Agenda Item Wording:
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Authorize City staff to initiate Measure N amendment process to convert one (1) FY 23/24 Measure N Police Officer allocation to two (2) Community Service Officer (CSO) allocations.
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Deadline for Action: 5/1/2022
Submitting Department: Police Department
Contact Name and Phone Number: Chief Jason Salazar, ext. 4215, jason.salazar@visalia.city; Captain Dan Ford, ext. 4151, daniel.ford@visalia.city; Financial Analyst Liz Ybarra, ext. 4250, liz.ybarra@visalia.city
Department Recommendation:
Authorize City staff to initiate Measure N amendment process to convert one (1) FY23/24 Measure N Police Officer allocation to two (2) Community Service Officer (CSO) allocations.
Summary:
Community Service Officers (CSOs) have been an important resource for the Police Department for several decades. CSOs are responsible for mitigating the number of non-emergency calls for service that police officers respond to, freeing those police officers to be available for higher priority calls for service and reducing response times. CSOs accomplish this goal by handling non-emergency calls for service such as, traffic collision investigations, abandoned vehicle abatements, parking concerns, and taking reports for minor cold crimes. In addition to minimizing the number of lower priority calls for service handled by police officers, CSO responses also free up police officers to handle higher priority incidents, calls that present a threat to public safety, reduce police officer response times, engage in community outreach events, and conduct proactive enforcement. Staff have concluded that converting one police officer position into two CSO positions will provide a higher level of service to the community by improving response times, allowing for more effective deployment of police officers, and providing a cost savings.
Background Discussion:
In 2016, the citizens of Visalia approved a tax meas...
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