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Home My WebLink About2020-03-05 CAC MinutesRoxana 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 Anthony Millican Gerry Sablan STAFF: Captain Vern Sallee Captain Phil Collum Captain Eric Thunberg ASM Jonathan Alegre DCA Carol Trujillo SAS Cathy Miller AMENDED MINUTES A REGULAR MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHULA VISTA POLICE DEPARTMENT 315 FOURTH AVENUE CHULA VISTA, CA 91910 CALL TO ORDER: 5:29 PM ROLL CALL: Community Room March 5, 2020 5:00 PM Present: Martin Barros, Patty Chavez, Takisha Corbett, Marla Kingkade and Gerry Sablan Not Present: Ray Aragon, Gustavo Bidart, Norma Cazares, Jose de la Garza, Henri Harb, Peter Mabrey and Anthony Millican City staff present Roxana Kennedy, Eric Thunberg, Phil Collum, Vern Sallee, Jonathan Alegre, Joseph Walker, Carol Trujillo and Cathy Miller PUBLIC COMMENTS: None 1. Approval of minutes of October 2, 2019 and December 5, 1019 minutes were tabled due to lack of quorum. 2. Chief's Comments: The chief would like to have several time slot options to meet to ensure a quorum. Possibilities would be either a morning or afternoon meeting. Captain Collum will reach out prior to the June 4th, 2020 meeting to confirm a better time for members to attend. Since 2016 the chief has hired 61 recruits, 25 laterals and 54 professional staff. There have been 62 promotions. Over 60% are new in patrol. Female officers nationwide are 13% - CVPD is just short of 20%. Recommend anyone interested in being an officer does a ride along to understand if there is a genuine interest. Awards and Recognition is being planned for May 7, 2020 at 11 am to noon. Will send additional information. Emcees will again be Carlos Amezcua and Lisa Remillard. Members given a sponsorship package. Evening with Heroes will be in September from 4 pm to 8 pm and as always, looking for auction items. This fundraiser provides funding for Kgs, the drone program, equipment etc. Starting a new fundraiser in June — a golf tournament. Request a letter be drafted for CAC to hand out for sponsors. Chief Kennedy has a foundation email (rkennedy@chulavistapolicefoundation.org). The current drone program is the best de-escalation tool to share real time with officers to keep the community and officers safe. Positive and open meeting with Assemblywoman Weber in February. Ideas and solutions exchanged and hopeful to continue having conversations regarding law enforcement and the use of drones. Captain Callum discussed the rise of Public Records Act (PRA) requests have quadrupled since 2018. CVPD does not have access to Ring data or Ring videos over and above what anyone from the public has. 3. Police De -Escalation Training and Procedures: CAC member Kingkade now works at the San Diego County DA's office and gave an update on the county -wide de-escalation training program. Very satisfied with law enforcement's desire to be proactive with the training which is mandated. The San Diego County Chiefs' and Sheriff's Association is an association that has 34 members which includes local law enforcement, the DA's office, the college police departments, NCIS, FBI etc. They agreed to have across the board to a cohesive training which has been tested with positive feedback from officers. The District Attorney's 25 -year study shows a decrease in officer involved shootings over the last few years due to better training and equipment. Note: In 2017 there were 20 officer involved shootings — 14 being fatal and 6 non-fatal. In 2018 there were 10 OIS shootings — 5 were fatal and 5 were non-fatal. Statistically, law enforcement procedures are safer now than in the 80s. CAC member Kingkade was thanked for her leadership and giving the officers the tools needed in this training. CAC member Sablan asked CAC member Kingkade about the training which used 25 years of OIS stats, the core concepts and value of de-escalation. The course teaches additional communication skills; Virtra training. CAC members were invited to attend the de- escalation course for observation. Reach out to Captain Collum. 4. Cannabis Licensing and Enforcement: City of Chula Vista is in the process of selecting legalized businesses to manufacture, test, cultivate and sell marijuana (none have been approved at this time). The police department plays a limited role in the overall process. The police department processes criminal background checks and reviews security plans (PD has one detective to handle all of them, which amounts to about 685 individual criminal background checks). Other City Departments involved in the process include the City Manager's office, City Attorney's office, the Finance Department, and units handling codes and permitting. Currently, any cannabis shops seen in Chula Vista are illegal and not FDA regulated. PD estimates that illegal profits from the unlicensed pot shops can exceed $20,000 to $40,000 a day. These illegal businesses have caused a variety of crime and disorder problems and some have had problems with shootings and robberies. CAC member Kingkade asked if the illegal businesses can submit for a legal license. Anyone involved in an illegal cannabis business is disqualified from being licensed for a legal one. CAC member Corbett asked if there is a time frame to have a legal one open. Hard to say with the extensive background research and other department timelines but will probably see them in the third quarter of 2020. All applicants have been informed it could take a year to process. 2 CAC member Sablan asked how many will be allowed in each district. There will be a total of three per district which will have 12 in Chula Vista. There will be unlimited testing labs, cultivation business and drivers. Chula Vista has shut down 68 illegal dispensaries, and there is a prosecuting attorney assigned to the criminal side (hired in March). Before March the only tools the city had to enforce closure was a civil process (code violations). It takes several months to eradicate illegal dispensaries, many which are tied to criminal organizations. 5. Neighborhood Protection Unit — first year update: Deputy City Attorney Carol Trujillo reported out on the Neighborhood Protection Unit's (NPU) first year in operation on behalf of City Prosecutor Nicole Carnahan, who is on maternity leave. Since Ms. Carnahan was hired in March 2019, the NPU in conjunction with the Police Department has: executed 6 criminal search warrants at 5 different dispensaries and 1 residence; charged 16 people with misdemeanor crimes, resulting in 14 defendants pleading guilty and now on probation; recovered hundreds of thousands in cash; seized $60 million in contraband marijuana products; recovered multiple firearms; and built relationships with the California Attorney General and the San Diego District Attorney. Last month, the City Council approved changes to the City Attorney's Office's current budget, which will allow the hiring of an investigator and paralegal to fully staff the NPU. A CAC member asked what will happen to the seized money. DCA Trujillo said the NPU paralegal will work on forfeiture. Captain Collum added that the illegal dispensaries, which are high-volume cash businesses, simply could forfeit the seized money. DCA Trujillo stated that in addition to illegal dispensaries, the NPU will work on other public safety priorities identified by the Police Department and the community, such as quality of life issues and restorative justice programs. She asked the CAC members to think about public safety priorities to give input to the NPU, now and in future. Member Kingkade said the NPU should work on Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVTROs). DCA Trujillo said the City Attorney's Office is available to assist officers with GVRTOs, which are designed for officers and members of the public to obtain without attorney assistance. Member Kingkade said the application can be daunting, because it is several pages long. Officers do obtain GVTROs on their own, such as Escondido Police Department officers. But prosecutors in the San Diego City Attorney's Office obtain GVTROs for San Diego Police Department officers, which she thinks is a better service model and facilitates the use of GVTROs by officers. She said prosecutor support for GVTROs would be an important contribution to public safety. Strategic Planning 19 (SP19) will be tabled for the next meeting. In closing: Captain Collum is the department's Emergency Coordinator. He will address the coronavirus and COVID-19 concerns. The Chula Vista mall had an employee at the AT&T store who is now quarantined and being tested for COVID-19. The 8 stores were shut and cleaned. The fire and police department are preparing to take steps and as an added measure of protection will distribute training information and masks. Meeting ended at 6:33 pm. Next meeting will be June 4th. Time will be verified. Stay safe. Cathy Mill r, Sr. Administrative Secretary 4