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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017 October 16 Minutes CALL TO ORDER: 4:42 PM ROLL CALL: Present: Norma Cazares, Takisha Corbett, Marla Kingkade, Anthony Millican and Gerry Sablan Not Present: Ray Aragon, Martin Barros, Gustavo Bidart, Patty Chavez, Jose de la Garza, Henrietta Harb, Peter Mabrey, Ternot MacRenato City staff present: Kennedy, Reber, Alegre, Hicks, Trujillo, McClurg and Miller PUBLIC COMMENTS: No public comments. 1. Approval of minutes of April 18, 2016. Tabled due to lack of quorum. 2. Chief’s Comments: - Introduced Acting Captain Collum who is taking Captain Sallee’s spot while Captain Sallee is at FBINAA school (back December). Acting Captain Thunberg is taking Captain Reber’s Investigations spot while Captain Reber is handling Patrol until Captain Turner returns. - Introduced newest committee member Takisha Corbett. - Shared vision of restructuring CAC to have a chair and engage in working groups - Shared basic information about an officer involved shooting incident 3. Staffing Reports – Captain Reber discussed the Public Safety Staffing Study presented to City Council on September 2017. Captain Sallee prepared a comprehensive power point that conveyed challenges facing the city and police department. Chula Vista has grown 25% and staffing has reduced 12% since 2008. Chula Vista Police Department is asking for 43 additional officers and 19 additional support staff, just to be tied as the least staffed police agency in the country. A tax initiative might be one option to increase manpower, however, other options are being discussed. The staffing study was distributed to CAC members. MINUTES A REGULAR MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHULA VISTA POLICE DEPARTMENT Community Room 315 FOURTH AVENUE October 16, 2017 CHULA VISTA, CA 91910 4:30 PM Roxana Kennedy Chief of Police MEMBERS: Ray Aragon Martin Barros Gustavo Bidart Norma Cazares Patty Chavez Takisha Corbett Jose de la Garza Henrietta Harb Marla Kingkade Peter Mabrey Ternot MacRenato Anthony Millican Gerry Sablan STAFF: Captain Phil Collum Captain Fritz Reber Captain Eric Thunberg ASM Jonathan Alegre DCA Carol Trujillo SAS Cathy Miller Megan McClurg with the City Attorney’s office touched briefly on the regulation of marijuana (Prop 64) and members were invited to attend the October 26, 2017 workshop in the Council Chambers starting at 6:00 pm. City staffing and public safety will be two issues discussed. Code enforcement and the attorney’s office would work with the police department. Aurora Colorado is an example of a city which approved the marijuana dispensaries and the managing business licenses. Police and attorney staff increased to monitor the homeless issues, crime and the educational aspects to the youth in the schools. Chief Kennedy mentioned the Harborside Park project, and discussed the Homeless Outreach Team’s efforts in maintaining community safety while working with the homeless in this park. Several changes have helped but the community would like to use the ballfields, bathrooms and picnic areas without any fear of illegal activities. A tentative plan is being considered to place security cameras in the park. Councilmember Diaz will hold a community forum to discuss issues. A pilot project is being considered to install security cameras to reduce drug activity, tagging and other illegal activities. Signage would be installed to highlight the presence of cameras. Boston New York and Europe have been using this type tool for many years to prevent crime. CAC member Kingkade suggested a revised presentation that would include the use of cameras in other cities. CAC member Cazares discussed the illegal activity and families wanting the benches back to picnic. She asked if there was another way to close the illegal night activity. She thought the cameras would be a good way to bring back the park’s amenities. CAC member Millican discussed the concern with Hepatitis A and the connection to the homeless population that can occur in park areas. CAC member Kingkade believed law enforcement was creative with balancing the use of parks, schools and other areas when working with the homeless and combating illegal activities. The cameras would help in making the parks safe again. Community businesses such as Walmart are also trying to be active in this effort. CAC member Sablan asked if the cameras could be placed elsewhere to help in other areas. The HOT team is working on building stronger relationships with homeless service providers to place security cameras in various shelters as appropriate, but also to service the homeless and attempt to reunite them with family. CAC member Sablan asked about using unmanned aerial drones to help record criminal activity. Drones are an excellent tool when working with a crime scene; such as officer involved shootings, fires or missing people. But because operation of a drone is a two-man operation they cannot be used 7/24. It is beneficial to SWAT call outs. 4. SB54 – DCA Trujillo handed out copies of SDUT article quoting Sheriff Gore on effects on County jails. Senate bill will not affect patrol operations, city jail or investigations. The law, which takes effect on 01/21/18, is technical and restricts using resources to enforce Federal immigration laws. CVPD is a member of joint task forces, which will submit reports to the California Attorney General to show compliance with this new law. Any additional questions, please contact Carol at ctrujillo@chulavista.ca.gov. 5. Sex Offender Residency Requirements Ordinance – Agent Ken Hicks, FPU detective, shared information about the status of regulations affecting sex offenders in the City of Chula Vista. Out of 76,000 total sex offenders in the state of California, 239 live in Chula Vista. There are over 50 penal codes that require sex registration, with varying public information posting requirements associated with each offender. California courts have affirmed that sex offender residency restrictions must be determined on a case by case basis by parole and probation departments. CAC member Kingkade asked how the determination is made as to the amount of public information posted about each sex offender. Detective Hicks explained that CA DOJ makes the determination. With the passing of SB384, we expect a reduction in the total amount of registered sex offenders starting in 2021. CAC member Kingkade asked if the time offenders have already been registering will be grandfathered into the new law. Detective Hicks confirmed that time will be grandfathered in from their conviction date. Newly released offenders will be monitored by the probation department. CAC member Sablan asked if low risk offender information is publicly posted. Detective Hicks explained that the lowest risk offender information is not publicly posted, and that the State Legislature determines how each offense is categorized (low, medium, high, etc.), which in turn determines the amount of public information posted. CAC member Cazares asked if juveniles aged 14 to 17 would have to register for life. Detective Hicks explained that those registration requirements are determined by the legislature and the DOJ. 6. Chair Recommendations – The Chief asked if there is a better meeting time for everyone, and would like the committee members to consider possible times that will work to insure a quorum (7 of members can attend every meeting. She would also like to appoint a chair from one of the committee members and have working groups to work on police related matters. The Department is working to draft committee bylaws, for review by the existing committee, that include designation of officers and minimum requirements for participating on the committee (such as term limitations, commitment and requirement to educate oneself on police operations such as through attending ride alongs). 7. Working Groups - A review of topics and bylaws would be reviewed. Chief Kennedy would like members to participate in the Virtra firearms experience as well as the citizen’s academy. Other thoughts to discuss would be working with community members who would not normally contact the police such as the Muslim community, ADL and the Consulate in Mexico to discuss crime in the community. Subcommittees bringing a report to the committee member would have to researched and vetted. CAC member Sablan suggested reaching out to SDPD to see if they have any best practices. CAC member Kingkade expressed the uniqueness of the committee and how it is different from a civilian police review board. CAC member Millican suggested a mission statement be incorporated. In closing - Chief Kennedy thanked the committee members and concluded the meeting at 5:30 hours. The next meeting will be determined later.