Public Safety Oversight Committee Meeting

CITIZENS PUBLIC SAFETY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MINUTES December 14, 2017 The Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met at 4 p.m. at 201 West Gray Street, Multi-Purpose Room on the 14th day of December, 2017, and notice and agenda of the meeting were posted at City Hall located at 201 W. Gray Street 24 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. PRESENT: Chair Eddie Sims, Members, Lea Greenleaf, Linda Price, Matthew Leal, Joan Goth, Melanie Hayes, David Wilson, and Bill Scanlon ABSENT: Member Mike McIlvoy COMMITTEE LIAISONS: Robert Wasoski, FOP (absent) OU (position vacant) IAFF (position vacant) STAFF PRESENT: Mayor Lynne Miller Suzanne Krohmer, Budget Manager Chief Travis King, NFD Major Teuscher, NPD Captain Hawkins, NPD Russell Anderson, NPD Item 2, being INTRODUCTION OF STAFF AND GUESTS Chair Sims called the meeting to order. He welcomed staff and guests to the meeting and asked them to introduce themselves. ******* Item 3, being APPROVAL OF THE CITIZENS PUBLIC SAFETY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MINUTES OF November 9, 2017. Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee Minutes December 14, 2017 Page 2 Member Price made a motion to approve the Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee minutes of the November 9, 2017 meeting, which motion was duly seconded by Member Greenleaf; and the question being to approve the Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee minutes of November 9, 2017, a vote was taken with the following result: YEAS: Chair Eddie Sims, Members Lea Greenleaf, Linda Price, Joan Goth, Melanie Hayes, Matthew Leal, David Wilson, and Bill Scanlon NAYES: none Chair Eddie Sims declared the motion carried and the Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee minutes of November 9, 2017 are approved. ****** ITEM 4, being: MONTHLY UPDATES Finance Report Suzanne Krohmer gave the presentation. She stated that on page 122, the accounts named “excess accounts” are not actual excess; they are where we put the money that resulted in the 2% budget cuts to all the departments. The CIP fund made a payment for Station No. 9 sod, the payment for the radio system was for Tusa Consulting, and the EOC design was for phase I of the architectural design services for this project. Fire Department Chief King gave the presentation. He stated that they are sending a team to Wisconsin in early January for the Station No. 7 engine and the unit will still be here by summer of 2018. Member Scanlon suggested there be a central location where fire engine maintenance could be performed and we could use the rolled over $800,000 in the budget. Chief King stated it would be of great benefit, especially if it could include fire and police vehicles and they could have the maintenance for those vehicles performed at this place. This could also serve to house a female shower facility as well as a “dirty” classroom. Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee Minutes December 14, 2017 Page 3 Member Price stated that the point is whether or not such a building is truly needed. Member Scanlon stated that we should encourage this project to actually happen. Police Report Captain Hawkins gave the presentation. He stated that we are still taking applications for the 56th Academy, which begins on April 9, 2018. We are looking to get 16 hires out of this upcoming Academy. The application deadline is tomorrow. November COP hours was a total of 1,026, which included 38 DDACTS zones, 758 in problem solving, and 228 in relationships. Some were Coffee with a Cop, Turkey Day 5k, Operation Cadence, and Black Friday events. We have already planned Coffee with a Cop from January to June. We will hold them on different days of the week and at different times to encourage more participation. Member Greenleaf asked if we would be getting more information on the DDACTS hours. Captain Hawkins stated that there are zones on the east side and the west side. Officers from all shifts have special projects to try to lessen the incidents of burglary, larceny, and traffic accidents. Major Teuscher stated that we could give a presentation on the DDACTS zones in the future. ****** ITEM 5, being: MEET NEW COMMUNICATION SYSTEM MANAGER RUSSELL ANDERSON AND DISCUSS COMMUNICATIONS STAFFING AND RADIO SYSTEM Russell Anderson gave the presentation. He stated that there has been some restructuring since he took over. He has promoted 5 people, and there are currently 2 vacancies and interviews of the remaining 9 applicants will happen in January. Hopefully we will be fully staffed soon so we can start working towards the 2 new PSST communication officer positions. Anderson stated that the radio system is depleted right now, so we are glad the new system is going through. We are currently managing the issues that we have with the old system. Major Teuscher stated that Anderson is good at managing people and helping with the radio replacement project. Member Greenleaf asked if we are seeing any major problems with the system as it stands before the Harris system comes in. Anderson stated that we have identified some problems, but we have it maintained. Mayor Miller asked what the timeline for the new radio system is. Anderson stated that if everything goes as planned it will be April 2019. We still need to acquire land for 2 of the sites. Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee Minutes December 14, 2017 Page 4 Member Greenleaf asked if we have the sign offs on the environmental issues. Major Teuscher stated that we are waiting on 4 tribes to sign off with a deadline of December 26th. Chair Sims asked if there are any needs that are not currently in the plan. Anderson stated that we need more people. 4 is the current minimum staffing per shift, but we really need 6 per shift. Hopefully we will add 2 for the PSST positions in FYE 19. ****** ITEM 6, being: DISCUSS VARIOUS PSST TOPICS WITH MAYOR LYNNE MILLER Chair Sims stated that this will be kind of an open forum. Member Greenleaf stated that the Committee has discussed that fact that they are charged with being oversight, but they are often times the last to know about a subject. How can they be oversight if they are the last to know? Mayor Miller stated that she doesn’t think they should receive information after the fact. What you say does make a difference and the Council really listens. We do need open communication. Member Greenleaf stated that the major concern is the tax payer dollars that are being used. Mayor Miller asked if anyone had a problem with staying in contact with someone on the City Council. Member Scanlon stated that part of the frustration is when we monitor contracts but do not receive the information until after the negotiation has been completed. We would like to know what is being negotiated. Mayor Miller stated that the Council receives many contracts, but there are just too many so they rely on the staff to make those decisions. There are just too many moving parts. Member Leal stated that there are monthly updates on things, such as the radio system, and month after month there will be no update, then the following month they are done with Phase II and have moved on to Phase III. We do not know what happened in that time. Chair Sims stated that the members of the Committee have become subject matter experts and they are a great resource that can be tapped, not just for the PSST Committee, but for public safety in general. Legal has stated that if the subject is not PSST related then we cannot even bring it up. Mayor Miller stated that we should try to facilitate some conversations with the Council members. The City Council has not been heavily involved in the radio system purchase contract. Member Price stated that some of the issue is that staff doesn’t appreciate the knowledge and resources of the Committee members. With things like the Bear Cat purchase, we want our public safety officials to have this and we have been told we can’t recommend this to the Council. Mayor Miller stated that she is a supporter of the Bear Cat and she believes it will happen, but if we push it at the wrong time it could blow up in our faces. Several members of the Council want to see it happen but they are also worried about the political effects. Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee Minutes December 14, 2017 Page 5 Member Greenleaf stated that the Committee stepped out of their role in order to move up the timeline on the ladder truck and we have been chastised for this. Mayor Miller stated that there can be a problem with Committees going outside their roles and making a big problem for staff and the Council. This is a big difference than writing a letter or speaking to Council about recommendations. You have a charge with oversight of the PSST tax funds and making sure the money isn’t being spent in the wrong place. Maybe more and easier communication with the Council will improve these problems. Member Scanlon stated that he believes we should start a Citizens Fire Academy. Chief King stated that they are open to the idea. Mayor Miller stated that she will mull over all of the information she received today and see if she can do a better job in these areas. Chair Sims stated that the Committee would like to send a letter of recommendation to the Council for the 2 new SRO’s. Member Scanlon asked how soon we could make this happen if we get the new positions approved. Major Teuscher stated that we will have to backfill, which means we would be down 18 instead of the current 16. Training of an SRO would only take 40 hours, but we would need to fill their positions on the streets. We would probably be looking at the earliest of FYE 19. ****** ITEM 7, being DISCUSSION REGARDING PHASE III RADIO CONSULTANTS AND RADIO SYSTEM UPDATE Major Teuscher gave the presentation. He stated that the ground work for the first shelter was completed last Thursday. The Norman Utility Authority didn’t approve of the place where the slab was laid, so we have to pour a new slab in a new area. The reset will be on December 21st. We are still working on acquiring the other 2 sites, which we don’t currently own. We are looking at fiber options and the backup site will be at the current Police Department. We are working with IT for costs. Member Greenleaf asked about the equipment that Harris had sent. Major Teuscher stated that they sent the wrong equipment, so we did not want to demo the wrong equipment. We will bring the product to the next meeting. ****** ITEM 8, being UPDATE ON EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER (EOC) PROJECT Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee Minutes December 14, 2017 Page 6 Russell Anderson gave the presentation. He stated that there was a meeting with ADG to finalize Phase I and we are waiting on the contract to move to Phase II and III. We are hoping to take the schematics to Council in January. Member Greenleaf and Scanlon both expressed concern over the 9,000 square foot size of the project. They do not believe this is large enough. Mayor Miller stated that we will make it as large as we can with the $6.5 million budget. Member Scanlon stated that we need someplace to do driver training for public safety. The cops go out to Burns Flat to train, but the Fire Department feels uncomfortable doing this on city streets. Could a facility for this training be located near the EOC or Station No. 7? You could train both Police and Fire if we could build a training facility. Chief King stated that he has heard about a training pad and we would be all for that, but a facility for heavy fleet use would be costly. We are all for a future multi-purpose Police and Fire Training center behind the EOC. Member Scanlon stated that the City could do skid training and have it open to the public for extra revenue. He thinks we should invite Police and Fire to have future discussions on making this a project. Member Greenleaf stated that an alternative option would be to use the North Base tarmac area. The concrete requirements are already in place; we would just need to make a skid pad. The University of Oklahoma owns it and we already have agreements in place with OU. Mayor Miller stated that we could look into it, but we need to finish the sites for the aquatic center and other Norman Forward projects first. ****** ITEM 9, being DISCUSS DRAFTING A LETTER OF SUPPORT TO THE CITY MANAGER AND COUNCIL ABOUT ADDING TWO SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS Member Price made a motion to move forward with drafting a letter of support to the City Manager and Council for adding two School Resource Officers, which motion was duly seconded by Member Scanlon; and the question being to move forward with drafting a letter of support to the City Manager and Council for adding two School Resource Officers, a vote was taken with the following result: YEAS: Chair Eddie Sims, Members Lea Greenleaf, Linda Price, Joan Goth, Melanie Hayes, Matthew Leal, David Wilson, and Bill Scanlon NAYES: none ****** Citizens Public Safety Oversight Committee Minutes December 14, 2017 Page 7 Item 10, being ESTABLISH AGENDA TOPICS FOR THE NEXT JANUARY 11TH, 2018 MEETING Agenda items for the next meeting will include updates on the Radio System, the EOC, a DDACTS presentation, and the Harris equipment. ****** Item 11, being MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS Russell Anderson invited the Committee to come visit the Communications Center. ****** Item 12, being ADJOURNMENT Member Price made a motion to adjourn the meeting, which motion was duly seconded by Member Greenleaf; a vote was taken with the following result: YEAS: Chair Eddie Sims, Members David Wilson, Lea Greenleaf, Linda Price, Matthew Leal, Joan Goth, Melanie Hayes, and Bill Scanlon NAYES: None Meeting adjourned at 5:31 pm.