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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Full - Ad Hoc Community Impact Committee - 04/26/2021 - City Manager’s Office City Hall 300 LaPorte Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com AGENDA City Council Ad Hoc Community Impact Committee Monday, April 26, 2021, 3:00-5:00 p.m. Location: Virtual Public is encouraged to listen through Zoom https://zoom.us/j/93008063610 Or Telephone: Dial: (253) 215-8782 or (346) 248-7799 Webinar ID: 930 0806 3610 Committee Members: Susan Gutowsky, District 1 Julie Pignataro, District 2 Emily Gorgol, District 6 Committee Contact: Ginny Sawyer, gsawyer@fcgov.com Note: Per Ord. No 079, the Committee Chair, may in consultation with the City Manager and City Attorney, determine that meeting in person would not be prudent for some or all persons due to a public health emergency or other unforeseen circumstance affecting the city. As well, an individual Committee member may request to participate remotely even if the rest of the Committee will be there if the member has a concern about their or others’ health or safety by notifying the Clerk at least three hours in advance of the meeting. 1. Call Meeting to Order 2. Approval of March 22, 2021 minutes 3. Agenda Review 4. Discussion Items a. Police Services Follow-up and Discussion i. Mission Statement ii. Metrics and 8-Can’t Wait iii. Engagement Opportunities b. Off-cycle Appropriation Discussion i. Legal Immigration Fund-Update ii. Eviction Assistant Fund-Potential Option iii. Root Cause Analysis and Inclusive Strategy Design c. End of Committee Report – i. Review and feedback ii. Confirm and note any additional recommendations going forward 5. Other Business a. Updates i. Equity Officer/Office Attachments: 1. End of Committee Report 2. Equity Engagement ppt 3. Policing Initiatives There are three or more members of City Council that may attend this meeting. While no formal action will be taken by the Council at this meeting, the discussion of public business will occur, and the meeting is open to the public via Zoom. City Manager’s Office City Hall 300 LaPorte Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com MINUTES City Council Ad Hoc Community Impact Committee Monday, March 22, 2021, 3:00-5:00 p.m. Location: Virtual Councilmembers present: Susan Gutowsky, Julie Pignataro, Emily Gorgol Staff present: Darin Atteberry, Kelly DiMartino, Ginny Sawyer, Kyle Stannert, JC Ward, Lindsay Ex, Chief Swoboda, Carrie Daggett 1. Meeting called to order and February 22, 2021 minutes approved. 2. Discussion Items a. Budget/Programming Ideas to enhance community safety and equity for all. The Committee reviewed a list of staff and resident generated program ideas that address equity work. Included were items already in consideration such as the Equity Officer, the Immigration Legal funs, and a fund for Eviction Assistance. Discussion: • There was support for all programs that advance equity and an understanding of limited resources, new Councilmembers coming onboard, and the potential to utilize a new Equity officer to help prioritize needs. • Questions and clarity around supporting the Eviction Fund in addition to CARES dollars to be able to include undocumented residents and non-COVID related evictions. • Anticipate Immigration Legal Defense Fund happening following Council work session. • Consider delaying Disparity Study until Equity Officer can offer thoughts. b. End of Committee Report – Discussion: • Requested additional language regarding gaps and lack of clarity and highlighting where progress was made. • Requested staff bring back potential recommendations and council priority statements. 3. Other Business • Appreciate the BFO Seller’s Equity Guide! • Equity Officer recruitment update…Council will have an opportunity to engage with candidates. Fort Collins Police Services National Police Reform Initiative Review + Alignment Around the country, dierent groups have shared suggestions for improving law enforcement and creating safer, more equitable communities for all. FCPS has responded to a number of inquiries about how our policies, practices, and programs align with these initiatives. This guide is intended to briefly address relevant recommendations set forth by the following groups: • 8 Can’t Wait • Campaign Zero • President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing • Government Alliance on Race and Equity • My Brother’s Keeper • Obama Reimagine Policing Pledge More detailed information about FCPS can also be found on the Fort Collins Police Transparency page: www.fcgov.com/police/transparency SAFETY + SERVICE FOR ALL RESPONSE TO RESISTANCE + USE OF FORCE Ban chokeholds and strangleholds Require de-escalation Require warning before shooting Require exhaust all alternatives before shooting Duty to intervene Ban shooting at moving vehicles Require use of force continuum 8 Limit use of force0 ACCOUNTABILITY TOOLS SYSTEMS Reform the Juvenile & Criminal Justice systems to keep youth on track. Eliminate unnecessary barriers to reentry & encourage fair chance hiring options. MBK End for-profit policing.ZERO ENGAGE Engage your communities by including a diverse range of input, experiences & stories in your policy review. ORPP Partner with other organizations and communities. GARE Encourage law enforcement & neighborhoods to work hand-in-hand. Reduce violence in high-risk communities by integrating public health approaches. MBK Build trust & legitimacy. Community policing & crime reduction. 21 FCPS works with a variety of partners in various City service areas, the local faith-based community, non-profits that serve vulnerable populations & has participated in programs such as the Community Trust Initiative. Units like the Neighborhood Engagement Team build relationships within neighborhoods & the business community to create safer environments & address chronic concerns. FCPS also hosts social events to engage with the Spanish-speaking community & general public. End broken windows policing. ZERO Operate with urgency and accountability. GARE Review your police use of force policies. Reform your community’s police use of force policies. ORPP Policy & oversight.21 Demilitarization. Body cams/film police.ZERO Use a racial equity framework. Implement racial equity tools. Be data-driven.GARE Technology & social media.21 HIRING + TRAINING Training & education. Ocer safety & wellness.21 Community representation.ZERO Build organizational capacity GARE FCPS invests heavily in the hiring process & ongoing training to ensure all employees are the right fit for our community’s needs & embody agency values: respect, integrity, service & engagement. FCPS works to create a safe community in partnership with our residents & business community by building healthy, sustainable relationships. FCPS earned CALEA accreditation in 2019, which only 4% of police agencies in the country hold. CALEA requires that policies & practices (including use of force) meet the highest national standard. The agency must submit proof of adherence each year to maintain certification. School Resource Ocers work with local partners to support positive futures for youth. This includes Restorative Justice, Diversion, & mental health support. FCPS is primarily funded via the City’s Budgeting for Outcomes program. Carotid restraints (chokeholds/strangleholds) are prohibited by Colorado state law. FCPS has not trained these practices. De-escalation is integrated into all tactical training. FCPS has a dedicated mental health co-response program. Ocers receive training about mental health & 1/3 of ocers are CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) certified. Ocers are trained to issue commands/ warnings Require comprehensive reporting8 Community oversight. Independently investigate & prosecute. Fair police union contracts. 0 Report the findings of your review to your community & seek feedback. ORPP FCPS provides annual proof of policy adherence to maintain national CALEA accreditation. A local Citizen Review Board reviews all critical incidents & other high-level force cases. The agency posts arrest, complaint, force, a live crime map & other data on its website for 24/7 community access. before using force & they’re trained to use the least amount of force necessary to ensure the safety of all involved in a situation. Defensive tactics protocols & use of force continuum teach ocers to make & adjust force decisions based on the level of threat presented. Training teaches ocers to transition up & down the continuum as needed. Duty to intervene is required by Colorado law. Ocers are responsible for ensuring the safety & ethical treatment of all. This is reinforced through training & agency culture. FCPS policy states that ocers should not shoot at a moving vehicle to disable it. Ocers may only discharge a weapon at a moving vehicle if they reasonably believe deadly force is being directed at the ocer or others & there is no other alternative to stop the threat. POLICY FCPS has used body cameras since 2012. The agency does not use military-issued tools. FCPS maintains a consistent social media presence & invests in technology to ensure top quality training & operations. Racial equity lenses are present in training & data analysis. 8 Can’t Wait 8 Campaign Zero0 President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing21 Government Alliance on Race & EquityGARE My Brother’s KeeperMBK Obama Reimagine Policing PledgeORPP POLICY FCPS earned Commission for Law Enforcement Accreditation in 2019 and is required to supply annual proof that policies and practices meet the highest national standards. While the agency will continue to seek opportunities to improve operations, the call for complete reformation of policy is not practical. The CALEA standard, which only 4% of police agencies in the country have achieved, provides an appropriate third-party direction and oversight to maintain ethical, legal, and functional law enforcement policy that will support the safety of our community. FCPS also works with local partners to make adjustments to processes as needed (example: Poudre School District SRO procedural changes in 2020). ENGAGEMENT Community engagement has been and will continue to be an agency priority. FCPS has committed to increasing opportunities for listening and mutual learning, with a focus on minority and historically underserved communities. HIRING + TRAINING FCPS provides ongoing training to ensure that sta have the resources needed work eectively using national best practices. A comprehensive employee wellness program supports physical and mental health. The agency invests heavily in hiring ethical, compassionate employees. FCPS has a high representation of women and LGBTQIA+ at all levels of the organization, racial/ethnic diversity does fully not reflect community makeup, particularly the Latinx population. The Personnel and Training Unit uses a number of strategies to recruit qualified candidates to apply and routinely analyzes the hiring process to remove any potential barriers that could adversely impact minority candidates. SYSTEMS FCPS holds partnership and builds connections with local organizations to improve service and continuity of care for our community members. However, it should be noted that the agency’s scope of direct authority is limited. Calls to adjust processes or impact change on a system level should be communicated to regional judicial organizations and/or state legislature. SAFETY + SERVICE FOR ALL Summary + Considerations RESPONSE TO RESISTANCE / USE OF FORCE Ocers are taught to respond to resistance with the appropriate level of force needed to safely control and resolve the situation. This includes moving up and down the use of force continuum. Logical, quick decision-making is a necessary part of policing. Applying arbitrary models that remove a trained professional’s ability to quickly respond using approved tools and tactics can jeopardize lives. FCPS invests heavily in training to ensure that ocers are equipped with the skills and tools to determine a safe, appropriate response to individual situations. De-escalation training is incorporated into all tactical training, and FCPS policies are aligned with national best practices. ACCOUNTABILITY FCPS has several objective systems in place to support employee accountability. Internal measures include use of force reporting and review requirements, an early intervention system to address potential issues, and internal aairs investigation process for complaints initiated internally and externally. Complaint data is available on the FCPS Transparency page. External measures include a Citizen Review Board, as well as the 8th Judicial District’s protocol for investigating ocer-involved shootings and other critical incidents. The City of Fort Collins also has an Equal Opportunity oce that manages all civil rights-related complaints. FCPS must also provide proof of accountability to CALEA in order to maintain national accreditation. Summary + Considerations TOOLS FCPS uses a variety of tools and technologies to keep our community safe and communicate about agency programs and policies. FCPS was an early adopter of body camera technology and began using them in 2012. The agency does not use military-issued tools. The City of Fort Collins is an organization that supports equity for all, leading with race. FCPS provides anti-bias training to employees on an annual basis, and the agency evaluates a variety of data sets through a racial equity lens. SAFETY + SERVICE FOR ALL Equity Indicators: Next Steps Socialize Findings Benchmarking Equity Dashboard Integrate into Budgeting for Outcomes Equity Indicators: Work in Progress Staff training: racial justice curriculum and equity lens application Implementation of Housing Strategic Plan and Our Climate Future Using the data to surface priority disparity gaps Helping guide Equity Office creation GARE Logic Model 3 Inclusive Strategy Design: Equity Lens Application Community engagement happens at every step Set vision Gather data Analyze data & develop strategies Implement solutions Evaluate and communicate the impact 4 (Equity Indicators) We Are Here Off-Cycle Investment Strengthens inclusive engagement Surfaces root causes with those most directly impacted Increases accountability, transparency, and community voice in policy design Enables more consistent feedback loops and evaluation process Supports equitable solutions: DRAFT v4 – April 26, 2021 Community Impact Ad Hoc End of Committee Report The Community Impact Ad Hoc Committee was established by Resolution 2020-060 on June 23, 2020 with an overall purpose of ensuring that the City is creating an environment that provides safety and addresses equity for all residents. During the 9-month duration of meetings to address challenging community topics, the Committee has accelerated the direction and the groundwork for long-term organizational work in this space and ensured: • The off-cycle creation of an Equity Office with a new executive-level equity leader position. • Budget process improvements including furtherance of an Equity Lens and a more accessible Budget in Brief document. • Additional efforts in communicating Police transparency and the increase in mental health response. The formation of the Committee was driven by national and local concerns and initiatives calling for reallocation of budget dollars from traditional police services. Council was receiving hundreds of emails requesting a review of police use-of-force policies and accountability as well as questioning the proper role and responsibility of the police department compared with other response types. The Resolution expressed Council’s desire to take intentional action to ensure and maintain equitable and inclusive policing, community engagement, programming, and social health initiatives through services and programs and called for the Committee to: • Develop recommendations for ways to enhance and achieve a safe and equitable community for all through examining policy initiatives, police operations and other municipal programs and services. • Provide recommendations to Council for the 2021 budget cycle in furtherance of these objectives. • Review higher-level performance indicators for Police Services and other related programs and services to improve the measurement of success in providing a safe and equitable community for all. The Committee convened monthly from July 2020 to April 2021. Early meetings highlighted a few key considerations to the committee’s overall workplan: • This work cannot be impacted by a sub-Committee alone and will likely become the focus of the Council as a whole in the future. • The timeframe for strategically impacting the budget was constrained. • There was a desire to keep the scope manageable and not take on every topic brought forward (Land Acknowledgement, School Resource Officers, Street Naming, etc.). • Based on the topics and understandings, Committee presentations and discussions centered around community engagement and police services. While there were key wins driven by the committee, including creation of an Equity Office, identification and recommendation for funding a Municipal Immigration Legal Fund, and elevated conversation around equity, local policing efforts, and reimagining engagement the Committee did feel lacking in accomplishments and progress in this space. These challenges offer insights and learnings about the importance of establishing clear scope of work with ad hoc committees to ensure success and resource alignment in the future, as well as the continued need to build organizational capacity for systemic equity work. Below are highlights of Committee engagement and future organizational work supported by the Committee. A. Develop recommendations for ways to enhance and achieve a safe and equitable community for all through examining policy initiatives, police operations and other municipal programs and services. Committee Engagement: • Agendas included presentations and discussions with consultants and staff regarding the Criminal Justice and Civic Engagement topic areas of the Equity Indicator project. These conversations helped to identify questions and highlight needed learnings, especially in Police Services, to better understand what metrics to focus on, how to interpret what we measure, and how targets and benchmarks should be determined. • Panel discussion with staff on community engagement goals and practices highlighted needs and efforts to make feedback easy for residents and to be more holistic in our outreach. Discussion also highlighted learnings and successful efforts of centering the engagement process and outcomes in equity (Housing Strategic Plan.) The Committee reinforced the desire to make outreach assessable and easy for residents while ensuring that feedback loops are in place. • Reviewed and provided feedback on the process of developing Principles of Community for the organization. • Early presentation and discussion with Police Services staff on programs and operations grounded future conversations on allocations, redeployment offers, and metrics and opened dialogue into current practices, including use-of-force and proactive policing protocols. • Police discussion on local implementation of “8 Can’t Wait” and other initiatives (April). Future Council/Organization Activity: • Determine how to best implement and utilize equity indicators to gauge progress. • Develop and consider budget offers that address this bullet. • Partner with other agencies for joint learning and systems impact. • Enhance engagement opportunities and ensure residents can provide feedback in a variety of ways and are part of developing strategies/solutions. B. Provide recommendations to Council for the 2021 budget cycle in furtherance of these objectives. Committee Engagement: • Discussion of 2021 redeployment offers addressed local efforts to consider best use of budgeting dollars and willingness to shift dollars to “cause vs. symptom” efforts. Committee had early opportunity to learn of police redeployment offers and housing manager and homeless coordinator offers. • Presentation and discussion of equity efforts specific to the budgeting process helped guide new equity lens on budget offers. Rapid Response team created budget offer equity lens which will continue in 2021 process. • Panel presentation with peer cities and discussion of Equity Office creation provided valuable insights and considerations as Fort Collins looks to create Equity Office. Committee confirmed desire for creation of office, recommend Sustainability model (sustainability practices now embedded throughout City organization), and agreement that position and office need high level support. • Presentation and discussion of budget communication improvements. • Presentation and discussion of budget and programming ideas that enhance safety and equity in the community. Future Council/Organization Activity: • Enhance budget related communication/education/information efforts with focus on equity, enhanced stakeholder communications, and more user-friendly materials. • Creation of Equity Office and recruitment of executive-level Equity Officer. C. Review higher-level performance indicators for Police Services and other related programs and services to improve the measurement of success in providing a safe and equitable community for all. Committee Engagement: • Presentations and discussion of metrics with both equity project consultants and police services staff started key conversations to help guide metrics and programming Fort Collins may want to pursue going forward. • Presentation and discussion of internal Principles of Community effort was supported as an effective program to build knowledge and standards within the organization that will have positive impacts both internally and externally. Future Council/organizational Activity: • Additional discussion and learning around use and meanings of metrics and Equity Indicators. • Police Services community engagement efforts. The Community Impact Ad Hoc Committee helped set the stage for important equity work going forward and showed local responsiveness to resident concerns. The focus on identifying and resourcing the understanding and addressing of root cause issues that create inequities in resident experience and perception of safety and belonging provide the groundwork to impact programming, services, and metrics to track improvement. Committee Recommendations: • Add Council priority statement (s) addressing safety and equity for all residents to guide policy and resource decisions. Examples: o Continue and enhance public engagement that is accessible, easy, and encourages individual story-telling and community participation in developing solutions. o Continue to better understand root causes of disparities in indicators, especially in criminal justice and civic engagement, and develop solutions with most impacted community members. o Embed Equity Lens throughout the organization and into decision making. o Prioritize mental health resources and response options. o Strengthen relationships with indigenous communities and explore priorities that could include development of a Land Acknowledgement. • Equity training as part of Council onboarding. Include unconscious bias. • Ensure employees receive training and work to embed the purpose and goals of being an equitable organization into all departments. • Conduct Ad Hoc after-action to outline learnings that impact the effectiveness of ad hoc committees. Provide to Council.