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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-28-07 SANTA ANA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE PUBLIC SAFETY Minutes of Meeting August 28, 2007 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was convened at 5:35 p.m. at the Police Department, 60 Civic Center Plaza, 4th Floor Conference Room, Santa Ana, California. ATTENDANCE Council members present: Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, and Sal Tinajero. Staff present: Chief Assistant City Attorney Ben Kaufman, Assistant City Attorney Paula Coleman, Police Chief Paul Walters, Fire Marshal Lori Smith, Interim Fire Chief Steve Critchfield, Police Deputy Chief Pete Jensen, Police Deputy Director Mike Lewellen, Executive Director Planning and Building Jay Trevino, Police Deputy Chief Tony Levatino, Police Commander Ken Gominsky, Police Service Investigator Yolanda Pena, Officer Tom Serafin, and Recording Secretary Janet Chop. Public present: Doug Irvine, OC Register and Dan Gleason, CSP Inc. SUMMARY OF DISCUSSIONS 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approved Minutes of the July 31,2007 meeting. 2. TOP 10 PROBLEM LOCATIONS PER POLICING DISTRICT (INCLUDING 1002 N. FRENCH) Commander Gominsky explained how data was gathered for the top 10 locations in each district, which was based on calls for service. Regarding the location of 1002 N. French, a motion was moved, seconded and carried that the City not purchase 1002 N. French, because it is not a high priority location in regard to calls for service. The report completed by Commander Gominsky will be studied and brought back to the Public Safety Committee at a future date. 3. GRAFFITI ENFORCEMENT UPDATE Chief Walters reviewed data on graffiti enforcement for January to July 2007. There have been a total of 302 arrests made, 31,001 hours of restitution, and 9,022 hours of community service served. Suggestions were made to make public the arrests made, restitution and community service and the consequences of the offenders' actions. Staff will explore these suggestions. 2 4. PROPOSED MASSAGE PARLOR ORDINANCE PIS Pena gave an update on the Massage Establishment moratorium enacted by the City Council that will be in effect until May 21,2007. Upon staff review of other cities' ordinances, it was found that there was no differentiation between massage establishments and day spas. PIS Pen a will be doing further research before the ordinance is updated to protect the City from unscrupulous operators. It will then be presented to the Public Safety Committee. Chief ACA Kaufman talked about the Massage Establishment Permit. 5. UPDATE ON 800 BLOCK S. TOWNSEND AND 1000 BLOCK E. BISHOP Deputy Chief Jensen updated the Committee on these locations. He said a 21-member task force from City Departments were following a Problem Oriented Policing model to improve the area. The task force visually inspected the Bishop Manor area and will bring all data to a meeting in the near future, documenting strategies and track actions taken. Townsend Street will be studied next using the same plan. A progress report will be provided each month on Bishop Street. It was suggested that the Public Safety Committee walk through the areas with the task force at a future time. 6. FIREWORKS ENFORCEMENT COMPARISON WITH GARDEN GROVE Fire Marshal Smith compared how Garden Grove handled enforcement of illegal fireworks compared to Santa Ana. According to their after-action report, they took primarily the approach of giving citations and did not confiscate many illegal fireworks. Conversely, Santa Ana removed a significant amount of illegal fireworks from the street and issued fewer citations. The education programs for each city are similar and send the same messages. The costs of the seasonal efforts were markedly different, Garden Grove spending approximately $100,000 and Santa Ana approXimately $36,000. Both jurisdictions, having been in the education mode for just three years, concur that only time will tell which enforcement and education program methodologies best deter the use of illegal fireworks. 7. PROFILE OF HOMICIDE AND SHOOTING VICTIMS FOR 2007 Chief Walters reviewed City-wide gang and non-gang-related homicides and shootings for 2007. The data showed that homicide and gang shooting victims were gang members or associates in 45 of the 74 incidents (61 %); homicide and gang shooting suspects were gang members in 56 of the 74 incidents (76%). In addition to the 63 gang- related shootings, there were 42 non-gang related shootings from January 1 through July 31,2007. 3 8. EXPAND SAPML TO OTHER COMMUNITY CENTERS Deputy Chief Levatino and Officer Serafin both related the accomplishments of the SAPML program so far. It is operating to capacity at the McFadden Learning center. Officer Serafin will be identifying funds, looking for volunteers, and attracting recreation leaders to expand to other centers. In six months, they will be able to provide a long-range plan. Committee Member Alvarez requested that they investigate using Delhi Center for expansion of the program. 9. UNDERAGE DRINKING TASK FORCE Mr. Dan Gleason of Community Service Programs (CPS), Inc. presented a resolution he was recommending that the City Council adopt to support reduction of underage alcohol use by limiting the social availability of alcohol to youth. The Committee expressed concerns regarding endorsing a resolution for a specific group and requested that some of the wording be changed. The City Attorney's office will be drafting a resolution on the subject and will bring back to the Public Safety Committee at a future date. 10. MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES PRESENTATION Executive Director Jay Trevino and Chief ACA Kaufman reviewed the Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Ordinance. He related that the Police Department and Planning and Building Agency were recommending that the Planning Commission and City Council enact the Ordinance to permanently ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the City. The Ordinance is slated for the Planning Commission agenda of September 10 and the City Council agenda on September 17, 2007. 11. POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS ASSESSMENT NEEDS Nothing new to report at this time. Committee Member Benavides requested that the Fire Department identify fire stations that need improvement. Interim Fire Chief Critchfield will provide a cost estimate to upgrade fire stations and the fire training facility. 12. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments. 13. COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS There were no further committee member comments. 4 14. ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING A, Review of Top 10 Problem Locations Study B. Working with Santa Ana Unified School District regarding Graffiti and Restitution C. Update on Townsend and Bishop D. Underage Drinking Draft Resolution E. Police and Fire Departments Assessment Needs 15. NEXT MEETING DATE: September 25,2007,5:30 PM a::N:iLPM PAUL M. WALTERS Chief of Police jc