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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/09/2025 - CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD - AGENDA - Regular MeetingCITIZEN REVIEW BOARD REGULAR MEETING April 9, 2025, at 5:30 PM 281 N. College Ave, Conference Room A 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION a. Public Input – 5 minutes per individual 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. March 12, 2025: 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Voicemail: None b. E-mail: None c. Training: Board Member Training and FCPS Overview with Assistant City Attorney Sara Arfmann and Lieutenant Jeremy Yonce 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS 9. OTHER BUSINESS 10. ADJOURNMENT Participation for this Citizen Review Board Meeting will be in person at 281 N. College Ave in Conference Room A on the main floor. Masks Strongly Recommended in Indoor Public Spaces While there are currently no public health orders in place, Larimer County Public Health officials strongly recommend that well-fitting, high-quality masks are worn in crowded indoor spaces. For more information, please visit fcgov.com/covid Citizen Review Board REGULAR MEETING March 12, 2025 – 5:30PM 281 N. College Ave, (Conference Room A) 1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:38 PM by Shamera Loose 2. ROLL CALL a. Board Members Present – Elizabeth Grant, Melissa Rosas, Mike O’Malley, Michael Ruttenberg, Amy Hoeven, Veronica Olivas, Shamera Loose b. Staff Members Present – Lieutenant Jeremy Yonce, Assistant City Attorney Sara Arfmann, Jessica Jones c. Guest(s) - None 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION a. Public Input – None 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. February 12, 2025: • Correction: Abandoned bikes should be reported to the Bike Co- Op, instead of to the HOPE team. • Amy Hoeven motioned to approve the corrected minutes, which was seconded by Melissa Rosas. Michael Ruttenberg and Mike O’Malley abstained from voting. Motion passed. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Voicemail: None b. E-mail: None c. Training: Crime Analysis with Cynthia Flores and Max Eggenberger Presentation about Crime Analysis by Cynthia Flores and Max Eggenberger: Crime Analysis uses existing data to find trends and patterns. There are three areas of focus: administrative, tactical, and strategic. The Crime Analysis team provides both short-term support when officers need it on the scene, and also long-term support for forecasting data for projects. Sources of info include calls for service, police reports, license plate readers, national crime reports, mapping/GIS, etc. Crime analysts support public safety through technology, collaboration, linking data, and transparency. They collect federal and state-wide data through Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), which allows for a better understanding of state and national trends. Historically, FCPS has used a program called “Summary”, which is a hierarchy of statistics. It had several limitations: it only counted the highest crime in scenarios with multiple crimes, and only separated crimes into two categories, violent crime, and everything else. The current system is called NIBRS, which has the capability to capture multiple charges, victims, rooms, victim-suspect relationships, etc. It also divides crimes into tiers. Group A includes crimes against persons, crimes against property, and crimes against society. Group B includes the remainder of crimes, but only aggregates arrest data. There are two types of systems that provide sources of information for crime analysts. Computer Aid Dispatch (CAD) captures calls for service. It only includes surface-level info and is retained for a short time only. Records Management System (RMS) captures citations, police reports, etc. There is a high level of quality control for RMS records. Board Member Question: If a case gets turned over to another agency, would the crime analysts continue to have access to information about the case gathered down the road? FCPS crime analysts would still have access to the original information. They may also be able to access additional information through shared systems, but the other agency would be responsible for updating the case. Board Member Question: Does CAD data include communications between dispatch and the officer? Yes, it does. Board Member Question: Does this data also include information from SRO’s and Safe2Tell? Do crime analysts have access to that data as well? No, only SROs have access to Safe2Tell information and it is not included in the larger set of data. Crimes against property has historically always been the highest number of crimes. There was a dramatic increase in property crimes in 2023. Drug crimes increased, due to the cost going down and them becoming more available. Wire fraud is also on the rise and will continue to increase. Bike thefts have decreased; the CSU shared bike program has helped to ensure that bikes are more available. Motor vehicle thefts have decreased recently, mostly due to outreach and awareness, in addition to the rise of private security cameras. FCPS did a program to crack down specifically on catalytic converter thefts and cooperated with other agencies to take down several national theft rings. Innovations in technology have also assisted, as Fort Collins now has “flock cameras”, which are a network of cameras that automatically run license plates and send information on stolen vehicles directly to a database. Board Member Question: If a vehicle is stolen in Fort Collins and is seen by a “flock camera” in Denver, do the systems interact? Would an officer in California be able to see that information? Yes, the systems interact and crime analysts have access to information in different cities and states, as long as they also participate in the program. Board Member Question: If a citizen uses the online portal to report a property crime, is there someone from FCPS who conducts quality control and reviews the request for follow up? Yes. Approximately 24% of citizen-initiated reports come from the online portal, so FCPS has staff to review the requests and follow up in person, if necessary. Board Member Question: Are traffic initiatives based on complaints or police data? Both. FCPS collaborates with other agencies and with the community, but traffic initiatives are mostly data driven. Board Member Question: How does the team decide on strategy for collecting data? Do they plan for the objective and then go back and measure for that? Yes, there are strategies that account for the data “cycle”, in which it is collected and shared, but then reporting tactics change and it is necessary to return and revise data to account for the different methods of collection. Board Member Question: How does Fort Collins compare with other cities and states? Does the team keep track of how many cases are solved over time? Crimes against persons has a high clearance rate, and FCPS does benchmark with other cities; once that information is gathered, it will be presented to City Council. Fort Collins in general comes in below average as it compares to similarly sized cities, in all categories except Motor Vehicle Theft. Board Member Question: CSU collects their own statistics. Is that information separate from FCPS data? Yes, they have their own data, but FCPS has access to their systems and works closely with CSU in regards to comparing data. Board Member Question: Were crime analysts involved in deciding where the new Camera Radar – Red Light cameras would be placed? Yes. FCPS has something called VisionOne, which provides data and analyzes thresholds based on how many tickets or accidents occur at a specific intersection and that data was used in coming to those decisions. Board Member Question: Is it accurate that since those new Camera Radar – Red Light cameras have been installed, that there have been over 8,000 warning citations issued? While the crime analysts do not have the current numbers, FCPS has observed the number of warning citations dropping each month, which is the goal. Board Member Question: Do the crime analysts receive information from the drug task force? Yes, we collaborate with data, but they are still considered their own entity with their own data. Board Member Question: Does Fort Collins have a problem with sex trafficking? Yes. FCPS has a sex trafficking task force. Board Member Question: The Police Chief says that the majority of crimes that occur are often connected to fentanyl – who analyzes data in order to provide an answer like that? Crime analysts use NIBRES data to analyze thefts and similar crimes. There is no fine- toothed comb in order to ensure that every case is included, but inferences can be made from the data used, along with years of experience in the field from law enforcement. FCPS also links data with other agencies to ensure a larger pool. Board Member Question: The FBI used to have a domestic terrorist person. Do they call crime analysts for information? It can happen. Crime analysts frequently work with other agencies, through different avenues, so it would not be unheard of for the FBI to reach out about a related case. Board Member Question: Does this department need more help? Yes. While a crime analyst’s main job duties revolve around analyzing data, there tends to be a bit of mission creep, as they also are instrumental in assisting FCPS with navigating the technology that produces that data, so having more staff would be helpful. Board Member Question: Does the Crime Analysis department have any indication that people may eventually claim that the data was AI-generated? How can it be proved that the data collected is real? CSI has the capability to dig into a source’s digital metadata to determine whether AI was used to generate it. Board Member Question: Does the Crime Analysis department receive a high number of applicants? It comes in waves, so that sometimes there is a lot of applicants, and sometimes not as many. That is not necessarily because of the complexity of the topic, but more because, with where the team is located, people who are interested in the field often want to work for larger cities, and Fort Collins only has a small team. Board Member Question: Does the Crime Analysis department get interns from CSU? They do, though it be complicated, because of the need for extensive background checks. Often, by the time the background checks are completed, there is not much time left to serve as an intern. Another issue is that CSU students often forget that marijuana is still federally illegal, so FCPS cannot hire anyone who is unable to pass a drug test. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS 9. OTHER BUSINESS 10. ADJOURNMENT a. Elizabeth Grant moves to adjourn at 6:48 PM, which was seconded by Mike O’Malley. Motion passed. Minutes approved by the Chair and a vote of the Board on 04/09/2025 Signature: 03/12/2025 – MINUTES