09-02-15 Personnel and Finance *2016 Budget Review

Home Browse Search

Gavin Ferlic observed the practice of parking "armadillos" in front of criminally suspect houses was an effective suppressive action. He suggested maybe a second vehicle could be utilized. Dr. Ferlic echoed those comments offering to help the Chief acquire another vehicle to convert a little or no cost to the department. Council President Tim Scott asked when the CNG equipped police cars would begin service. The Chief said 39 AWD vehicles are equipped had been delivered; but were awaiting the "fast fill" station being installed by Transpo to come on line. Currently this looks to be a 4 months off. Tim also asked about body camera use. The Chief said the department has had quite a few vendors do demonstrations. A preferred vendor has emerged from the process. He added that a larger issue is policy development and data storage. To that end the Chief said a lot of background work has been done meant to avoid the costly mistakes of other departments. Henry Davis asked the Chief for a racial, gender, and age breakdown of police personnel. He asked the Chief to evaluate the performance of the department on a scale of 1 -10. Teachman said emphatically, a 10, given resources available. Henry frustratingly indicated that violent crime was up by all accounts so what are we doing about it. The Chief said there were many societal reasons for an increase in violence, the police department being just one piece of the puzzle. Another problem according to the Chief was the routine "bonding out" of individuals arrested for crimes involving firearms. This easy revolving door bonding doesn't help the situation on the street. He added that their efforts to get people to report crime can, ironically, make the statistics look worse. Henry asked how many arrests were the result of the "shot spotter" program. The Chief said other factors may lead to arrests which may have a "shot spotter" component. Other questions raised by Henry touched on the apparent inefficient and unsuccessful, to date, minority recruitment effort. Turning to questions from the public Karen recognized Bill Dunn from Southwood Drive. Bill asked if pan, zoom cameras were utilized in Shot Spotter areas. Chief Teachman said the cameras were in the 2016 budget. Jean Perrin, President of the River Park neighborhood association was next. She asked how the police department staffing levels compared to other cities our size. The Chief said we deploy 2.6 officers per 1,000 population. By comparison Indianapolis has 1.5 per thousand. Philadelphia has 4.3. In response to her further question about training expenditures somehow correlating to success. The Chief said while this was difficult to measure an increase in officer confidence and morale was apparent. Dr. Ferlic made a summary comment saying the police department needs more officers and more diversity. Karen adjourned the meeting at 6:57 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, /c 'A Karen White, Chairperson Personnel & Finance Committee 7