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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 1/23/2018 - Information From Darin Atteberry Re: Memorandum From Assistant Chief Kevin Cronin Re: 2017 Year-End Bike Patrol ActivityFort Collins Police Services 2221 S. Timberline Road PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6540 970.416.2980 - fax Date: 01/10/2018 To: Chief Terry Jones From: Assistant Chief Kevin Cronin Re: 2017 Year-End Bike Patrol Activity Introduction In 2017, Police Services committed to a second year of the bike officer deployment strategy. I chose to expand the size and purpose of the bike team, as such expenditures also increased. The expansion provided more resources to address the increased complaints from citizens about criminal and disruptive behaviors by the transient/homeless population. Additionally, our data showed the homeless/transient populations were expanding geographically in the City, requiring an increase in police engagement with the citizens and the businesses. Project Details During this project, bike patrols increased to 8 months out of the year, occurring from February 2017 through November 2017. The purpose of an earlier deployment was to get ahead of these types of offenses with the intent to offer resources, educate, deter and decrease disruptive/criminal behavior. The bike patrols consisted of two-officer teams who normally patrolled for 5 hours in identified problem areas. Officers logged their activity for tracking purposes Police Services trained and equipped several new bike officers in 2017. In total, the agency now has over 60 police officers trained on mountain bikes. These officers are assigned to Patrol, District 1, Campus West, the Neighborhood Enforcement Team, SRO’s, and the FCPS Bike Team. Officers focused on high bike and pedestrian locations as well as areas identified through citizen/business complaints. These locations included most of Old Town, alleyways, the Mason Street bike trail system, and the area surrounding the South Transit Center. Bike officers also focused on lesser visible locations such as the alleys in the north east part of the city, East Side Park, and Buckingham Park. Multiple transient related contacts were made for Municipal and State violations including Trespass, Camping, Disorderly Conduct, Assault, Littering, Open Containers of Alcohol, Drugs, Theft and numerous local and national arrest warrants. Lastly, some of these contacts interrupted transients preparing to inject of controlled substances (heroin or methamphetamine) into their bodies; which continues to be a growing health and safety concern for our community. January 18, 2018 TO: Mayor & City Council FROM: Darin Atteberry FYI /sek Officers also reported significant number positive interactions with citizens and homeless/transient persons throughout their patrols. This included an impromptu bike safety talk to kids on the Poudre Trail system. Some homeless/transient persons described some of the transients’ population as violent and were thankful to see the police officers patrolling and stopping to check on with their welfare. Bike Officers wore high visibility uniforms and also stopped to talk to citizens and business owners while out and about on bikes. Many people expressed their appreciation for the officers on bikes. Even though the purpose of these bike patrols was to proactively impact disruptive and criminal behavior by homeless/transient populations; the patrols also provided the opportunity for officers and citizens to interact in a closer, more interactive way than the traditional police car patrols allow. In addition, officers participated in parades, City sponsored bike rides, school field trips, festivals, races, and other important City events. Part of this plan to expand was to impact Strategic Objectives 5.2, 5.3, 5.6, 5.7, and 5.8. Below is a comparison of the bike patrol activities for 2016 and 2017 Outcome 2016 2017 Overtime Funds $42,000 $77,280 Hours on Bike 625 1357.60 Citizen Contacts 200 1288 Cases Investigated 123 250 Citations/Arrests 63 209 Next Steps The mission and goals of other City services areas continue to be negatively impacted by disruptive and criminal behaviors from the transient/homeless populations. Bike officers are working to impact this trend. For example, bike officers and District One Officers are deploying dedicated time to bike patrols and foot patrols with the Natural Area Rangers along the River Corridor. Similar efforts are also occurring in our parks, Max-Transit line, and other high incident areas. Conclusion The plan to increase the number of officers on bikes did have a positive impact compared to last year’s outcomes. However, the expansion to an 8 month schedule did not come without a cost. I do not believe the community and Police Services experienced enough of a cost-to-benefit ratio with the expanded months. I will not recommend the 8-month schedule for 2018. Additionally, Patrol struggled with low personnel and an increased call load in 2017. The solution to see further benefits from Bike Patrols would require an increase in personnel to allow for proper street staffing and the increase in transient related criminal/disruptive behaviors. Lastly, I believe this recommendation would return a positive trend in service delivery and decrease negative impacts to the mission of Police Services and other City Service areas. Due to the success of the project (and with your permission) I anticipate a BFO request for an allocation to fund this program in 2019/2020.