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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 7721 City of Palo Alto (ID # 7721) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 6/5/2017 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Summary Title: Acceptance of BSCC Grant Funds and Budget Amendment Title: Acceptance of State of California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) Grant Funds and Approval of a Budget Amendment in the Amount of $109,876 to the General Fund From: City Manager Lead Department: Police RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Council: 1. Approve the acceptance and expenditure of Board of State and Community Corrections funds from the State of California; and 2. Amend the Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Appropriation Ordinance for the General Fund by: a. Increasing the estimate for Revenue from the State of California by $109,876; and, b. Increasing the Police Department Other Contract Services appropriation by $109,876. BACKGROUND Proposition 47 reduces penalties for a variety of specified offenses, and dedicates the ‘savings’ from prosecuting and housing these offenders into programs that support K-12 schools, victim services, and mental health and drug treatment. Senate Bill No. 826 (SB 826), otherwise known as the Budget Act of 2016 and approved in June 2016, allocated funding to cities to increase positive outcomes between municipal law enforcement and high-risk populations to be disbursed by the Board of State and Community Corrections. Local law enforcement agencies may use the funds to supplement, not supplant, the following: a) Homeless outreach teams. b) Crisis Intervention Training for officers. c) Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT). d) Resources for drug endangered children. e) Outreach to high-risk youth. f) Youth diversion programs. g) Gang and violence prevention programs. City of Palo Alto Page 2 The legislation requires agencies that receive funding to report the following, as applicable: a) The number of new teams established, or planned to be established. b) The type of training and the number of peace officers trained, or planned to be trained. c) The type of equipment or resources that were purchased, or planned to be purchased. BSCC funds are a one-time grant and are not expected in future years. The City of Sunnyvale is acting as the fiscal agent for the County of Santa Clara’s funding. The Police Department will use the funds to provide enhanced Crisis Response Training which will include: (1) Tactical Communications (2) Force Option Simulator (3) Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) and (4) Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT). The training will be modeled after the Police Executive Research Forum's (PERF's) "Four Areas of Focus", which include: 1. Patrol officer response. The training methodology delivered by PERF's ICAT method of integrating communications, assessment, and tactics provides officers with the skills and options needed to safely manage these encounters, especially in the critical first few moments after officers arrive. The Palo Alto Police Department will integrate Tactical Communications training with all in-service tactics-related training, no matter the discipline. 2. Non-firearms incidents. ICAT training focuses on critical incidents where the subject is unarmed or not armed with a firearm. The Palo Alto Police Department owns a Force Options Simulator or FATS (Firearms Automated Training Simulator) and plans to enhance officer response to critical incidents by developing a training curriculum specifically related to de- escalation and force options during critical incidents. 3. Integration of crisis recognition/intervention, communications, and tactics. The Palo Alto Police Department requires all officers attend a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) Course. This requirement ensures that all officers have an enhanced level of understanding to crisis response which seems to be more effective than a team response approach. 4. Officer safety and wellness. The goal is to help officers avoid reaching the point where lives become endangered and the officers have no choice but to use lethal force. The Palo Alto Police Department has purchased a less lethal device for all patrol officers and each officer will be trained in deploying less lethal options. RESOURCE IMPACT A total of $109,876 of expenditures are anticipated, all of which will be covered by grant funding. There will be no impact to the General Fund as any ongoing maintenance costs for the items purchased by BSCC funds will be absorbed in the Department’s existing non-salary budget. The City received the grant disbursement in the amount of $109,876 in February 2017. Revenues and expenditures of $109,876 are recommended to be appropriated in the City’s General Fund. City of Palo Alto Page 3 POLICY IMPLICATIONS Expenditures of funds associated with BSCC funds are consistent with City Policy. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Acceptance of BSCC funding and the proposed expenditures are not projects subject to CEQA requirements.