IS WHERE CPSM WAS ULTIMATELY FORMED.
IT HAS SINCE, UH, SPUN OFF INTO A PRIVATE COMPANY OWNED BY THREE INDIVIDUALS.
UH, ONE IS DOVE CHEL, WHO'S LISTED ON THAT.
SHE, THERE, HE DOES, UH, THE QUANTITATIVE PART OF ALL THESE REPORTS.
AND THEN TOM WICK, AS WELL AS, UH, LEONARD
LEONARD JUST PASSED AWAY A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.
UH, BUT THEY'RE THE THREE FOUNDING MEMBERS, ULTIMATELY OF CPSM.
MAJORITY OF US, INCLUDING THE PROJECT STAFF, MYSELF, CRAIG, AND WAYNE HILS, ARE ALL INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS THAT DO WORK FOR CPSM.
WE COME IN AND WE WORK ON VARIOUS PROJECTS AT DIFFERENT PLACES AROUND THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING THE PROJECT THAT WAS HERE.
UH, THE OTHER FOLKS ON OUR TEAM, AS I SAID, DOVE CHELS IS THE DIRECTOR OF QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS.
THERE'S BIG DATA REPORT THAT'S ASSOCIATED WITH THIS, UH, ENTIRE REPORT THAT WE PUT TOGETHER.
DOUG'S TEAM, UH, HE AND SEAN ACTUALLY PUT THAT TOGETHER.
AND THEN DENNIS UBA IS OUR SENIOR EDITOR WHO ULTIMATELY KIND OF TAKES ALL THE GIBBERISH THAT WE PUT TOGETHER FROM A HANDFUL OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND PUTS IT TOGETHER INTO ONE REPORT.
UH, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE GO ABOUT OUR WORK.
UM, WHEN THIS PROJECT FIRST STARTED, UH, I THINK THE VERY FIRST CONVERSATION WAS PROBABLY A PHONE CALL BETWEEN MYSELF, THE CHIEF, THE CITY MANAGER, WHERE WE COULD ASSESS THE PROJECT, WE DISCUSS WHAT THE GOALS WERE OF THE PROJECT, WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO GET AT, UM, AND THEN BEYOND.
THEN WE GO TO THIS DATA ANALYSIS PIECE, AND THAT'S WHERE DOES TEAM INTERACTS WITH THE DEPARTMENT AND THE DEPARTMENT'S CAD DATA.
SO ALL OF THE STUFF THAT'S YOUR CALLS FOR SERVICE, EVERYTHING THE POLICE OFFICERS ARE DOING THAT GOES INTO THAT SYSTEM AND THEY FORM OR THEY PUT TOGETHER WHAT IS A FAIRLY EXTENSIVE DATA REPORT ON WHAT IS HAPPENING WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT AND WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
UH, AND WE'LL GO OVER A COUPLE OF THOSE IN THIS PRESENTATION, BUT THAT TAKES A COUPLE MONTHS JUST ON THE FRONT SIDE OF THE REPORT TO GET THAT DATA REPORT DONE AND TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S DONE RIGHT.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF INTERACTION THAT TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE DATA TEAM AND THE DEPARTMENT.
AND ULTIMATELY WE GET TOGETHER AND INVOLVED TO KIND OF MAKE SURE THAT WE ALL AGREE THAT THE DATA THAT'S IN THERE IS CORRECT AND ACCURATE.
'CAUSE THE WAY THAT WE COLLECT IT IN A VERY STANDARDIZED WAY IS PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN REPORTS THAT THE DEPARTMENT WOULD NORMALLY RUN OR MAYBE SHARE WITH YOU.
AND WE DO THAT BECAUSE AS I'LL SHOW YOU AT THE END OF THIS PRESENTATION, WE COLLECT EVERYTHING IN THE SAME WAY FROM EVERY DEPARTMENT SO THAT WE CAN DO COMPARABLES SO THAT YOU CAN KIND OF KNOW WHERE DOES BLUFFTON PD STAND IN LINE WITH, YOU KNOW, THE OTHER 400 AGENCIES THAT HAVE BEEN ANALYZED BY CPSM IN TERMS OF AVERAGES AND WORKLOADS AND THINGS SUCH AS THAT.
UH, AS ALL THAT WORK'S TAKEN PLACE, UH, ON THE DATA SIDE, WE START DOING REMOTE INTERVIEWS, UH, WITH PEOPLE IN THE ORGANIZATION.
UH, THE THREE OF US ON THIS TEAM, WERE ALL OUT OF THE WEST COAST.
SO WE DID A NUMBER OF INTERVIEWS VIA ZOOM.
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UH, ULTIMATELY WE CAME, WE SPENT, UH, ABOUT TWO AND A HALF TO THREE DAYS ACTUALLY ON THE GROUND, UH, IN THE TOWN HERE.WE MET WITH A NUMBER OF OFFICERS.
WE DID FOCUS GROUPS WITH VARIOUS OFFICER GROUPS.
WE MET WITH KEY FOLKS IN THE ORGANIZATION.
UH, WE ASKED THE DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF DATA IN TERMS OF DOCUMENTS THAT CAME TO US THAT WE REVIEWED.
UH, WE ALSO MADE OUR OWN OBSERVATIONS INTERNALLY IN THE ORGANIZATION.
WE WENT OUR RIDE ALONG, WE SAT WITH DETECTIVES.
WE DID THINGS TO KIND OF LEARN HOW THINGS WORK AND OPERATE IN THE DEPARTMENT WITH THE IDEA THAT WE COULD MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS BASED UPON THOSE, UH, OBSERVATIONS.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE PRODUCED A REPORT THAT, UH, I'M SURE MOST OF YOU HAVE SEEN IT, IT'S ABOUT 205 PAGES ALTOGETHER.
SO IT'S FAIRLY LONG, FAIRLY EXTENSIVE.
THE BACK PART OF THE REPORT IS THAT DATA REPORT THAT I INITIALLY TALKED ABOUT THE DOSE TEAM DID.
AND THEN THE FIRST HALF OF THE REPORT IS THE ANALYSIS PART.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF GRAPHS AND CHARTS AND THINGS THAT ARE EXTRACTED OUT OF THE DATA REPORT THAT ARE INSERTED INTO THE REGULAR REPORT.
TO GIVE US CONTEXT INTO, UH, WHAT WORKLOAD REALLY LOOKS LIKE WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT AND HOW THINGS WORK.
UH, IN TOTAL, WE MADE 98 RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, THAT MAY SOUND LIKE A LOT, UH, BUT THAT'S A VERY KIND OF STANDARDIZED APPROACH, AND I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO THINK THAT THAT'S ANY INVESTMENT IN THE ORGANIZATION THAT WE FOUND ALMOST A HUNDRED THINGS WRONG WITH THE DEPARTMENT.
THAT IS NOT AT ALL THE CASE THAT'S VERY STANDARDIZED.
ANY OF THOSE OBSERVATIONS OR THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE FAIRLY SMALL AND ADMINISTRATIVE IN NATURE THAT CAN BE HANDLED VERY, VERY QUICKLY.
SOME OF THEM ARE, ARE, YOU KNOW, LONGER TERM MAY REQUIRE SOME CAPITAL INVESTMENTS, AND THAT'S IF THE CITY AND THE, UH, AND THE DEPARTMENT ELECTS TO TAKE THOSE ON.
WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT, UH, EVEN THOUGH POLICING IS THE SAME EVERYWHERE, UH, DEPARTMENTS ALL HAVE THEIR OWN PERSONALITIES THAT ARE TIED TO THEIR COMMUNITIES.
SO AS MUCH AS POLICING IS THE SAME, DEPARTMENTS CAN BE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT IN THE WAY THAT THEY OPERATE.
AND IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT ONE'S RIGHT AND ONE'S WRONG.
WHAT WE LOOK FOR ARE, ARE THERE OUTLIERS WITHIN THAT SYSTEM IN TERMS OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE MAKE? AND WE, AND SO WE SAY THAT WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT SOMETIMES RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE MAKE JUST MAY NOT WORK.
IN SOME COMMUNITIES, WE MAY SEE IT AS A NORM, OR WE MAY SEE IT AS SOMETHING THAT WE BELIEVE MIGHT MAKE YOU MORE EFFICIENT.
BUT WE ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT IN SOME COMMUNITIES, THEY SEE ELECTRIC DOESN'T WORK FOR US.
UM, YOU KNOW, FOR INSTANCE, UH, YOU KNOW, IZATION IS SOMETHING THAT TAKES PLACE IN POLICE DEPARTMENTS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, BUT SOME DEPARTMENTS JUST AREN'T READY TO IZE AS MUCH AS MAYBE OTHER DEPARTMENTS HAVE IN OTHER PLACES.
SO WE JUST PUT THAT IN THERE JUST TO, TO UNDERSTAND THAT THINGS CAN BE DIFFERENT.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, ALL OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS ARE BASED UPON THE DATA THAT WE COLLECT, LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS, BEST PRACTICE, AS WELL AS OUR EXPERIENCE.
UH, IN DOING THIS WORK, AS I SAID BEFORE, THERE'S UH, BEEN WELL OVER 400 PROJECTS THAT CPSM HAS DONE ON POLICE DEPARTMENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY.
UH, IN THE, UM, COMPARISON CHART THAT I'LL SHOW YOU LATER ON, THERE'S 199 AGENCIES THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THAT ONE COMPARISON CHART ALONE THAT COMPARES BLUFFTON PD TO OTHER AGENCIES AROUND THE COUNTRY.
SO, GETTING INTO SOME OF THE SPECIFICS IN THE REPORT, UM, AND I'LL START OFF WITH JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE COMMUNITY.
YOU GUYS KNOW THAT YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL COMMUNITY HERE.
UM, YOU CAN SEE IT IN THE NUMBERS HERE, AND I'LL TRY TO MAYBE FIND SOMETHING THAT EVERYBODY CAN SEE.
UM, THIS WORKS WELL, THAT'S NOT GONNA, I'LL WALK OVER HERE.
SO THIS, UH, WALTON IS LOCATED HERE ON THIS CHART.
THERE'S A NUMBER OF COMMUNITIES HERE IN SOUTH CAROLINA THAT OUR DATA TEAM PULLED AS COMPARISONS, UH, UH, IN TERMS OF CRIME.
THESE ARE TOTAL NUMBERS FROM 21, 20 21 AND 2022.
WILTON IS HERE AS THE LAST CITY AT THE BOTTOM.
ALONG ALL OF THESE NUMBERS, JUST FOR CONTEXT, ARE NOT TOTAL NUMBERS.
SO IT'S, IT'S, THIS IS THE WAY THAT WE MAKE SURE THAT A COMMUNITY WITH 10,000 PEOPLE CAN BE KIND OF COMPARED WHEN YOU INDEX THEIR CRIME NUMBERS AGAINST ANOTHER COMMUNITY THAT MIGHT HAVE A HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE.
SO IT EVENS OUT THOSE NUMBERS BASED UPON A HUNDRED THOUSAND POPULATION.
UH, YOU CAN SEE THAT BLUFFTON IS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN ALMOST ALL OF YOUR COMPARABLE CITIES.
BLUFFTON IS ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN SOUTH CAROLINA.
SOUTH CAROLINA AS A WHOLE IS A LITTLE HIGHER THAN THE UNITED STATES AS, AS, AS A WHOLE.
AND OBVIOUSLY BLUFFTON IS SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW THOSE AS WELL.
THE BYPRODUCT THAT YOU GUYS SEE THAT YOU HAVE RELATIVELY LOW CRIME AND YOU'RE, YOU'RE BUILDING, UH, A WONDERFUL COMMUNITY.
I WILL PUT IN A LITTLE DISCLAIMER THAT THOSE NUMBERS THAT YOU SEE ARE BASED UPON UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING, AS WELL AS NEIGHBOR'S NUMBERS THAT THE FBI COLLECTS, UH, THE INFORMATION THAT THEY HAVE AS ONLY AS RELIABLE AS THOSE INDIVIDUAL AGENCIES HAVE COLLECTED.
UH, I HAVE, WE DON'T GO IN AND AUDIT AN AGENCY TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE REPORTING ALL OF THEIR UCR NUMBERS CORRECTLY.
BUT IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR ME TO SHOW THIS TYPE OF CHART TO A POLICE CHIEF.
AND IT DIDN'T NECESSARILY HAPPEN HERE, BUT IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR ME TO SHOW A CHART LIKE THIS TO A POLICE CHIEF AND HE'LL GO, OH, NO, NO, I KNOW THAT AGENCY IS NOT
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DOING THEIR NUMBERS RIGHT.SO I JUST SAY THAT THE, THE INFORMATION THERE IS ONLY AS GOOD AS WHAT ALL OF THOSE OTHER COMMUNITIES HAVE PRESENTED.
BUT NONETHELESS, YOU CAN SEE IN THERE THAT YOUR NUMBERS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN COMPARABLE COMMUNITIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
THESE ARE 10 YEAR CRIME TRENDS, UH, THAT HAPPENED WITHIN THE COMMUNITY IN BLUFFTON.
SO STARTING IN 2013, ALL THE WAY THROUGH 2022, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE BOTTOM LINE THERE IS YOUR VIOLENT CRIME NUMBER.
THAT NUMBER HAS REMAINED LOW AND RELATIVELY STATIC OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS.
BUT YOU SEE THE TOP LINE THERE.
UH, THE ONE THAT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE DRAMATIC IS PROPERTY CRIME NUMBERS.
SO YOU CAN SEE THAT ABOUT NINE OR 10 YEARS AGO, YOU HAD A LITTLE BIT OF A SPIKE IN PROPERTY CRIMES, CRIMES, AND THEN CONSISTENTLY IN THE NINE YEARS SINCE THOSE PROPERTY CRIMES HAVE CONTINUED TO COME DOWN YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR.
NEXT DRAFT HERE IS A COMPARISON OF YOUR COMMUNITY TO THE ENTIRETY OF, UH, SOUTH CAROLINA.
SO THE TOP LINE IS SOUTH CAROLINA AS A WHOLE.
SOUTH CAROLINA HAS SEEN, UH, A MODEST AND STEADY DECREASE OVER THE COURSE OF 10 YEARS, WHERE BLUFFTON, AS A WHOLE SAW, HAS SEEN A MUCH MORE DRAMATIC DECREASE, UH, IN OVERALL CRIME AGAINST THE STATE AVERAGE.
SO WHATEVER'S HAPPENING HERE APPEARS TO BE WORKING WELL, UH, FOR THE COMMUNITY.
SO GETTING IN SPECIFICALLY TO THE AGENCY ITSELF, UH, THESE WERE THE NUMBERS THAT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT PROVIDED THAT WERE EFFECTIVE.
UH, AT ONE POINT DURING THIS, WE ALWAYS PICK A SNAPSHOT IN TIME BECAUSE WE UNDERSTAND STAFFING CAN FLUCTUATE DAY TO DAY, WEEK TO WEEK WITH RETIREMENTS, PEOPLE THAT MIGHT BE PLACED OFF ON LONG-TERM LEAVE, UH, PEOPLE THAT, UH, NEW PEOPLE THAT ARE HIRED, PEOPLE THAT RESIGNED, WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE.
SO AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME WHEN WE COLLECTED THIS DATA, UH, THERE WERE NO VACANCIES IN ANY OF THE CIVILIAN POSITIONS.
THEY WERE ALL COMPLETELY FULL IN THE ORGANIZATION.
AND THERE WERE SIX VACANCIES AT THE POLICE OFFICER RANK WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION.
AND I UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S EVEN FEWER DOWN, YOU'RE DOWN TO THREE WHEN WE LAST TALKED.
SO, UH, WHICH I WILL SAY EVEN AT SIX, UH, IS DOING PRETTY WELL.
WE DO THESE PROJECTS ALL OVER.
UH, POLICING IN GENERAL, UH, HAS HAD, UM, QUITE A CHALLENGING TIME IN THE LAST EIGHT TO 10 YEARS IN LIGHT OF SOME OF THE DISCUSSIONS GOING ON AROUND THE COUNTRY ABOUT POLICING AND THE WAY PEOPLE VIEW THE, THE PROFESSION.
AND THERE AREN'T NEARLY AS MANY FOLKS WHO ARE APPLYING TO BE POLICE OFFICERS TODAY, UH, AS THERE WERE MAYBE 15, 20, 30, 40 YEARS AGO.
UH, AGENCIES EVERYWHERE ARE STRUGGLING TO MAINTAIN FULL STAFFING MEMBERS.
SO THE FACT THAT YOU WERE SITTING AT 10% THEN, UH, IS REALLY NOT TOO BAD.
WE'RE SEEING SOME AGENCIES THAT ARE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THAT.
NOW, WITH THAT SAID, UM, JUST ANECDOTALLY, I WILL TELL YOU THAT IN PROJECTS WE'VE BEEN DOING IN THE LAST YEAR, WE ARE STARTING TO SEE AGENCIES START TO CATCH UP.
SO IT SEEMS LIKE MAYBE THE FARTHER WE GET FROM SOME OF THOSE DISCUSSIONS THAT WERE TAKING PLACE AROUND THE COUNTRY AS IT RELATED TO GEORGE FLOYD AND SOME OF THOSE EVENTS, UH, THAT REALLY WERE A SCAR ON THE PROFESSION, THAT AGENCIES ARE STARTING TO RECOVER FROM THAT NOW AND AGENCIES ARE SEEING BETTER RECRUITING MEMBERS.
UH, BUT EVEN, LIKE I SAID, EVEN 10% WAS NOT A BAD NUMBER.
SO THIS IS THE TON PD ORGANIZATIONAL CHART AS IT WAS PROVIDED TO US WHEN WE ARRIVED.
UH, AT FIRST GLANCE, THE, THE ORG CHART LOOKS PERFECTLY NORMAL, PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE.
UH, BUT AS WE GOT INTO IT AND STARTED, UM, LOOKING INTO THE ORGANIZATION, WE FOUND THAT THERE WERE A FEW THINGS ON THE ORG CHART THAT DID NOT EVEN EXIST IN THE COMMUNITY.
FOR INSTANCE, THE NARCOTICS TEAMS, THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT AREN'T EVEN IN EXISTENCE.
WE ALSO STARTED TO REALIZE THAT THERE WERE SOME ASPECTS OF THE ORGANIZATION WHERE RESPONSIBILITIES WERE SIMPLY MISALIGNED.
UH, AN EXAMPLE IS, UH, YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGER OR THE PERSON WHO WAS IN THE ROLE OF THE ACTING EMERGENCY MANAGER WAS ALSO MANAGING THE PATROL FTO PROGRAM.
WELL, THOSE ARE TWO THINGS THAT DON'T NATURALLY FIT TOGETHER WITHIN A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
SO WE MADE A RECOMMENDATION TO THE AGENCY THAT YOU NEED TO A, FIX THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART, MAKE SURE THAT IT'S ACCURATE SO THAT IT'S AN ACCURATE, SO THAT YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING AT IT FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, YOU SEE AN ACCURATE PICTURE OF WHAT THE AGENCY IS, BUT ALSO FOR PEOPLE INSIDE OF THE ORGANIZATION TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THE CHAIN OF COMMAND IS AND WHO THEY ANSWER TO AND THAT SORT OF STUFF.
AND AS I UNDERSTAND THAT THE DEPARTMENT HAS MADE A LOT OF THOSE CHANGES.
UH, SOME OF THE MISALIGNED DUTIES, UH, THAT WE OBSERVED, UH, HAVE SINCE BEEN CORRECTED.
THE POLICY MANUAL KNOW FOR THE DEPARTMENT WAS, UH, PROBABLY THE BIGGEST SINGLE ITEM THAT I THINK WE POINTED OUT IN THE REPORT THAT WE BELIEVE NEEDED TO BE ADDRESSED.
UH, THE POLICE CHIEF MADE A POINT OF TELLING US WHEN WE STARTED THE PROJECT THAT HE HAD MADE IT A PRIORITY TO START UPDATING THE DEPARTMENT'S POLICY MANUAL.
UH, AS WE GOT INTO IT, YOU'LL SEE IN THE REPORT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF
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REDUNDANT RECOMMENDATIONS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH REVIEWING AND UPDATING CERTAIN PARTS OF THE POLICY.UH, BUT THERE WAS ALSO ONE LARGER OVERLAPPING RECOMMENDATION TO SIMPLY MOVE TO A SUBSCRIPTION POLICY SERVICE, UH, THAT'S OUT THERE.
SO THERE ARE A COUPLE, UM, SERVICES THAT ARE AVAILABLE THAT WILL KEEP AND MAINTAIN A DEPARTMENT'S POLICY MANUAL FOR THEM.
SO IF THE DEPARTMENT CHOSE NOT TO DO THAT, WE HAVE A LOT OF RECOMMENDATIONS IN THERE ABOUT UPDATING CERTAIN POLICIES AND THEN PUTTING INTO PLACE A LEGAL REVIEW OF ALL THE POLICIES.
'CAUSE WE'RE STRONG ADVOCATES THAT EVERY SINGLE POLICY THAT YOU HAVE SHOULD GO THROUGH SOME TYPE OF LEGAL REVIEW, BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF YOU GET SUED, YOUR POLICY WILL COME INTO THAT PARTICULAR LAWSUIT.
AND OF COURSE, IF IT, YOU KNOW, YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOUR TOWN ATTORNEY HAS SIGNED OFF ON WHETHER THAT POLICY IS APPROPRIATE.
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? IF YOU USE THE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE, IS THAT LEGAL REVIEW? YES.
SO THE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES THAT ARE OUT THERE HAVE THEIR OWN, SO, SO FIRST OF ALL, THEY'RE USUALLY STATE SPECIFIC.
SO THEY'LL HAVE A MANUAL JUST FOR THE STATE OF AGENCIES WITHIN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
UH, AND THEN EVERYTHING HAS BEEN LEGALLY REVIEWED.
AND THEN THE ADVANTAGE TO A SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE IS, EVEN THOUGH IT'S A LOT OF WORK ON THE FRONT SIDE TO SET IT UP AND, YOU KNOW, PUTTING A POLICY MANUAL TOGETHER IS FAIRLY LABOR INTENSIVE.
THE ADVANTAGES OF IT IS THE, THE, THE UPDATES COME AUTOMATICALLY NOW.
SO IT'S NOT THE DEPARTMENT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO GO THROUGH EVERY YEAR AND MAKE SURE THAT USE OF FORCE IS STILL IN LINE.
OR IF SOMETHING WAS ELIMINATED OVER HERE AND IT AFFECTED ANOTHER POLICY OVER HERE, THEY WEREN'T EVEN LOOKING AT.
THE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES WILL DO ALL THAT WORK FOR YOU SO THAT WHEN THEY SEND YOU THE REGULAR QUARTERLY, SEMI-ANNUAL ANNUAL UPDATES, WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE, IT KIND OF CLEANS UP EVERYTHING WITHIN THE POLICY AND IS LEGAL REVIEWED.
AND THEN THE OTHER ADVANTAGES TO THOSE IS, UM, YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE ABLE TO SHOW THAT YOUR OFFICERS HAVE READ THE POLICY, ARE AWARE OF THE POLICY, AND THAT THEY UNDERSTAND THE POLICY AND ITS APPLICATION.
WELL, MANY OF THE POLICY SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES ACTUALLY HAVE THAT ATTESTATION COMPONENT BUILT INTO IT.
SO ONCE A NEW POLICY COMES IN, AN OFFICER'S GOT A SIGN THAT THEY'VE RECEIVED THE POLICY, AND THEN IF YOU DO THE TRAINING COMPONENT ON IT, THEY GET TESTED AGAINST THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF IT AS WELL, ALL OF WHICH BECOMES PART OF YOUR OVERALL RECORDS TO SHOW THAT YOUR FOLKS NOT ONLY HAVE RECEIVED IT, BUT THEY UNDERSTAND IT AND THEY, THEY UNDERSTAND THE APPLICATION OF IT.
UH, WE ALSO MADE A RECOMMENDATION ON A REPORT THAT HAD TO DO WITH DEVELOPING A SUCCESSION PLAN.
AND WE'RE VERY SPECIFIC TO SAYING THAT A SUCCESSION PLAN DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU'VE IDENTIFIED, YOU KNOW, A SERGEANT IN THE ORGANIZATION SOMEWHERE AND SAY, HEY, THAT'S, WE'RE GONNA SHOW OUR CAP AND WE'RE GONNA DEVELOP THAT PERSON TO BE THE NEXT CHIEF SUCCESSION PLAN IS DEVELOPING A TRAINING MATRIX AND A DEVELOPMENT MATRIX FOR EVERY LEVEL WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION TO TELL PEOPLE WHAT THEY HAVE TO BE, TO BE, WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO TO BE SUCCESSFUL, TO INVEST IN THEMSELVES, FOR THE DEPARTMENT TO INVEST IN IT, AND THEN TO TELL THEM WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR THEM TO MOVE UP INTO THE UPPER RANKS.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY, SO THAT IF AND WHEN YOU HAVE THAT VACANCY AT A HIGHER MANAGEMENT RANK OR AT THE POLICE CHIEF'S RANK, YOU HOPEFULLY HAVE A BODY OF PEOPLE WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN DEVELOPED ENOUGH THAT YOU CAN PICK FROM WITHIN IF YOU SO CHOOSE TO DO THAT.
UH, NOW THE DEPARTMENT DID HAVE A NUMBER OF, UH, THINGS IN PLACE THAT IF YOU WERE OF A CERTAIN RANK, WE WANTED TO SEND YOU TO CERTAIN ADVANCED FBI LEADER TRAINING AND THINGS SUCH AS THAT.
WE SIMPLY MADE A RECOMMENDATION TO DO IT THROUGHOUT THE ORGANIZATION AT ALL LEVELS TO DOCUMENT IT INTO A FORMALIZED TYPE OF PLAN FOR FOLKS TO SEEK MOVING ON TO INVESTIGATION.
SO, AS I SAID, THERE'S 98 RECOMMENDATIONS, 205 PAGES.
I'M GONNA JUST KIND OF TOUCH ON SOME OF THE HIGH POINTS.
OBVIOUSLY WE'RE NOT GONNA DISCUSS 'EM ALL.
UH, AND I'M ONLY GONNA GO OVER, UH, THE MAIN UNITS IN THE DEPARTMENT IN A FAIRLY BRIEF WAY TO KEEP THIS KIND OF PRESENTATION AT A REASONABLE LENGTH.
AND THEN I'M HAPPY TO TALK AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT INDIVIDUAL THINGS IN THE REPORT AS MUCH AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO.
SO ON THE INVESTIGATIVE THINGS, UH, ONE OF THE, OR RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WAS MADE IS THAT THE DEPARTMENT DEVELOPED A ROTATIONAL ASSIGNMENT.
SO CURRENTLY THE WAY THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT IT, WE WERE SEEING DETECTIVES REALLY HAD THE ABILITY TO GET INTO A DETECTIVE POSITION AND STAY IN THERE INDEFINITELY IF THEY, SO SHE'S, AND WE BELIEVE A BETTER MODEL IS TO, AT SOME LEVEL IN THE ORGANIZATION, HAVE A ROTATION SO THAT DIFFERENT PEOPLE, YOUNGER OFFICERS IN THE ORGANIZATION HAVE A CHANCE TO CYCLE THROUGH THE INVESTIGATION'S FUNCTION, TO UNDER UNDERSTAND THINGS FROM A DEEPER LEVEL.
SO, UH, DETECTIVES HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF EXPERTISE IN TERMS OF HOW TO INVESTIGATE A CRIME AT A DEEPER LEVEL, HOW TO DEVELOP A CASE FILE, HOW TO WRITE SEARCH WARRANTS, HOW TO DO A WHOLE NUMBER OF THINGS IF THE AVERAGE PATROL OFFICER MAY NOT REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW TO DO IT.
SO IF YOU HAVE A ROTATIONAL SYSTEM IN PLACE THAT ALLOWS FOLKS AT THE LOWER LEVEL OF THE ORGANIZATION TO GAIN SOME OF THAT EXPERIENCE, THEN WHEN THEY ROTATE BACK TO PATROL, THEY HAVE THAT BACK TO PATROL LEVEL NOW.
SO WE MADE A RECOMMENDATION TO CREATE SOME TYPE OF ROTATIONAL SYSTEM.
I ALSO DISCUSSED A FEW MINUTES AGO THAT
[00:25:01]
THE INFORMATION IN BRS AND UCR THAT I SHOWED YOU ON THAT THING IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE INFORMATION THAT GOES INTO IT.THE PROCESS FOR RECORDING BRS AND UCR INFORMATION AND REPORTING IT TO THE FBI IS NOT TERRIBLY COMPLEX, BUT THERE ARE SOME NUANCES TO IT.
AND MOST AGENCIES HAVE A SPECIALIST WITHIN THEIR RECORDS DIVISION THAT UNDERSTANDS ALL THOSE NUANCES AND DOES THAT REGULAR CODING ON A REGULAR BASIS.
UH, WITHIN BLUFFTON PD, WE SAW THE DETECTIVES WERE DOING THAT.
SO WE MADE A RECOMMENDATION TO STANDARDIZE THAT SHIFT, THAT RESPONSIBILITY OVER TO RECORDS UNIT DEVELOPED THAT EXPERTISE THERE, LEAVING MORE TIME FOR DETECTIVES TO HANDLE, UM, CRIME.
AND THEN THE GRAPH THAT YOU SEE AT THE BOTTOM, THERE ARE CLEARANCE RATES.
THERE'S NOTHING NECESSARILY WRONG WITH ANY OF THE CLEARANCE RATES AT BLUFFTON.
IN FACT, IN MANY WAYS THEY'RE VERY SIMILAR TO CLEARANCE RATES THAT YOU SEE ELSEWHERE, UH, WITHIN A COUPLE PERCENTAGE POINTS IN MOST CASES.
BUT THE REASON WE PUT THAT UP THERE IS THAT WE ENCOURAGE AGENCIES TO HAVE A REGULAR, WHETHER IT'S QUARTERLY, UH, MONTHLY, WHATEVER THE AGENCY DECIDES ON, BUT TO ACTUALLY SIT DOWN AND LOOK AT THEIR INVESTIGATIVE CASES, TO LOOK AT THEIR CLEARANCE RATES TO SEE ARE WE PERFORMING AT THE LEVEL THAT WE WANNA PERFORM? SO IF WE'RE HAVING A RASH OF BURGLARIES, FOR INSTANCE, HOW SUCCESSFUL ARE WE AT COLLECTING OR SOLVING THOSE BURGLARIES? SO SIT DOWN AND HAVE THOSE HIGH LEVEL MEETINGS TO DISCUSS CLEARANCE RATES TO UNDERSTAND HOW EFFICIENT YOUR BUREAU IS BEING, HOW EFFICIENT YOUR PATROL OFFICERS ARE BEING, AND HOW GOOD THE WORK IS IT'S BEING PRODUCED.
ONE QUESTION FOR YOU, SIR, IF I MAY INTERRUPT YOU.
EXPLAIN TO SOME OF US WHO, UM, AREN'T IN THE POLICE WORLD, WHAT'S CLEARANCE RATE? SO CLEARANCE RATES, I'M SORRY, I, I THINK I KNOW, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT I KNOW SO WELL, THERE'S REALLY, REALLY KIND OF TWO DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS.
UM, THERE IS THE SLIDE BACK UP SO WE CAN LOOK AT IT.
YEAH, CAN I GO BACKWARDS PLEASE? I'M SORRY.
UM, SO IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE DONE THIS, BUT CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG.
THE FBI ACTUALLY REQUIRES A CLEARANCE TO BE IF THE COUNTY ATTORNEY HAS FILED CHARGES, RIGHT? NO.
SO THERE'S VARIOUS CLEARANCE RATES.
IT CAN GO FROM CLEAR, NO ARREST TO CLEAR, NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE.
SO IT WOULD BE, UM, JUST UNFOUNDED.
UM, SO THERE'S DIFFERENT TYPES OF CLEARANCE THAT EITHER INVESTIGATORS OR OFFICERS WILL FILL OUT.
BUT, BUT THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING.
THERE, THERE, THERE'S A NUANCE TO IT.
SO SOME AGENCIES WILL LOOK AT IT AND SAY, WE SOLVED THE CRIME, WE KNOW WHO DID IT.
WE JUST CAN'T, WE JUST CAN'T PUT ENOUGH OF A CASE TOGETHER FOR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY OR FREE OR COUNTY ATTORNEY OR STATE ATTORNEY TO FILE CHARGES AGAINST THE PERSON.
SOME AGENCIES WILL CONSIDER THAT A CLEAR CASE AND PART OF THEIR CLEARANCE.
THERE IS A DIFFERENT OFFICIAL DEFINITION THAT THE STATE AND THE FBI USES THAT I THINK HAS MORE TO DO WITH THE ACTUAL FILING COMPONENT THAT'S ATTACHED TO IT.
SO THAT'S WHY I SAY SIT DOWN AND HAVE THOSE REGULAR MEETINGS.
ESSENTIALLY CLEARANCE RATE MEANS YOU'VE SOLVED THE CRIME.
SO IF WE LOOK AT THIS AND IT'S SAYING OF THE ROBBERY, THERE WERE FOUR CRIMES COMMITTED AND LEFT, AND THEN ZERO WERE CLEARED, THAT MEANS NONE OF THEM WERE, ACCORDING TO THOSE STATS, NONE OF THEM WERE SOLVED, WERE SOLVED BY THE OFFICIAL.
THERE WAS A NUMBER, THERE WAS A YEAR THAT I THINK THERE WAS 20, 22 NUMBERS I BELIEVE WE USED.
UM, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, WE ACTUALLY, I THINK WE SAW ONE OR TWO OF THOSE BE CARRIED OVER TO THE NEXT YEAR.
AND SO THEY WON'T SHOW UP ON THESE STATS, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
UM, SO WOULD THE NUMBER OF CRIMES SHOW UP ON 22 AND 23 WERE THE, THE NUMBERS A LITTLE BIT SKEWED AS WELL.
SO THESE WERE PULLED FROM THE FBI, UH, DATABASE AND IT DEPENDS ON HOW FREQUENTLY THEY UPDATE THEIR DATABASE, WHERE THESE NUMBERS WOULD THEN BE REFLECTED ON IT.
NOT, NOT UNCOMMON FOR THE FBI TO BE ABOUT A YEAR BEHIND, WHICH IS WHY YOU SEE 20, 22 YEARS 'CAUSE 'CAUSE 2023 WASN'T EVEN COMPLETED.
SO IF WE'RE DOING PHYSICALLY DOING THIS IN 2024, IF IT CARRIES OVER FOR A YEAR, IS THE NUMBER DUPLICATED IN ANY WAY? THEY SHOULD NOT BE DUPLICATED.
I THINK WHAT THEY DO IS ACTUALLY GO BACK AND CORRECT THEM FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
SO WHAT THEY'LL DO IS, UM, ONCE THEY UPDATE IT, IT'LL GO BACK AND CORRECT THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
BUT THE REASON WE BRING THAT UP IS THAT THERE IS THE OFFICIAL DEFINITION FOR A CLEARED CASE THAT THE FBI WILL ACCEPT IT, IT'S BASED UPON SOME VERY SPECIFIC METRICS IN THE WAY THAT IT'S REPORTED VERSUS HOW A LOT OF AGENCIES WILL SAY THEY'VE SOLVED IT.
RIGHT? SO A LOT OF AGENCIES MAY SOLVE LOOK AT THAT AND SAY, NO, NO, WE, WE KNOW WE, WE SOLVED ALL FOUR OF THOSE ROBBERIES, BUT WE DIDN'T NECESSARILY HAVE THE EVIDENCE WE NEEDED TO HOLD THE PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE FOR IT, YOU KNOW, TO ACTUALLY CHARGE THEM WITH IT.
RIGHT? SO THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE'S NUANCES IN IT.
SO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, UM, NOW THIS IS, I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A LITTLE BIT OF A TOUGH THING FOR THE TOWN TO MANAGE.
[00:30:01]
AS I UNDERSTAND IT.THERE IS A TIME THAT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WAS AT STANDALONE DEPARTMENT TRANSFERRED OVER TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
THERE BEEN TIMES WHERE THERE'S BEEN A CIVILIAN EMERGENCY MANAGER WHO IS NOW IS TURNED OVER TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OR POLICE OFFICER WHO WAS MANAGING IT.
WE TALKED ABOUT THE ISSUE TO REMOVE THE NON-EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS LIKE THE FTO, UH, FIELD TRAINING OFFICER MANAGEMENT PIECE AWAY FROM YOUR EMERGENCY MANAGER.
I BELIEVE THAT'S ALREADY BEEN DONE.
WE MADE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THERE TO, UH, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT TO YOU GUYS.
'CAUSE YOU GUYS OBVIOUSLY YOU, YOU ACTIVATE YOUR E OOC ON A SOMEWHAT REGULAR BASIS BASED UPON YOUR WEATHER HERE IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
WELL, WE, UH, WE MADE A RECOMMENDATION TO INCLUDE SOME OF YOUR NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, RED CROSS, SOME OF THOSE TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS INTO YOUR LOGISTICS WORKING GROUP TO IMPROVE PARTNERSHIPS AND MAKE THINGS A LITTLE SMOOTHER IF AND WHEN DISASTERS DO OCCUR.
WE MADE A RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU DO AT LEAST TWO TIMES A YEAR SOME FORM OF DYNAMIC EXERCISE TO TEST YOUR SYSTEMS AND TO TEST YOUR FOLKS.
UH, AND THEN ULTIMATELY, AND THIS IS WHERE WE KNOW THIS IS A LITTLE BIT OF A TOUGH ONE.
WE, WE BELIEVE THAT IT IS BEST TO HAVE A PROFESSIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGER VERSUS HAVING A POLICE OFFICER DO IT.
AND IT'S NOT THAT A SWORN OFFICER, A SERGEANT LIEUTENANT ISN'T CAPABLE OF DOING IT, BUT WE KNOW THAT WITH THE ROTATION THAT HAPPENS INSIDE OF POLICE DEPARTMENTS AND THE TRANSFER AND THE MOVEMENT AND THE RETIREMENTS AND THE PROMOTIONS AND ALL THOSE TYPES OF THINGS HAPPEN, YOU'RE GONNA LOSE THAT EXPERTISE PRETTY REGULARLY.
SO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN PROFESSIONALIZE THAT WITH ONE PRO POSITION, WE BELIEVE IS A BETTER MOVE.
SO GETTING INTO THE PATROL PIECE, AND THIS GETS INTO THE HEART OF THE DATA THAT I TALKED ABOUT EARLY ON.
SO THE FIRST CHART THAT YOU SEE IS TOTAL OFFICER ACTIVITY WITHIN THE CAD SYSTEM AND HOW IT ORIGINATED.
SO WITHIN, UH, THE TOWN OF BLUFFTON AND THE BLUFFTON POLICE DEPARTMENT, WE SEE THAT IT IS FAIRLY BALANCED ACROSS THE BOARD.
YOUR COMMUNITY INITIATED WORKLOADS.
SO THE THINGS THAT THE POLICE OFFICERS GOT ON THE RADIO AND SAID, I'LL BE MAKING A TRAFFIC STOP, I'LL BE DOING AN EXTRA PATROL CHECK, WHATEVER THAT MIGHT BE, THAT MADE UP ABOUT 27% OF ALL ACTIVITY COMMUNITY YOUR POLICE INITIATED, I'M SORRY, I I REVERSED THAT.
COMMUNITY INITIATED IS WHEN PEOPLE CALL THE POLICE OBVIOUSLY AND SAY, I HAVE A PROBLEM.
I NEED AN OFFICER POLICE INITIATED IS WHEN AN OFFICER IS I INITIATING THE ACTIVITY THAT MAKES UP ABOUT 37% OF ALL ACTIVITY AND THEN THE GREEN AREA THERE, THAT 35%, UH, BEING ZERO ON SCENE IS A VERY, VERY HIGH NUMBER FOR WHAT I NORMALLY SEE IN THESE ASSESSMENTS.
UH, BUT THERE'S AN EXPLANATION FOR THAT.
AND ULTIMATELY WHAT THAT IS, IS, UH, THERE IS A PRACTICE IN BLUFFTON PD THAT THEY DO A LOT OF EXTRA PATROLS.
SO AS OFFICERS ARE GOING AROUND, THEY MAY HAVE A, A, UM, UH, SOME TYPE OF MANDATE FROM THEIR SUPERVISORS MANAGEMENT TO, YOU KNOW, CHECK A CERTAIN INTERSECTION ON A REGULAR BASIS AND LOG IT IN CAD.
SO WE KNOW HOW OFTEN THAT'S GETTING CHECKED.
AND SO WE OBSERVED OFFICERS THAT SIMPLY HAVE THE PRACTICE OF, THEY'RE DRIVING AROUND ON REGULAR PATROL, THEY MIGHT GO BY A CERTAIN LOCATION THAT FITS THAT DEFINITION OF THEY NEED TO EXTRA PATROL IT.
THEY'LL DO A QUICK LITTLE LOG INTO THE COMPUTER, SAY EXTRA PATROLLED IT, HIT SEND, IMMEDIATELY GO BACK INTO SERVICE.
AND ULTIMATELY THAT EVENT IN THE CAD SYSTEM ONLY TOOK UP 15, 20 SECONDS.
SO WE INTENTIONALLY ELIMINATE FROM THE WORKLOAD EVERYTHING THAT TOOK LESS THAN 30 SECONDS BECAUSE ULTIMATELY IT DOESN'T REALLY MAKE UP ENOUGH TIME TO IMPACT TOTAL WORKLOAD AT THE END OF THE DAY.
SO THAT'S WHY WE CALL THOSE ZERO ON SCENES IS THEY WERE INCIDENTS THAT WERE IN THE CAD SYSTEM THAT TOOK LESS THAN 30 SECONDS.
UH, THESE EX PATROLS, WHAT WE ACTUALLY SEE, SO, UH, BLUFFTON PD OFFICERS DID AN EXTRA PATROL OF THE BUSINESS 11,806 TIME FOR AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT, UH, 0.2 MINUTES.
UH, THEY DID AN EXTRA PATROL AT A RESIDENCE ALMOST 7,000 TIMES FOR ABOUT 0.2 MINUTES, LESS THAN LESS THAN HALF A MINUTE.
AND OUT OF THE TOTAL 18,000 INCIDENTS.
SO IF I GO BACK, TOTAL INCIDENTS IN CAD ALTOGETHER WERE 37,000 ALTOGETHER.
THE POLICE INITIATED THE TRAFFIC STOPS, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS WERE A LITTLE OVER 13,000.
THE PEOPLE THAT CALLED 9 1 1 AND INSTEAD OF BEING AN OFFICER WAS A LITTLE OVER 10,000.
UM, AND THEN THE 13,000 ZERO ON SCENES, UM, MADE UP THAT OUT OF ALL OF THAT, A FULL 18,000 OF 'EM WERE THE EXTRA PATROL CHECKS THAT OCCURRED IN THE COMMUNITY.
UH, AGAIN, THIS IS INDICATIVE THAT OFFICERS HAVE A LOT OF TIME TO DO THOSE MANAGEMENT DIRECTED EXTRA PATROL THINGS THAT THE COMMUNITY LIKES TO SEE, UH, MAP OF THE COMMUNITY.
UH, AND I PUT THAT IN THERE, NOT 'CAUSE I CAN NECESSARILY MAKE SENSE OF THE MAP, BUT I I I FORGET EXACTLY WHICH ONE IT WAS, THE THREE ZONES AND WHICH, WHICH EACH OF THE THREE COLORS REPRESENTED.
I DO KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE RIDING AROUND A PATROL CAR, IT IS A PRETTY BIG AREA TO COVER.
THERE'S A LOT OF COUNTY AREAS AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, IN BETWEEN, THAT THEY'VE OFTEN GOT ACROSS DUE TO GET TO OTHER AREAS.
THOSE THINGS ARE ULTIMATELY REFLECTED IN
[00:35:01]
SOME OF THE RESPONSE TIMES, BUT I'LL SHARE WITH YOU IN A MINUTE.BUT THIS IS SIMPLY A BREAKDOWN ON EACH OF THOSE THREE DISTRICTS AND THE NUMBER OF CALLS PER DAY AND HOW MANY WORK HOURS THAT ARE ACTUALLY INVOLVED IN THAT.
SO FOR INSTANCE, IN THE A SECTOR, UM, OF THE CITY, THERE IS ON AVERAGE ABOUT 16 CALLS PER DAY THAT HAPPEN THERE.
WHERE'S THE A SECTION, JUST SO I CAN, ON THE MAP, YOU GOTTA TELL ME WHICH AREAS.
SO THE, THE A A SECTION IS YOUR RED AND YELLOW, IT'S EAST SIDE OF TOWN.
ANYTHING FROM BUCK WALTER, I'M SORRY.
ANYTHING FROM BUCK ISLAND AND EAST.
UM, YOUR BRAVO IS ANYTHING FROM BUCK ISLAND ALL THE WAY TO BUCK WALTER AND NORTH AND SOUTH FROM THERE.
AND THEN YOUR CHARLIE DISTRICT IS THE ONE ALL THE WAY OVER TO YOUR BLUE AND PURPLE AREA ON THE WEST SIDE OF TOWN.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE LIKE TO LOOK AT IS, IS THERE A GREAT DEAL OF DISPARITY WITHIN THE AREAS? UH, YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THE ARGUMENT THAT THE A SECTOR IS SIGNIFICANTLY BUSIER THAN THE C SECTOR, BUT NOT TO SUCH AN EXTREME THAT BASED UPON THE DYNAMICS AND THE WAY THAT THE TOWN IS LAID OUT IN THOSE BIG VOID AREAS THAT YOU SEE IN THE MIDDLE, DO WE THINK THAT IT WARRANTS ANY TYPE OF RESTRUCTURING OF B BOUNDARIES? BUT WHAT YOU DO SEE IN THERE IS THAT, FOR INSTANCE, WITHIN THE A SECTOR, ABOUT 16 CALLS A DAY THAT TAKE IN TOTAL ABOUT 10 HOURS OF LABOR HANDLING IN THE B SECTION, YOU HAVE A LITTLE OVER 14 CALLS PER DAY THAT HAPPEN THERE, UH, TAKING UP ALMOST EIGHT HOURS OF LABOR.
AND IN THE C-SECTION YOU HAVE ABOUT ALMOST 11 CALLS PER DAY, UH, TAKING A LITTLE OVER SEVEN HOURS OF LABOR.
AND THERE'S A COUPLE OTHER CATEGORIES, UH, CALLS AT THE STATION, THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT WE HAD TO FIND A PLACE FOR THEM THAT DIDN'T NECESSARILY FIT IN ANY OF THOSE SECTORS.
SO RESPONSE TIMES, UM, THIS IS AN AREA THAT, UH, MAY NOT BE COMPLETELY UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE DEPARTMENT 'CAUSE YOU HAVE THE COUNTY DISPATCH FOR YOU, RIGHT? SO THE PRIORITY SYSTEMS MORE OFTEN THAN NOT ARE GONNA BE DEVELOPED BY THE COUNTY, BUT YOU SEE YOUR OVERALL RESPONSE TIMES IN THERE.
THAT TOP PRIORITY NUMBER ONE, UH, ON AVERAGE HAS ABOUT 3.3 MINUTES OF DISPATCH PROCESSING TIME.
SO DISPATCH PROCESSING TIME IS CONSIDERED FROM THE MOMENT THAT SOMEBODY CALLS 9 1 1 TO THE TIME IT TAKES THE DISPATCHER TO COLLECT THE INFORMATION, ENTER IT INTO CAD, SEND IT TO A DISPATCHER THAT MIGHT BE WORKING THE TERMINAL, WHO ACTUALLY DISPATCH AN OFFICER ON AVERAGE ON A PRIORITY ONE.
AND THEN TRAVEL TIME IS PRETTY SELF-EXPLANATORY.
THAT'S WHEN THE OFFICER RECEIVES THE CALL AND ULTIMATELY ARRIVES AT THE CALL IS ABOUT EIGHT 2.2 MINUTES ON AVERAGE, WHICH GIVES AN OVERALL RESPONSE TIME OF 11 AND A HALF MINUTES ON A TYPICAL PRIORITY OR CALL.
NOW THAT'S NOT VERY GOOD, UH, THE INDUSTRY STANDARD, ALTHOUGH VERY FEW ACTUALLY MEET IT.
BUT THE INDUSTRY STANDARD AND THE GOAL IS THAT ON THE MOST IMPORTANT CALLS, THOSE HIGHEST PRIORITY CALLS YOU'D LIKE TO SEE IN A RESPONSE TIME OF CLOSER TO FIVE MINUTES IN TOTAL.
NOW, THERE'S A COUPLE OF ISSUES WITH THAT.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, VERY FEW MEDIA.
I'VE ONLY SEEN VERY FEW AGENCIES THAT HAVE EVER MET IT.
THE BIGGEST PROBLEM I SEE HERE IS A MAJORITY OF ALL OF THE CALLS THAT WERE FACTORED INTO THIS ANALYSIS, 3,670 FOR CLASSIFIED AS PRIORITY ONES.
AND I ASSURE YOU THAT THERE IS NO WAY WITH YOUR LOW CR CRIME NUMBERS THAT YOU ACTUALLY HAVE 3,670 CALLS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CLASSIFIED AS THE HIGHEST PRIORITY.
SO THE HIGHEST PRIORITY SHOULD BE RESERVED FOR THOSE THINGS THAT ARE A THREAT TO LIFE THREAT TO SOMEBODY'S PERSONAL SAFETY AND IN PROGRESS CRIME OF SORTS.
UH, IT APPEARS THAT IN THIS CASE, WHEN I SEE THAT MANY, YOU PROBABLY HAVE A LOT OF OTHER CALLS LUMPED INTO A PRIORITY ONE THAT HAVE THEN KIND OF MUTED THAT OVERALL NUMBER AND MADE IT NOT LOOK VERY GOOD.
NOW THAT'S SOMETHING THAT IN ORDER TO CHANGE THAT IS PROBABLY GONNA REQUIRE SOME PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE COUNTY TO REALIGN WHAT THEIR PRIORITY SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE.
SO IT MIGHT BE, IT MIGHT BE DIFFICULT TO ACTUALLY DO.
NOW WHAT WE DO ALSO PULL IS AT THE BOTTOM YOU SEE INJURY ACCIDENTS.
NOW INJURY ACCIDENTS ACROSS THE BOARD IN DEPARTMENTS ALMOST EVERYWHERE IS AMONG THE HIGHEST PRIORITY.
IF SOMEBODY CALLS AND SAYS, HEY, THERE'S BEEN AN ACCIDENT AND PEOPLE ARE HURT, WE NEED THE POLICE, WE NEED, WE NEED THE PARAMEDICS HERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, THAT WARRANTS AN EXPEDITED RESPONSE JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE IN THIS COUNTRY.
SO WE INTENTIONALLY PULL THOSE NUMBERS AND WE CAN SEE THAT IT'S A MUCH BETTER RE RESPONSE TIME.
OUT OF 245 CALLS THAT WERE RECEIVED IN THE COURSE OF THAT YEAR, UM, THE DISPATCH PROCESSING TIME WENT DOWN TO LESS THAN TWO AND A HALF MINUTES AND THE TRAVEL WENT DOWN TO FIVE AND A HALF MINUTES.
SO WITH A TOTAL OF AN EIGHT MINUTE RESPONSE TIME, THAT'S SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER, NOT QUITE AT THE FIVE MINUTES.
AND I THINK PART OF YOUR PROBLEM IS THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT YOUR GEOGRAPHY, YOU LOOK AT THE SIZE OF YOUR CITY, I'VE DRIVEN AROUND THIS, I KNOW THAT YOU JUST DON'T MOVE VERY QUICKLY AROUND THIS TOWN.
THAT'S PART OF YOUR CHALLENGE IS THAT TRAVEL TIME ALONE.
SO I'M NOT SURE THAT YOU COULD EVER REALLY GET TO A TRUE FIVE MINUTES,
[00:40:01]
BUT YOU COULD SEE THAT WHEN IT COMES INTO YOUR ACCIDENTS WITH A LOWER NUMBER, YOUR RESPONSE TIMES ARE MUCH BETTER.YOU HAVE A QUESTION, SIR? YES.
ON YOUR, UH, 3.3 MINUTES FOR DISPATCH? YES.
IS THAT NORMAL? DO YOU SEE THAT? I DON'T SEE ANYTHING TO COMPARE IT TO.
I'LL, I'LL DO SOME COMPARISONS.
I THINK IN THE COMPARISONS I HAVE AT THE END HERE IS, UM, I DON'T KNOW THAT IT HAS THE DISPATCH PROCESSING TIME.
I'LL HAVE TO SEE IF THAT'S ON THE FORM.
A TRUE EMERGENCY IS TYPICALLY MEASURED IN LESS THAN A MINUTE.
SOMEBODY CALLS AND SAYS, HEY, SOMEBODY'S BEEN SHOT.
LET'S TAKE A REAL EXTREME EXAMPLE LIKE THAT.
A VERY GOOD PROFESSIONAL DISPATCH CENTER ANSWERS THAT PHONE.
THEY UNDERSTAND THE URGENCY, THEY'RE COMMUNICATING WITH THE PERSON WHO'S TALKING TO THE OFFICERS IN THE FIELD, AND LITERALLY AS THEY'RE TYPING INFORMATION IN, THEY'RE FEEDING IT TO OFFICERS IN THE FIELD TO GET THEM GOING.
SO YOU SEE THAT DISPATCH PROCESSING TIME ALMOST COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED ON TRUE EMERGENCIES.
WHEN I SEE 3.3 MINUTES, IT'S INDICATIVE OF YOU GOT TOO MANY CALLS CLASSIFIED IN THAT CATEGORY.
UH, YEAH, I WAS JUST TRYING TO WONDER, OR TRYING TO GET STRAIGHT IN MY HEAD, WHY, WHY WOULD THERE BE THAT MUCH? IS IT JUST THE EXPLANATION OF THE NINE ONE CALL, YOU KNOW, LIKE, YEAH, YEAH.
SO I CAN'T FIND MY KID OR, OR YOU KNOW, WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE.
SO THAT, THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE A LOWER PRIORITY UNDER MOST CASES.
BUT SO JUST IN FAIRNESS TO FOLKS THAT DO THE JOB AS A DISPATCHER, IT DOES TAKE TIME TO WHEN YOU'RE SITTING ON THE PHONE AND YOU'RE DEALING WITH SOMEBODY THAT'S UNDER STRESS AND THEY'RE NOT COMMUNICATING INFORMATION VERY WELL AND YOU'RE TRYING TO GET THAT OUT, THAT'S CHALLENGING IN AND OF ITSELF.
AND THEN THEY'VE GOT A CAD SYSTEM, THEY'VE GOTTA TRANSLATE EVERYTHING THAT THEY'RE TAKING IN AND PUT IT INTO A COMPUTER IN A WAY THAT MAKES SENSE AND THEN SHIP ALL OF THAT OFF TO A DISPATCHER.
AND A DISPATCHER CANNOT DISPATCH A UNIT UNTIL THEY HAVE SOMEBODY TO DISPATCH.
SO FOR INSTANCE, IT'S EVERYBODY IS BUSY ON SOMETHING, WELL THAT CALL'S GONNA SET AND THAT ENDS UP GETTING ON THE DISPATCH PROCESSING TIME BECAUSE NOBODY WAS AVAILABLE AT THAT MOMENT.
AND SO UNDOUBTEDLY YOU PROBABLY HAVE MANY EMERGENCIES THAT HAD EXACTLY WHAT I DESCRIBED, A DISPATCH PROCESSING TIME THAT WAS IN REALITY A MINUTE.
BUT WHEN YOU SEE THAT MANY CALLS, THAT MEANS THERE'S PROBABLY A LOT OF 'EM THAT HAD 10, 12, 15 MINUTE WAIT TIMES BEFORE AN OFFICER EVER EVEN GOT DISPATCHED.
HAVE A QUESTION, I THINK SOME OF OUR AREA IS COVERED BY BEAUFORT COUNTY SHERIFFS.
COULD THAT DELAY THE RESPONSE TIME AND THE DIFFERENTIATING WHO GOES WHETHER IT'S THE THAT'S GOOD QUESTION.
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE DISPATCHERS TRYING TO DETERMINE WHETHER THIS IS A BLUFFTON CALL OR A BUFORT COUNTY? YES.
I'M NOT SURE IF I, IF WE, WE DIDN'T DIVE INTO THE OPERATIONS OF THE DISPATCH CENTER AS PART OF THIS ASSESSMENT.
I DID UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WERE EVEN TALKING TO OFFICERS, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF AREAS IN THE CITY THAT EVEN THE OFFICERS WILL SHOW UP AND SOMEBODY FROM THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WILL SHOW UP AND THEY'LL GO, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO REALLY OWNS THAT CALL.
BUT YEAH, SO TYPICALLY WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENS, THEY WILL JUST DISPATCH ANY AVAILABLE UNIT, EITHER BEAUFORT COUNTY OR BLUFFTON, AND THEN WE'LL FIGURE IT OUT WHEN WE GET THERE.
BUT IF IT'S AN EMERGENCY, WE CAN FIGURE OUT JURISDICTION LATER.
UH, WE JUST WANT TO GET THERE AND ADDRESS WHATEVER THE SITUATION IS.
YOU DON'T THINK THAT AFFECTS YOUR RESPONSE TIME, TRENT, ONCE YOU GET THERE AND DECIDE WHO YOU KNOW, WHO'S, WHO'S HANDLING IT? WELL, ONCE WE GET THERE, THEN THE RESPONSE TIME ENDS.
SO THE RESPONSE TIME ENDS AS SOON AS THE FIRST CAR GOES OUT AT SCENE.
SO WE'LL GET THERE TO THE SCENE, WE'LL PUT OURSELVES OUT, AND THEN WE'LL ADDRESS WHOSE DISTRICT IT IS LATER AFTER EVERYTHING IS SIED DOWN.
YOU HAVE THAT, THAT, SORRY, FRED, GO AHEAD.
IT, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU HAVE A CALL CENTER THAT SENDS A MESSAGES BACK TO A DISPATCH.
NO, MOST DISPATCH CENTERS, THE PERSON WHO'S ANSWERING THE PHONE MORE OFTEN THAN NOT IS DIFFERENT THAN THE PERSON WHO'S TALKING TO THE OFFICERS ON THE RADIO.
I ASSUME BEFORD COUNTY DOESN'T SEEM LIKE YES.
SO COUNCILMAN HAMILTON, THE WAY THEY DO IT IS YOU HAVE ONE PERSON TAKING THE PHONE CALL THEY'RE PUTTING INTO A COMPUTER.
SOMETIMES THEY'LL TELL THE PERSON THAT HAS US ON THE RADIO, WHICH IS A DESK NEXT TO 'EM SAYING, HEY, I GOT AN EMERGENCY CALL.
OR THEY'LL WAIT TILL THEY HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION TO PUNCH INTO THE COMPUTER, THEN THEY'LL SEND IT.
ONCE THEY PUT IT IN THE COMPUTER, THAT PERSON OVER THERE WHO'S DISPATCHING US THEN GETS IT ON THEIR COMPUTER, THEN THEY WILL SEND US OUT.
SO THE PERSON ON THE PHONE IS NOT THE PERSON THAT IS DISPATCHING US.
OFTENTIMES WHEN WE CALL UP FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, THE PERSON ON THE RADIO SAYS, HOLD ON.
AND THEN THEY HAVE TO TALK TO SOMEBODY ELSE THAT'S TALKING TO THE PERSON ON THE PHONE.
THEY GET THE INFORMATION AND THEN THEY GIVE IT BACK TO US.
SO EVEN THAT IS A PROBLEM WITH THE COMMUNICATION ASPECT OF IT.
THE, UH, THE MOU WE HAVE WITH THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT.
[00:45:01]
YOU, YOU'LL, WE WILL RESPOND.LET'S JUST, LET'S JUST TAKE, UM, SANDY POINT AS AN EXAMPLE, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR COMMUNITY, NOT THE TOWN.
BUT YOU WOULD RESPOND TO THAT IF YOU GOT THE CALL, UH, AS A, AS A COURTESY TO THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT.
I MEAN, IMMEDIATELY, RIGHT? NOT ALWAYS.
UM, IF BEAUFORT COUNTY IS BUSY OR IF THEY'RE GONNA BE 10 MINUTES OUT AND IT'S AN EMERGENCY, THEN THEY, THEIR SUPERVISOR MAY CALL OUR SUPERVISOR AND SAY, HEY, COULD YOU HAVE GUYS HEAD THAT WAY? UM, AND WE WILL HEAD THAT WAY AND WE WILL CONTROL THE SCENE UNTIL THEY GET THERE AND TAKE IT OVER.
AND IN THE REVERSE OF THAT, DO THEY DO THE SAME THING FOR US? YES, SIR.
SO WE'RE GONNA GET INTO THE PATROL WORKLOAD PIECE.
UM, I WANNA EXPLAIN IT, FIRST OF ALL, THERE ARE A COUPLE DIFFERENT VARIATIONS ON HOW WORKLOAD IS MEASURED IN THE POLICE WORLD.
UH, THE TWO PRIMARY ONES IS THE RULE OF 60, UH, IS ONE.
AND THEN THERE'S AN ISEP MODEL THAT TALKS ABOUT A BALANCE OF A 30, 30 30, UH, BALANCED WORKLOAD APPROACH.
UH, CPSM, UH, HAS ALWAYS USED THE RULE OF 60, UM, AS, UH, AS A METRIC FOR DETERMINING PATROL STAFFING.
THE RULE OF 60 HAS TWO PARTS, AND THE FIRST PART OF IT SAYS THAT 60% OF YOUR SWORN WORKFORCE SHOULD BE DEDICATED TO THE PATROL FUNCTION IN A POLICE AGENCY AS A GENERAL RULE.
AND THEN THE SECOND PART OF THAT IS THAT OPTIMAL WORKLOAD.
SO TOTAL WORKLOAD OF EVERY, EVERYBODY THAT IS WORKING PATROL SHOULD BE AT OR BELOW 60%, UH, OF AN OFFICER'S TOTAL DAY SO THAT THE REMAINING 40 PLUS PERCENT CAN BE DEDICATED TO PROACTIVE POLICING, MANAGEMENT DIRECTED ACTIVITIES, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.
AND THE RATIONALE BEHIND THAT IS IN STUDIES THAT THEY'VE DONE, UH, THEY BELIEVE THAT OFFICERS WHO, UH, ARE CONSTANTLY GOING FROM CALL TO CALL, TO CALL, TO CALL, TO CALL, WHERE IT'S MORE THAN 60%.
AT SOME POINT, THEY KIND OF HIT THAT CRITICAL MASS IN THEIR HEAD AND THEY WILL NOT DO PROACTIVE WORK BECAUSE THEY KNOW THE NEXT PATROL CALL'S COMING IN ANY SECOND, AND THEY DON'T WANT BE BUSY OR TOO BUSY TO HANDLE THAT.
SO THE IDEA IS TO KEEP THAT WORKLOAD OUT OR BELOW 60% SO THAT YOU STILL GET PROACTIVE ACTIVITY OUT OF OFFICERS.
YOU STILL GET, YOU KNOW, THE USE OF THOSE OFFICERS IN THE FIELD DOING THE THINGS THAT YOU WANT THEM TO FOCUS IN ON FROM A MANAGEMENT DIRECTED ACTIVITY.
NOW, I'LL TALK ABOUT SOME OF THOSE PERCENTAGES IN A MOMENT, BUT GOING BACK TO THE FIRST PART WHERE WE ASK THAT OR WE LOOK FOR ABOUT 60% OF THE TOTAL WORKFORCE DEDICATED TO PATROL FUNCTION.
UH, WHEN WE LOOK AT BPD, THERE'S 27 PEOPLE THAT WERE ASSIGNED TO PATROL FUNCTION WHEN WE DID THE, THE, THE STUDY.
AND THAT INCLUDED THE CAPTAIN WHO RUNS PATROL.
UH, BUT 27 OUT OF THE TOTAL OF 66 SWORN POSITIONS, ONLY 41%.
UH, SO THAT'S, THAT'S A FAIRLY LOW PERCENTAGE.
HOWEVER, UH, IN FAIRNESS IN THE ORGANIZATION, YOU HAVE A VERY LARGE, UH, CADRE OF SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE THAN WHAT WE WOULD NORMALLY SEE IN AN ORGANIZATION THIS SIZE.
AND IT'S A RESULT OF THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT HAVE BEEN BUILT HERE WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT AND WHAT THEY'VE CHOSEN TO HAVE.
UM, WHEN WE EXCLUDE THOSE 13 OUT OF THE MIX, IT BRINGS YOUR PERCENTAGE UP TO 51%, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY CLOSER TO THE 60, BUT NOT COMPLETELY THERE.
SO WITHIN THE, UH, REPORT, YOU'RE GONNA SEE A NUMBER OF GRAPHS, UH, THAT LOOK LIKE THIS, LOOK LIKE THIS, AND ANOTHER ONE THAT HAS JUST THE, UH, JUST THAT TOP LINE THERE THAT YOU SEE.
SO THIS, I JUST PULLED SUMMER WEEKEND OUT.
I'M NOT GONNA GO THROUGH ALL FOUR SEASONS, BUT CPSM WILL SPECIFICALLY TAKE TWO EIGHT WEEK PERIODS, ONE IN SUMMER, ONE IN THE WINTER, AND THEY'LL MEASURE WEEK LOAD, UH, WORKLOAD AT THE MICRO DATA IN THOSE TWO EIGHT WEEK PERIODS.
AND WE SPECIFICALLY TAKE SUMMER AND WINTER BECAUSE QUITE OFTEN WORKLOAD CAN BE VERY, VERY DIFFERENT IN COMMUNITIES BASED UPON THOSE TIMES OF YEAR.
AND THEN WE ALSO SEPARATE WEEKENDS FROM WEEKDAYS BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT IN SOME COMMUNITIES WORKLOAD CAN BE VERY DIFFERENT ON THE WEEKENDS VERSUS THE WEEKDAYS.
JUST DEPENDS ON YOUR TYPE OF COMMUNITY.
UH, YOU KNOW, WHERE YOUR COMMUNITY IS CENTERED AROUND ENTERTAINMENT STUFF OR YOU KIND OF A BEDROOM COMMUNITY THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, GOES TO SLEEP AT CERTAIN TIMES.
SO WE ANALYZE THOSE TWO SEASONS AT THE MICRO DATA LEVEL AND WE SEPARATE IT BY WEEKENDS AND WEEKDAYS.
FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS PRESENTATION, I ONLY PULLED OUT THE SUMMER WEEKEND, WHICH WAS THE BUSIEST PERIOD THAT WE DID OR THAT WE OBSERVED SO THAT YOU KIND OF UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT AT THE REPORT.
SO THIS FIRST GRAPH SHOWS WHAT OCCUPIES OFFICER'S TIME.
SO AGAIN, I'LL KIND OF GO OVER HERE.
I'M SORRY FOR GOING BEHIND YOU GUYS LIKE THIS, BUT JUST HELP EXPLAIN THIS.
HERE ARE THE NUMBER OF UNITS THAT ARE AVAILABLE.
SO THIS GOES FROM ESSENTIALLY ONE UNIT IN THE FIELD UP TO EIGHT UNITS IN THE FIELD.
[00:50:01]
HERE REPRESENTS HOW MANY OFFICERS ON AVERAGE ARE IN THE FIELD.SO YOU SEE, UH, ALMOST FIVE AT ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, ALMOST FIVE, ALMOST FIVE ALL THE WAY UNTIL AROUND FIVE, WHICH IS SHIFT CHANGE TIME.
AND THEN YOU HAVE KIND OF A DUPLICATE OF A COUPLE SHIFTS THAT KIND OF OVERLAP FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
SO STAFFING KIND OF SPIKES FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME WHILE EVERYBODY'S SIGNED ONTO CAD AND THEN COMES BACK DOWN.
AND THEN YOU'RE SITTING AT ABOUT FIVE OFFICERS PER DAY FROM SEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING UNTIL, UH, YOU KNOW, FIVE OR SIX O'CLOCK IN THE EVENING.
AGAIN, YOU HAVE A SHIFT CHANGE, YOU SEE A SPIKE, AND THEN IT GOES BACK DOWN TO THE REAGAN.
SO THAT'S THE AVERAGE DAILY STAFFING THAT WE OBSERVED DURING THE SUMMERTIME PERIOD ON THE WEEKENDS.
NOW OUT OF THAT, THIS BIG GREEN AREA HERE, THE LARGEST AREA, THE LIGHTER GREEN, THAT ULTIMATELY IS AN OFFICER'S PROACTIVE PATROL TIME.
SO THAT'S THEIR UNSTRUCTURED WORKLOAD THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THE DAY.
THE ORANGE HERE AT THE BOTTOM IS THE AMOUNT OF, UH, COMMUNITY INITIATED WORK THAT WAS COMING IN.
SO FOR INSTANCE, AT ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, AT THIS POINT HERE, ON AVERAGE, THE COMMUNITY INITIATED WORK WAS OCCUPYING ABOUT ONE AND A HALF OFFICERS DURING THAT HOUR.
SO OUT OF THE TOTAL FIVE, FOUR AND A HALF FIVE THAT WERE WORKING, ONE AND A HALF WERE OCCUPIED WITH DOING COMMUNITY INITIATED WORK.
THE POLICE WHO INITIATED WORK IS THE BLUE.
SO AT THAT HOUR THERE WAS TYPICALLY AT LEAST ONE OTHER OFFICER THAT WAS BUSY DOING POLICE INITIATED WORK.
AND THEN THE OTHERS REMAINED IN THE FIELD, UH, THAT WERE AVAILABLE ON THE NEXT GRAPH.
THIS IS WHERE THE RULE OF 60 COMES IN.
SO SAME EXACT INFORMATION IN MANY WAYS, BUT AVERAGE DEPLOYMENT ON SUMMER WEEKENDS WAS ABOUT 5.1 OFFICERS PER HOUR THROUGHOUT THE 24 HOUR PERIOD.
THE AVERAGE WORKLOAD SAYS THAT ON OUT OF, UH, THE 5.1 OFFICERS, ABOUT ONE AND A HALF OFFICER WAS TYPICALLY BUSY WITH THE AVERAGE WORKLOAD.
UM, THE AVERAGE SATURATION INDEX, SO THIS IS THAT 60% THING THAT I TALKED ABOUT, THAT AVERAGE SATURATION INDEX THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THAT DAY WAS 49%.
THE PEAKS AT THE VERY, VERY HIGHEST POINT THROUGHOUT THE DAY, WHICH WAS ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING ABOUT NINE O'CLOCK, 9:45 PM WAS 58%.
SO AT TIMES YOU GOT CLOSE TO THAT 60% NUMBER, BUT YOU NEVER ACTUALLY WENT OVER IT.
AND EVEN IF YOU DID GO OVER IT FOR VERY SHORT PERIODS OF TIME, WE WOULD NOT BE CONCERNED ABOUT IT.
WE WOULD NOT TRULY BE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR WORKLOAD AND YOUR STAFFING UNTIL YOU SEE WORKLOAD START TO EXCEED THAT 60% LINE ON A REGULAR BASIS.
AND IN THE CASE OF BLUFFTON, THE SUMMER WEEKENDS WERE THE BUSIEST PERIOD OUT OF THE FOUR THAT WE LOOKED AT.
UH, SO THESE ARE, THIS IS THE MOST WORKLOAD OUT OF ANY OF THEM.
AND AT NO POINT WERE WE TERRIBLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE NUMBER OF OFFICERS THAT WERE ACTUALLY BUSY WITH ACTUAL WORKLOAD IN THE CAD SYSTEM AT THOSE TIMES.
BUT I HAVE TO KIND OF PUT A LITTLE BIT OF A DISCLAIMER ON THAT.
THE INFORMATION IN THE CAD SYSTEM IS ONLY AS GOOD AS WHAT THE OFFICERS PUT IN.
SO IT'S RELIANT THAT THE OFFICERS ARE ACCURATELY RECORDING ALL OF THEIR TIME.
IT'S ALSO RELIANT THAT ALL OF THE WORK THAT AN OFFICER DOES THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THEIR SHIFT IS ACTUALLY GETTING RECORDED IN THERE.
SO WE OFTEN SEE IN MANY AGENCIES, UH, OFFICERS DO THEIR POLICE REPORTS.
SO IF THEY'RE GOING THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THEIR SHIFT AND THEY PICK UP ONE OR TWO POLICE REPORTS DURING THEIR SHIFT, IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR THEM TO BE ON THE CALL.
THEY GET THE BASIC INFORMATION TO DO THAT REPORT.
THEY CLEAR THAT CALL, THEY GO BACK INTO SERVICE.
SO THEY'RE SHOWING UP IN THAT LIGHT GREEN AREA AS AVAILABLE.
BUT IN REALITY, THEY MIGHT BE SITTING IN A PATROL CAR, TYPING IN A POLICE REPORT, WHICH MEANS THEY'RE ACTUALLY BUSY AND THEY'RE ACTUALLY DOING WORK.
BUT SINCE THEY'RE NOT RECORDING IT AS REPORT WRITING TIME, IT'S NOT GETTING CAPTURED.
NOW, WHEN WE TALK TO TO BPD OFFICERS, WE UNDERSTAND THAT IS KIND OF THE CULTURE HERE.
A LOT OF THAT TYPE OF WORK GETS DONE WHILE AN OFFICER IS BUSY IN THEIR PATROL OR SHOWING AVAILABLE FOR A CALL.
BUT IN THEIR PATROL CALL, WE MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO STREAMLINE THAT AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE ACCURATELY CAPTURING ALL OF YOUR WORK.
UH, IN REALITY, WE'RE FAIRLY CONFIDENT THAT IF THAT IS TRUE, YOU COULD PROBABLY ADD ANOTHER 10 PERCENTAGE POINTS TO THE WORKLOAD ACROSS THE BOARD BECAUSE THAT'S THE AVERAGE.
WE QUITE OFTEN SEE IF YOU FACT, IF OFFICE, IF, IF AGENCIES ARE ACCURATELY REPORTING REPORT RATING TIME.
NOW, IN ALL HONESTY, THAT CULTURE OF POLICING HAS BEEN PART OF THE POLICING BUSINESS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME.
WE ALL CAME UP IN THIS BUSINESS, TOLD THAT YOU NEED TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR BEAT.
AND THE WAY THAT YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR BEAT IS THAT YOU ARE AVAILABLE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN POSSIBLY BE AVAILABLE.
SO IF A CALL COMES UP IN YOUR BEAT, YOU'RE AVAILABLE TO GO TAKE THAT CALL AND SOMEBODY FROM ACROSS TOWN DOESN'T HAVE TO COME AND HANDLE WORK IN YOUR AREA.
AND SO THAT CULTURE HAS KIND OF MANIFESTED ITSELF IN THE POLICING BUSINESS IN A WAY THAT IT SKEWS WORKLOAD IN MANY USE.
[00:55:01]
NOW, WE HAVE SEEN SOME AGENCIES THAT HAVE GOTTEN VERY GOOD AT CHANGING THAT.UH, AND THERE'S SOME WAYS THAT YOU CAN CREATE SOME CAD CODES THAT SAYS, HEY, SHOW ME THAT I'M ACTUALLY BUSY DOING SOME REPORTS RIGHT NOW, BUT I AM AVAILABLE IF A CALL COMES UP IN MY, IN MY REPORT.
SO THERE'S WAYS THAT YOU CAN DO IT, AND THERE'S WAYS THAT AGENCIES HAVE FOUND WAY, YOU KNOW, A SYSTEM TO ACCURATELY CAPTURE THAT.
SO WHAT I'M TELLING YOU IS THAT THAT'S COMMON WHAT WE'RE SEEING, AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU SHOULD FIX SO THAT YOU CAN FIX THOSE WORKLOAD NUMBERS IN THE FUTURE.
UH, SO AGAIN, TAKE STEPS TO ACCURATELY CAPTURE ALL OFFICER WORKLOAD TO INCLUDE ADMINISTRATIVE AND REPORT WRITING TIME, UH, TAKE STEPS TO ENSURE THAT OFFICER INITIATED ACTIVITY MEETS MANAGEMENT EXPECTATIONS, TRAFFIC DIRECTED PATROLS, ET CETERA.
UM, THIS HAS TO DO WITH MAKING SURE THAT YOU WERE HAVING A STRATEGIC APPROACH TO POLICING.
IT'S VERY EASY FOR OFFICERS TO BE OUT IN THE FIELD.
UH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE KIND OF SELF-MOTIVATED PEOPLE.
THEY DO WORK THAT THEY BELIEVE IS IMPORTANT.
THEY OBVIOUSLY TAKE THE CALLS FOR SERVICE THAT COMES INTO THEM, AND THEN THEY'RE KIND OF TOLD, HEY, WE EXPECT YOU TO BE PROACTIVE WHEN YOU'RE NOT ON A CALL.
GO OUT THERE AND TAKE CARE OF SOME TRAFFIC ISSUES.
WELL, OFFICERS WILL FIND SOMETHING TO FILL THAT TIME.
WHAT EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM WANTS TO MAKE SURE OF AND WHAT THE CHIEF AND WHAT THE LEADERSHIP OF THE DEPARTMENT WANTS TO MAKE SURE OF OR SHOULD ENSURE, IS THAT THE WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING OUT THERE MEETS THE OBJECTIVES OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE DEPARTMENT.
SO FOCUS IN ON THE THINGS THAT YOU WANT YOUR PEOPLE TO BE DOING, AND THAT REQUIRES A LITTLE BIT OF STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING.
SO USE DATA TO DRIVE YOUR TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT.
LOOK AT WHERE YOUR ACCIDENTS ARE HAPPENING, WHAT'S CAUSING THOSE ACCIDENTS, AND TELL YOUR OFFICERS, HEY, I WANT, I WANT YOUR PROACTIVE TIME FOCUSED IN THAT AREA.
YOU GUYS DO THIS A LOT THROUGH YOUR DIRECTED ACTIVITIES.
I SHOWED YOU HOW MANY SHOW UP AS EXTRA PATROLS IN YOUR SYSTEM.
BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE DOING AN OVERALL COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC APPROACH TO STRUCTURING AN OFFICER'S DAY AND MAKING SURE YOU'RE GETTING THE GREATEST USE OF THEIR TIME.
UH, CONSIDER REALIGNING A PATROL OFFICER NUMBERS TO MEET THE RULE OF 60.
SO THAT HAS TO DO WITH THAT 51% IN REALITY THAT'S SITTING IN PATROL.
THAT MAYBE SHOULD BE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER TO MEET THE RULE OF 60.
UH, BUT AGAIN, THE EXISTING WORKLOAD ISN'T NECESSARILY PROBLEMATIC.
IF YOU GET TO A POINT WHERE NOW YOUR WORKLOAD IS PUSHING 60% AND YOU'RE STILL ONLY LOOKING AT 51% OF YOUR OFFICERS SITTING IN PATROL, WELL MAYBE YOU NEED TO SUPPLEMENT SOME OF THOSE OFFICERS FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE ORGANIZATION TO GIVE THE PATROL MORE RESOURCES BEFORE YOU WORRY ABOUT ADDING PEOPLE TO THE BOTTOM LINE OF THE AGENCY.
AND THEN FINALLY, UH, WE ASK THE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS WHEN IT COMES TO TRAFFIC.
AND ONE OF THE BIGGEST DRIVERS OF ISSUES HAPPENING IN LEFT OR TRAFFIC RELATED IS ACCIDENTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT ARE TAKING A LOT OF OFFICERS TIME.
WE ASKED ABOUT WHAT THAT PROCESS LOOKS LIKE TO DO LONG TERM SOLUTIONS TO TRAFFIC AND WITHIN THE TRAFFIC ROAD, WE TALKED ABOUT THE THREE S, UH, ENFORCEMENT, ENGINEERING, AND EDUCATION.
UH, AND THAT IN, UM, ENGINEERING PIECE REALLY REQUIRES A PARTNERSHIP WITH CITY TRAFFIC ENGINEERING.
SO IF YOU'RE SEEING PROBLEMS IN A COMMUNITY, LET'S SAY YOU'VE GOT REOCCURRING ACCIDENTS AT AN INTERSECTION, UH, IS THERE SOMETHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE DESIGN OF THAT INTERSECTION, UH, WITH THE, YOU KNOW, UH, THINGS THAT CAN BE SOLVED WITH AN ENGINEERING APPROACH VERSUS JUST WRITING MORE AND MORE TICKETS ALL THE TIME.
SO ESTABLISH THAT RAPPORT AND ESTABLISH SOME TYPE OF INTERNAL SYSTEM SO THE PROBLEMS THAT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS OBSERVING CAN GET REPORTED BACK TO TRAFFIC ENGINEERING FOR POTENTIAL LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS.
CAN I ASK A QUESTION, SIR? PLEASE.
UM, OF COURSE WE HAVE LIMITED ROADWAYS TO DEAL WITH ANYWAY, UH, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE ENGINEERING ASPECT AND, UM, LOW COG OR LAPSED DID A STUDY, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER THE TERMINOLOGY OF IT.
IT WAS LIKE A PUBLIC SAFETY STUDY AND IT WAS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FOUR COUNTIES IN BEAUFORT COUNTY AND IT WAS ALL TRAFFIC RELATED TO SHOW INTERSECTIONS AND PROBLEMS AND WHERE DEATHS ARE OCCURRING, ET CETERA, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
UM, WERE Y'ALL EVER A PART OF THAT OR EVER HAD BEEN INTRODUCED TO THAT? NO, SIR.
I THINK IT WAS PROBABLY BECAUSE IT WAS MOSTLY, UH, COUNTY ROADWAYS AND STATE ROADWAYS.
SO I, SHERIFF MAY HAVE BEEN INVOLVED WITH THAT, BUT WE WERE NOT.
WE'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SIT IN ON THE NEXT ONE THOUGH.
THIS IS THE COMPARABLE THAT I TALKED ABOUT.
SO CPSM, WITH THE BODY OF WORK THAT THEY'VE DONE AND ALL THE AGENCIES THAT THEY'VE ANALYZED, AND THAT VERY STANDARDIZED WAY OF COLLECTING DATA, UH, ALLOWS, UH, THE ORGANIZATION TO PUT TOGETHER A, A, A CHART LIKE THIS.
UH, I DID NOT INCLUDE THIS IN THE REPORT 'CAUSE THERE'S NO SIGNIFICANT OUTLIERS.
UH, IF THERE'S OUTLIERS THAT I TYPICALLY SEE IN THIS DATA, I WILL TALK ABOUT IN THE REPORT.
BUT FOR THE MOST PART, TON IS VERY STANDARDIZED IN MANY WAYS.
I DID RECENTLY SHARE THIS WITH THE CHIEF, SO IF, YOU KNOW, THAT GETS PASSED AROUND, BUT THERE ARE A COUPLE MEMBERS I WANNA TALK ABOUT.
[01:00:01]
UH, YOUR, YOUR CRIME RATES, YOUR VIOLENT CRIME, YOUR PROPERTY CRIME, AND YOUR TOTAL CRIME RATE, UH, SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THE AVERAGE COMMUNITY THAT WE NORMALLY ASSESS.SO MUCH ALONG THE LINES TO THE INITIAL UCR NUMBER WHERE WE WERE COMPARING BLUFFTON TO OTHER COMMITTEES IN SOUTH CAROLINA TO THE NATIONAL AVERAGES, THE STATE AVERAGES, THAT'S REFLECTED THERE AS IN, IN TERMS OF THE, UM, UH, UH, THE TOTAL CRIME IN, IN TERMS OF THE WORK THAT WE DO, THE, THE ONE RIGHT ABOVE THAT HIGH PRIORITY CALL RESPONSE TIMES.
SO I TALKED ABOUT THE PROBLEMS THAT I SAW ON THAT YOUR AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME OF 11.4 MINUTES IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THE AVERAGE OF ALL OF THE AGENCIES INVOLVED IN THIS, WHERE THE HIGH PRIORITY RESPONSE TIME WAS ABOUT SEVEN AND A HALF MINUTES OR 7.4 MINUTES.
UM, AGAIN, A BYPRODUCT OF A NUMBER OF THINGS.
MOST LIKELY BEING THAT YOU'RE CATEGORY, YOU'RE CATEGORIZING TOO MANY THINGS IN THAT HIGH PRIORITY CATEGORY.
UH, SO IF THERE'S A WAY YOU CAN WORK WHICH COUNTY SEPARATE THAT AND AND BETTER MEASURE THE TRUE EMERGENCIES, YOU'RE PROBABLY MUCH CLOSER TO THE AVERAGE.
YOUR INJURY ACCIDENT RESPONSE WAS EIGHT MINUTES, WHICH IS VERY CLOSE TO THAT AVERAGE.
RIGHT? SO PROBABLY NOT TOO FAR OFF.
AND THEN THERE WAS A DISCUSSION THAT I HAD, UH, WITH THE CHIEF JUST IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS AS WE WERE PREPARING FOR THIS, WHERE I UNDERSTAND THERE WAS A CONVERSATION ABOUT, UM, THE NUMBER OF UNITS THAT ARE OFTEN SEEN ON A CALL.
SO I HIGHLIGHTED THOSE IN THIS PARTICULAR GRAPH.
SO ON COMMUNITY INITIATED CALLS, UH, WHEN SOMEBODY CALLS 9 1 1 AND THEY SAY WE NEED AN OFFICER, UH, BLUFFTON PD ON AVERAGE, OUT OF ALL THOSE CALLS AT ABOUT 1.79 OFFICERS ON AVERAGE ON ALL OF THEM, THE AVERAGE THAT WE'VE SEEN IN ALL THE STUDIES WE'VE DONE IS ABOUT 1.75.
UH, AND THEN IN TERMS OF POLICE INITIATED, LITTLE BIT MORE OF A DIFFERENCE, BUT STILL NOT TERRIBLY OUTSIDE OF THE NORM.
ON THE AVERAGE POLICE INITIATED CALL, BLUFFTON USED 1.6 OFFICERS, WHERE THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE WAS 1.2 THAT WE WERE SEEING IN ALL OF OUR STUDIES.
UH, AND THEN YOU CAN SEE OVER AT THE VERY, VERY, UH, RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THAT, HOW DO YOU COMPARE AGAINST THE MEDIAN? UH, YOUR POPULATION IS LOWER THAN THE AVERAGE AGENCY THAT WE'VE DONE.
UM, YOU KNOW, KNOW THE MEDIAN'S BEEN, UH, ABOUT 43,000 LEFT IN'S, A LITTLE OVER 30,000.
UH, YOUR OFFICER RATE AND YOUR CALL FOR SERVICE RATE IS A METRIC THAT'S MEASURED AGAINST, UH, UH, UH, A HUNDRED THOUSAND POPULATION.
SO YOU'VE GOT A HIGHER OFFICER RATE.
SO TYPICALLY, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT MORE OFFICERS PER POPULATION THAN THE AVERAGE THAT WE SEE.
UH, BUT YOUR CALLS FOR SERVICE RATE IS A LITTLE BIT LOWER.
UH, AND THEN YOU CAN SEE GOING DOWN AREAS THAT YOU'RE JUST KIND OF A MIX OF HIGHER OR LOWER, BUT, BUT VERY, VERY CLOSE TO THE AVERAGES ACROSS THE BOARD.
IS THERE ANY CONSIDERATION, YOU KNOW, GEOGRAPHICALLY WE ARE A, A PASS THROUGH COMMUNITY.
OKAY? WE HAVE A HUGE RESORT BEING HILTON HEAD, MUCH, MANY, MUCH OF OUR TRAFFIC IS COMING THROUGH HERE AND WOULDN'T BE REFLECT RELATED TO, I MEAN, REFLECTED IN OUR ACTUAL POPULATION.
YOU KNOW, AND I, AND I MEAN, SOME TOWNS ARE KINDA OFF BY THEIR STUFF AND YOU DON'T HAVE THAT FACTOR.
SO WITH THE DATA, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, WE HAVE MORE CARS COME THROUGH BLUFFTON THAN WE HAVE IN BLUFF.
TRAFFIC'S PROBABLY MUCH HIGHER THAN THE AVERAGE, YOU KNOW, WHICH, WHICH PUTS OUR TRAFFIC VOLUME, YOU KNOW, TWICE AS MUCH AS, YOU KNOW, YOU WOULD NORMALLY SEE FOR, UH, 30, 30,000, UH, 30,000 PEOPLE POPULATION.
SO IT, THAT, THAT SORT OF STUFF IS NOT GONNA SHOW UP AT A GRAPH LIKE THIS, RIGHT? BUT THOSE ARE THE TYPES OF THINGS THAT WE HAVE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF THE ORGANIZATION WHEN WE'RE TALKING TO FOLKS ABOUT WHAT MAKES BLUFFTON DIFFER.
YOU REMEMBER, I, I STARTED THIS OFF THAT AS MUCH AS POLICING IS, UH, YOU KNOW, VERY MUCH KIND OF THE SAME, A POLICE OFFICER HERE IS, UH, IN THE CULTURE THAT I SEE HERE IS VERY SIMILAR TO, YOU KNOW, WHAT I'D SEE IN AN AGENCY IN MONTANA OR WASHINGTON STATE OR POLICING IS POLICING AND COPS ARE COPS EVERYWHERE.
UM, BUT EVERY COMMUNITY IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
THE DYNAMIC THEY DEAL WITH IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
SO THOSE ARE LITTLE NUANCES THAT WE, THAT WE KIND OF LOOK AT TO, TO SAY WHAT MAKES THIS COMMUNITY DIFFERENT THAN THE AVERAGE COMMUNITY.
NOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE DESCRIBING IS EVERY COMMUNITY HAS SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES, RIGHT? UM, I WAS JUST TALKING, UH, TO THE GENTLEMAN HERE, I FORGET YOUR FIRST NAME, BILL.
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT A COMMUNITY IN, IN, UH, IN MARYLAND, WHICH IS WHERE HE HAD DONE PART OF HIS CAREER AND A PROJECT I RECENTLY DID WHERE THIS COMMUNITY'S ONLY GOT LIKE SIX OR 7,000 PEOPLE THAT LIVED THERE, BUT THEY GOT A SUMMER TIME POPULATION ON THE WEEKEND THAT SWELLS TO A COUPLE HUNDRED THOUSAND BECAUSE OF THE TYPE OF ACTIVITIES THEY HAVE.
SO THAT'S QUITE A DYNAMIC THAT, THAT'S SIMILAR TO HI, I THINK, WELL, YEAH, YOU GUYS, YOU HAVE A HUGE 2.1 AND THEY, THEY CAN HIT A HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE ON
[01:05:01]
ANY DAY, RIGHT? AND MOST OF THOSE PEOPLE COME THROUGH BUCK.SO, SO THE DYNAMIC AND THE WAY THAT WE DEAL WITH THAT THOUGH, IS WE LOOK AT WHAT THAT LOOK WAS.
SO, YOU KNOW, IF I GO BACK TO AT THE END OF THE DAY, THIS, THIS GRAPH HERE TELLS THE STORY IN MANY WAYS THAT MIGHT HAVE THAT COME OUT.
SO LET'S SAY YOUR TRAFFIC COUNT, YOU JUST HAVE TRAFFIC THAT'S COMPLETELY OUTTA CONTROL AND YOU'VE GOT CARS PILED UP ON THAT INTERSTATE ALL DAY LONG AND THOSE TYPES OF THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT ARE CALLING 9 1 1 AND SAYING WE NEED A POLICE OFFICER IS REFLECTED HERE.
SO YOUR WORKLOAD IN THIS COMMUNITY IS ONE AND A HALF OFFICERS, ONE OFFICER, UH, THREE OFFICERS, FOUR, YOU KNOW, THAT'S THE TOTAL WORK OF EVERYTHING THAT'S COMING IN FROM THE, FROM ALL THE CALLS COMING INTO THE DISPATCH CENTER IS REFLECTED IN THAT NUMBER.
SO, YOU KNOW, THIS NUMBER CAN FLUCTUATE GREATLY AND MAY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR POPULATION SIZE.
IT'S ALL ABOUT HOW MANY CALLS ARE COMING INTO YOUR DISPATCH CENTER.
WILL YOU DO ME A FAVOR AND GO BACK TO YOUR LAST SLIDE THAT YOU WERE ON AND, AND THEY'RE RIGHT THERE AND TELL ME AGAIN, OFFICER RATE.
SO OFFICER RATE IS A CALCULATION THAT'S A RATIO OF OFFICERS PER 100,000, RIGHT? SO WHAT'S THAT, WHAT THAT ULTIMATELY IS SAYING IN THE WAY THAT, AND THEY GET THEIR NUMBERS.
THIS, AGAIN, THESE ARE NOT THE NUMBERS THAT WE REPORTED.
THESE ARE THE NUMBERS THAT EACH OF THOSE AGENCIES THAT HAVE REPORTED TO THE FBI THROUGH THEIR NEIGHBORS DATA, RIGHT? SO THAT AGAIN, IS ONLY AS ACCURATE AS WHAT THE AGENCY, WHAT THE AGENCY HAS REPORTED TO THE FBI.
BUT IT'S A CALCULATION THAT COMES OUT OF THE FBI THAT SHOWS WHAT THEIR OFFICER RATE IS.
UH, ALL THAT BASICALLY MEANS IS THAT YOU HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE, YOU HAVE, YOU HAVE MORE FOR A COMMUNITY OF 30,000 PEOPLE, YOU HAVE MORE OFFICERS THAN THE AVERAGE COMMUNITY OF 30,000 PEOPLE, IF THAT MAKES ANY SENSE.
ALRIGHT, SO WHAT SHOULD WE HAVE BASED ON OUR DEMOCRAT? WELL, WE DO, WE DO IT NOT BASED UPON POPULATION.
AND WE, WE BASE STAFFING NOT BASED ON POPULATION, WE DO IT BASED ON WORKLOAD.
AND SO I WILL GO BACK AGAIN TO THIS, THAT ULTIMATELY SHOWS WHAT YOUR WORKLOAD IS.
AND WHEN YOUR WORKLOAD IS CONSISTENTLY EXCEEDING 60%, THAT'S WHEN WE SAY YOU PROBABLY NEED TO ADD STAFFING TO PATROL.
IN YOUR CASE, YOU'RE NOT HITTING THERE.
NOW, AGAIN, I I CAUTION THAT WITH NOT ALL OF YOUR DATA IS SHOWING UP THERE BECAUSE OF YOUR CULTURE, BUT I STILL DON'T THINK THAT EVEN ADDING 10 POINTS OF THAT, YOU'RE STILL GONNA BE OVER 60% AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
NOW, YOUR, YOUR GROWTH IN THIS COMMUNITY HAS BEEN PRETTY SIGNIFICANT IN RECENT YEARS, RIGHT? AND I'M SURE THAT THAT GROWTH IS GONNA CONTINUE.
SO YOU'RE PROBABLY GONNA SEE A PRETTY DYNAMIC, YOU KNOW, CHANGE TO A LOT OF THESE NUMBERS.
UH, YOU KNOW, AS YEARS GO FORWARD AND IF YOUR OFFICERS, IF THE, IF THE CHANGES THAT WE RECOMMENDED ARE INSTITUTED, WE'RE GOING TO ACCURATELY AND TRULY CAPTURE WHAT THE TRUE WORKLOAD IS, WHICH MEANS SHIFTING AWAY FROM YOUR TRADITIONAL CULTURE AND JUST GETTING WORK DONE WHILE YOU'RE SHOWING AVAILABLE AND ACTUALLY CAPTURING IT IN THE ACCOUNT SYSTEM SO THAT WE SEE IT.
YOU MAY SEE THOSE AVERAGES GO UP SIGNIFICANTLY.
AND THEN, AND I'VE SEEN AGENCIES DO THAT BEFORE, AND QUITE FRANKLY, IT WOULDN'T BE HARD TO TRY TO, UH, TRICK THOSE NUMBERS INTO MAKING YOURSELF LOOK BUSIER THAN YOU REALLY ARE.
AND WE'VE GOT WAYS THAT WE CAN KIND OF SEE THAT WE GO BACK TO AGAIN, THIS REPORT.
AND IF I, IF I CAN SHOW YOU VERY QUICKLY, IF I START SEEING THAT, FOR INSTANCE, ON YOUR SELF-INITIATED ACTIVITY, YOUR TRAFFIC STOPS AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU'RE GOING FROM, UM, POLICE INITIATED SERVICE TIME AND YOU GUYS ARE SPENDING 17 MINUTES ON AVERAGE EVERY TIME YOU DO POLICE INITIATED WORK.
AND THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE IS 17 MINUTES, RIGHT? AND SUDDENLY OFFICERS ARE JUST TAKING THEIR TIME ON THOSE CALLS TO MAKE THEMSELVES LOOK BUSIER.
IF THAT NUMBER GOES FROM 17 TO 20 OR 25 OR 28, I'M PROBABLY GONNA POINT THAT OUT IN A REPORT THAT SOMETHING'S AMISS WITH YOUR DATA.
AND WE'VE DONE THAT BEFORE IN AGENCIES THAT WE'VE LOOKED AT, WHERE WE SEE SUDDENLY THEY'RE SPIKING AND THEY'RE SPENDING SIGNIFICANTLY MORE TIME THAN THE AVERAGES ON THE NUMBER OF CALLS.
THAT'S HOW WE KIND OF IDENTIFY WHERE AGENCIES ARE MAYBE TRYING TO MAKE THEMSELVES LOOK A LITTLE BUSIER THAN THEY REALLY ARE.
UH, A LITTLE BIT ON THE PROGRESS.
UH, WE ACTUALLY DID THIS REPORT.
WE WERE ON THE GROUND LATE PART OF SUMMER, I BELIEVE IT WAS WHEN WE WERE ACTUALLY HERE GOING INTO THE FALL.
THIS REPORT'S BEEN DONE FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS.
WE'RE JUST FINALLY GETTING TO A POINT WHERE WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO COME PRESENT IT.
UM, BUT THE DEPARTMENT'S REPORT WERE RECORDED.
THEY'VE ALREADY DONE A NUMBER OF THINGS, UH, RELATED TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE REPORT.
UH, SO I WANTED TO GO OVER THOSE VERY QUICKLY AND
[01:10:01]
THE CHIEF CAN WEIGH IN HERE ON SOME MORE IF HE'D LIKE.THEY'VE UPDATED THE ORG CHART.
SO WE TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE PROBLEMATIC THINGS IN THERE.
THEY SUBSCRIBE TO ONE OF THE POLICY SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES COMPANY CALLED
SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE IN THE PROCESS OF DOING THAT RIGHT NOW.
UH, WE HAD SOME RECOMMENDATIONS.
I DIDN'T TALK ABOUT IT IN THE, IN THE, UM, UH, IN THE PRESENTATION, BUT WE MADE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS IN TERMS OF HOW INTERNAL AFFAIRS, PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS THINGS ARE STRUCTURED AND MANAGED WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION.
UH, THEY'VE ALREADY FORMALIZED THAT THEY'VE PUT A LIEUTENANT IN CHARGE OF THAT.
UH, WE MADE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS INTO THE TERMS OF, UH, THE WORK OF THE PIO AND SOCIAL MEDIA.
UH, ESSENTIALLY GIVING THAT PERSON A LITTLE BIT MORE AUTONOMY WHERE THEY DON'T HAVE TO RUN EVERYTHING THROUGH THE CHIEF AND THEY HAVE GREATER AUTONOMY TO INTERACT WITH THE COMMUNITY.
UH, AND THE, UH, THE MEDIA, UH, THOSE HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.
WE SHIFTED THE FTO PROGRAM FROM THE NEAR CITY MANAGER TO PATROL WHERE IT BELONGS.
WE MADE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE RECORDS THING IN TERMS OF HOW THEY RE UH, RECEIVE PAYMENTS, UH, THINGS LIKE THAT FOR SERVICES THAT ARE DONE.
SOME OF THOSE HAVE ALREADY BEEN COMPLETED.
WE HAD SOME RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE REPORT THAT HAD TO DO WITH PROPERTY AND EVIDENCE.
UH, FOR ANYBODY THAT'S EVER BEEN A POLICE CHIEF, WE KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, YOUR PROPERTY AND EVIDENCE ROOM CAN POTENTIALLY BE ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST KIND OF SILENT HEADACHES THAT WILL SNEAK UP ON YOU IF THEY'RE NOT MANAGED PROPERLY.
SO WE MADE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS IN TERMS OF HOW TO MORE EFFECTIVELY STORE AND SECURE THINGS AND MAINTAIN CHAIN OF CUSTODY.
THE DEPARTMENT'S ALREADY WORKED TO SECURE SEPARATE WORMS TO SEPARATE WEAPONS AND NARCOTICS.
UH, THEY'RE ALSO WORKING ON WEAPONS DESTRUCTION PROCESS.
UH, AND THEN WE MADE SOME THINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS, TALKED ABOUT THE FACILITY.
THOSE WERE ONGOING DISCUSSIONS IN THE ORGANIZATION AND THEY'VE GONE FROM SIX VACANCIES TO FOUR VACANCIES WITH, UH, LAST TIME WE TALKED YOU ACTUALLY HAVE SIX PEOPLE PROCESSING FOR THOSE FOUR VACANCIES.
SO SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS, UH, THAT'S ALREADY BEEN DONE ON THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT.
WITH THAT, I KNOW WE'VE BEEN DOING QUESTIONS AND I'VE TAKEN A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR OF YOUR TIME, BUT I'M HAPPY TO TAKE MORE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FROM ANYONE FROM COUNCIL.
QUESTIONS FROM ANY OF YOU GUYS.
JUST, JUST A QUESTION ON, UM, I KNOW YOU USE RULE 60, UM, YOU MENTIONED ICPS MODEL OF 30 30 30.
HOW DID YOU CAPTURE ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE TIME, LIKE FUELING VEHICLES, MEALS, WORKOUT TIME, UM, ROLL CALL, MEETING WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR, LEAVE TRAINING COURT.
SO ULTIMATELY TAKES UP, ULTIMATELY THAT DOES SHOW UP.
ULTIMATELY, THAT DOES SHOW UP HERE.
SO YOU HAVE THIS CATEGORY OF OUT OF SERVICE WORK THAT FALLS INTO THAT, WHICH IS THIS VERY, YOU KNOW, THIN LINE OF PURPLE-ISH TYPE THING.
THAT'S WHERE IT'S ACTUALLY REFLECTED IN THE WORKLOAD IN THE REPORT ITSELF.
I ACTUALLY HAVE A CHART ON PAGE 61 OF THE RE NOPE, THAT'S, NOPE, LEMME TAKE THAT BACK.
NOT 61 ON PAGE 65, UH, UNDER TABLE FIVE POINT 10.
THIS IS AGAIN, ONLY AS ACCURATE AS WHAT THE, THE OFFICERS WERE ACTUALLY PUTTING IN THE CAD SYSTEM.
SO AGAIN, YOU'VE GOTTA CLEAN THAT UP.
YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE AN EXPECTATION THAT THE OFFICERS ARE, IF THEY ARE ACTUALLY TAKING THEIR CAR DOWN TO GET WASHED DOING SOMETHING THAT IS WORK RELATED BECAUSE MANAGEMENT EXPECTS THEM TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR CARS.
IT'S GOTTA GET RECORDED AS WORKLOAD SOMEWHERE SO THAT IT'S GETTING REFLECTED SOMEWHERE.
SO, SO IF IT WAS IN THE CAD THAT YOU USED THAT, IF IT'S IN THE CAD, THAT'S WHERE IT'S CAPTURED AND IT'S PROBABLY, I GUESS IT'S FAIR TO SAY THERE'S PROBABLY A LOT THAT ISN'T IN THE CAD AS FAR AS ADMINISTRATOR I HEARD SAY THAT A LOT TONIGHT.
YEAH, I THINK, I THINK THERE'S PROBABLY QUITE A BIT GOING ON THAT'S NOT IN CA.
AND IF I COULD JUST A, A COMMENT, UM, ON THE, UM, NUMBER OF OFFICERS PER A HUNDRED THOUSAND OR PER PER THOUSAND, UM, I DON'T THINK VERY MANY, UM, ENTITIES LIKE YOUR, YOUR ORGANIZATION OR ICP OR PER USE THAT AS A MEASUREMENT, UH, ANYMORE.
UH, THE EXAMPLE I USE IS, UM, WHERE MY POLICE CAREER WAS IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND, WE HAD 1.2 OFFICERS PER THOUSAND POPULATION.
UM, RIGHT NEXT TO US WAS THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND THEY HAD SOMETHING LIKE 7.3 PER THOUSAND.
BUT I WOULD TAKE OUR CRIME RATE AND UM, THE QUALITY OF, YOU KNOW, THE COMMUNITY LIFE IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY OVER THE CRIME ISSUES IN DC E EVEN WITH A SIGNIFICANTLY MORE, UH, SWORN OFFICERS.
AND, AND SO THAT, THAT OFFICER RATE COMES FROM THE FBI DATA, RIGHT? AND THAT OFFICER PER THOUSAND RATIO THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IS A THROWBACK
[01:15:01]
FROM THE SEVENTIES, EIGHTIES, AND NINETIES.BEFORE IACP AND ICMA DEVELOPED THESE OTHER WORKLOAD METRICS.
SO IT'S STILL THERE AND AGENCIES STILL TALK ABOUT THAT.
HOW DO WE COMPARE OFFICERS PER THOUSAND, BUT OFFICERS PER THOUSAND SHOULD NOT BE A METRIC ANYWHERE THAT TALKS ABOUT WHAT YOU REALLY TRULY NEED.
OFFICERS PER THOUSAND DC I'M SURE THAT'S PROBABLY JUST METRO DC PROBABLY DOESN'T INCLUDE PARK POLICE AND THE CAPITOL POLICE AND THE OTHER, THE OTHER, THE OTHER ENTITIES.
UNIFORMED LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES DRIVING AROUND WASHINGTON DC IT'S A VERY DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT.
UH, IT'S ALSO, IT'S ALSO TRUE THAT A PLACE LIKE LOFTON WHERE YOU, THERE'S ONE OFFICER SITTING IN A CAR, UH, IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN AN LAPD WHERE THERE'S TWO OFFICERS IN EVERY CAR.
IT CHANGES THE DYNAMIC QUITE A BIT.
SO OFFICERS PER THOUSAND IS NOT A TRUE MEASURE.
LET ME, FIRST OF ALL, SIR, THERE'S NO MISCOMMUNICATION HERE.
UH, I THINK THE FACT THAT WE HAVE AN EXTREMELY LOW CRIME RATE AND WE'VE BEEN RECOGNIZED FOR THAT ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION, UM, IS PART OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND THE ATTRACTION THAT IT HELPS BRING PEOPLE HERE.
UH, I, I, I'M JUST VERY PROUD OF THAT.
UM, ANOTHER THING THAT STOOD OUT TO ME WAS NOT ONLY THE NUMBER OF, UH, TRAFFIC STOPS SEEMED TO BE A, A REASONABLY HIGH NUMBER, BUT ALSO, UH, I WAS AMAZED BY HOW LOW CITIZEN COMPLAINTS ARE.
I WAS JUST, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT AND I WAS LIKE, WOW, THAT IS EXTREMELY LOW.
UH, AND THEN THE OTHER PART WAS I NOTICED THAT THE NUMBER OF ALARM CALLS WAS SIGNIFICANT.
UM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE DO ABOUT THAT, BUT THAT WAS A RATHER LARGE NUMBER ON THAT CHART.
SO I DON'T REMEMBER, DO YOU GUYS HAVE THE ORDINANCE HERE? UH, NO, WE DON'T HAVE AN ORDINANCE.
AND THERE'S ALSO COMPANIES THAT WILL ACTUALLY START CHARGING REPEAT OFFENDERS WITH ALARMS THAT WE CAN CERTAINLY EXPLORE.
THAT'S SOMETHING MAYOR AND COUNCIL ARE INTERESTED IN.
SO JUST TO GO ALONG WITH THAT, UM, OTHER PLACES I'VE BEEN BEFORE, THERE'S BEEN ALARM ORDINANCES AND YOU GET SO MANY FALSE ALARMS AND AFTER THAT YOU START GETTING BILLED FOR THE POLICE COMING OUT.
AND THAT ESCALATES, YOU KNOW, YOU MIGHT GET LIKE THREE PER WEEK AND THEN THREE PER MONTH, AND THEN AFTER THAT IT'S A HUNDRED, THEN TWO 50, THEN FIVE.
THE GOAL IS TO ENCOURAGE HIM TO FIX WHATEVER'S CAUSING THE FALSE ALARMS. SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER HERE.
WE CAN AHEAD AND PUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT TOGETHER.
WELL, IT IMPACTS YOUR MANPOWER.
AND, AND I, I'VE GOT SOME ALARMS AND, AND THEY GO OFF KIND OF RANDOMLY THEMSELVES, SO I HAVE TO TIGHTEN UP.
CAN I JUST A, A COMMENT TO THAT, WHAT YOU'RE TALKING, BECAUSE THAT, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE SEE, UM, ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN, IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS THAT DON'T HAVE AN ALARM, A FALSE ALARM REDUCTION PROGRAM.
UM, IN, IN MANY CA MANY, UH, CASES WHERE I'VE SEEN FALSE ALARMS ARE ONE OF YOUR HIGHEST CALLS FOR SERVICE.
AND NATIONALLY, 94 TO 96% OF THEM ARE FALSE.
AND TYPICALLY IT'S THE CLEANING CREW DOESN'T GET TRAINED.
SO SOME ALARM, UM, UH, LEASES JUST, THEY, THEY DON'T TAKE THE TIME TO TRY TO IMPROVE THAT.
SO IT'S ALWAYS A CASE WHERE TYPICALLY TWO OFFICERS GET DISPATCHED.
SOMETIMES YOU'LL EVEN HEAR 'EM ON THE RADIO SAY, I DON'T NEED, I DON'T NEED A BACKUP.
IT'S, IT'S THE, UH, UM, THE CLEANING CREW, YOU KNOW, THEY, IT GOES OFF EVERY, EVERY NIGHT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
BUT WE CONTINUE TO RESPOND TO THEM.
AND YOU KNOW, HAVING A FALSE ALARM REDUCTION ORDINANCE AND THERE ARE COMPANIES THAT WILL DO ALL THE BACK OFFICE STUFF WORK FOR YOU, UM, REALLY MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
AND THAT WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY, I I, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT BLUFF ITS NUMBERS, BUT THAT SIGNIFICANTLY PLUS YEAH, REDUCE THE, THE, THE WORKLOAD, WHICH MEANS THERE'S ABILITY TO DO MORE PROACTIVE STUFF.
AND THERE, THERE'S A COUPLE COMPONENTS TO IT TOO.
IN ORDER TO EVEN GET A POLICE RESPONSE, MANY OF THOSE ORDINANCES REQUIRE THAT YOU HAVE TO REGISTER YOUR ALARM WITH THE CITY
SO IF YOU'RE GONNA HAVE AN ALARM, IT'S GOTTA BE REGISTERED WITH THE CITY, SO YOU'RE ON FILE.
SO WHEN THE ALARM COMPANY CALLS THE POLICE AND SAYS, HEY, WE HAVE A SITE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE AN ACTIVATION AT, YOU KNOW, 1, 2, 3 MAIN STREET.
IN MANY CASES, IF YOU'RE NOT EVEN A REGISTERED ALARM, THE POLICE AREN'T GONNA RESPOND.
SO BECAUSE THE FACT THAT WE KNOW WE WON'T RESPOND.
THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE WE SAY THOUGH, THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WORK IN ONE COMMUNITY MAY NOT WORK IN EVERY COMMUNITY BECAUSE OF THE DYNAMIC THAT EXISTS THERE.
I'M JUST TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THESE PROGRAMS GET PRETTY, I HAVE A QUESTION SPOT TIME IF I CAN REAL QUICK.
UH, THE FRIGHTENING PART FOR ME AS A POLICE CHIEF, PROBABLY ANY POLICE CHIEF DEALING WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS THE MORE FREQUENTLY WE GO TO THE SAME CALL, THE MORE COMPLACENT OFFICERS GET, UH, YOU HEARD BILL SAY THAT IT'S REQUIRED.
WE HAVE TWO OFFICERS GOING TO EVERY ALARM CALL.
[01:20:01]
SOMETIMES CANCELING, OH, IT'S A THIRD TIME WE'RE GOING OUT HERE.WELL WHAT IF IT'S A REAL THIS TIME? YOU KNOW, NOW THIS OFFICER'S CANCELING SOMEBODY BECAUSE IT'S THE THIRD TIME THEY'VE BEEN OUT THERE.
THE FIRST TWO TIMES IT COULD HAVE BEEN THE WIND OR THE CLEANING CREW OR WHATEVER.
AND SO MY BIGGEST FEAR IS THE MORE REPEAT ALARMS WE HAVE, I WORRY THAT OUR OFFICERS GET COMPLACENT.
SO IT'S OUR JOB TO KIND OF KEEP THEM, HEY, NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE SENDING TWO OFFICERS TO EVERY CALL, UM, EVEN IF IT'S THE THIRD TIME YOU'RE GOING OUT THERE, TWO OFFICERS TO EVERY CALL FOR ALARMS FOR THAT SPECIFIC REASON.
I THINK, I THINK THE FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS, UH, SOMETHING IN PLACE ABOUT CHARGING.
IF IT'S TOO MANY, I CAN, I CAN CHECK ON THAT.
YEAH, REPETITIVE OPEN CALLS ALARM.
IS THAT FACTORED ONLY ON 9 1 1 CALLS IN? 'CAUSE WE'VE GOT A NON-EMERGENCY NUMBER.
I KNOW WE'VE, WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL BACK AND I'VE HAD TO CALL FOR AN OFFICE AND HAVE SOMEONE DISPATCH TO CALL THE NON-EMERGENCY NOT TO BLOCK 9 1 1.
SO IT WOULD, IT WOULD BE HOWEVER THEY RECEIVED THAT PARTICULAR PRIORITY OF CALL.
NOW WOULD THAT SLOW RESPONSE, SO IF IT'S A PRIORITY ONE, I THINK EVERYBODY'S ALWAYS GONNA TELL YOU TO DIAL 9 1 1, BUT WHEN YOU GET IN, I THINK YOUR PRIORITIES WERE ONE, THREE AND FIVE, YOU KNOW, VERY POSSIBLY MAYBE THE FIVES REALLY ARE MORE APPROPRIATE FOR THE BUSINESS LINE.
UM, SO IT'S HOWEVER THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT RECORDED THAT CODED IT AND WHAT INFORMATION THEY GAVE US IN TERMS OF WHAT THAT PROCESSING WAS.
AND IF YOU GO BACK TO THAT, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE LOWER PRIORITY, THE LOWER PRIORITY ONES, YOU GET DOWN TO FIVE, THE RESPONSE TIME MEAN THE DISPATCH TIME ISN'T SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER, BUT IT GOES UP ANOTHER MINUTE AND A HALF JUST FOR THE LOWER THE PRIORITY FIVE STUFF.
SO I WAS CURIOUS BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT WOULD SLOW IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT 'CAUSE YOU HAVE TO GET SWITCHED OVER 'CAUSE I'D HAVE TO GET SWITCHED OVER TO BLUFFTON WHEN, WHEN I CALL THAT NUMBER AND THEN THEY'D HAVE TO DISPATCH AND IT SLOWED DOWN RESPONSE TIME BY NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN.
YOU HAVE TO PROBABLY TALK ABOUT THE DYNAMIC ON THESE ARE NUMBERS THAT CAME OUT OF THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT'S CAT SYSTEM.
SO HOW ARE THEY SYSTEM, IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW THE DISPATCH LOGS IT INTO THE SYSTEM.
THAT AND WHATEVER CATEGORIES THEY DEEMED TO BE CATEGORY ONE, TWO, OR THREE, WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THAT.
AND SO MANY TIMES IT MAY BE CLASSIFIED AS SOMETHING THAT THEY SEE AS A, YOU KNOW, CATEGORY ONE AND WE GET OUT THERE AND IT'S JUST TWO PEOPLE ARGUING THERE'S NO FIGHTING GOING ON OR, OR WHAT HAVE YOU.
AND SO I THINK THAT THAT IS WHERE THE SITUATION'S COMING IN IS NOT EVERYTHING IS A NINE ONE ONE CALL EMERGENCY TOO, LIKE JARED SAID WITH THOSE NUMBERS, WHEN YOU REALLY LOOK AT THE 9 1 1 CALLS, I THINK THE BEST TEMPLATE TO GO OFF IT WOULD BE THE INJURY ACCIDENT, RIGHT? BECAUSE THAT'S AN EMERGENCY.
THEY'RE QUICK TO CALL US, WE'RE QUICK TO GET OUT THERE.
I THINK EIGHT MINUTES IS PROBABLY MORE REALISTIC FOR, I DON'T WANNA SAY REAL EMERGENCIES, BUT YOU KNOW, THE TRUE CATEGORY ONE EMERGENCIES.
UM, I I HAVE A CONCERN WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU JUST, YOU SAID THAT UM, YOU MIGHT GET TO A CALL AND YOU JUST ARGUE, BUT WHAT IF UM, YOU DIDN'T GET TO THE CALL AND IT GOT INTO A REAL SHOE SHOOT UP? WELL MAYBE THAT WAS A BAD EXAMPLE.
NO, I WAS JUST TRYING TO SAY THAT, UM, THAT WOULD MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE CATEGORIZED AS AN EMERGENCY CA LIKE CATEGORY ONE, LIKE AN ACCIDENT WITH INJURIES WHERE SOMEBODY NEEDS EMERGENCY HELP, NEEDS, YOU KNOW, IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION AS OPPOSED TO, YOU KNOW, I THINK DOMESTICS ARE CATEGORY ONE AS THEY SHOULD BE.
UM, I'LL HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT THE COUNTY CONSIDERS CATEGORY ONE AND HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THE SHERIFF ON THAT.
WHAT OTHER QUESTION, PLEASE, CHIEF, IF A OFFICER'S ON DUTY, UM, SITTING IN THE CAR AND DOING THIS PAPERWORK, HOW DO YOU, HOW DO YOU CLASSIFY THAT? SO WE JUST STARTED DOING IT IN FEBRUARY WHERE WE HAVE THE OFFICERS RECORDING THAT THEY ARE DOING REPORTS.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE.
UM, SOMETHING THAT THE OFFICERS HAVE TO GET USED TO DOING THEMSELVES.
'CAUSE OFTENTIMES REPORT WRITING AND LOGGING INTO EVIDENCE TAKE A LOT OF TIME THAT THEY DON'T PUT THEMSELVES OUT ON.
UM, JARED'S ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, YOU KNOW, I GUESS OLD SCHOOL MENTALITY WHERE YOU'RE ALWAYS AVAILABLE, YOU TYPED OUT REPORT WHENEVER YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO IT, BUT THEY'RE NOT TAKING CREDIT FOR THAT ACTUAL WORK.
SO WHAT WE'RE STARTING TO DO IS LOG THAT INTO OUR CAT OURSELVES.
ANY MORE QUESTIONS FROM ANYBODY? IF NOT, WE ARE ADJOURNED.
IS THERE A MOTION TO ADJOURN? I GUESS WE HAVE TO HAVE A MOTION.
WE'LL, AND HOW VOTE ANOTHER ONE.
[01:25:01]
EXTREMELY COMPREHENSIVE.