08-29-18 Personnel and Finance (#5)

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®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK there. The only thing that is not put out there are internal investigations or criminal investigations that are still in progress.Everything else that we do,which is a written letter of reprimand or higher goes to the Board of Public Safety. This is public information. I'm not wearing a sleeve and there is nothing up there. He continued, One (1) of the things I wanted to hit on, and if you'll remember this, we were able to get a four (4) year contract thanks to the hard work of the Council. It wasn't just about the money. It was about the Council and others taking time to sit down with our officers and care about them. This has never been done in my thirty (30) years of being here and I can't find anywhere else where a contract has been that long. So that drew in the recruiting. We had a three hundred percent(300%)increase in applicants just this ye alone. The retaining part is important. We want our employees to stay here and we also want them to enjoy retirement. There is incentive now to stay and to pass on that knowledge and to go when it is time to enjoy the rest of their life. Statistically, it is not typical with police officers to last very long after retirement. We are trying, thanks to the Council's help, to change that. There has been a recognition which is much appreciated. We've increased our in-house training and I told you before, we made the promise last year and have kept it this year, the South Bend Police Department is our number one (1) priority. Everyone else is invited but the seats for training get taken by us, then we start allowing others. Before, it didn't happen that way. We would open up to everyone else and we would have to find our way into it. It didn't make any sense because we are the ones hosting it. He went on, Fair and progressive discipline is about accountability, honesty, integrity and responsibility. I'm not veering from that, I will not veer from it and that plays a huge factor in that. Also, performance evaluations. We never had them and will be finalizing that this week. Well actually, we've already done those and will continue with those. The promotional process is the one (1) that will be finalized. That will include testing and everything else as another part of the requirement along with the interviews and all the other stuff. Career Path Development is huge. As a matter of fact, I know several Council Members have been very interested in this. We want to know what cops want to do once they get on, in five(5) years, in ten(10)years,or whatever the case may be. In the evaluations, that is told to the evaluator. We've actually given them online virtual academies and resources to get to those positions they are aspiring for. For instance, if someone wants to be a negotiator. If that is what sixty (60) out of one hundred (100) officers say, that is going to be our number one (1) and the easiest available. I'm trying to nutshell this for you but we have that and that is amazing. I never thought that we would get to the point we are now. He continued,Recruiting is something that every Council Member,at one(1)point or another,has asked me about. I will give you an update. We have a pre physical agility which means you can come in and practice before you actually take the test. We've never done that before. I believe it was a Council Member that recommended making a video to have people see what it is like. We put in on our website so the applicants can see it and practice. We lowered the test score threshold by two percent(2%). Many people asked why we did that but we don't need people to be absolute experts. There are many layers to editing that process. We also have written test study groups that we didn't have before. We also have practice tests so it is essentially kind of like the test you are going to take but you get to practice taking it in advance it just doesn't count. We've done postcards,job fairs and all that stuff. One(1)thing I didn't put in the presentation that I would like to note is we actually,just now in this next batch of applications, have removed the requirement for a doctor to release you to take the agility test. We have a liability waiver. They will be tested anyway if they make it to a point in the process but we found that out of one hundred and fifty EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 1 TFD574.235.5567:l www.southbendin.gov 5