Public Safety Committee (Building & Codes, Fire, Police)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES November 18,2020 - 4:00 p.m. Via Zoom Meets CALLTOORDER: A meeting of the City of Clarksville Public Safety Committee was called to ordcr by Councilman Ron Erb on Wednesday, November 18,2020, at 4:00 p.m. This meeting was conducted via Zoom Meets. ATTENDANCE: The following mcmbcrs responded to ro[1 call and were connected to thc meeting. lt was notcd there was a quorum. Councilman Ron Brb: Councilman Vondell Richmond; Councilwoman Wanda Srnith Others Participating: Chief of Staff James Halford, Building & Codcs Interirn Dircctor David Smith, Fire & Rescue Chief Freddie Montgomcry, Chief of Police David Crockarell, Intemal Auditor Stephanie Fox, Kathy Cray Absent: Chairman JeffFlenley, Councilman Travis Hollcman APPROVAL OF ELECTRONIC MEETING: ln order to comply wilh the technical aspects of lhe Governor's Dxeculive Order regarding holding open meelings in aforum olher lhdn in the open and in puhlic, lhe Public Safety Commitlee delermines lhat meeting electronically is necessary lo prolecl lhe heolth, safety, and we\are of its citizens due to lhe COVID-|9 outbreak Councilman Richmond made a motion to approvc thc elcctronic meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilman Erb. The vote for the motion 1o conduct this meeting by clectronic mcans was approved unanimously by the Committee. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Minutes from the October 21, 2020 meeting wcre approved by the comrnittee aftcr a motion was made by Councilwoman Smith and seconded by Councilwoman Richmond. BUILDING & CODES DEPARTMENT REPOITT: David Smith gave a brief overview of the dcpartment report. Among his commcnts, he stated that single-family pcrmit totals are up. He said they havc not added any new inspectors sincc 2018. [f the permits continuc or increase they will nced to add a new employce in thc budgct. He said they are catching up with the grass cutting. So lar they have cut around 80 different properties. Ile thankcd everyone for supporting on the code adoption from last month. He stated he would answer any questions. Councilwoman Smith asked how many commercial permits were given out this year. Councilman Erb said it was 47 million worth of improvcments. Councilwoman Smith asked David Smith, how we relinquish on them not paying for grass cutting. Hc said that we bill thcm and put a lcin on their propcrty taxes. Then they will pay when taxes are due. l{c said l,auri Matta in Finance could probably answel better to that question. Councilwoman Smith asked the cost ofcutting the yard. David Smith said it depends on the sizc ofthe yard along with how many hours spent cufting. I{c stated the majority of leins are around one hundred and fifty dollars. David Smith said he will follow up with Lauri in Finance on the process and give the infomration to Councilwoman Smith. POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT: ChiefCrockarell prcsented the monthly rcport and askcd fbr questions. Ile statcd that the District 3 precinct is moving along. l{c talkcd about thc progress of thc construction for the building. He said CPD sent about l9 ollcers to help in the search for the Iittle boy in Joclton. IIe stated thcy did locatc the little boy. CPD played a vital rolc in the search for him. He said in these types of instances surrounding counties need help thal CPD can provide. I Ic said the Sheriff callcd and rcqucstcd assistancc and in about twelve hours we were able to help. Councilwoman Smith thankcd Chief Crockarcll for the hard work in helping find thc child. ChiefCrockarell said they have hired seven more oIficers. 'l'hey are waiting on background checks and should have them swom in by next month. Hc said the Donclson Academy rnay be full so we might scnd lhem to Walter State in east'fennessee. llc said we might not gct thcse officers in thc Academy until late January. Hc said this docs not get us in thc fcdcral governmcnt grant for ninc officers yct. He said we can sta that grant program when we gct past thc allocation which was 312 at the time the grant was approved. Hc staled a few ollicer have left and he terminated onc. I1c said hiring seven will put us back at 310. Hc said wc probably won't hirc from the grant until March. I lc stated due to covid- 19, applications arc down but thcy arc doing ok. I Ic statcd hc passed on hiring a fernale duc to the interview. I.le said no African Americans applied but we did hire a bilingual oflicer and Pacillc Islander.from Ilawaii. Ilc said not as divcrsc as he liked it to havc been but thcy had a good ycar othcrwise for diversity. IIe said this will be the last hiring group this year. Chicf Crockarcll said they will step up patrol around thc Mall & Wilma Rudolph arca and also Walmart Fort Campbell Blvd & Quin Lane during the holidays coming up. Hc statcd he would answer any questions. Councilman Erb said therc wcrc ovcr a thousand attempts to serve warrants on thc report. He askcd ChiefCrockarell what is the percentage on what you actually serve. Chief Crockarell said a good portion of them are unsuccessful but we take a lot ofon vicw wauants likc a DUI. He stated for one person it may take several attempts. Councilwoman Smith asked if the warrants arc non criminal or drug wamants. Chief Crockarell said thesc are all criminal wanants. Councilwoman Smith thanked Chief Crockarell. Councilman Richmond said as a part of this ycar's Leadcrship Clarksville Class, Chicf Crockarcll and the department did an outstanding demonstration. He said he was so thoroughly proud as a Public Safety Committee Member and Member olCity Council. He said Lcadcrship of Clalksville had a Public Safety Day at Wilma Rudolph Event Center. Ile said we have amazing men and women on the force. Ile said this also involvcd the county. IIe thankcd Chicf Crnckarcll for repr€senting the City of Clarksville very well. ChiefCrockarell said traditionally that and the CI'A program are the two most important outreach programs to get involved in the community. Councilman Richmond said thc only thing he would add is to sharc with the community on this event. I Ie said we could address the concems ofthe community and continuc to train and hirc nrorc high caliber of ofliccrs. Chicf Crockarell said it is always good for Council Mcmbers with thc Public Safcty Committee to be therc. FIRE & RESCUI] DEPARTMIN REPORT: Chief Montgomery said there was an updated report givcn to replace thc original one sent. I le gavc -l'raining a review ofthe monthly reports and ask were there any qucstion's. I{e said thc I)ivision Successfully passcd the monthly audit. Hc said thirty three classes wcn: hosted and two wcrc Statc Certification Events. Hc said a total of ninety scvcn attendees and thrcc hundred seventy thrcc hours total of training. Chief Montgomery said the ground breaking on the new maintenance building started. Hc said it should be about a six month build timc. He said there were no big changes to report. I'le said wc have received a few things in from our grants. Councilwoman Smilh had a concem to address with Chief Montgomery. She received a completc regarding one ofthe inspectors from Fire Prevention. She said the inspector was very disrespectful to thc business owner. She said shc instructcd the person to call cither Chief Montgomcry or Mayor Pitts. Chief Montgorncry said he had not receivcd a call but asked for her to encourage the busincss owncr to reach him. Councilwoman Smith thanked chief Montgomery for taking care of that and for his reports. CITY COUNCIL ACT10N REQUIRED l RESOLUT10N 36‑2020‑21 A RESOLUT10N AUTHORIZNG A MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF CI′ ARKSVH′ E AND AUSTN I)EAY I´ STATE UNIVERSITY FOR POLICE SERVICES 2. RESOI」 T10N35‑2020‑21 A RESOLUT10N AUTHORIZING A MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN「 HE CITY OF CI′ ARKSViLLE AND TENNESSEE BURAU OFINVESTIGATION ul′ ATIVE TO THE MOBH′ E IDENTIFICATION DEVICE POLICY Chief Crockarell stated there were two items on thc list. He said one is the Mutual Aid Agreemcnt between Austin Peay campus Policc and CPD. Ile said this has basically come up again bccause hc replaced Chief Ansley. He said that the signatures necd to be updated. Hc said this is so they can help cach other if needed. 'l'here were no qucstions. A motion to approvc was made by Councilwoman Wanda Smith, seconded by Councilman Richmond, Approvcd by all and passed. It will now go to City Council. Chief Crockarell stated the next onc was a budget item purchase an in thc ficld fingcr print idcntification. IJe said this can be used to idcntify someone during a search wan'ant or a deceascd person. Hc said it is a mobile device they can take in the field and it will run through thc AFIS system with the TBI to check a hnger print. He said iftherc is a hit on thc finger plint the pcrson can bc idcntified. IIe said it was being purchased exclusively for thc homicidc division. Chiel' Crockarell askcd wele lhere any questions. Councilwonran Srnith askcd il'the dcvicc would be uscd only for homicides or would they also use it fol regular deaths. Chief Crockalell said they would usc it for that but therc were some legality's around that. Hc said for somg instances there might be a search warrant required or consent from somcone that is alive. He said for somconc alive they can consent to run their print but for someone deceased thcre would bc lcgality's around that. IIe said they could use it for anything ifthc person gives conscnt. He said ifthey will not give consent then a search warrant will nced to be rctricvcd. Hc said it,s a good opportunity to cxpedite things faster. councilwoman smith asked if a citizens was pullcd ovcr would it be used on thcm. chiel'crockarell said it wouldn't bc used every time somcone was pulled over' He said this is something that the hornicide division wilt usc. I{e said with overdoses and homeless on the rise the devise will help to identifo people so families can bc notificd quickly. Hc said this device could help assist in identifying someone in the first forty eight hours. councilwoman s,rith asked was thc dcvice mai,ly for homicides anrl not to be usei as iraffio stops chiefcrockarcll said it is an invcstagating tool not forjust r.egular trarl,ic stops. councilman I,'b asked how many devices werc going to bc purchased. chiefcrockarc* said we will bc purchasing onc. He said maybe thcre ma! bei nccd ib, r*o uut for now only ono would be purchased. councilwoman Smith asked thc cost ofthc dcvicc. chiet.crockarc was the cost bur thought it might be under two unsure of thousand. He said he courd look it up and Councilwoman Smith. . email it to Councilwoman Smith asked if thcrc would be a policy put in place for thc dcvice. Chief Crockarell said at this time there will bc no policy but they would work around thc lcgalities for it. I-le said it will only be chccked out by a few mernbers of the depafimcnt. Hc said it will bc monitored on how it is used. Councilwoman Smith said shc was concerned about a lot of law suits coming in for using thc device. Therc wcrc no fuI1her questions. A motion to approvc was made by Councilman Richmond, seconded by Councilman Erb. Councilwomarr Smith was undecided. Approved by two Committee Members and passcd. It will now go before thc City Council. ADJOURNMENT Councilman Ron Erb asked for any public comments. There were none and he ad.iourned the meeting at 4:40 p.m. Submitted by: Gina Johnson Clarksville Fire Rescue Depa(ment Adopted: January 20, 2021