Agenda Item Wording:
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Receive Presentation and Update on the Visalia Police Department Operations and Staffing.
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Deadline for Action: None
Submitting Department: Police Department
Contact Name and Phone Number: Jason Salazar, Chief of Police jason.salazar@visalia.city <mailto:jason.salazar@visalia.city> (559)713-4215; Candido Alvarez, Police Captain candido.alvarez@visalia.city <mailto:candido.alvarez@visalia.city> (559)713-4151; Luma Fahoum, Police Captain luma.fahoum@visalia.city <mailto:luma.fahoum@visalia.city> (559)713-4103.
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive a presentation and update on the operations of the Visalia Police Department.
Background Discussion:
To provide timely updates and open the City Council Strategic Planning meeting schedule, City Departments are bringing annual updates to the City Council during Council work sessions throughout the year. These reports outline the departmental functions, operations, accomplishments, and challenges. In addition, this report will also address current challenges related to hiring, recruitment, and retention issues- particularly related to police sworn staffing and communications staffing.
The Visalia Police Department is comprised of a total staff of 259 employees, 243 of those Full-Time Equivalent, and 165 of those sworn police officer positions. Classifications of these employees range from sworn police personnel, community service officers, parking enforcement officers, communications operators, records specialists, administrative support personnel, crime lab technicians, property & evidence technicians, and civilian investigators. Each of these classifications that are part of the Police Department staff play significant roles at the operational and support levels that are key to providing law enforcement and public safety services to our community.
The Police Department is organized into two main divisions: Operations & Operations Support. Captain Candido Alvarez heads the Operations Division, which consists of the following units: Patrol, Traffic, Special Enforcement Unit, Narcotics Unit, K9, SWAT, UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems), VIPS (Volunteers in Police Services), and the Police Explorers.
Captain Luma Fahoum heads the Operations Support Division, which consists of the following units: Investigations (Violent Crimes, Property Crimes, and Youth Services Units), Emergency Communications Center, Records Bureau, and the Professional Standards Bureau (Public Information, Community Outreach, Personnel & Hiring, Training & Professional Standards).
The Police Department has a total budget of $43.5M for FY21/22. The Police Department budget is comprised from four sources: the City’s General Fund, Measure T (2004), Measure N (2016), and Other funds (Grants/ Seizures). The Department regularly applies for grant funding to assist with various equipment needs, training, and targeted enforcement activities (DUI Enforcement, Traffic Safety Enforcement & Education, Alcohol Beverage Control enforcement, and Tobacco enforcement).
Crime statistics are primarily measured by Part 1 Crimes established by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and reported by the Department to the FBI monthly. Part 1 Crimes consist of the following categories: Criminal Homicide, Forcible Rape, Robbery, Assault, Burglary (Residential & Commercial), Larceny-Theft (includes vehicle burglaries), and Motor Vehicle Theft. When conducting a year-to-date comparison of January-August 2020 vs. January-August 2021, the City of Visalia is reporting a 5% decrease in Part 1 Crimes this year compared to last. There have been slight increases in the number of assaults (3%) and auto thefts (13%) in 2021 vs. 2020.
Additionally, the City of Visalia has experienced a steady decline in Part 1 Crimes over the course of the past 10+ years. As a result, the number of reported Part 1 Crimes in 2020 (4,835) are 33% lower than Part 1 Crimes reported in 2011 (7,199), and 17% lower than Part 1 Crimes reported 5 years ago in 2016 (5,835).
Although there has been a steady decrease in Part 1 Crimes, there has been a significant increase in the number of individuals experiencing homelessness and calls for service related to this local, state, and national crisis. For 2021, year-to-date, the Visalia Police Department has seen a decrease in the total number of calls for service related to homelessness by 19% from 2019 to 2021, and that trend appears to continue into 2021. However, these calls for service still account for approximately 7% of the total Police Calls for Service and impact Police, Fire, and Code Enforcement services for the City. The Department’s HOPE Team and City Code Enforcement Team have been a valuable and significant resource in providing a more effective and efficient response to transient-related calls for service and relieving pressure from Patrol officers. HOPE and Code Enforcement respond to transient-related calls for service, manage and enforce the Trespass Enforcement Program (TEP), manage and coordinate encampment clean-ups, enforce appropriate codes and statutes, and spend a significant time working with various community and government organizations to provide assistance to those in need in an effort to reduce the number of individuals experiencing homelessness in our community.
Gang and gun-related violence continues to be an area of concern that is closely monitored and addressed by the Visalia Police Department. Consistent with a well-established three-pronged approach of suppression, intervention, and prevention efforts to reduce gang-related violence in our community, the Department engages in several ongoing efforts to mitigate gang activity in Visalia. For suppression, the Department’s Special Enforcement Unit works daily to monitor, enforce, and prevent gang activity in our community, and to rapidly respond to incidents of gang violence that do occur. In addition to the efforts of the Special Enforcement Unit, the Department hosts the TARGET (Tulare Area Regional Gun Enforcement Team) Task Force that is managed by the California Department of Justice and focuses on gun related crimes, gangs, violent felons, and enforcement against individuals who are not legally allowed to possess firearms or ammunition.
The Department also maintains long-time relationships with various community organizations who focus on intervention and prevention methods with our youth to steer them clear of gang activity. This includes the Visalia Police Activities League (PAL), the Visalia Unified School District & Youth Services Officers, Pro-Youth HEART, and other members of the Multi-Agency Youth Intervention Task Force.
In 2007, the Department responded to 171 reported incidents of gang-related violence in our community. In 2020, the Department responded to 55 reported incidents of gang-related violence in Visalia, a 68% decrease in gang-related violent crimes over the 13-year span and a positive trend that the Department works diligently to maintain.
Social media is a tool that provides many benefits for communication and community awareness. It is also a tool that has provided more access and awareness of both criminal and public safety activity in our communities in recent years. One area where this is readily apparent is that of traffic collisions on Visalia roadways.
An analysis of traffic collisions (injury & non-injury) from January- July 2018 vs. January-July 2021 shows a slight decrease of 7% in reported traffic collisions. When comparing January-July 2020 vs. 2021, there was a 13% increase in 2021. However, 2020 saw less traffic on roadways for a significant portion of the year because of pandemic-related lockdowns, school closures, and business closures. The Department’s Patrol & Traffic Units regularly enforce vehicle code violations on our roadways in an ongoing effort to make our roadways safer. Enforcement includes a variety of violations, including equipment violations, but are primarily focused on violations that are primary factors in collisions. A January to July comparison of 2018 vs. 2021 shows a 21% increase in the number of citations issued by the Department (5,456 vs. 6,592)
Over the course of the last two years, the Police Department has experienced a significant amount of turnover in its sworn positions because of either lateral movement to other law enforcement agencies, officers moving out of state, and due to a significant number of retirements. The Department is currently recruiting to fill 19 vacant police officer positions and has ranged between 12-16 sworn police officer vacancies over the last 18 months and anticipate that this trend of movement and retirements will continue for the foreseeable future. This number of vacant sworn positions does have an impact on patrol staffing levels as well as staffing levels in various specialty units where positions are not currently being filled to meet patrol demands as a priority. This includes vacant positions in the Traffic Unit, Special Enforcement Unit, and Investigations Units.
Sworn vacancies at this level is not a challenge that is unique to the Visalia Police Department. Many agencies in our Region, throughout the State of California, and across the nation are facing significant numbers of vacant sworn positions in their departments, as well as lower numbers of applicants and applicants who can pass the application process. This has created a very competitive job market for police officer applicants- both at the Recruit/ Academy Graduate level and for Lateral Police Officers.
The Police Department has been successful with its Police Recruit position in securing qualified applicants as well as working with the COS Police Academy in identifying qualified Academy Graduates. The Department currently has (4) Recruits in the Academy and an additional (9) Academy Cadets in the hiring process. Although this method of recruitment has been beneficial to the Department, Lateral Officers are also highly desirable as they bring a greater level of experience and perspective to the position and can be trained and deployed into the field at a much faster rate.
The current demand for lateral police officer applicants at the regional, state, and national levels has created a highly competitive job market for qualified applicants. Many agencies are providing different types of hiring/ signing initiatives to secure police officer candidates. These initiatives include but are not limited to: Monetary hiring/signing bonuses (ranging from $10k-40k), recruitment bonuses (for department personnel who successfully recruit a lateral applicant), housing incentives, and accessible vacation or sick leave balances at time of hire.
The Department has also struggled for several years to fully staff its Communications Center with Communications Operators. Similar to sworn police officer positions, the Department recruits to fill Communications Operator positions with entry level applicants as well as lateral applicants from other agencies. The Communications Center is allocated 30 positions for Communications Operators and has consistently faced 5-6 vacant positions for the past ten years or more. In 2020, the Visalia Emergency Communications Center managed 158,159 Calls for Service (Police, Fire, and Animal Control), 68,961 9-1-1 Calls, and a total of 299,952 incoming phone calls to the Communications Center. In 2021, year-to-date, the Communications Center has managed 106,371 Calls for Service (Police, Fire, and Animal Control), 47,224 9-1-1 Calls, and a total of 191,656 incoming phone calls.
The Police Department will continue to face challenging recruitment issues for sworn positions in the coming months and potentially the next couple of years. These challenges come from a highly competitive job market for attracting and retaining police officers, pending retirements, and other factors that result in sworn vacancies. The Department is working with the City Manager, City Human Resources Department, and City Finance Department to explore various options to enhance the Recruitment and hiring process for key positions in the Police Department to address this challenge.
Fiscal Impact:
None.
Prior Council Action: N/A
Other: N/A
Alternatives: N/A
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move that the Council receive and approve the presentation and update provided by the Visalia Police Department and to further evaluate recruitment options to meet staffing challenges.
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Environmental Assessment Status: N/A
CEQA Review: N/A
Attachments: PowerPoint Presentation