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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10111ORDINANCE NO. 10111 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE FISCAL YEAR 2022 STAFFING ORDINANCE BY ADDING FOUR FULL-TIME COMMUNITY SERVICE OFFICERS TO THE AUTHORIZED STAFFING OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WHEREAS, it is necessary to revise the positions for the ultimate efficiency and functionality for the Pueblo Police Department; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PUEBLO, that: (brackets indicate matter being deleted, underscore indicates matter being added) SECTION 1. The following section captioned “Police” of Ordinance No. 10085, being the 2022 Staffing Ordinance, is amended as follows: SECTION 2. The officers and staff of the City are authorized to perform any and all acts consistent with the intent of this Ordinance to implement the transactions described therein. SECTION 3. This Ordinance shall be deemed to amend the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget and staffing with respect to the number and allocation of positions within the Pueblo Police Department and 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 24, 2021 . Final adoption of Ordinance by City Council on February 14, 2022 . President of City Council Action by the Mayor: ☒ Approved on February 16, 2022 . □ 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-4 BACKGROUND PAPER FOR PROPOSED ORDINANCE COUNCIL MEETING DATE: January 24, 2022 TO: President Heather Graham and Members of City Council CC: Mayor Nicholas A. Gradisar VIA: Marisa Stoller, City Clerk FROM: Chris Noeller, Police Chief Marisa Pacheco, Human Resources Director SUBJECT: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE FISCAL YEAR 2022 STAFFING ORDINANCE BY ADDING FOUR FULL-TIME COMMUNITY SERVICE OFFICERS TO THE AUTHORIZED STAFFING OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: The Police Department requests the addition of four new full-time civilian positions with the classification title of Community Services Officer to department staffing. PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: On December 28, 2021, Ordinance No. 10085 was approved by City Council. This Ordinance provided authorized staffing for Fiscal Year 2022. BACKGROUND: The Police Department requests to add four new civilian positions to department staffing with the classification title of Community Service Officer (CSO). The primary purpose of these positions will be to provide supplemental support to sworn police personnel by performing duties that do not require the authority, special training or POST certification that sworn police officers are required to have. Examples of primarily field administrative and reporting duties include:  Burglary (vending machine, storage units, garages, homes, business, etc.)  Criminal Mischief (damage, graffiti, etc.)  Found Property (including drug paraphernalia)  Frauds & forgeries  Littering  Missing people & Runaways  Non-injury traffic accidents (no alcohol or drugs suspected) & Hit-&-Run accidents  Property safety inspections (CPTED, etc.)  Supplements to cases that require evidence (tapes, documents, etc.) to be picked up  Thefts (thefts, thefts of rental property, thefts from vehicle, motor vehicle thefts, bill & gas skips, etc.)  Traffic Hazards (stalled vehicles, motorist assists, objects in roadway, malfunctioning traffic lights, etc. It is important to note that the support activities outlined above that would be assigned to the CSO’s would be more “cold call” in nature. Active call in-progress or calls where suspect information is known would continue to be handled by sworn police department personnel. The Community Service Officer staffing model is one widely employed by other police agencies in Colorado and around the country. A regional survey of these programs was conducted by the Colorado Springs Police Department and shared with the Pueblo Police Department. The survey found that CSO programs exist in Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Greeley, Lakewood and Westminster Colorado as well as Albuquerque NM, Arlington and Austin TX, Glendale, Tucson and Mesa AZ, Las Vegas, NV, Sacramento, Fresno, Santa Ana and Anaheim CA, Tacoma WA, and Wichita KS. While specifics of the surveyed programs vary by department, on average these cities employ 8 CSOs, representing 3.0% of the number of sworn personnel and 7.1% of civilian personnel. Most of the surveyed departments have had a CSO program in place for 20 years or more and indicate a high satisfaction level with the program and workload burden it relieves from sworn officers when minor crime reports and other administrative patrol work can be performed by these positions. With sworn police personnel recruitment challenges increasing, coupled with a far more significant training and equipment resource intensive runway associated with bringing sworn officers on board, developing a CSO program appears to be a cost-effective and efficient way to bring civilian staff resources to bear more quickly and make a positive impact on sworn workload. The hiring and training process would be similar to the City’s police officer recruitment due to the confidential access the CSO’s have and would include background checks, polygraphs, and psychological exams. However, selected candidates would experience an abbreviated “academy” of sorts of approximately 5 weeks in length which would include courses appropriate to CSO duties as well as an intensive field training officer program following completion of the academy. The positions would be non-exempt, general services positions and would be included in the Pueblo Association of Government Employees bargaining unit. In conclusion, primary benefits of adding the CSO’s to the Pueblo Police Department include enhanced patrol response without the additional burden on sworn officers, freeing up sworn officers to spend more time on each call, focus on higher-priority calls and to engage in more proactive policing, all of which are mission critical activities in delivering strong public safety services to the community of Pueblo. It is possible that reducing the number of calls to which patrol officers must respond could improve response time to other calls for service as well. Finally, this program may also prove to have a positive impact on the recruitment of future sworn Police Officers and will allow individuals to experience the law enforcement environment which hopefully will increase interest in pursuing a career in sworn policing with the Pueblo Police Department and provide a “feeder source” of qualified applicants. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: All costs associated with this proposal will be paid out of the General Fund. Assuming the CSO positions are approved, the timeline to fill through the Civil Service, selection and post-offer background processes would likely result in a hire date no sooner than June 1, 2022. Therefore, the more realistic cost of standing up the program would be approximately $185,164 in FY 2022. BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: Not Applicable. STAKEHOLDER PROCESS: The City and leadership from the Pueblo Association of Government Employees (PAGE) will meet and confer on January 20, 2022 and confer with respect to the new classification as it will be included in the bargaining unit. Furthermore, Police Department leadership has briefed the International Brotherhood of Police Officers #537 executive board and there is support for this proposal. ALTERNATIVES: The no action alternative would be to retain staffing levels as they are and continue to staff lower- level duties with sworn Police Officers. As has been outlined, this is not operationally ideal for the department and the suggested changes represent a more efficient way to accomplish this work for the community. RECOMMENDATION: Approval of the Ordinance.