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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-06-23 City Council (36)TO: of Palo Alto , C ty Managers Report HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL 2 FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: POLICE AGENDA DATE: June 23, 1997 CMR:304:97 SUBJECT:RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING POLICE CHIEF TO EXECUTE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THE SEXUAL ASSAULT FELONY ENFORCEMENT (SAFE) TEAM OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY REOUEST Staffrequests that Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the Police Chief to execute, on behalf of the City, the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Team Memorandum of Understanding in order for Palo Alto to participate in the countywide unit. RECOMMENDATIONS Staff recommends that Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the Police Chief to execute the SAFE Team Memorandum of Understanding. POLICY IMPLICATIONS Participation in SAFE does not represent any change to existing policy. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The SAFE Team is a Santa Clara County regional task force comprised of municipal, county, state and federal law enforcement personnel. The SAFE mission is to reduce violent sexual assault crimes in Santa Clara County through proactive enforcement with a focus on predatory sex offenders. SAFE began as a six month pilot project in December 1994 and has rendered valuable assistance to local law enforcement, since its inception. SAFE actively assisted in the investigation and successful resolution of last year’s "Peninsula Rape Investigation." SAFE continues to work sexual assault cases, track sexual habitual offenders and ensure that convicted sex criminals comply with the mandatory state sex registration laws. CMR:304:97 Page 1 of 3 SAFE is overseen by a Board of Directors and an Executive Committee comprised of the Santa Clara County Police Chiefs’ Association, as well as representatives from the State Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. At the operational level, a task force coordinator is responsible for overall management of the unit and is directly accountable to the Executive Committee. Currently, the coordinator position is staffed by a Santa Clara County Sheriff’s lieutenant. To date, Palo Alto Police Department has not participated in SAFE due to the number of officer vacancies. The Department has been asked to contribute one sworn officer to the team beginning in July for a period of about three months. Staff feels SAFE’s mission is very important and that participation would be beneficial. There are, of course, risk management considerations to City participation in any multi- jurisdictional task force, and the Risk Manager and City Attorney have been consulted in this regard. The SAFE Team has no history of claims or litigation against it since it began operating in 1994. The task force does not carry independent insurance because any litigation risk is allocated under the contract to the participating agencies based on the actual liability exposure of their employees in the incident concerned. Palo Alto would share liability exposure in the county-wide task force similar to that inherent in law enforcement work within Palo Alto, although extended into a variety of other community settings. Multi-jurisdictional task forces do expose their agency members to somewhat unique personal injury litigation from employees of other jurisdictions for any injuries they sustain while operating with the task force, and the courts have not yet settled the extent of this exposure. However, because this task force agreement was developed in 1994 and all other law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County have participated under this agreement since that time, staff recommends that Palo Alto join in the SAFE Team agreement until those liability aspects are defmed by the courts of appeal. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact associated with this resolution. R TALA E ME~IT_ This is not a project for purposes of CEQA. ATTACHMENTS Resolution SAFE Memorandum of Understanding CMR:304:97 Page 2 o~’ 3 PREPARED BY: Lynne Johnson, Assistant Poli~,~~ / DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW:~ DURKIN, Police Chief CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: , _ A..~ -~-~ .... EMILY HARRISON,(~ssistant City Manager CMR:304:97 Page 3 of 3 RESOLUTION NO. R.ESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AUTHORIZING THE POLICE CHIEF TO EXECUTE A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THE REGIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT FELONY ENFORCEMENT [S.A.F.E.] TEAM OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY WHEREAS, the law enforcement agencies within Santa Clara County have deve!oped a joint task force denominated the Santa Clara County Regional Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE)Team for the purposes of coordinating law enforcement against known sexual habitual offenders within Santa Clara County; and WHEREAS, a memorandum of understanding has been drafted for execution by the chief executives of each of the law enforcement agencies cooperating in the SAFE Team, which memorandum provides for the temporary assignment to the SAFE Team of one or more officers from each of the participating agencies for limited durations to supplement continuing supervisory participation from the Santa Clara County Sheriff and the San Jose Police Department as well as full-time participation from the District Attorney, the California Department of Justice, the U.S. Marshal, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Customs, Santa Clara County Probation~ and the City of Santa Clara; and WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Palo Alto desire to authorize and approve participation in the SAFE Team task force arrangement under the terms of the memorandum of understanding; NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto does RESOLVE as follows: SECTION I. The City Council hereby authorizes the Police Chief to execute on behalf of the City of Palo Alto that~document entitled "Santa~ Clara County Regional Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Team Memorandum of Understanding for the Regional Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Team of Santa Clara County" and dated November 23,1994, attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. SECTION 2. The City Council further authorizes the Police Department to participate in the SAFE Team according to the terms and conditions of the memorandum of understanding referenced above° III III III 970613 syn 0043038 SECTION 3. The City Council finds that the action taken herein does not constitute a project under the California Environmental Quality Act, and no environmental assessment is necessary. INTRODUCED AND PASSED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT ABSTENTIONS: ATTEST:APPROVED: City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM Senior Asst. City Attorney Mayor City Manager Police Chief Acting Director of Admi,nistrative Services 2 970613 syn 0043038 ¯ SEXUAL SANTA CLARA COUNTY REGIONAL ASSAULT FELONY ENFORCEMENT MEMORANDUM OF for The Regional Sexual Assault of Santa Clara UNDERSTANDING Felony Enforcement ,Team County S.A.F.E. TEAM II. i11. IV. .V. Vl. VII. VIII. IX. Mission and Objectives Organization Fiscal Procedures Equipment Liab’ility Standard Operating Procedures Amendments to the Memorandum of Understanding Terms of Agreement ~Signatures This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is being executed by the agencies listed below for the purpose of forming the Santa Clara County Regional Sexual Team MOU 1 November 23, 1994 Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Team. The agencies listed agree to abide by the terms and provisions of this MOU throughout the’duration of this joint operation. . City of Campbell City of Los Altos City of Milpitas City of Mountain View City of San Jose City of Sunnyvale California Highway Patrol U.S. Marshal’s Office California State Parole California Department of Justice ¯ Bureau of Investigation City of Gilroy City of Los Gatos City of Morgan Hill City of Palo Alto City of Santa Clara Santa Clara County Sheriff Santa Clara County District Attorney Federal Bureau of Investigation California Youth Authority Parole Santa Clara County Probation U.S. Customs There are approximately 3500 registered sex offenders living in Santa Clara County. The law requires that all sex registrants notify the law enforcement agency where they live of their address and re register when they move. Many of these sex registrants do not comply with the law. AB3513 signed by the governor on September 26, 1994, will become law January 1, 1995. This new law makes failure to comply with registration requirements (290 PC).a felony if the defendant is required to register for a felony sex offense. Because most felony sex offenses are also "serious" felonies, most violations of this new law will be two or three "strikes" cases. I.MISSION AND OBJECTIVES ao MISSION: The mission of the SAFE Team is to reduce violent sexual assault crimes in Santa Clara County through pro-active ¯ enforcement focused on predatory sex offenders. OBJECTIVES: Establish a Santa Clara County Regional Task Force composed of Mur~icipal, County, State and Federal Law Enforcement officials to conduct proactive enforcement of predatory sex offenders as identified by the Department of Justice as Sexual Habitual Offenders and strict enforcement of 290 PC Registrants. Design the SAFE Team as a 6 month pilot project for potential application as a statewide model for other counties commencing December 1, 1994. o Enhance the lines of formal and informal communications between the agencies participating in the project. Monitor the activities of known sexual predators through records research and short-term suweillance’s. Team MOU 2 November 23, 1994 o II. Ensure that registered sex offenders are in compliance with current laws and parole/probation restrictions as a tool when applicable. -Form a full-time core group of personnel from the agencies listed in ll.D. below combined with personnel from the participating agencies on a part time rotational basis to reduce predatory sex crimes. ORGANIZATION: A.Executive Committee The Executive Committee is a committee formed from the members of: The Santa Clara County Chiefs Association The Director of Law Enforcement, California Department of Justice The Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation San Jose Office Or their designee, who would oversee the activities of the SAFE Team. Task Force Coordinator The Team Coordinator will be a Sheriff’s Lieutenant from the Detective Bureau. This is in addition to his other duties as Bureau Commander. The Team Coordinator will be .responsible for the overall management of the Team and will be directly accountable to the Executive Committee for .the Team’s operations. The Lieutenant will allocate the necessary time to efficiently manage the Team. C. Supervisors A San Jose Police Sergeant and a Sheriff’s Sergeant will supervise the day to day operations of the SAFE Team. Teams will be designated as needed to handle specific surveillances or operationsl Each supervisor will have a vehicle provided by their agency. D.Team Members Team members will be from a variety of law enforcement agencies listed in this MOU. Core members for the team will include the following full-time personnel: 1 1 1 San Jose Police Sergeant Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Sergeant District Attorney Investigator Team MOU 3 November 23, 1994 III. 1 1 1 1 1 1 Department of Justice Agent Deputy US Marshal FBI Agent U.S. Customs Agent Santa Clara Police Officer Parole Agent (1/2 Time) All other agencies wil! be on a part-time basis, unless resources are available to fund a full-time person, and will be designated as participating agencies. DOJ SHOP will provide routine services as available workload allows such as: Provide a single point of contact between DQJ and the SAFE Team Conduct MQ and a variety of other database searches Develop Summary Profiles and Information Bulletins Elag DMV and other records Refer and submit subject cases to CAL-DNA Provide training regarding SHOP . Provide information on persons identified as Sexual Habitual Offenders E. Prosecution Staff The District Attorney’s Office as parent agency will assign a prosecutor(s), as needed, to work with the Team members. The prosecutor will provide legal support for the Team. E. Clerical The Sheriff’s Office will assist in the coordination of. clerical support. F. Analysis The Sheriff’s Crime Analysis Unit, San Jose Police Department Sexual Assault Unit Analyst and a Department of Justice Analysts (as identified in paragraph ll.D. above) will provide profiles and analysis of the targeted sexu’al assault predators. FISCAL PROCEDURES A. ¯ Payroll Each participating agency will be responsible for the full payment of it’s personnel assigned to the Team and such salary shall be deemed to be full salary and payable to such assigned personnel on duty with the SAFE Team. Each participating and core agency will notifythe Team Coordinator of any overtime constraints for their personnel. B. Special Funds Team MOU 4 November 23, 1994 IV. To be determined by the Executive Committee. EQUIPMENT VI. A. Responsibility Core agencies will provide equipment to the SAFE Team which will be returned to that agency upon the closing of the Team. B. Vehicles core agencies that provide a Team member with a vehicle will also provide the fuel and maintenance for that vehicle. All agencies, whether providing a vehicle or not, will be responsible for any claims arising out of the operation of any SAFE Team vehicle by that agency’s Team member. This will include both liability and collision. C. Other Equipment Other equipment including, but not limited to, in-house covert equipment, office equipment, computers, hand tools, cameras, video equipment, etc. will be supplied on a loan basis from the participating agencies. LIABILITY For the purpose of indemnification, each core and participating agency of the Regional Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Team shall be responsible for the acts of its participating officer(s) and shall incur any liabilities arising out of the services and activities of those officers while- participating in SAFE Team operations. Personnel assigned to the SAFE team shall be deemed to be continuing .under the employment of their jurisdiction and shall have the same powers, duties, privileges, responsibilities and immunities as are conferred upon them as a peace officer in their own jurisdiction. Each core and participating agency agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless any other parties to this agreement to the extent that any liability is imposed on the participating agency due to the acts or omissions of the agencies employee, In addition, any core or participating agency shall be liable for any workman’s compensation or similar benefit extended to its employees. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES All SAFE Team members shall abide by the standard operating procedures (SOP) which shall he prepared by the Team Coordinator with the assistance of the Team supervisors. The completed SOP will be subject to review and approval by the Executive Committee. The SOP Team MOU 5 Noveml~er 23, 1994 shall specify policies and procedures for the Task Force. These policies" and procedures shall include, but not be limited to, the following specified articles: ... Ao In any situation where there is a conflict between the policies and prosedures of the SAFE Team and any participating agency, the SAFE Team member shall abide by the most restrictive directives. Ro The investigation of officer-involved shootings and vehicle accidents shall be handled by the agency of jurisdiction in which the incident occurs. Nothing precludes further investigation or concurrent investigation by the individual agency of the SAFE Team members. The SAFE Team will conduct preliminary investigations of on-view cases observed by Team members. Any further investigation or leads to other types of criminal activity will be the responsibility of the agency of jurisdiction. Do Evaluations of SAFE Team members Shall be handled jointly by the Team supervisors and the individual agency Eo The release of media information regarding the SAFE Team operations will be coordinated through the SAFE Team Coordinator. Go The SAFE Team Supervisor will be responsible for implementing a monthly reporting system of team activities and accomplishments. The monthly reports will be used to generate the quarterly reports given to the Executiv.e Committee at the end of each calendar quarter. Complaints against SAFE Team members will be evaluated, and if applicable, forwarded to the individual agency for investigation. Disciplinary action will be recommended and approved solely by the concerned agency. VII. AMENDMENTS TO THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING The Executive Committee may amend any portion of this agreemeni by a majority vote of the quorum. VIii.TERMS OF AGREEMENT Participating agencies may elect to terminate this agreement prior to the designated termination date. Any participating agency which chooses to terminate its participation in this agreement shall indicate such intent in writing stating its reasons for termination. Any notice of termination shall Team MOU 6 November 23, 1994 IX.SIGNATURE£ This agreement is executed and adopted this by and between:day of The undersigned state they represent and have the authority to execute this Agreement on behalf of their respective agencies/departments and, in signing this Agreement, concur with and support the Santa Clara County Regional Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Team as set forth in this Agreement and for the period and. purpose as stated herein. Eouis A. Cobarruviaz, Chief ~Geor~ W-~en~e~y, District Attorney S..._an Jose Police Depa_._G~ment-------Santa Clara County District Attorney Charles ~. Gillingham, Sheriff ~ ~.. ~ C----~]~- Alan Wolochuk, Area Commander C,J:~.a~rles R. ArolJa, Chief C~artment ~ s"~Cost, Chief Ch#les,,L~wson, Chief~ap~pbAIl’Rolice Department .,..,Mi,lp~s-/Police Dep~rt~ent Roy/f(/l’. Sum)~.ki, Chief ’-" Larry ]~d(J, Chief Gilre~Polic#Department " "~~~~Lucy A. b~rlt~n, Chief --" Pal.,~.~_olice D,epartment Loses Police Depa~/~.,~ / Regan Williams, Director Steven Schwab, ChiefSunnyvale Dept. of Public Safety Edmundo Sanchez, Regional Administrator, CYA Parole eman, SAC ~eral Bureau of Investigation Hill Police~ Steve Schroeder Parole and Commu.,n~ty.,~ervices ~mes Sul Chief Deputy S Marshals Nice Team MOU 7 November 2, 1994 Gr gory G.’O6wart, Director Division of Law Enforcement Santa Clara County Probation C~e~sticeRollin B. Klink, Special Agent in Charge. U.S. Customs Handis,"obation Officer Team MOU 8 November 9, 1994