District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes for June 5, 2013 District III Advisory Board Minutes June 5, 2013 www.wichita.gov The District III Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the Wichita Water Center at 101 E Pawnee; eight District Advisory Board members were in attendance; seven City staff and 40 members of the public were present (seven did not sign in). Members Present Jody Bennett Staff Present Terry Brewster Officer Dave Hinners, Patrol East Paul Davis Officer Genaro Arroyo, Patrol South Elena Ingle Deputy Chief Nelson Mosley, WPD Danny Johnson Capt. Hassan Ramzah, Patrol East Wendy Ratliff Lt. Dennis Wilson, Patrol South David Robbins Bill Longnecker, MAPD Connie White Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Services Council Member James Clendenin Guests Members Absent Listed on the last page Eric Bell Roger Smith ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. Council Member Clendenin called the meeting to order. Minutes from the May 1, 2013, meeting were approved. PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled items No items Non-Scheduled items No items NEW BUSINESS ZON20013-00011 & CON2013-00011 Bill Longnecker, Metropolitan Area Planning Dept, presented a request for General Office zoning with a Conditional Use for “Safety Services” on the SF-5 Single-Family Residential zoned Lincoln Elementary School site. The site is located on the south side of Lincoln Street between Topeka and Emporia Avenues and a railroad right-of-way/track. The Unified Zoning Code defines Safety Services as “…a facility for conduct of public safety and emergency services, including fire and police protection services and emergency medical and ambulance services.” The Child Advocacy Center of Sedgwick County (CAC) provides immediate services for the young victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect and their care givers. The CAC’s services include prosecution, medical, therapy, law enforcement, social services, the advocacy component and mental health. The former school building and its physical site will provide a single facility for the CAC’s +/-60 staff members and the children in need. Safety Services are not a permitted use in the SF-5 zoning district. Safety Services can be considered in the GO zoning district with a Conditional Use. Paul Davis asked what the applicant meant by “prosecution;” Longnecker said he assumed there will be attorneys working out of the facility. Elena Ingle asked if there are houses on this site; Longnecker said no. 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes for June 5, 2013 Dave Robbins wanted to know what kinds of notifications were done; Longnecker said letters were sent to property owners in the surrounding 300 feet and they have received no complaints or objections. Hoyt Hillman asked if the playground would be gated; Longnecker said he didn’t know, but that part of it would become parking. Diana Shunn, applicant, explained the playground equipment will be moved closer to the building so the children being served at the Center can use it. Connie White asked how long children reside at the facility; Shunn said they are an emergency response Center, so most children are there only 2 to 3 hours. She explained that about 10 percent of the children can’t go home, so they are placed in Police Protective Custody and stay at the Children’s Home. She said there are no overnight stays at the Child Advocacy Center. Jody Bennett asked what the response had been from the Neighborhood Association; Council Member Clendenin said it was good – they are supportive of the Center. Connie White (Ingle) made a motion that the DAB approve staff’s recommendation with the six listed conditions. Council Member Clendenin said the Lincoln School had been rather controversial because it was fixed up using the school bond money and then abandoned. He said having the Child Advocacy Center move in there is a big win for the community. Action: Motion passed 8-0. Wichita Police Department Update Deputy Chief Nelson Mosley, Capt. Hassan Ramzah, Lt. Dennis Wilson, Officer Genaro Arroyo and Officer Dave Hinners, were present to answer questions and concerns from citizens. Capt. Ramzah presented this year’s crime stats in the Patrol East area compared to last year’s and virtually all of the major crimes are down. Larcenies are up and he said police have been working to address this crime trend. He also reminded citizens that larceny is one of the few crimes that can actually be prevented. He said if citizens don’t leave valuables in their cars many larcenies could be prevented. Lt. Wilson reported violent crime in the Patrol South area is also down. Larcenies are up, but he said over half of the larcenies in the area are related to the Wal-Mart at Pawnee and Broadway. Officer Arroyo said Patrol South has participated in a couple of special projects recently: they assisted HUD with an audit in the Windridge Apartments and several drug arrests were made and they participated in a very success sweep with the Sheriff’s Office tracking sexual offenders. Officer Arroyo said he has received a number of complaints regarding a residence on Alta Street. He said he wanted to correct a couple of assumptions: a) contrary to perception crime has not increased in the area and b) police don’t look for ways to get people evicted from their homes. One resident on that block said he was very concerned because he has witnessed multiple incidents at the residence in question that included yelling, cussing, engine revving and now guns are involved. He said he wanted to feel confident that when he’s not at home, his family will be safe. Officer Arroyo said some arrests have been made from the residence in question. Another neighborhood resident said she has lived at her house for 41 years and the area has never had a 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes for June 5, 2013 problem like the one that exists now at this one address. She said Officer Arroyo has been wonderful in trying to deal with the situation, but that the police have been called to the residence multiple times and OCI has also written the house up. The individual who lives at the residence said the most recent incident had nothing to do with him and he has put a stop to the late-night things that were previously occurring at his residence. His father, who actually owns the property, asked if gunshots were fired. Police said no, and he said his son is going to get his act together. Another neighbor said he wanted to commend the police department for its actions. He said he moved from a bad neighborhood to Alta Street because he thought it would be safer, but now he’s seeing the same things occurring there that occurred in the bad neighborhood. Holly Nelson from the Meadowlark Association asked if there is a funding issue that the public isn’t aware of and if there aren’t enough Officers on the street. Deputy Chief Mosley said they currently have a recruit class with 30 Officers. He said right now the Department is dealing with higher attrition numbers than usual and it has caused some challenges, but this is the biggest Recruit Class they have had in several years. Capt. Ramzah added that there are also a number of Officers on light duty due to injuries and on military leave at any given time. One resident who lives on Mt. Vernon said he watched a burglary occurring and called it in and no Officers ever showed up. He also complained about excessive speeding on Mt. Vernon. Capt. Ramzah asked that when something like this occurs, citizen’s call him at the Patrol East Bureau so he can investigate and find out what happened. He also said they would open a Neighborhood Oriented Traffic Enforcement (NOTE) complaint on Mt. Vernon to address the speeding issues. Another resident commented that motorists often blow through the school zone as well. Council Member Clendenin said there is going to be some re-design of the street that should help with the speeding situation. Bruce Roby from the Meadowlark Association asked if Officers responding to calls are always required to have backup. Capt. Ramzah said no, only on certain types of calls. Larry Manny said he thinks on Fridays and Saturdays most of the Officers are in Old Town; he said it’s pretty obvious WPD doesn’t have the staffing it needs. Council Member Clendenin said it’s not because the money isn’t there. Capt. Ramzah said the Recruit Officers spend 22 weeks in the Academy and then another 12 weeks in the FTO (Field Training) program before they are ready to be on the streets. Calvin Nelson from the Meadowlark Association asked what the average response time is; Capt. Ramzah said that varies month to month. Hoyt Hillman from the Meadowlark Association said he would like to know the actual number of Officers on the streets at any given time. George Theoharis commented on some remarks made by a Community Policing Officer at a Neighborhood Association meeting that he didn’t agree with, and he also mentioned calling 911 about go carts on Clifton Street and police never responded. Dave Robbins said he has done some police ride-alongs and having the computers in the cars are a huge asset. Paul Davis asked about the status of the new Law Enforcement Training Center; DC Mosley said WPD is still on course for that. Davis also wanted to know if it’s common for Officers from other Bureaus to respond to Old Town calls; Lt. Wilson said yes. 3  District III Advisory Board Minutes for June 5, 2013 Additionally, Davis expressed his disagreement with the Department’s current policy on when to let Officers run hot (lights and sirens). Davis thinks it’s dangerous for citizens when Officers are speeding and not using their lights and sirens. Council Member Clendenin said he would be attending the 911 Board on June 10 to discuss the cell phone scanner applications being used by criminals. All of the WPD staff present provided their contact information to any of the citizens who wanted it. Action: Receive and file. Meeting was adjourned. The next meeting for District Advisory Board III will be held at 6:30 p.m., July 3, 2013, at the Water Center at 101 E. Pawnee. Respectfully submitted, Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Assistant – District III Guests Tom Strickland Betty Strickland Jim Gulick Marjorie Griffith George Theoharis Anna Wray Patrick Atkins Hoyt Hillman Willie Smallwood Brian Bartell Darrell Bartell Daniel Penny Jack Cassube Judy Cassube Rhonda Good Richard Hatcher Ray Fritzemeyer Susan Fritzemeyer Mark Dickerson Kathleen Barham Marie Schwartz Linda Coleman Angela Blevins Amber Schwartz Michelle Cummings Holly Nelson Shane Schumacher Connie Klassen Calvin Nelson Lonny Wright Ron Tracy Diana Shunn Emily Patterson 4