Public Safety Commission

Chairperson Dan Smoker Vice Chair Kerstin Keough Public Safety Commission Clark Hammelman Meeting Minutes - Final Don MacBrayne Nate Marsh Janet Peterson Carl Smith Steve Thayer Mike Wells Thursday, September 2, 2021 3:00 PM Castle Rock Municipal Courtroom, 100 Perry St., Castle Rock, CO 80104 This meeting is open to the public. Please note that all times indicated on the agenda are approximate and interested parties are encouraged to be present earlier than the posted time. Call to Order and Attendance Chairperson Smoker called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. Present 8 - Chairperson Dan Smoker, Vice Chair Kerstin Keough, Clark Hammelman, Don MacBrayne, Nate Marsh, Carl Smith, Steve Thayer, and Mike Wells Not Present 1 - Janet Peterson Attendance 4 - Jack Cauley, Rich Martin, Becky Hernandez, and Sam Varela Approval of Meeting Minutes PS 2021-031 Public Safety Commission meeting minutes - August 5, 2021 Attachments: PSC Aug. 5, 2021 minutes Mr. Hammelman moved to approve the August 5, 2021 minutes. Mr. Thayer seconded the motion; the motion carried. Yes: 8 - Chairperson Smoker, Vice Chair Keough, Hammelman, MacBrayne, Marsh, Smith, Thayer, and Wells Not Present: 1 - Peterson Fire Department Report PS 2021-032 CRFD July Report Attachments: Fire Department · Commission members were emailed a copy of the Fire Department’s June monthly report o Deputy Chief Rich Martin informed the commissioners of the following: § Current deployments include: · Wildland fire 14-day deployment (Springfield, CO). · Colorado Task Force 1 search and rescue (Grand Isle, near New Orleans). § One recruit finished the lateral academy and is now online. § Call volume is trending at a 12% increase over 2020. § Hospitals in the area are on divert due to staffing decreases Public Safety Commission Meeting Minutes - Final September 2, 2021 as well as high acuity patients. · The department is working through these challenges as the medic units are now traveling further distances such as Littleton. · Question: o Are the hospitals’ Covid patients still requiring two days of care before being discharged? Chief Martin stated these patients are now averaging approximately five days in the hospital due to the patients being much more ill (prior to the previous hospital admissions). Police Department Report PS 2021-033 CRPD July Report Attachments: Police Department · Commission members were emailed a copy of the Police Department’s June’s monthly report. o Chief Cauley informed the commissioners of the following: § Auto thefts are up 23 percent from 2020. § Officer hiring process opens on September 6. · Only three Colorado police agencies are fully staffed; Castle Rock Police Department is one of the three. Support from our community is a main factor, and our officers enjoy working at CRPD. § Sergeant and corporal promotional processes are currently open. · This process will create an eligibility list, which is effective for one year. o Chief Cauley introduced Commander Varela for a presentation on several videos to include training on vehicle stops and a recently recovered stolen vehicle utilizing the department’s newer technology: licensed plate readers (LPR) and Flock cameras. § Discussion ensued on: · The department’s temporary position of a situation monitoring officer; the officer works in the dispatch center. · Many stolen vehicles are no longer stopping at the officer’s request but speeding away. The challenges are being addressed with the department’s training and technology. o Training: Vehicle containment approach. o Technology: Drones and cameras are utilized for stolen vehicles, etc. On September 2, the following incidents/recoveries were due to this technology: § Flock hits: 4 (all located by CRPD) resulting in: Public Safety Commission Meeting Minutes - Final September 2, 2021 · 3 stolen vehicles · 1 warrant § Recoveries: 4 · 3 Flock hits · 1 call for service from OnStar § Warrants: 2 · 1 Flock hit · 1 Domestic call for service § In custody: 6 · 4 from stolen vehicles · 2 from warrants § Non-traffic citations: 2 · 1 from stolen vehicle · 1 from theft § Camera assists: 5 · 1 traffic accident · 1 alarm · 2 stolen vehicles · 1 warrant o Questions for Chief Cauley and/or Commander Varela: § Any other technology on the horizon? This really is the latest technology, which we quickly acted upon and implemented. Discussion on state legislature bills and body-worn camera mandates, which CRPD completed years ago. § How do you feel about the trend of sending social workers on calls without officers? CRPD utilizes a caseworker in partnership with one of our community response officers. § Are there other jurisdictions using the camera technology? CRPD was the first in the state to utilize the Flock system; we are receiving calls from other interested law enforcement agencies. § How does Flock gain the information? Through an integrated agreement. § Are you planning to keep the situational monitoring officer? Commander Varela stated this position has been very successful to this point; we are still in the process of piloting this position. § I would imagine insurance companies would be interested in this technology; have you heard anything about this? Discussion on businesses and HOAs’ interest and partnership with the LPR program. § In the report, traffic stops are down but citations are up, is there a reason for this? Not really, these things ebb and flow. There has been no change in our philosophy or strategy; however, we do receive periodic state grants for DUI and Click-it-or-ticket campaigns where writing tickets are mandatory (during the campaign). § Do you always recruit at the entry level, or do you ever bring in officers at a higher level (e.g., corporal, sergeant). We Public Safety Commission Meeting Minutes - Final September 2, 2021 have hired external supervisory levels in the past, but we typically hire at the officer level as we look for the best fit for our agency. It may be someone with experience or no experience. We develop our officer talent very well; thus, we look internally for promotional opportunities. § Does the department do any driver education for the youth in our community? If we receive chronic complaints, we will send out our traffic officers for increased patrol to these areas. Per Commander Varela, the courts may sanction this type of education as needed (e.g., defensive driving, community service). § Would the LPR system ever be used for traffic enforcement? No, this is not a traffic enforcement tool. New Business N/A Old Business N/A Commissioner Comments and Questions N/A Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 4:25 p.m. The next Public Safety Commission meeting is scheduled for October 7, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. at the Municipal Courtroom. Ms. Keough made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Mr. Marsh seconded the motion. Yes: 8 - Chairperson Smoker, Vice Chair Keough, Hammelman, MacBrayne, Marsh, Smith, Thayer, and Wells Not Present: 1 - Peterson