HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 10/13/2020 - Memorandum From Lawrence Pollack Re: Council Questions About The 2021 Recommended Budget
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Financial Services
215 N Mason Street
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6795
fcgov.com/finance
M E M O R A N D U M
Date: October 8, 2020
To: Mayor Troxell and City Council
Through: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Travis Storin, Interim Chief Financial Officer
From: Lawrence Pollack, Budget Director
Re: Councilmember questions and requests from the September 8 and 22 work
sessions on the 2021 Budget – Part 4
City Council held their first and second work sessions to review the 2021 City Manager’s
Recommended Budget on September 8 and 22. Questions were asked about specific
Offers, as well as some more general inquiries about the budget. Staff responses to some
of those questions that could not be addressed during the meeting are provided below.
Some of the questions asked, however, may require additional time to adequately research
and respond. The answers to those latter questions will be included in future weekly
memos to City Council.
Outcome: Safe Community
1) Request from Ross Cunniff: Please provide additional information about the School
Resource Officers (SRO) program and the outcomes of our investments in this area.
Response from Greg Yeager and Chief Swoboda (Police Services)
A. The School Resource Officer (SRO) program consists of 14 personnel: (1) sergeant,
(2) corporals, and (11) officers.
B. They are funded 50/50 for eligible time, but since the school year is shorter than the
calendar year, approximately 60% of full cost is through the City and 40% through the
Poudre School District (PSD).
C. The SROs serve 38 physically dispersed schools and over 33,000 students.
Compare that to Colorado State University which has an entire police department
(27-sworn, plus civilian staff) to serve a comparable number of more concentrated
students.
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D. The SROs’ presence and expertise decreases the call for service load on traditional
Patrol officers and detectives, but SROs also manage:
1. Investigations and follow-up on Safe2Tell tips.
2. Serving as liaisons and support to juvenile calls involving family disturbances,
runaways, sexting and sexual exploitation, harassment (cyberbullying, online
bullying, general harassment issues).
3. Working in collaborative meetings: Juvenile Recovery Court, Juvenile Gun
Coalition, Juvenile Services Planning Committee, The HUB Forum, DHS
Forum, Restorative Justice Circles, and Level II Threat Assessments (PSD).
4. Teaching 1,000+ hours per year in PSD for approximately 10 subjects.
5. Conducting PSD-initiated welfare checks on students that have been identified
as high risk, needing additional supports, expressing mental health concerns,
or have not connected with the school.
6. Building relationships and accountability between Police Services and
students. This occurs in the schools and extends to other programs such as
the summer’s Youth Police Academy.
E. When PSD is not in-session, SROs positively support FCPS teams. They have been
used to supplement summer District One needs, police academy development,
criminal investigations teams, hiring and training, and routine patrol.
F. The return on investment is solid considering their reduction of Patrol calls and
criminal investigations demands when school is in session and their supplementary
support across the agency during the summer.
2) Request from Ross Cunniff: Please provide more information about the body worn
camera program and applicable laws, as well as thoughts around the proactive release
of video.
Response from Greg Yeager and Chief Swoboda (Police Services)
A. There are currently 176 body-worn cameras (BWC) issued to:
a. Patrol Officers, Community Service Officers, and District One Officers
b. We are in negotiations with Axon to expand the program by 2023 to every
sworn officer in the agency (224) which will require a 2022 funding source.
B. Since implementation, FCPS has most often restricted the release of videos until the
criminal and any administrative investigations are completed. This has been in line
with the District Attorney’s requests and best practices.
a. However, the chief of police always reserves the right to release video earlier if
it will not hamper justice and is needed for public assurance.
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C. In response to SB20-217 (passed into law in June 2020 as the Law Enforcement
Integrity and Accountability Act), we are updating policy and equipment to be in
compliance with its specific requirements by the July 1, 2023 deadline:
a. While we already have a robust BWC program and policy, video use/release
updates (depending on circumstances) are:
i. Body-worn cameras must be worn and activated when responding to a call
for service or during any interaction with the public for the purpose of
enforcing or investigating possible violations of law.
ii. A BWC may only be turned off:
To avoid recording personal information that is not case related
When working on an unrelated assignment
When there is a long break in the incident or contact that is not related
to the initial incident; and
Administrative, tactical and management discussions.
iii. If there is a complaint of officer misconduct by another officer, civilian, or
nonprofit, FCPS must release all unedited video and audio recordings of the
incident within 21 days of the complaint.
iv. All video/audio recordings depicting a death must be provided to the victim’s
family, upon request, and the family shall be notified of their right to receive
and review the recording at least 72 hours prior to public disclosure.
v. Prior to releasing video, FCPS must redact all privacy concerns including
nudity, sexual assault, medical emergency, private medical information,
mental health crisis, victim interview, minors, and other specified information.
Explicit and gruesome bodily injury must be redacted unless the injury was
caused by an officer. A victim can waive privacy interests and require an
unredacted release of the video.
vi. If redaction is insufficient to protect privacy interests, FCPS shall, upon
request, release the video to the victim or, if deceased or incapacitated, to
victim’s family 20 days after receipt of a complaint of misconduct.
vii. Any video that would substantially interfere with or jeopardize an active or
ongoing investigation may be withheld for up to 45 days from the date of
allegation of misconduct and the prosecuting attorney must prepare a written
explanation of why the record’s release should be delayed.
Outcome: Transportation and Mobility
3) Question from Ross Cunniff: The Reduction Offer for Street Sweeping indicates there
will be a rise in fugitive dust due to reduce cleanings from 4 times a year down to 2 times
a year. Is that Offer scalable to reduce that undesired result?
Response from Larry Schneider (Streets)
The BFO Offer reducing Street Sweeping in 2021 on residential and collector streets is
scalable. The current schedule is quarterly (4 times a year). Reducing resident ial and
collector to 3 times a year, the reduction would be $64K a year. If we reduced just the
residential streets to a schedule of 3 times a year and kept collector streets at 4, the
reduction would be $53K.
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