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Home My WebLink About05/05/2009 05A Draft Minutes 04-14-2009 Study SessionYAKIMA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION APRIL 14, 2009 — 8:00 — 9:30 A.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS — YAKIMA CITY HALL 1. Roll Call Present: Council: Mayor Dave Edler, presiding, Assistant Mayor Micah Cawley, Council Members Kathy Coffey, Rick Ensey, Bill Lover, Neil McClure, and Sonia Rodriguez Staff: City Manager Zais, City Attorney Cutter and City Clerk Moore Following a break from the earlier Council form on EMS, the meeting began at 8:10 a.m. 2. Review of attached curfew ordinance Police Chief Granato opened the meeting by advising that, based on statistics his department had gathered and reviewed, he was not going to recommend a curfew. Although" he does support curfews because he thinks it would be a useful tool and they have been successful in other cities, we do. not have the framework nor the constitutional ability to implement one in this state. Also, because we do not have a location to take juveniles when they are picked up, the police would basically become a taxi service. Chief Granato explained we lack the necessary statistics because we don't have an RMS system that could better define the numbers. For example, with graffiti or a car break in, there is no way to know if it was a juvenile or an adult, and because the reports come in during the day, that time frame is reflected in the statistics. His recommendation would be to go back to enforcing truancy during the daytime hours. It is on the books and is supported by the ACLU. Cynthia Martinez, Senior Assistant City Attorney, referred to her memo and legal opinion supplied to Council recommending that the Council not adopt the draft ordinance provided. It is not "narrowly tailored" as required because of.the lack of data. Cesar Abreu, Crime and Intelligence Supervisor, gave a presentation outlining his findings. He had compiled data from 2004 through March 17, 2009, concentrating on felony and misdemeanor crimes. Some interesting points were that the majority of arrests happened on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays during the daytime. Seventeen year olds far outnumber any other age category in committing crimes. Based on statistics, the peak period for those crimes was from 5-8 p.m. The arrest rate for juveniles for 2009 is .001 (one person per thousand.) Juveniles made up 73% of all the burglaries in 2008 in contrast to 3% of the arrests for property offenses, including graffiti. The majority of violations during the curfew time period were related to liquor, vehicles, and vandalism. During the non -curfew period, the order changed to theft, vandalism, and vehicle crimes. He spoke, about trying to pinpoint when the actual crimes occur versus the reporting time. is is 0 STUDY SESSION — CURFEW ORDINANCE APRIL 14, 2009 ® Police Lieutenant Wentz said officer contact with most juveniles happens before J PP midnight. He also pointed out that many of the juveniles think detention time is a badge of honor. He didn't think a curfew ordinance would be much of a deterrent because most juveniles are caught around 8:00 p.m. Officer Hildebrand said the busiest times are from 2:00 p.m. to midnight. He doubted a curfew ordinance would reduce the amount of graffiti. Lt. Wentz was concerned that if an officer's initial contact with a juvenile was based strictly on a curfew infraction and it was discovered that juvenile was involved in a more serious crime, such as a homicide, the courts could throw out the case because the curfew ordinance was deemed unconstitutional. When asked what he thought would be a good tool against graffiti, Officer Wentz suggested having the juvenile paint out the graffiti in front of everyone as soon as they were caught. He believes the punishment is too far removed from the criminal action in the current system. Assistant Mayor Cawley said there is an ordinance on the books regarding an "emergency declaration" in which you can declare a curfew. He has been reviewing it and thinks we are at the point, with people living in fear, that we have the authority to declare an emergency. Kyler Bachoffner, Director of EPIC's Youth Services Program, said, under current law, his agency is allowed to admit youth for curfew violations, but they do not do so because a curfew law isn't being enforced. They currently take juveniles in runaway situations and are not prepared to address truancy issues. They work on the family environment and to provide services to diminish their at -risk status. They are not in the business of housing youth, but try to reunite families. Steve Mitchell, also with EPIC, spoke about the disintegration of the family unit and how the family has to be accountable for acts of the children. He feels the solution to combat this issue is education and lies in forming partnerships with community, school districts, and families. He commented that this is something that the Council cannot solve by itself. It is a complex issue that always reverts back to family. When the family becomes weak and ineffective, the outcome is children at risk. If a child in the school system has not mastered reading by second grade, they are on course for dropping out of school. The process being dealt with now started a long time ago for the child. The family structure wasn't what it should have been. We have to deal with families by providing options, opportunities, and education to make families whole by strengthening the school district with other agencies and churches. It will take everyone together to solve this problem. Mayor Edler noted that the City of Yakima is a stakeholder in the Thrive -by -Five initiative that is already injecting programs into the troubled parts of our community. Captain Rod Light advised that police staff had met with EPIC when considering this ordinance, and the agency is very concerned about potential legislative cuts they are expected to experience. They currently have 17 full -time staff and are willing to provide beds, but the cost is $203 each per day. In addition, police officers cannot bring juveniles to the police station because curfew violations are considered a status offense and not an actual crime. When an officer comes in contact with a juvenile, they become responsible for them. They must try to find • the parents, which is a daunting task. It's important to weigh the value of taking an officer off the streets to the amount of time it will take to complete the process. He then asked how do we segue into how to contact these youth, how to develop probable cause which leads to legal issues to overcome if it's a curfew violation. .2 STUDY SESSION — CURFEW ORDINANCE APRIL 14, 2009 There would be legal challenges, suppression hearings, throwing evidence out of • court. Discussion addressed possible deterrents to the problem of juvenile crime, such as preventative programs in our schools, teaching youth to take a different path, and evening activities for teens. Mayor Edler suggested approaching our legislature on the need for funding for intervention and prevention. Chief Granato noted that the GREAT program has a family component during the summer. The police can direct people to programs but they are not trained to solve the issues of family. Other cities are looking at parental responsibility and giving the city permission to sue parents of the kids involved in vandalism. Council Member Ensey pointed out that putting kids to work is a good way to give them a purpose. Council Member McClure summed it up for the Council by asking, as the government of the city, how do we partner with organizations to attack the problem with something that works? He challenged the community to make our kids a priority. Council Member Lover spoke about a need for suppression and that the ordinance still needs to be pursued by looking for a way to make it legally feasible. Council Member Rodriguez spoke about poor communities that have been turned around because they invested in recreation centers for kids. She stated.that our community needs to invest in the kids. CAWLEY MOVED AND LOVER SECONDED TO DIRECT STAFF TO FOLLOW THE TACOMA MODEL, CONTINUE TO GATHER STATS AND COME UP WITH A CURFEW THAT WILL WORK FOR OUR COMMUNITY. The motion failed 6 -1 voice vote, Cawley being the yes vote. 3. Audience Comments — None 4. Adjoumment CAWLEY MOVED AND LOVER SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO THE CED CONFERENCE ROOM FOR A SPECIAL MEETING ON THE PRIOIRITIES OF GOVERNMENT. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY COUNCIL MEMBER DATE COUNCIL MEMBER DATE ATTEST: CITY CLERK DAVID EDLER, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. A CD and DVD of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 3