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Council Public Safety Committee
City SManager's Conference pom
City 7faf
February 6, 2008
MINUTES
Council Members Present: BiII Lover, David Edler, Rick Ensey (alt.)
Staff Present: City Manager Dick Zais, Assistant City Manager Dave Zabel!,
Police Chief Sam Granato, Assistant City Attorney Cynthia Martinez, Fire Chief
Charlie Hines, Deputy Fire Chief Bob Stewart, Police Administrative Assistant
Terri Greer
The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m.
I. Selection of Committee Chairperson
Councilman Lover nominated Councilman Johnson to chair the Public Safety
• Committee. Councilman Edler seconded the nomination. The motion passed
unanimously.
Councilman Edler asked if the Public Safety Committee needed to meet every
month. Staff advised that there are generally enough issues that need to be
brought before the committee to merit a monthly meeting, but in the event that
there is not anything to discuss, the meeting would be cancelled.
II. West Valley Fire Department Interlocal Agreement for Automatic Aid
Chief Hines briefed the committee on the proposed agreement between the
Yakima Fire Department and the West Valley Fire Department to provide
automatic aid in an area south of the airport that is in West Valley's jurisdiction
(Yakima Fire would respond) and west of 72 " Avenue that is within Yakima
Fire's jurisdiction (West Valley Fire would respond to any structure fire). In
addition, West Valley Fire would provide fire education at some of the elementary
schools located within the city limits. West Valley Fire has already approved this
agreement and it is ready to be presented to the full council.
The agreement was approved to be forwarded to the full council with the
recommendation of the Public. Safety Committee.
•
Additionally, the EMS committee has had a council member on the committee.
Former Council Member Whitman was the representative previously.
Councilman Ensey was nominated and selected to sit on the EMS committee.
Councilman Edler requested that additional information be brought to the
committee regarding what the costs would be to obtain and staff two additional
engine units that fire command staff advises are needed.
III. Random Drug Testing
The issue of Random Drug Testing remains a high priority on the City's
legislative agenda. A request has been made to the legislature for a hearing on
the issue. If the request is granted, it is expected to be only a courtesy hearing to
be able to discuss legalities, testing protocol, procedures, etc. The company that
currently provides CDL testing for the City will providea question and answer
sheet.
Staff feels it is premature to conduct an advisory vote at this time. It would be
expensive and could be skewed to make it look like it is only a Yakima issue. A
non- scientific poll could be conducted through YPAC, the City website, or could
be sent out with utility bills, or a scientific poll could be conducted at an additional
expense.
Many organizations who would most likely have supported the issue had already
set their legislative agendas for the year and could not get random drug testing
on their agenda. It is very likely that additional support will come when the next
series of legislative agendas are set.
Chief Granato had a conversation with the lobbyist for the Fraternal Order of
Police, who believe the issue should be a subject of collective bargaining. Chief
Granato did not disagree, but asked what remedy was available when the union
does not bargain in good faith. The FOP lobbyist could not answer that question.
IV. Witness Coordinator
Chief Granato would like to explore a partnership with Yakima County to create a
witness coordinator position that would notify officers when they are needed to
appear in court. This would reduce the amount of time officers and detectives
are required to stand by when not needed and therefore would reduce court
overtime.
Councilman Edler asked if this is something Chief Granato would like to have
City Council introduce to the County Commissioners. Chief advised he would
like to have that happen.
V. Police Policies & Procedures Manual
Chief Granato advised that one of the recommendations of the LEMAP report
was to have an outside company rewrite the Department's . policies and
procedures manual. Lexipol is a company that provides this service and has
made a proposal to create a policies and procedures manual for the Yakima
Police Department. They have created a generic manual that is applicable to
Washington state, and would then tailor it to our agency. Lexipol also provides a
training module that verifies the receipt of the manual and any updates and that
employees understand what is in the manual. The initial start up cost would be
approximately $19,000.
It was moved by Councilman Lover and seconded by Councilman Ensey to enter
into a professional services agreement with Lexipol to provide
VIII. Police Vacancy Update
The sergeant and officers have been selected for the Proactive Enforcement
Team. They will be transitioned over to the team as new officers come back from
academy and are put out on the streets. There will be two officers transitioned to
the team by March 1 and the plan is to have the rest transitioned by early June.
The Deputy Chief position is being advertised regionally. If we are able to
• identify and select a candidate before July 1, we will attempt to bring that person
on earlier.
The LEMAP report recommended upgrading the Crime Analyst position from a
simple data entry clerk to a more specialized position requiring some analytical
expertise. The pay scale has been increased to attract candidates with that
specialized training, however, we will need to figure out how to budget the
additional $20,000 for the upgrade. This position will report directly to the Chief
of Police.
IX. LEMAP report
The LEMAP report was distributed to the committee members for their review.
Garry Anderson, LEMAP Coordinator for WASPC, will attend the next meeting.
He will be able to address any questions the committee has after reviewing the
report. City Manager Zais pointed out that two of the major recommendations in
the report are regarding the Crime Analyst position and revamping the Policies
and Procedures Manual.
X. Committee Carryover Assignments
A list of previous committee assignments and priorities was distributed to the
committee members for review. Councilman Lover requested a very short
update and recommendation on each item be prepared for the next meeting.
XI. Adjournment
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The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting
will be March 5, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. in the City Manager's Conference Room for
review of the LEMAP report with Garry Anderson and review of committee
assignments.
ice
/i — r�
David Edler
(Acting) Public Safety Committee Chair
Minutes prepared by Terri Greer