Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09870ORDINANCE NO. 9870 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING PROJECT NO. FF2101 (FEDERAL FORFEITURE EQUIPMENT), TRANSFERRING $180,000 FROM THE FEDERAL FORFEITURE FUND BALANCE TO PROJECT FF2101 AND BUDGETING AND APPROPRIATING $180,000 FOR USE AND BENEFIT OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WHEREAS, funds are available in the Federal Forfeiture Fund for the use and benefit of the Police Department; and WHEREAS, the Police Department is in need of certain items to maintain the safety and efficiency of its officers; and WHEREAS, the committee on disposition of forfeited property has approved such use of funds; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PUEBLO, that: SECTION 1. Project No. FF2101, Federal Forfeiture Equipment, is hereby established. SECTION 2. Funds in the total amount of $180,000.00 are hereby budgeted and appropriated out of the Federal Forfeiture Fund Balance to Project FF2101, and $180,000.00 is authorized to be expended therefrom for the purchase of equipment for the use and benefit of the Police Department. SECTION 3. The officers and staff of the City are authorized to perform any and all acts consistent with the intent of this Ordinance to effectuate the policies and procedures described herein. SECTION 4. This Ordinance shall become effective on the date of final action by the Mayor and City Council. Action by City Council: Introduced and initial adoption of Ordinance by City Council on January 11, 2021. Final adoption of Ordinance by City Council on January 25, 2021 . President of City Council Action by the Mayor: ☒ Approved on January 26, 2021 . □ Disapproved on based on the following objections: _ Mayor Action by City Council After Disapproval by the Mayor: □ Council did not act to override the Mayor's veto. □ Ordinance re-adopted on a vote of , on □ Council action on _______ failed to override the Mayor’s veto. President of City Council ATTEST City Clerk City Clerk’s Office Item # R-2 Background Paper for Proposed ORDINANCE COUNCIL MEETING DATE: January 11, 2021 TO: President Dennis E. Flores and Members of City Council CC: Mayor Nicholas A. Gradisar VIA: Brenda Armijo, City Clerk FROM: Troy D. Davenport – Chief of Police SUBJECT: AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING PROJECT NO. FF2101 (FEDERAL FORFEITURE EQUIPMENT), TRANSFERRING $180,000 FROM THE FEDERAL FORFEITURE FUND BALANCE TO PROJECT FF2101 AND BUDGETING AND APPROPRIATING $180,000 FOR USE AND BENEFIT OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: The proposed ordinance will allow the Police Department to use $180,000.00 obtained from Federal Forfeitures to pay for the purchase of a single handgun weapon platform, and all related equipment, for all sworn officers. Other Federal Forfeiture funds are used to pay for Lexipol and CALEA annual fees, Narcotics Unit operating costs, and travel expenses. PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: On November 12, 2018, City Council approved Ordinance Number 9360 that provided for the use of $162,520.07 in Federal Forfeiture funds. Twenty-six (26) months have passed since the last Federal Forfeiture disbursement and additional Federal Forfeiture funds have been paid to the City during that time. BACKGROUND: The funds in the Federal Forfeiture fund are confiscated funds from drug arrests. Federal Guidelines stipulate that these funds are to be used for the benefit of the Police Department. They can only be used to supplement the police budget, not supplant it. The City is in receipt of these funds. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The $180,000.00 will be used to pay for the purchase of a single handgun weapon platform, and all related equipment (magazines, magazine carriers, holsters, weapon lights, etc), for all sworn officers. Other Federal Forfeiture funds are used to pay for Lexipol and CALEA annual fees, Narcotics Unit operating costs, and travel expenses, as authorized by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Guide to Equitable Sharing, but are budgeted and appropriated through the annual operating budget Ordinance. BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: Per the U.S. Department of Justice’s Guide to Equitable Sharing for State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, the local law enforcement agency is required to “Establish an internal procedure to recommend expenditures from the revenue account. In many small agencies, the chief of police determines the purposes for which the funds are used. In larger agencies, committees have been formed to make recommendations for expenditures to the agency head. The agency head must authorize all expenditures from the federal sharing revenue account.” Our Federal Forfeiture Committee is made up of the following members: City Council Representative, City Council Vice-President Ed Brown, City Mayor, Nicholas A. Gradisar, Chief of Police, Troy Davenport, and District Attorney, Jeff Chostner. The committee met on December 28, 2020 and concurs on the expenditures outlined in the Ordinance. STAKEHOLDER PROCESS: Not Applicable ALTERNATIVES: Per the U.S. Department of Justice’s Guide to Equitable Sharing for State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, the following language exists, pertaining to equitable sharing: “Sharing must be used to increase or supplement the resources of the receiving state or local law enforcement agency or any other ultimate recipient agency. Shared resources shall not be used to replace or supplant the appropriated resources of the recipient. The recipient agency must benefit directly from the sharing. In determining whether sup plantation has occurred, the Department of Justice will examine the law enforcement agency’s budget as a whole and allow agencies to use equitable sharing funds for any permissible purpose as long as shared funds increase the entire law enforcement budget. The Department of Justice may terminate sharing with law enforcement agencies that are not permitted by their governing authorities to benefit directly from equitable sharing.” Based on the U.S. Department of Justice’s guidelines, Federal Forfeiture assets must be dedicated to the local law enforcement agency or risk termination from the equitable sharing program. RECOMMENDATION: Approval of the Ordinance. Attachments: Federal Forfeiture Committee Meeting Minutes from the meeting held on December 28, 2020 ANNUAL FEDERAL FORFEITURE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 28, 2020 1:00pm A meeting of the Federal Forfeiture Committee was conducted via a ZOOM conference call at 1:00 pm on Monday, December 28, 2020. The meeting was called to approve a budget to utilize Federal Forfeiture funds by the Pueblo Police Department. PRESENT: Jeff Chostner, District Attorney; Ed Brown, City Council Representative; Nick Gradisar, Pueblo City Mayor; Laura Solano, Mayor Office Chief of Staff; Alyssa Parga, Secretary to the Mayor; Troy Davenport, Chief of Police; Michael L. Bennett, Deputy Chief of Police Services Bureau; Chris Noeller, Deputy Chief of Police Operations Bureau; Bri Reyes, Finance Accountant II; and Alisa Boerhave, Police Administrative Tech. The voting members in attendance are the Pueblo District Attorney, the Pueblo City Council Representative, the Pueblo City Mayor, and the Chief of Police. Deputy Chief Bennett welcomed everyone and explained our last Federal Forfeiture Committee Meeting was 26 months ago on October 3, 2018. Federal Forfeiture receipts have been slow to come in. We have also been looking for the right project on which to spend these funds. We used Federal Forfeiture funds in the past to purchase vehicles. We have had another stream of funds for new vehicles and have allowed our Federal Forfeiture to build up. Roll Call of meeting attendees was conducted for the minutes. Chief Troy Davenport made a motion to approve the 2018 minutes, Mayor Nick Gradisar seconded, and the minutes were approved unanimously. Deputy Chief Bennett thanked everyone for their work on the Federal Forfeiture expenditures. Deputy Chief Bennett distributed two separate packets of information. ➢ The first was the previous meeting's minutes. ➢ The second contained: • 2018-2020 Federal Forfeiture Expenditures. • The Special Project FF1801 Expenditures from Ordinance#9360. • 2019-2020 Expenditures from the 217-56011 (Federal Forfeiture) Operating Supplies Account. This shows the detailed list of expenditures. • 2021 Federal Forfeiture Available Funds. It projects the yearly $60,000 narcotics usage in 2020 and the final costs of two previous approved projects. This page shows there is $526,952.89 available to distribute as of December 22, 2020. • Summary of the 2021 Federal Forfeiture Funding Requests. Deputy Chief Bennett reviewed the expenditures from the last meeting. He then explained we allocate $60,000 each year for Narcotics operating and supplies. Deputy Chief Bennett worked in conjunction with Grants Analyst Kayleigh McKenzie to confirm the incoming funds and expenditures. This appropriation of Federal Forfeiture funds must go before City Council for approval. Our Background and Ordinance for FF2101 has been reviewed and approved by Finance. City Law Department is currently reviewing the Background and Ordinance. We are planning to have the Ordinance go before City Council on January 11 and 25, 2021. Chief Davenport provided further background into the purchase of these Glock 9mm handguns, magazines, holsters and light sights. Senate Bill 217 requires all law enforcement officers to have body-worn cameras. We already have these cameras for our officers. There is new technology that will automatically turned on the body-worn camera when the officer's draws their weapon. There are times when the officer must make a split-second decision and may not have time to activate their camera. The Chief does not want the officers to be in a position to try to decide between activating their camera or drawing their weapon. The Chief continued that historically our weapon policy has allowed officers to carry a certain caliber weapon from a variety of reputable manufacturers. This will standardize the caliber our officers carry and their weapons training across the board. This will also save us money on the purchase of one caliber of ammunition. Chief Davenport has spoken with the Police Union regarding this topic. The majority are okay with this. We should be able to make this transition by July 1, 2021. We will issue the weapon to our officers and gather all the weapon equipment when they retire/resign. Mayor Gradisar asked if the Union had signed an agreement regarding this new issuance of a standardized weapon or if it was part of the mandatory bargaining. Chief Davenport said there is not a signed agreement. However, the Union took a survey on this issue and a majority approved. The Mayor just wanted to make sure we are not in a spot regarding the union bargaining agreement. Chief Davenport explained that Mayor Gradisar had asked a couple days ago if the ballistics would be different enough between each weapon since they were the same caliber. The Chief confirmed that each weapon fingerprint will be different. The Mayor asked if this would be all officers carrying these weapons and no grandfathering of current weapons. The Chief confirmed this is a mandatory issuance with no grandfathering. Chief of Staff Laura Solano inquired why we were only spending $180,000 when more funds were still available. Shouldn't we get more weapons than just 17. The Chief explained it is a Glock Model 17 and we are purchasing 250 weapons. This amount will cover all our officers plus have reserves for repairs and those held for evidence. Deputy Chief Bennett added that Purchasing will send out an invitation to bid. We are confident that the $180,000 will cover the expenses for 250 weapons. If the bid does come in higher, we do have remaining funds in the Federal Forfeiture Funds. Mayor Gradisar made the motion to approve the 2021 Federal Forfeiture budget and District Attorney Jeff Chostner seconded. The motioned was approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 1:30pm. The next meeting date and time have yet to be determined and will be announced. 1 ( , Alisa Boerhave Administrative Tech Pueblo Police Department