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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/13/2005 Adjourned Meeting 2 51 ADJOURNED MEETING SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 - 7:30 A.M. - 9:00 A.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS - YAKIMA CITY HALL 1. Roll CaII Present: Council: Mayor Paul George, presiding, Council Members Ron Bonlender, Dave Edler, Neil McClure, Mary Place, Bernard Sims, and Susan Whitman (after 7:37 a.m.) Staff: City Manager Zais; Police Chief Sam Granato; and Acting City Clerk Watkins • City Manager Zais introduced Dave Zabell, Yakima's new Assistant City Manager. Mr. Zabell spoke about his enthusiasm and excitement to be in Yakima and advised that he had been the City Administrator for Marysville for 20 years and the Public Works Director in Bothell for the last five years. 2. Study Session to review Police Emphasis Program in the North - Central area of Yakima • Area selection and project goal Chief Granato explained how they selected District 4 as the emphasis area and that the goal was to do an assessment, not just flood the area with officers. He then described the methodology used by Dr. Bernal Baca and Dr. Kathleen McDonald in the assessment of the targeted area. Questionnaires were sent out using voter registration rolls. They were in both English and Spanish and asked for priorities related to crime and quality of life issues with services provided in the city. It is YPD's intent to go back and talk to the citizens who participated as a follow up. • How it was accomplished By affording the opportunity to work overtime, they were able to artificially increase the number of officers on the street at any time. The police partnered with other departments, e.g. Codes and Public Works. Three weeks before starting the emphasis patrol they looked for abandoned vehicles and started the process to get them towed on the first day of emphasis. Eighty vehicles were identified and most had been moved by the time the emphasis started. The intent was to have a visual impact of cleaning up the neighborhood. They also partnered with Juvenile Detention and the Department of Corrections. This gave them the ability to test the juvenile assessment they are using to determine if juveniles should be incarcerated or allowed back into the community. Those results are not yet available. They paid special attention to people wanted on warrants and drug houses. They gave out a phone number for people to call in with tips of drug and gang activity. 2 52 SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 — ADJOURNED MEETING • Emphasis Results There were 296 traffic stops with160 traffic citations issued, 3 DUI arrests, 29 misdemeanor arrests, 19 misdemeanor warrants, 13 felony arrests, 26 felony warrants served, 84.vehicles tagged for removal and 246 field interviews conducted. Only two tips on two drug houses were received and addressed by the officers. The Council discussed how to operate a tip line in a manner that would help people overcome their fear of retribution. The total cost in overtime, although they utilized on -duty officers as well, was about $22,000. This money is well spent when it puts additional officers on the street and allows a way to target neighborhoods experiencing drug houses and gangs. Chief Granato said it was important to show that the use of overtime can impact an area of town. They would like to identify at least three more areas in town where emphasis patrols can be targeted. The Police Department has a budget proposal that will allow for two more emphasis areas. • Questionnaire results In the results of the questionnaire, the respondents are very concerned about crime and violence with gangs receiving 79% and drugs 86% in the ranking of the serious community issues. Also in the results were things that don't have anything to do with policing but have to do with quality of life, e.g. more street lights. YPD plans to return and speak with people about specific issues such as sidewalks and lights, the things that would allow people to go out walking in their neighborhoods. They will also begin organizing Block Watch programs. Chief Granato said he was surprised by some of the results and was disappointed that the number of questionnaires returned by Hispanics was very low. They hope to improve in that area. It was interesting how the respondents ranked the essential fire and police very high but overall city government very low, apparently not understanding the services that city government provides are mainly police and fire. • Area location and demographics The emphasis area was 25 square blocks bounded by 6th Avenue, 16 Avenue, Cherry Street, and Summitview Avenue. It reflected the Yakima community very well with about 11% being college educated and 46.6% are homeowners. • Future sampling methods Chief Granato said they have talked about using the Police Explorers to deliver the questionnaires and have them come back and collect them. They actually got a good return from the mailings. Council Member Place referred to ONDS' experience in hiring a summer employee who spoke both English and Spanish and went door to door conducting a survey. 2 2 5. SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 - ADJOURNED MEETING Chief Granato explained that YPD currently has only one clerk handling the Block Watch application and notifications. This area of Community Development has a lot of need, such as officers who are trained to do crime prevention talks. They are working on a contract with a civilian, a former police officer, and looking at offering . homeowners a free crime prevention survey. If the homeowner applies all the items in the survey, they should be able to receive a savings on their insurance. These are the type of things that will develop out of these emphasis assessments. Chief Granato expects that, as the emphasis patrols are held more often and people become aware of what the survey is for, they will get a greater percentage of responses and the people will use the tip line more often. It is troubling that people don't call the police for fear of retaliation. Chief Granato said there seems to be a sense of "what's the point." They are trying to emphasize how the police need that information so they can put more patrols in areas requiring them. • Code Enforcement Partnership Joe Caruso, Code Inspection Supervisor, said compliance officers rode with the police officers and made 106 site inspections. They said it was very successful from a code compliance view, and having the police officer go to door with them seemed to result in people taking compliance issues more seriously. They received a lot of thanks and felt the emphasis was a tremendous tool. Council Member Bonlender suggested a few dumpsters be set in various areas in the emphasis neighborhoods and let people know they can use them for free during the emphasis period to help clean their neighborhood up and get them working together. Council Member Sims questioned why code compliance officers aren't occasionally riding with refuse and water employees to identify problem areas. Mr. Caruso explained it is a matter of manpower and demand on the hotline. They hope to obtain approval for another code compliance officer for litter control in January. Council Member Sims also recommended educating people as to what our standards are. Council Member McClure commented on how well received this was by the citizens and supported these patrols on an ongoing basis as it is a good commitment of our resources. • Office of Neighborhood Development (ONDS) Partnership Bill Cobabe, ONDS Manager, described their experience with surveys. Their pattern has been to do a survey every other year. They will do one that is door -to -door and then two years later do a mailing survey. The response results of their mailing surveys parallel this one. They have noticed differences in door -to -door versus mailing surveys as the mailing one is self - selecting; people decide whether or not to respond. Their mailer gets a higher response from senior citizens and that skews results. The pollsters say that if you get above 10% return it is a good sampling. The return for this survey was 17% so it should be a good representative survey. Mr. Cobabe said they would be pleased to work with the Police Department in conducting door -to -door surveys and combine their efforts. 3 • 2, 5 4'. SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 — ADJOURNED MEETING Council members discussed the importance of acting on the identified suggestions. We also have to promote the neighborhood into taking some responsibility, establishing block watches, for example. Chief Granato said they want to put a crime prevention specialist out there and it is in the budget proposal. Council Member Edler commented that, per the survey, the citizens believe the answer is more lighting and sidewalks. It is important for the citizens to begin to understand that, because of what is happening in our culture, governments are unable to acquire finances necessary to attain the quality of life elements that are wanted. This is an important piece of the puzzle that people need to understand. If they want to live in a community that is safe, there are changes that will have to be made. Council Member Place agreed and asked how do we let folks know the relationship between their tax dollars and sidewalks and lights. Mr. Cobabe described the role ONDS played in support of YPD's emphasis patrol. They identified two homes to be painted by volunteers that had not been scheduled. They recruited volunteers and were in the area every day, including Saturday and Sunday. They hoped the funny looking graffiti vehicles made the City's presence felt. Part of the ONDS action plan for this year is the idea of beginning neighborhood organizations and block watch will be a part of that. They're hoping people will feel empowered to take back their own neighborhoods. • Vacant Building Issue In answer to a question from Council Member Sims, Mr. Caruso commented that they have had a lot of success with the vacant building ordinance. Many of the owners are taking care of the buildings on their own without enforcement from the City. Some have been demolished and others renovated. That has been another positive program. • Police reaction Sergeant Brenda George described the reaction of the officers involved, noting that when the emphasis first started there were several vacancies of volunteers. Within two or three days, officers were coming up and asking if they could work it. They were pleased to be able to do something proactively rather than just responding. With this project, they could start with a goal, go out and work that goal and be able to accomplish something. The neighborhood responded positively to the officers and the officers felt really good about it. Chief Granato, as a follow up, displayed two maps of the area that depicted vehicle thefts, and car prowls prior to and following the emphasis patrol. There was a huge difference. When asked how the change came about, he responded that they found out who is living in the neighborhood and whether they have warrants. Then they would go knock on their door and arrest them. They also helped the Department of Corrections look for individuals Chief Granato made a suggestion with regard to abandoned vehicles. He said Homeland Security is recommending abandoned cars be towed as rapidly as possible because they are excellent tools for car bombs. Therefore, the Public Safety Committee might want to consider shortening the length of time before they can be • 4 25.5_; SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 — ADJOURNED MEETING towed. City Manager Zais commented that the current 15 days is a state statute. Council Member Place asked about whether they had current licenses and maybe that could be considered in future discussions on the subject. 3. Audience Comments None 4. Adjournment McCLURE MOVED AND PLACE SECONDED TO ADJOURN. The motion carried by • unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 a.m. / r READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY , , / %� / f'` lc D r CO N MEMnot // DATE A . ,/_., COU If MEMBER l DATE . ATTEST: KetAc go--e 6 1 7 CITY CLERK PAUL P. GEORGE, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. An audio and video tape of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office I/ • 5