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Police Advisory Commission Minutes 10-20-2010Police Advisory Commission Minutes: 10/20/10 MINUTES MONTICELLO POLICE ADVISORY COMMISSION Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - 7 p.m. Academy Room, Monticello Community Center Members Present: Brad Fyle, Brian Stumpf, Jason Roubinek, Leila McCarty and Chuck Fradella Ex- Officio Representatives: Lt. Dan Anselment - Wright County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Dave Anderson - Wright County Sheriffs Office Bruce Westby, City Engineer 1. Call to Order Brad Fyle called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm. It was noted that a quorum was present. 2. Approval of minutes of July 21, 2010 regular Police Advisory Commission meeting BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE JULY 21, 2010 REGULAR POLICE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING. JASON ROUBINEK SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. 3. Consideration of adding items to the agenda No items were added. 4. Wright County Sheriffs Office updates/ Q &A session Level 3 Sex Offender: Dan Anselment presented a fact sheet identifying the registered Level 3 Sex Offender, James Sandberg, who is to be released on October 25th, 2010 to the Monticello community. State Department of Corrections has been working with a property owner to provide living quarters to eventually house three sex offenders at a property on Hwy 37 East of 25. James Sandberg would be renting transitional housing from the property owner in the township but would likely frequent Monticello businesses. Dan Anselment indicated that Level 3 offenders are the worst and would be monitored by GPS 24/7. They would be on lifelong probation but the constant monitoring may expire at some later date. The offender would be required to ask permission to go anywhere and would be in violation if returning late. The Sheriff's Office only has the authority to provide notification to the Department of Corrections. Sheriffs Office Sgt. Leander would do spot checks at any time to determine the whereabouts of sex offenders housed in this facility. The community would be advised to report anything suspicious. An informational meeting is planned for tomorrow at 6:30 pm at the middle school auditorium. Police Advisory Commission Minutes: 10/20/10 Summer Criminal Activitv: Dan Anselment reported on summer activity calls for June - September 2010. There were over 2905 calls for service for 264 different offenses, an increase of 275 calls from the same period last year. Many of these were related to various big box store (Wahnart, Cub, Target, and Home Depot) offenses. There were 33 calls related to offenses occurring within bars. The two Holiday gas stations reported dozens of gas and go drive offs. The Clearwater truck stop averages about 100 calls per month. Kjellberg's Park had 181 calls for service, and there were 272 calls for service along East 7th Street, 74 of which were medical calls to St. Benedict's. The Sheriff s Office can break down these categories of calls for more specific information upon request. Drug Use: Dan Anselment stated that drug use hasn't decreased but the substance used has changed. He also said Monticello has the highest drug use rate per capita in the county, likely as a result of the ease of interstate access. There are a lot of controlled buys between St. Cloud and Minneapolis. Meth is still being used and marijuana, which is becoming more and more potent, is malting a comeback. He also pointed out that there is a huge amount of selling, abusing and theft of prescription medications. Criminal Investigations: Monticello has one full time investigator and 13 deputies assigned to investigations. They are currently experiencing an all time high in fraud, theft and burglary reports, including numerous counterfeit currency reports this past summer, although this activity seems to have fallen off recently. They also received numerous reports of people falling prey to lottery type scams. He pointed out that Kmart has had a lot of push -outs - felony theft reports in which full carts have been pushed out of the store. Walmart and Target have excellent monitoring systems. Target only calls when the case is rock solid. Criminal Sexual Conduct: In most of the 13 cases of reported criminal sexual conduct in Monticello the victim knew the offender. The victims were a mix of all ages including children, teens, adults, and vulnerable adults. The Sheriff s Office has an excellent working relationship with New River Hospital who provides forensic examinations for them. An examination typically costs $800 to $1,200 which is billed directly to the Sheriffs Office. Dog Complaints: There were 40 dog citations issued from June - September. The Sheriffs Office keeps Animal Control apprised in the case of repeat offenders and dog bites. Staff typically spends five hours per week on dog issues, many related to barking dogs. WCSO Contract: There are 52 hours of contract patrol assigned per day. He noted that the deputies are particularly busy from about 4 -8 pm. Dan Anselment provided a graph indicating service call volumes and call types for reference. His report also noted a law enforcement cost comparison to cities of similar size to Monticello which indicated that Monticello has one of the lowest costs per capita for law enforcement in Wright County. Police Advisory Commission Minutes: 10/20/10 The current contract runs through 2011. The Wright County Board decided not to decrease the hourly staffing rate previously determined for 2011 per a recent request by the City of Monticello so it will remain at $59 an hour. Monticello has been contracting with the Wright County Sheriff's Office since 1971. Wright County has the largest contracted Sheriff's Office in the upper Midwest. Previous studies conducted in Monticello had determined that having a police department in the City would be much more costly than contracting out for service. The Commission agreed that the rates are quite reasonable. It was pointed out however that likely half of city residents don't realize that law enforcement service is being provided by the County. There was discussion about the chance that City Council might decide to decrease coverage by 1.3 hours per day and it was noted that staffing could only be reduced in blocks of 4 hours, and that the hours of coverage and hourly rates could be discussed in more detail during the 2012- 2014 contract discussions in the summer of 2011. NO FORMAL ACTION REQUIRED /TAKEN 5. Consideration of developing a Mission Statement for the Police Advisory Commission Bruce Westby noted that Leila McCarty had agreed to help the Commission draft a Mission Statement. The process involved a two -part exercise that would need to be completed in January. She suggested that the creation of a Mission Statement would define the purpose served through the goals established and pointed out that each member should be able to state the mission of the Police Advisory Commission. First, she led the group through a mission statement matching exercise where everyone was asked to match each of the five Mission Statements to the corresponding large corporation which included Walmart, Westin hotels, Saturn, IBM and Fed Ex. Next, she facilitated the first part of the two -part exercise for developing a Mission Statement using the five step process outlined below. Step 1: Identifying Our Customers The Commission listed residents, business owners (and their customers), employees, citizens, commuters, travelers, visitors, family and friends, pets, the City Council, and law enforcement representatives as customers. Step 2: Identifying Shared Purpose and Values The Commission identified six shared purposes and seven shared values as noted below. These were determined in a brainstorming session and ranked in the next step. Shared Purpose: 1. Impact quality of life 2. Offer guidance to City Council 3. Liaison between public, law enforcement & City Council Police Advisory Commission Minutes: 10/20/10 4. Educate City Council on law enforcement issues 5. Guide /advise law enforcement as to what community needs 6. Go between public and law enforcement & City Council Values: 1. Integrity 2. Respect 3. Honesty 4. Objectivity 5. Professionalism 6. Impartial 7. Contribute to safe community /families The Commission also used terms such as family focus, fair, accountable, and dedicated to describe shared values. Step 3: Ranking by Consensus There was a great deal of discussion about customers among the Commission members. The rankings changed as the discussion progressed and new ideas were presented. The final rankings are as noted in Step 2. Step 4: Purpose /Values into Action Statements (Partner Exercise) Roubinek/Anderson: Objectively impacting quality of life of the Monticello community by working as a liaison between the City Council, law enforcement and the community. Stumpf /Fyle: Strive to provide our community with impartial to ensure a good quality of life. Fradella /Anselment: The purpose of the Police Advisory Commission is to impact the quality of life by fairly and objectively offering guidance to law enforcement and the community. Step 5: Refining Our Action Statements This is the second part of the two -part process and will be completed during the January PAC meeting. However, each Commission member will need to complete the following homework exercise before attending the January meeting. Homework: Refine the three action statements into draft mission statements to review and discuss at the January meeting, NO FORMAL ACTION REQUIRED /TAKEN Police Advisory Commission Minutes: 10/20/10 6. Consideration of reappointing Police Advisory Commission members with terms expiring in 2010 BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO RECOMMEND REAPPOINTING POLICE ADVISORY COMMISSION MEMBER BRAD FYLE, WHOSE TERM EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 31, 2010, TO ANOTHER TERM ENDING ON DECEMBER 31, 2013. CHARLES FRADELLA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. It was noted that Charles Fradella had been appointed to fill the term of Jim Roberts through 2011. All Commission positions are three year terms except the annual appointment of a council member liaison. Consideration of approving nominations for Outstanding Citizen Recognition Awards There was some discussion about the opportunity to formally recognize three citizens at an upcoming City Council meeting for their selfless acts of bravery and assistance to others. The Commission agreed that it was important to recognize people who went out of their way to help others. Dan Anselment agreed to verify the names of the individuals and determine if they'd be interested in public acknowledgement for their actions. He also agreed to pass that information along to Brad Fyle who would then arrange the recognition ceremony for an upcoming council meeting. The two unnamed individuals had helped rescue a woman who had driven into the Mississippi river, and another, Kyle Oen, had put out a house fire after noticing it while jogging in the area. JASON ROUBINEK MOVED TO APPROVE NOMINATIONS FOR OUTSTANDING CITIZEN RECOGNITION AWARDS NOTING THAT BRAD FYLE WOULD FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION. LEILA MCCARTY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. 8. Update on 2011 Law Enforcement Budget Bruce Westby noted that the City's 2011 preliminary levy amount had already been approved by Council with the expectation that the 2011 law enforcement budget could be reduced from the amount set forth in the contract. He pointed out that, because the 2011 law enforcement contract includes a rate increase of $1.50 per hour over the 2010 rate, the City would be forced to look for further budget cuts if the law enforcement budget could not be reduced. The 2011 budget per the law enforcement contract would be about 1.1 million dollars due to an hourly rate increase from $57.50 in 2010 to $59 in 2011. This represents an increase of $28,470 for 2011. Bruce was therefore asked by City Administration to determine if the Police Advisory Commission would be at all receptive to reducing the number of contracted law enforcement hours for 2011 by about 9.3 hours per week. Brian Stumpf noted that it took a long time to get to an adequate staffing level and that it would be inappropriate to reduce it. Leila McCarty agreed. Dan Anselment stated that the industry standard for a city the size of Monticello is about 1.9 officers per Police Advisory Commission Minutes: 10/20/10 1,000 residents and that they are currently at 1.3 officers per every 1,000 residents. Brad Fyle pointed out that the City has been getting a good value and should not reduce our contracted law enforcement hours. Jason Roubinek pointed out that the Commission would have been more comfortable with not increasing the level of pay. Brian Stumpf noted that the County chose not to do that. CHARLES FRADELLA MOVED TO RECOMMEND TO THE COUNCIL THAT THE 2011 LAW ENFORCEMENT BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF MONTICELLO NOT BE REDUCED FROM THE CURRENT CONTRACT AMOUNT. JASON ROUBINEK SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. 9. Discussion of added items There was a brief discussion of winter parking on city streets. It was noted that Tom Moores of the Streets Department works closely with law enforcement during all of the plowable snow events. Brian Stumpf suggested being proactive by issuing warning cards during the first few wintery weeks rather than ticketing people right away. 10. Schedule next meetine The next regular Police Advisory Commission meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 7 PM. 11. Adiourn BRIAN STUMPF MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 9:11 PM. LEILA MCCARTY SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. Kerry T. Burri V72 Recorder Date Approved: January 19, 2011 Bruce Westby, City Engineer