Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Board

Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Committee Monday, October 24, 2022 6:00 p.m. Polk State College JD Alexander Center 152 E. Central Avenue, Lake Wales, FL 33853 CALL TO ORDER: Andy Oguntola PRESENT Tiffany Davis PRESENT Al Goldstein PRESENT Narvell Peterson PERSENT Troy Schulze PRESENT Lt. Michael Smith NOT PRESENT Judi Gladue advised that Lt. Smith is running late, as he went with officers to pick up two new K9’s. POLICE TRAFFIC ACTIVITY In Lt. Smith’s absence, Chief Velasquez reported on the police activity for the period of September 1 through September 26, 2022. 47 Alpha 503 reports Bravo 524 reports Charlie 546 reports Delta 298 reports Five of the above reports involved weapons. The total number of calls for service was 1,871. The total number of arrests from the calls were 12. Chief Velasquez reported that all of the officers worked during the hurricane, and they all worked hard to make sure everyone was protected. The Department fared well during the storm, and we had just a few leaks. Chief Velasquez reported on traffic activity: We had 27 traffic complaints. We did 213 traffic stops. We worked 84 traffic crashes. We wrote 256 traffic citations. We wrote 6 warnings. We did 273 directed patrol requests. Directed patrol is where we spend time at specific areas where people requested patrol. We did 11 Field Interview Reports. These reports are typically where we have stopped someone who is walking in an area in the City at night and talk to them and get to know what is going on, essentially getting to know who is out moving around in the City. Page 1 We had a home invasion, which Lt. Smith had briefly touched on that had occurred right before our last meeting where we had three to five subjects in a residence with guns and the victim was struck in the face. The incident does appear to be legitimate and it was on Emerald Avenue. The case is still active. The detectives are waiting on some technology and subpoena’s they submitted. We are still trying to determine why it happened, since it is very rare to have a random home invasion. Chief Velasquez reported on police activity from October 1 to present. 47Alpha 314 reports Bravo 329 reports Charlie 437 reports Delta 179 reports So far, we have had a total of 1,259 calls for service. The total number of arrests so far this month is 45. We have had four calls so far this month involving weapons. Chief Velasquez reported on traffic activity: We had 31 traffic complaints. We did 153 traffic stops. We worked 76 crashes. We wrote 131 traffic citations. We write 10 warnings. We did 143 directed patrol requests. We did 9 Field Interview Reports. Chairman Oguntola asked the Chief if there is a specific area where the crashes keep occurring. Chief advised that we ran a report a while ago and from his recollection the crashes are all over. We have seen a higher number of crashes in our intersections, i.e., Chalet Suzanne/Hwy 27, Central Avenue/Hwy 27 and Buck Moore Road/SR 60. Narvell Peterson asked the Chief if the traffic light at Mt. Lake and Scenic helped. Chief replied that it has helped. Chief also advised what helped tremendously was the traffic circle at Scenic Hwy. and Hunt Bros. Chief advised there are plans for more traffic circles for Scenic Hwy. Chief advised we are still dealing with Janie Howard Wilson’s traffic congestion and said we have had to adapt because of the hurricanes since due to damage, some students from Bok North now attend Janie Howard Wilson and those parents did not know the pickup procedure. It is a tough situation, but we are working hard to come up with the best solutions. Chief reported on Seminole Avenue. We have done a lot of directed patrol on Seminole Avenue in the Grove Manor Apartments. We have had a lot of calls originate from this area and the significant and high profile cases were difficult to predict since they started inside a house. Chief also reporting on the Housing Authority. Chief advised he submitted a new contract proposal for consideration, however as of right now, we are providing service as we do throughout the City. He did say that a contract provides additional specific services over and above that, similar to the resource officer services we provide to our schools. Chief advised of the K9 update. We purchased two k9’s and they are on their way back right now. We will be back to four dogs, one on each squad. They will have to go to training, which Page 2 will last for quite a while. When they are out of training, we will have four K9’s. Al Goldstein asked how old the dogs are. One of the dogs is very young, but he did very well. They started out evaluating seven dogs, then they went to five, then three and then the two they ended up with. Chief reported on the budget approval. Chief advised that at the last meeting there was discussion of attending the Commission meeting and expressing support. Chief advised he was comfortable with presenting the budget and it went through fine. All of our requests were funded, including five additional officer positions. Andy asked about salaries. Chief advised that because the police department has a union, the salaries and benefits have to be negotiated. The City and the Union came to an agreement to do a 4% cost of living, an additional 2% in April and they also increased the pay for each STEP advancement by 1%. Chief explained the STEP plan. Officers were pleased. A question was asked of the new recruit salary. Chief advised it is around $41,000.00 and when they are off probation, they receive an increase. Al Goldstein asked how our City compares with other agencies in our County. Chief advised we are getting better in terms of the salaries but they need to be increased more. Chief spoke on our community outreach events. Chief advised the events are non-stop and we do about 70 different outreach events. We are getting ready to ramp up the events with the holidays approaching, including Shop with a Cop, which is coordinated by the Lake Wales Police Officers Association. Since 2009, Shop with a Cop has provided about 50 children each year with Christmas and their families with a Christmas meal. During these years, we have partnered with Walmart, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay and many businesses and citizens to help fund this event. The children get to shop for whatever they choose while accompanied by an officer. Chief reported that the Commission just approved the Edward Byrne Grant, which is a grant that comes from the Feds to the State and is then divided through the counties. Our City Commission approved our grant application for the purchase of two gas powered golf carts. What we are looking to do with these golf carts is community patrols, down town patrols and special events. This additional equipment highlights our capacity/size problem as we are running out of storage space. We may store one at the high school for our SRO to use. We can bring the golf cart back at any time it is needed. In closing, the Chief advised he just submitted for the purchase of 13 police vehicles. Five of the vehicles are Impact Fee funded and they are for the five additional officers we are hiring. Eight of the vehicles are to replace existing vehicles. Last year we budgeted for new vehicles but held off on the purchases due to COVID related budget uncertainties. By the time we were comfortable with the budget, it was too late to get them last year since the supply chain issues made getting vehicles nearly impossible. We also had three vehicles totaled during that time. We had enough vehicles for operations, but no spares. Al Goldstein asked if we were leasing or buying. Chief advised he is going to recommend that we buy five out of the Impact Fees and lease eight. Al Goldstein advised he would like to see us buy. Chief said the concept with the leasing makes sense that we can free money up for other things. Petitions from the Board: Tiffany Davis advised that the Board needs to discuss the next meeting, as she believed the meeting times were changed to every two months. Chairman Oguntola advised we are still currently having the meetings every month on the fourth Monday of the month. Chairman Oguntola advised we would discuss a different meeting time in this meeting. Page 3 Narvell Peterson asked what plans there were for holiday patrols. Chief responded that if there are any saturation patrols or any kind of State or Federal initiatives, we would participate. Other than those initiatives, it will be a day-by-day initiative depending on trends. When our SRO’s are out of school, they are also on the road for extra coverage. Tiffany Davis asked if there is any added security at Crystal Lake Park due to the paving of the bike path. Chief responded he is not aware of what the City will be planning for enhancing those areas. Due to more people moving in, there may be less burglaries to cars because more visibility. Chief advised what we see is people looking for an opportunity to burglarize. Chief advised we have many cases involving crimes of opportunity. He also said many of those crimes could be prevented if people locked their vehicles and hid their valuables. Narvell Peterson asked about the project on Highway 27 and Central Avenue. Chief advised it is a 5-year project and we are in year 2. Chief said maybe another year and a half. Once that project is complete, they will start the six-lane project from 27 South to the Highlands County line, which is about 18 miles. Lieutenant Michael Smith entered the meeting. All stepped outside for a few minutes to see the dogs. In continuing the petitions, Chairman Oguntola asked Troy if he had anything he would like to discuss. Troy Schulze advised that he would like to talk about the meetings once Lt. Smith briefed everyone about the trip to pick up the dogs. Lt Smith advised they drove to New Smyrna Beach, which is about a 2.5-hour drive. They went through a six-hour selection process. They started out with nine dogs and ended with these two. Mike explained how they choose a dog. Two people from Lakeland PD went along with us to help choose. Al Goldstein asked how long it would be before these dogs are on the street. Lt. Smith responded that school starts in two weeks and the school is 6 months. Troy Schulze added that the school is 600 minimum hours before dogs are on the street and they should certify within the year. Chief advised that we still have to take them to our vet to be checked out. Al Goldstein asked if they can take the dogs home with them right now and Lt. Smith responded yes. Chief added that the handler and dog will bond for two weeks before school. Mike advised that when the dog goes home, they know the difference between work and home. Chairman Oguntola asked to address the meeting schedule asking for discussion. Narvell Peterson suggested meeting every two months starting in January and if there is an issue, we can meet sooner. Troy Schulze agreed with meeting every two months. Chairman Oguntola advised that the next meeting will be the fourth Monday in January and then every two months after that. Adjourned at 6:50 p.m. Page 4