9668-06 Appropriating $225,000 for Fund #212 Weed & Seed Program

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BUDGET NARRATIVE Personnel ($68,000) 1) A request of $11,050 will cover the overtime of Officers in the NEST effort within the target area. Additionally it will cover the Regional Coordinating Officer with oversight of the target area. Cost figured at $34.00 per hour @ 325 hours. No one officer will be paid more than $11,939 in one year from Weed & Seed overtime. The job description of NEST officer is: The Neighborhood Enforcement Service Team (NEST) unit is a team of nine (9) officers best described as a "Tactical Squad". The NEST members are assigned various neighborhood problems; whether it is clamping down on open-air drug vendors, assisting probation officers on spot check of clients or staking out an area being hit by burglars. The NEST unit has the ability to use new and innovative tactics and methods to target criminals within a particular neighborhood of South Bend. They have the capacity of being in a standard police uniform and marked police cars one day and plain clothes and cars on a sting operation the next. They are a highly mobile and versatile unit capable of addressing many of the diverse problems that might be plaguing the Weed & Seed area. ' 2) A request of $37,400 will cover the overtime of Uniform Officers working approximately 1100 hours @ $34.00lhr within the target area. No one officer will be paid more than $11,939 in one year from Weed & Seed overtime. The job description of Uniform Officers is: The Uniform Officers do a vast number of tasks within the Weed & Seed area. Many of the officers that work the overtime shift also patrol the Weed & Seed area as their normal job. The overtime patrols allow them to become proactive in their approach as they are not tasked with answering routine calls. Overtime uniform patrols concentrate on an area identified as a problem and stay in that area as long as needed. They do surveillance on suspected problem houses to determine whether or not the complaint is substantiated. They are highly visible to the residents as they are in full police uniform and vehicles. The officers will continue their community policing activities through bike and foot patrols. Each bike patrol officer is assigned a specific neighborhood and works with the vehicle and foot patrols to control crime. The foot patrols in conjunction with the bike patrols allow for police and resident interaction. They take time to speak with residents face to face and take active roles in neighborhood meetings to listen to resident concerns of crime in the area. Typically, the same officers are assigned the same beats to form a continued relationship with the residents. 3) A request of $19,550 will cover the cost of additional officers to assist in the Anti- Gang initiative @ 575 hours @ $34.00/hour. No one officer will be paid more than $11,939 in one year from Weed & Seed overtime. Starting April 1, 2004, the South Bend Police Department has committed two (2) South Bend Police officers who specialize in gang identification to a Gun and Gang Task Force comprised, also of three (3) officers from the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Bureau and a special prosecutor from the St. Joseph Count Prosecutors office. This Task Force will be directly involved in the tracking of all gun and violent crimes within the city with a focus on the Weed & Seed