Public Safety Oversight Committee

CITY OF NORMAN, OK PUBLIC SAFETY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Development Center, Room B, 225 N. Webster, Norman, OK 73069 Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 4:00 PM MINUTES It is the policy of the City of Norman that no person or groups of persons shall on the grounds of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, place of birth, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, familial status, marital status, including marriage to a person of the same sex, disability, retaliation, or genetic information, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or othetwise subjected to discrimination in employment activities or in all programs, services, or activWes administered by the City, its recipients, sub-recipients, and contractors. In . the event of any comments, complaints, modifications, accommodations, alternative formats, and auxiliary aids and services regarding accessibility or inclusion, please contact the ADA Technician at 405-366-5424, Relay Service: 711. To better serve you, five (5) business days' advance notice is preferred. ROLL CALL PRESENT Chairman Linda Price Committee member Kyle Hurley Committee member Mark Emerson Committee member Ann Gallagher Committee member Kenny Orr Committee member Greg Gilkey ABSENT Committee member Lea Greenleaf Committee member Russell Rice OTHERS Major Chad Vincent, NPD Battalion Chief Chad Roney, NFD Russell Anderson, Communication Systems Manager Kim Coffman, Budget Manager Dannielle Risenhoover, Administrative Tech IV Bill Scanlon, Citizen Chair Price called the meeting to order at approximately 4:00 PM. She welcomed staff and guests to the meeting. PUBLIC SAFETY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE-Thursday, September 14, 2023 Page 11 MINUTES 1. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL, REJECTION, AMENDMENT AND/OR POSTPONEMENT OF MINUTES FROM AUGUST 10, 2023 Member Hurley made a motion to approve the August 10, 2023 Citizen Public Safety Oversight Committee minutes which was duly seconded by Member Gallagher. The motion passed unanimously. Items submitted for the record: Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee Minutes from August 10, 2023 REPORTS 2. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL, REJECTION, AMENDMENT AND/OR POSTPONEMENT OF FINANCIAL REPORTS Kim Coffman reported that Sales Tax has been a little low for the last two months and that it's going to be low again for September. Expenditures were reported as high due to the down payment on the newly ordered ladder truck for the Fire Department. Other expenditures included $17,000 for police car replacement and a large payment to Crossland Construction for the continued construction of the Emergency Communications Operations Center (ECOC). Coffman added, "I really don't know what's going on with the Norman Public School's SRO reimbursement. I submitted the schedule that showed what their portion would be, like I do every year, and Brenda Burkett-O'Brian said that the Mayor told her that "that amount would be different." Nobody knows why or any other details on that. The last I heard, the school district's contribution was going to remain the same and if anybody paid the County it was going to be the City somehow, so I don't know what's going on but wanted to give you an update on that." Member Gilkey asked if there were any Federal grants for SRO positions. Russell Anderson replied, "There's a single state grant, but it's for small towns. It's like $96,000/year so that doesn't even pay for one of our cops with benefits and everything included." Major Vincent and Member Gallagher recalled a previous Council study session where Council indicated that they wanted to speak with Norman Public School administrators about SRO funding. Vincent wondered if this was the hold-up in determining Norman Public School's reimbursement. There were three payrolls in the month of August. Items submitted for the record: Finance and Budget Reports DISCUSSION ITEMS 3. MONTHLY UPDATES - FIRE DEPARTMENT Battalion Chief Chad Roney gave the report. A five person Fire Academy will be starting September 22. A consulting firm has been selected to complete a Public Safety Study. This study is expected to identify what the City of Norman's needs are for fire and police personnel PUBLIC SAFETY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE -Thursday, September 14, 2023 Page 12 as well as for police and fire stations. Roney expects the study to be completed in the springB 2024. 4. MONTHLY UPDATES - POLICE AND DISPATCH Major Chad Vincent gave the report. Vincent stated that they have 166 staff members. This is down from 180 employees. There are currently 20 applicants that have gone through several stages of the hiring process, for the January Police Academy. If fourteen of these applicants make it through the hiring process, staffing numbers will be looking up. "That (hiring at least 14 employees) is a good sign. It's probably the best we've been (as far as filled positions go) for a number of years," Vincent said. It is expected that some officers will retire this year. 'We lose between 10 to 12ish {officers) every year. That's just our loss rate," Vincent said. "I know there's still discussion about the last four School Resource Officers (SROs). I don't know what the coming month will bring. We're still hoping that something might work out through Council directing us to bring on those four positions. If that is the case, you all know that takes time. We would need help from a staffing standpoint to bring in additional officers to get some of our internal folks trained up. We can't grab just anyone to go do that (the job of an SRO). I hear the same conversations that you all hear that 'school safety is a top priority."' October 2 is Norman's National Night Out. Norman Police Officers will be staged on the south side of Sooner Mall to engage with citizens and provide community outreach activities. Vincent stated that two Norman Police Officers were responding to a call when another vehicle pulled out in front of them. "That definitely could have been a lot worse than what it is, so we're certainly thankful for that. The car is replaceable, people are not," Vincent said. The officers were both treated for injuries. One of the officers is back to work. An increased number of Norman Police Officers will be present at more school events. Officers that have some SRO training will fill these rolls. Increased security measures, enforced by school administration, have also gone into effect recently. This includes such things as enforcing a clear bag policy, directing fans to stay on their designated side of the field or court, and requiring young children to be accompanied by an adult. Russell Anderson, Communication Systems Manager, stated that the Dispatch Department is down five employees. Seven individuals are scheduled for interviews. It is expected that the training for those hired would commence around the end of 2023. Anderson has scheduled a meeting with the State of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City. He hopes this meeting will lead to better radio communication interoperability between the City of Norman and the State. Anderson is still waiting for the Cleveland County Sheriff's Communications Manager to present a quote to Cleveland County Commissioners. This quote is for the cost of the Sheriff's Department to join the City of Norman's emergency communications system. 'They (Cleveland County Sheriff's Department) is in favor of coming onboard with us," Anderson said. Six Cleveland County SRO radios are programmed to connect with the City of Norman's communications system. The remaining Cleveland County SRO radios will be programmed once more radios are received. City of Moore's SWAT radios are now programmed on the City of Norman radio system. The City of Norman is still working with University of Oklahoma to get them on the City's Computer Aided Design (CAD) system. "So far, it's pretty much green lights across the board; we're just waiting on legal." Anderson said. Member Hurley asked Anderson if he could get the City of PUBLIC SAFETY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE -Thursday, September 14, 2023 Page 13 0 Moore on City of Norman's CAD also. Anderson said, "I would love to. I push hard every t i m B see them." 5. MONTHLY UPDATES - EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS OPERATIONS CENTER (ECOC) PROJECT & VEHICLE STORAGE FACILITY UPDATE Russell Anderson gave the report. He stated that all walls are up at the ECOC and the contractors are starting to hang steel. The whole building will be tornado proof. There is an upcoming meeting with furniture vendors. There has been no update from the City Manager or City Council regarding the Public Safety Oversight Committee's letter requesting additional funding for the ECOC vehicle storage facility. "The Council received it, but I don't think they gave Brenda direction to issue a response.'' Kim Coffman said. Russell Anderson asked if he should talk to Brenda Hall regarding a response to the letter. He was encouraged by the Committee to do so. Chair Price brought up the need for First Responder software updates. Member Hurley stated, "There is a rule with the State Department of Health that basically says that First Response Agencies do have to have the- ability to be able to submit electronic data for tracking purposes and stuff. The problem is they don't have a database set up for that right now so there is no way for them (State Department of Health) to enforce the rule, but at some point they are going to have that set up, so basically, once that goes live Norman Fire will have one of two options. One - they would have to get formal documentation software that would automatically submit that for them or they would have to manual enter every single medical call they go on, to the state and that would be very time consuming. I would recommend going with a documentation software. I know it was put in your budget for this year and it got denied. I think the purpose of this group is basically just to say, that's something that we would want to push for. At this point right now, it's not what I would call time sensitive, but as we start talking about budgets for Fiscal Year 25 we should begin to have that on there." 6. ESTABLISH TOPICS FOR THE OCTOBER 12, 2023 MEETING Kim Coffman asked that the Annual Report be added to the next meeting agenda and Chair Price asked that the Vehicle Storage Facility Update remain on the agenda for the next meeting. MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS Kim Coffman informed the Committee that Mike Rainer is no longer on the Committee. She encouraged Members to send Ward 7 citizens to Brenda Hall if they are interested in becoming a Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee member. Member Hurley commented that once the Public Safety Study comes back, he feels like the Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee might be asked for more recommendations. Citizen Bill Scanlon, who is on the Public Safety Study Committee stated, 'We don't expect a magic number from the result of this study. We expect that we'll be provided insight into circumstances that would dictate an increase in fire stations or personnel or whatever. Not a finite, 'We need 28 people on the 4 th of July in 2027.' The study will be a guideline for the City Manager and City Council, and in terms of what we do, when we do it, and how we fund it.n PUBLIC SAFETY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE -Thursday, September 14, 2023 Page [4 0 ADJOURNMENT Member Orr made a motion to adjourn the meeting which was duly seconded by Member Gilkey. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at approximately 4:40 PM. Linda Price, Chair Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee PUBLIC SAFETY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE • Thursday, September 14, 2023 Page IS 0