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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-20-17 Health and Public Safety �SVU �O r F, U d rFnce le r r a 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK HEALTH & PUBLIC SAFETY FEBRUARY 20, 2017 6:00 P.M. Committee Members Present: Jo M. Broden, John Voorde, Karen White, Oliver Davis Committee Members Absent: None Other Council Present: Tim Scott, Dr. David Varner, Randy Kelly(late) Other Council Absent: Gavin Ferlic, Regina Williams-Preston Others Present: Jennifer Coffinan Presenters: Jeff Rynearson, Dan Skibins, Gladys Muhammad, Eddie Miller, Isaac Hunt, Kyle Dombrowski, Danielle Fulmer, Clifford Johnson, Ken Cotter, Pete Morgan Agenda: Presentation on South Bend Group Violence Intervention Committee Chair Jo M. Broden called the Health and Public Safety Committee meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Members of the committee and other council members present introduced themselves. Committee Chair Broden then turned the floor over to the presenters. South Bend Police Department Division Chief Rynearson addressed the Committee and thanked them for the opportunity to present. He stated, As you know,the Police Department's number one operational priority is violence involving firearms and the fear of violence involving firearms. The Group Violence Intervention(GVI) strategy plays a major part in that. Last year, the department was restructured and GVI was a focal point of that restructuring. This evening you will hear from partners within Law Enforcement, the Community and Social Services. Captain Dan Skibins will explain the focus on core offenders at risk of being involved in gun violence. The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office and the United States Attorney's Office are both here to explain law enforcement's message and enforcement actions. Ms. Gladys Muhammad and Bishop Eddie Miller are here to explain the role of community. Isaac Hunt, GVI Director for Goodwill, is here to explain the social services component. Kyle Dombrowski, GVI Specialist for the SBPD, will explain how the messages are delivered through the call-in and customer notification process. Danielle Fulmer, Director of Business Analytics for the City's Department of Innovation, is here to explain how to measure the progress and understand these numbers in context. I would like to turn it over to Captain Dan Skibins. 455 County-City Building•227 W.Jefferson Boulevard•South Bend,Indiana 46601 Phone 574-235-9221 •Fax 574-235-9173•TDD 574-235-5567•www.SouthBendrN.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN ALKEYNA M.ALDRIDGE JOSEPH MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS Captain Dan Skibins stated, We know that social dynamics are a key factor in gun violence across the country, and that's no different here in South Bend. A large percentage of violence within our city is group-related violence. Groups of individuals are causing violent crime in the city. It doesn't matter if those groups are classified as gangs or not. It doesn't take a name to be violent, it takes certain individuals in the group that drive the violence in the group. We understand a group may be ten(10) or fifteen (15) people,but there are a small number within that group that drive the gun violence. In utilizing the strategy, one (1) of the most key factors is identifying the groups and members of the groups that are driving that violence. Without proper identification, how do we focus? Who are we focusing on? Are we doing what we did in the eighties (80's) and nineties (90's) where we saturated an area because we saw gun violence in particular areas? That is not actionable intel. To send officers out in an area like that, all they do is stop people and they just hope they are stopping the right people. Getting actionable intel to officers is the goal of identifying members of groups that drive the violence. We understand there is a `street code.' They are not willing to call the police because that hurts their status within their group out on the street. Maintaining status within these groups is very important and is a full-time occupation. There are also rivalries. For example, a large percentage of issues arise with ex-relationships and ex-girlfriends. So maybe one group has a member that was dating someone and they are now longer dating that person. Another group and an individual from that group is now dating that same someone, and this causes instant vendettas. Pluralistic ignorance creates immoral and unethical behavior as the norm. When we started this strategy three (3) years ago, it was crucial that we got together with our officers on the front lines and got critical intel from them, as well as the investigators that get the cases involving gun violence. Getting them all together in one room and identifying the individuals and groups causing the violence, jotting the names down and finding out the word on the street. We couple that with incident review. Now we have a road map of people who will potentially be shooters, or be shot at. By identifying these individuals three (3) years ago, we were able to start the strategy. Each week we have a strategy session and we go over the individuals that are involved in gun violence that week. This gives police the proper intel to combat gun violence. Clifford Johnson,First Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, stated, I would like to explain to you all how my office supports this strategy. All prosecutors and officers have limited resources and we can't prosecute everybody. Being from the federal government, we have limited jurisdiction. What we try to do is exercise our limited resources in our jurisdiction against those groups that have self-identified themselves as being either the worst or the first. The worst is the most violent and the first is the one that actually drops a body. Primarily, we focus on drug and gun enforcement. Selling and distributing drugs of any kind is a federal crime. We typically just focus on the larger distribution, but in support of the GVI effort we will take even the small effort to get violent group members off the street. Also, gun enforcement. Many of the people involved have prior criminal records. It's against the law for a felon to be in possession of a weapon. In conjunction with the County prosecutor, try to coordinate our limited resources to see where we can have the most impact against those persons who are driving the violence in the community. I would like to emphasize that we don't make up crimes. We don't fake cases. It's a question of how we bring them to task for the crimes they have committed. Collaboration is key between the federal, county, and municipal governments. We coordinate on two (2) concepts: where can we get the longest sentence for them? And we 2 utilize pre-trial detention which gives no right to bail. Removing the person from the street breaks the psyche of these individuals. Ken Cotter, St. Joseph County Prosecutor, stated, As Mr. Johnson explained, collaboration is important. We actually let groups know what we are going to do. We say. `If your group is the first to kill somebody, or the most violent,this is what the law allows us to do.' Most of the members already know because they have been around the block a few times. Most cases result in a plea agreement. They plead to something less than what the maximum could be. We tell them, `In these cases, all plea offers are out the window.' We don't give pleas to those individuals of that group that have been identified as either the most violent or the first. We tell them that because we are giving them a message: don't become the first or the worst. Go back and tell everyone else in your group what happens. I come across as the bad guy but I tell you the thing about this that is different than anything we've done before is that we are partnering with people that are helping them. I've dismissed tickets for people without a license because they need to drive to work. Isaac Hunt helps them get their license, we help pay child support, all the help is there if these folks want to become productive members of society. I'm one of the biggest proponents of this. Councilmember Randy Kelly joined the meeting. Gladys Muhammad, 808 N. Ironwood Dr., stated, I too was skeptical when this program was first rolled out, they had to prove it to me. I went to John Jay Criminal Justice Institute in New York because the groups throughout the years have said they will focus on group violence but there was never a real strategy. I got on board because this is a proven strategy that works. Mamas Against Violence is a group of mothers whose sons or daughters have been murdered in the streets, and they share their story with these individuals. The relationship between Law Enforcement and the Community is really being strengthened by the GVI. Isaac Hunt, 1805 Western Ave., stated, Bishop Miller was not able to be here today, but he has been a part of this. These young men need to hear it because it is the backbone of our community. There is a way out. The Social Services role is one (1) of three (3) components to GVI. You have the Police Department but you also need to have more voice of the Community. The City has really strived to improve Social Services. This strategy breaks down barriers and allows young men into the system. We are not the police,we do an assessment of barriers of each individual that comes through, we do a one on one, we don't promise jobs. We are one Social Service Agency. We have more Social Service Agencies in the Michiana Area than any other place in the United States so it is easy to get these partnerships. But at the same time,these organizations decided that each one of these individuals that comes through go to the top of the list. We work with education,job skills,mentoring, and life skills. This is not a hand out, it is a hand up. We look at eliminating each and every barrier that faces these young men and women. A big step is also addressing safety and what their responsibility is in staying safe. Instilling the mission into the clients is what makes the Group Violence Intervention strategy so successful. Mr. Hunt gave a few personal examples of stories of the type of help they give. He stated, I was against this at the beginning. But now I know it's a different approach to community policing. Shootings stop when conversations start, and that's what community policing is about. We are going in the right direction. 3 Kyle Dombrowski, 701 W. Sample, stated, I am a Sergeant and the Group Violence Intervention Manager of the Strategic Focus Unit. Call-in is the most direct communication with group members. There has been a lot of discussion between `group' or `gang.' It is actually not illegal to just be in a gang. The criminal activity they perform is what makes that gang to be illegal. We follow Indiana State Statutes and Municipal Code when it comes to identifying individuals. We are reaching out and communicating with people on probation or parole, and this is the main focus for the call-in and how we deliver that message. Once on probation or parole, individuals have certain things they must do like attend meetings or calling in if they see something illegal. We deliver notices through probation and parole. We start heavy with Law Enforcement, and turn the negative attitude into positive action through parole and the Social Services aspect of the situation. We want to emphasize that committing a crime is not only illegal, it is wrong and is hurting the community and the individual's own family. After the call-in meeting, we break bread with these individuals and invite them to stay to have more discussion. Community leaders, business owners, elected officials and law enforcement are all there discussing these issues. Communication is key. We want to know the `Why,' and that leads to prevention instead of reaction. The second component to the strategy is custom notification. This is an individualized contact with an individual and their family. This helps us refer to Social Services by giving them information. This gains trust in the community by revamping community policing. We change lives by helping them. Danielle Fulmer, 1084 Woodward Ave., stated, I hope by now after hearing from the folks working very hard on these issues that this is really focusing in on those that are most likely to cause gun violence in the community. Transparency through communication in law enforcement is at the forefront. How is this working with regard to the data?Nationally, the strategy being implemented here is being implemented in thirty-one (3 1) cities right now and has been recognized as an effective strategy by the Department of Justice. At the same time we understand the national murder rate has increased the past two (2) years. In 2015 the murder rate in the nation's one hundred (100) largest cities increased twenty-five percent (25%). In 2016 the US murder rate rose by fourteen percent(14%) and over half of that was attributed to Chicago. How are we doing in South Bend? There are a couple ways to measure this. The most obvious way to measure the progress is to measure the number of shootings in South Bend. There are seasonal trends and outliers. Last year there were eleven(11) fatal shootings and eighty-one (8 1) criminally assaulted shootings. We have been holding steady the past couple years. Another way to measure it is to address those directly affected by these issues. Goodwill's social service partnerships served ninety-eight (98) clients and has twenty (20) clients receiving outside mentorship. Fifty-four (54) clients were employed in the community and in 2016 there was a sixty-nine percent (69%) retention rate. Thirteen(13) clients interned with the City of South Bend and one (1)was hired full-time. Some younger clients were also assisted through the JJC. It helps clients regain their driving privileges, with their child support cases, and also signs clients up for the excel center. That costs approximately eighteen hundred dollars ($1,800)per client which is a bargain considering the lives that were saved and changed in that program. With no other presenters, Committee Chair Broden opened the floor to questions and comments by the committee and council members. 4 Councilmember Tim Scott stated, I've been to a call-in session and I urge fellow Council Members to attend to see the great work they are doing. This is the right strategy I believe and it takes some effort. Second chances are imperative to success. Committeemember Oliver Davis asked the presenters, How do you deal with those that do not speak English as their primary language? Mr. Hunt answered, We have bi-lingual staff at the career center. We also have their friends or family come and help communicate with our staff. Committeemember Karen White stated, As a member of the Group Violence Intervention Committee,this is a very powerful intervention that has brought together a number of agencies and individuals who previously may not have been working the best together. The call-in is a very powerful experience and it introduces a moral voice to the conversation. This gives individuals hope and the tools to get out of the ruts they are in. I'm very supportive and proud of the South Bend Police Department that has integrated this strategy into their overall operation. Committee Chair Broden asked if someone could address the funding partnerships throughout this program. Pete Morgan, Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, stated, The Community Foundation through the African American Fund of the Foundation provided much of the initial funding to bring a group from this community to John Jay in New York to learn about the strategy. It also provided the initial funding to implement the strategy upon returning. The Foundation played more a managerial role in the initial stages to remain a neutral party. Councilmember Randy Kelly asked, As a Council, how can we help? Mr. Hunt answered, By getting the word out. Spread the message. He gave an example of a pastor asking him the same thing. Committee Chair Broden reminded the public there is an opportunity to be added to the notification list of the committee and with no other business adjourned the meeting at 7:18 p.m. RespecttJfully Submitted, M. Broclen, Committee Chair 5