Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-08-27 PUBLIC SAFETYCITY OF SANTA ANA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY AND NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT MINUTES August 27, 2013 CALL TO ORDER: Santa Ana Police Department 60 Civic Center Drive, Police Community Room Santa Ana, California 6:00 PM ATTENDANCE: MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: GUEST SPEAKER: PUBLIC SIGN -INS: PUBLIC COMMENTS Council Committee members: David Benavides Roman Reyna Michele Martinez Carlos Rojas, PD Scott Brown, OCFA Laura Rossini, CAO Ann Matulin, PD Pete Semelsberger, PD Brian Sheldon, PD Danell Mercado, PWA Pedro Guillen, PWA Eileen Greene, PD William Romesburg, Cit Com, Inc. Alexis Teodoro Juan Plascencia Abraham Medina Carlos Perea Hairo Cortes Marilyn Montano Karen Miranda Connie Hamilton Richard Barasch Alison Stanley Scott Sink Theresa Dang Thomas Gordon Alexis Teodoro — supports "Keeping Our Families Together" campaign. Mr. Teodoro turned in a document of a policy proposal that his group developed with their legal team to address the issue of protecting undocumented families from being separated. Mr. Teodoro believes that the City and the Santa Ana Police Department should not be honoring any ICE hold requests and that the ICE contract should be terminated. Juan Plascencia — supports the "Keep Our Families Together" campaign. Mr. Plascencia acknowledged that police are doing their job but by honoring the ICE contract, he said people don't even know who to contact, because they don't know who is going to show up at their doorstep. Undocumented students at school feel intimidated. When families separated, it takes a toll not only personally and emotionally, but also financially. Abraham Medina — supports the "Keep Our Families Together" campaign. Mr. Medina said they proposed an ordinance at the State level through assembly bill AB84 to no longer honor ICE detainers, but wants to pass a City ordinance to make Santa Ana a safe place for undocumented families. Orange County has the highest rate of youth deportations in the state because ICE and Secure Communities share information. Asking for City Council to pass the ordinance. Carlos Perea — talks about Bill 84 at the State level dealing with ICE hold detainers. Mr. Perea says the City needs to take leadership because cannot rely on whether or not it will be signed by the governors. ICE detainers should target people who commit serious crimes. Regarding privatizing the jail; this usually results in serious human infractions. FIairo Cortes — supports "Keeping Families Together" campaign and the termination of police collaboration with Immigrations & Customs Enforcement. State -wide cases of victims of domestic violence are ending in deportation hearings. If police collaborate with ICE in communities of immigrant families, public safety will suffer. Families will hesitate to call police; they will live with abuse in their lives, with danger in their environments because of fear of being sent out of the country. Mr. Cortes said to stop using the Santa Ana City Jail as a detention center for ICE. Privatizing is not the answer either. Marilynn Montano — here as part of the "Keeping Families Together" campaign and a few things: 1) police shouldn't honor ICE holds; 2) my parents are undocumented and I have to worry every day because of police collaboration with ICE; and 3) Council Members and Chief Rojas need to listen to and stand by their community. Karen Miranda — resident and high school student who came in support of the "Keeping Families Together" campaign and ordinance. She is an undocumented student who lives with a single mom. She worries about what would happen if her mom gets deported. Connie Hamilton — alarming number of pedestrian fatalities here in Santa Ana. Spoke with Chief Carlos Rojas and Commander Ibarra. There's going to be a new public awareness campaign for pedestrians and drivers which is sorely needed. Also need to do public education, bilingual, some PSA'S. I would be willing to be on any type of citizen's committee to brainstorm this issue. Other cities that are just as dense have PSA's up on YouTube; I didn't see any for Santa Ana so we need to step up and do something. Richard Barasch and Alison Stanley — concerned about the discharge of illegal and safe and sane fireworks in Santa Ana on both July 4th and New Year's Eve. They provided a handout and said they met with members of both the Police and Fire Department to discuss concerns. These are the suggestions they propose: 1) phone hotline to report illegal fireworks; 2) should be unmarked police cars to cite violators throughout the city; 3) safe and sane fireworks only on private property; 4) increase maximum fine for violators to $1,000; and 5) cites be served on property owners as well as the violators. Willing to participate in a joint task force to implement any or all of the proposals. Scott Sink — wants a new ordinance to direct SAPD to decline all ICE hold requests. Honoring detainers erodes community trust, rewards criminals, unjustly punishes migrants, separates families, and drains city resources. Anaheim and Costa Mesa partnered with immigration to make sure the worst criminals remain locked up, but there was no guarantee. In fact, the first people deported were for very minor crimes. Sharing data with ICE in not necessary to identify deportable felons, it usually affects non - criminals or those convicted of minor offenses. Felons are sent to county or state facilities where their status is checked. Theresa Dang — talked about local law enforcement collaboration with the Feds regarding the city jail. Secure Communities was sold as a program that would only go after dangerous criminals to make our communities safer. What we know from statistics of years of its implementation is that the vast majority of people that are targeted by ICE do not have a criminal record or convictions. Believes the jail should stay within local control. Suggests a possibility to re- purpose it; perhaps to meet the needs of the homeless community in Orange County. Thomas Gordon — Graffiti Protective Coatings got the contract 2.5 years ago with the city of Santa Ana. In that time, despite being promised that there would be several paint out events throughout the year; we've had only two. Graffiti is one of the big concerns in the city, and the residents are ready to commit to these events as well as Graffiti Protective Coatings. We would like to do at least two of these a year, not one in 2.5 years. Invest in our community, our children, our parks. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Approval of Minutes of 6 -18 -13 Meeting Motion: Approve the Minutes of 6 -18 -13 meeting. MOTION: Reyna SECOND: Benavides VOTE: AYES: Benavides, Reyna NOES: None (0) ABSENT: Martinez Motion carries. 2. City of Santa Ana Fire Services Update Division Chief Scott Brown, OCFA, provided a PowerPoint presentation "A Year in Review" to discuss the new partnership between the City of Santa Ana and the Orange County Fire Association. Since April, 2012, OCFA has taken over the operation of ten fire stations in Santa Ana. All trucks have apparatus for firefighters and paramedics so they can provide EMS as well as respond to fires. Contracting with private ambulance services has provided a major cost savings for those who need to be transported to hospitals. OCFA will continue to engage with the community and is hosting a community safety day on September 8th at Station 75 on Walnut Street. OCFA has a new website which can be found under the City's webpage. (Item 7 was taken out of order.) 7. Jail Options A discussion was held regarding options being considered for changing the operations of the Santa Ana city jail. Jail Administrator Ann Matulin gave an update: Option #1) obtaining total cost recovery from the present contract agencies - Federal guidelines preclude the reimbursement of certain costs, indirect costs, so unlikely to receive total cost recovery. Going through process of increase review will take approximately six weeks or 90 days. Option #2) leasing the building — met with Sheriff's personnel who indicated an interest; however, the organization is currently going through their own cost analysis. Any decision is about a year out. Option # 3) outsourcing jail services — three companies contacted. One said no. Another interested in a hybrid operation where Santa Ana would provide management and they would provide line employees; we would still have to provide medical and food services. The last company expressed an interest in total operation. Option #4) closing the jail. An RFP would be the best vehicle to find out what definitive options are out there. Jail staff created its own committee to look, at and.review how we might be able to do things more cost effectively. ACTION: Committee Chairman Benavides requests Chief Rojas prepare a memo for the full City Council briefly summarizing the jail options presentation. 3. Integrated Software A discussion was held about the integrated software project being considered for implementation at the Police Department and the impact it would have. Bill Romesberg, a representative for Cit Com, a consulting firm, gives a report on his findings. Mr. Romesburg provided a PowerPoint presentation with an overview of existing software, the infrastructure of the Police Department from a technology standpoint and options going forward to replace antiquated, obsolete, and discontinued software. Recommendation was to acquire an integrated software system provided by a single vendor who could guarantee a degree of compatibility among shared systems throughout the different City agencies. The Police Department is looking at asset forfeiture funds as a potential funding source, as well as grant opportunities. ACTION: Chief Rojas will provide an update letter to City Council. 4. Review and Approve By -Laws Assistant City Attorney Laura Rossini proposed a final draft of the By -laws for the Committee to review and add their input. The City Attorney's Office has been gathering final drafts as the goal is to have uniform by -laws for all the various City Council sub - committees. MOTION: Move By -laws forward to City Council. MOTION: Reyna SECOND: Benavides VOTE: AYES: Reyna, Benavides NOES: None (0) ABSENT: Martinez 5. CERT Program: Update, Future Plans Sergeant Brian Sheldon, Santa Ana Police Department, provided a PowerPoint presentation with an overview of the City's CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Program, where it is going, how we are getting there, and the current status of the program. The CERT Program is a partnership between SAPD and OCFA, coordinated by a Citizen Board appointed by the Police Department. A discussion was held regarding training residents to become CERT members and to be prepared to respond to emergency situations in their communities and work places. CERT members can also help with non - emergency projects that help improve the safety of their community. Currently working with a vendor to secure a course and drafting program polices and guidelines. 6. Graffiti Paint Out Day A discussion was held regarding a graffiti paint -out day. Danell Mercado, PWA Projects Manager, announced that the next graffiti paint -out day would be held on Saturday, October 5`h, 9:OOAM — 12:00 Noon. The meeting location is Madison Park and the contractor is Graffiti Protective Coating. There will be t -shirts and other giveaways for the volunteers. Fall and Spring were determined to be the best time to do these events so students can be involved. Announcements will be going out on Nixle, the City website, the September Com -Link meeting, and there will be a press release. Recommendation was to identify future dates, and to have it as a semi - annual event. 8. Parking Enforcement /Routes A discussion was held regarding parking enforcement /routes. Pedro Guillen, PWA Acting Maintenance Manager, spoke about the routes. After consulting with Parking Enforcement as to the areas of highest tickets, the City is looking at different options such as street sweeping alternatives along these routes. Eligibility requirements are it has to be a designated area in the city, street has to be close to 100 percent capacity, and on -site parking limited. In the next phase, the neighborhood is the applicant and they vote for the program. There would be a cost recovery for signs and staff work paid by the residents. Staff has met with the schools and adjusted street sweeping so it does not impact pick -up and drop -off for students. Chief Rojas spoke on enforcement side and said that violations were reviewed and they were accurate. He addressed the question of how to alleviate some of the problems with being in a densely populated area. The second go around component was eliminated because residents would check the signs, move the cars when the street sweeper was coming around, and then park their cars back on the street. The problem with the schools was a lack of communication between the Police Department, the City and the schools. The Police Department met with the school district, identified six schools that have chronic problems related to street sweeping or having not enough spaces, an assessment was done, and they came up with optional mitigation measures. 9. Items for Next Meeting on 9 -24 -13 A. OTS Grant /DUI Checkpoints Committee Member Comments Committee Chairman Benavides commented on pedestrian fatalities. He explained that action that was taken on this matter. Chief Rojas and Traffic Commander Ibarra set up an operation utilizing police officers in plainclothes crossing streets. Many times vehicles did not stop for them and within 2.5 hours, 87 citations were given out. Chairman Benavides stressed that education needs to be for everyone: pedestrians, drivers, mothers and children, especially since school is back in session. Councilmember Reyna briefly discussed a revision to the policy regarding ICE detainers that will be available to the public. Committee Chairman Benavides read from the report forwarded by City Staff. Adjournment — 8:40 P.M. v CARLOS ROJAS Acting Chief of Police