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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-25-17 Health and Public Safety �4 SpU T$ N U C 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK HEALTH&PUBLIC SAFETY SEPTEMBER 25, 2017 3:30 P.M. Committee Members Present: Jo M. Broden, John Voorde, Karen White Committee Members Absent: Oliver Davis Other Council Present: Tim Scott,Dr. David Varner, Regina Williams-Preston, Randy Kelly Other Council Absent: Gavin Ferlic Others Present: Kareemah Fowler, Graham Sparks, Bob Palmer Presenters: Robert Lanchsweerdt, Lonnie Douglas Agenda: Bill No. 56-17—Part Time Police Officer Program Bill No. 57-17—Human Rights Enforcement Agency Committee Chair Jo M. Broden called to order the Health and Public Safety Committee meeting at 3:30 p.m. She introduced members of the Committee and proceeded to give the floor to the presenters. Bill No. 56-17—Part Time Police Officer Program Robert Lanchsweerdt, Support Division Chief of the South Bend Police Department with offices at 701 W. Sample Street, stated, I'm here to present for Bill No. 56-17. The South Bend Police Department(SBPD) is experiencing what every agency across our nation is and that is a staffing shortage. One (1) of the ways in addressing this challenge is proposing a part-time officer program. This program would not back-fill our man-power or personnel-power. We will still continue pursuing our maximal staffing of two hundred and forty-five (245) officers. What this will do is allow the officers to not experience fatigue. It will allow the officers to continue putting their focus where they are best suited for our community. We are evaluating this program in the first year and will have five (5)to six (6)part-time officers to start the program. We don't see this program exceeding a dozen officers. They can work no more than one thousand(1,000) hours per year. Anything over that would put a burden on our community and department and we don't want that. We are cautiously approaching this opportunity. These will be previously sworn in and now retired officers. By putting them back into the community we will limit our loss of experience and relationship with the community. They will also be able to help mentor our 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.SouthBendIN.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN ALKEYNA M.ALDRIDGE JOSEPH MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS younger officers. Their equipment and uniforms will be provided by the SBPD and we anticipate the officers to retain their uniforms. If this is approved by the Council, there will be a public job posting simply for qualification purposes. There would then be an interview process and finally a recommendation to the Board of Public Safety. The Board of Public Safety is the only legal authority to hire and swear-in police officers. Committeemember Johh Voorde asked, What shift would these police officers primarily supplement? Chief Lanchsweerdt replied, They won't be supplementing shifts or working beats. They will do walking patrols, special events,parades, and possibly be involved with different levels of investigations. This will also be a PR thing to let the community know we are there for them. Councilmember Tim Scott asked, Do you anticipate police officers from other communities to apply? And would there be a specialized training program associated with coming into a different community or department? Has the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) been involved with any of this and are they aware of this? Chief Lanchsweerdt replied, We do anticipate that and we will not preclude other officers. However, we would work with HR to see if the qualification calls for the officer to be from our community, first. With regard to training, that would have to be evaluated based on their time of separation from their department. The Police Department's Administration has been very open with the FOP. Their main concern was whether or not this would be used to make up the difference of current personnel and that answer is no. Councilmember Dr. David Varner asked, As part-time employees, would they be covered by collective bargaining?And what is the estimated budget amount for this program? Chief Lanchsweerdt replied,No,they would not. There are no benefits tied to this program as it is a flat-rate pay for the officers. As of now there is no analysis of what the expense would be. This program would be no more than twelve (12) officers but we are starting with six (6)to evaluate what we would need. Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston asked, Have other departments done this? Have they been successful? Chief Lanchsweerdt replied, Other agencies have used a reserve officer program. St. Joseph County does. The only difference between our program and theirs is that it will be an actual part- time job as opposed to a special deputy. That is allowed by having an ordinance and the Board of Public Safety swearing them in. Committee Chair Broden stated, I'm concerned with the timing and the rolling out of this program. If you don't know your potential pool of people who are ready to go, what is your sense of your ability to fill these five (5) or six (6)positions quickly? Chief Lanchsweerdt replied, We don't have any formal process through which we can gauge the interest. Through informal conversations we have had officers express an interest in joining this 2 program. We have never quantified an exact number. Officers have expressed an interest in coming back on. Committee Chair Broden followed up, Operationally,when would you anticipate the roll-out on this? How soon and how fast? Chief Lanchsweerdt replied, As soon as the Council approves this, we would move into working with HR to get this job posted. Ideally, we would like to do that immediately. Councilmember Scott stated, I would recommend that if this passes, the Health and Public Safety Committee Chair follow up with how this program progresses. Committee Chair Broden opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. Penny Hughes, 1918 Southern View, stated, I am on the Human Rights Commission and the NAACP Board. We had a forum recently and the Police Chief said he would do everything he could to encourage more minorities to come on board. Are any of these retirees minorities? Are there any Hispanics at all? Chief Lanchsweerdt replied, Our recruitment efforts are constantly striving toward more diversity. We just had a large career fair. We are doing everything we can to draw in more diversity as a reflection of our community. In terms of getting the numbers of diversity applying, due to EEOC restrictions, we are not allowed to ask applicants of their race, religion, gender preference, etc. We are not able to get statistics of that. We can get statistics once members are hired. Committee Chair Broden turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. Committeemember Voorde made a motion to send Bill No. 56-17 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Karen White seconded this motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of three (3) ayes. Bill No. 57-17—Human Rights Enforcement Agency Lonnie Douglas, Director of the South Bend Human Rights Commission with offices located at 319 N.Niles Avenue, stated, The purpose of this Ordinance is to consider an Interlocal agreement with the County to have the South Bend Human Rights Commission investigate cases in the County of St. Joseph. The County Council, as well as the County Commissioners,passed Ordinances that are substantially equivalent to the South Bend Human Rights Ordinance. I ask the Council to look at this favorably. The South Bend Human Rights Commission already investigates cases of discrimination for the County. This would now allow us to be compensated for our investigations by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD) and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC). I have spoken with HUD and they are in full agreement. If this passes,they will immediately give us reign over the County and for any cases we submit from the County,we will receive compensation. I spoke with EDOC about one (1)month ago and they were in favor of the same. All they are waiting on now is for us to get started. 3 Committee Chair Broden opened the floor to questions from the Committee and Councilmembers. Committeemember White stated, I would encourage you to keep positions in your budget until this gets figured out. Mr. Douglas replied, We have built in some flexibility to our budget. In our EDOC Budget we don't have a position. The extra money received for these investigations will help. The reason we have no one in the EDOC Budget is because of this possibility. Committee Chair Broden then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. She then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. Committeemember White made a motion to send Bill No. 57-17 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Voorde seconded this motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of three (3) ayes. With no further business, Committee Chair Broden adjourned the Health and Public Safety Committee meeting at 3:48 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, ., 3 Jo M. Broden, Committee Chair 4