Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 11-26-2007 special agenda — reading text

divided three primary areas: I Workload; Efficiency; and, Effectiveness. I The measures/ benchmarks utilized in the Workload category include: I Number of High Priority Call Responses; Number of Medium/ Low Priority Responses; Number of Arrests Made; Number of Traffic Citations Issued; I Number of Accident Reports Written; Number of Offences Cleared; E Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 9- 8 r:,,'.' l' III  Police t Number of Investigations Completed; and, Number of Graduates from Citizens Police Academy. The measures of Efficiency include: E Number of Sworn Officers per 1, 000 Citizens; of Alarm Call Responses that are False Alarms; Average Cost per Response; and, IW Net Cost for Services per Citizen. The Department measures for Effectiveness include: t Violent Crimes per 1, 000 Residents; Property Crimes per 1, 000 Residents; Emergency Response Time ( Minutes); Citizens Who Feel Safe Walking Alone After Dark; and, of Citizens Rating Police Services " Good" to " Excellent". I: A Summary Table of available data is illustrated by Exhibit 9-4. I: I: I I I I I Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 9- 9 I 1. To summarize, from 2003 to 2006: the number of high priority calls decreased by approximately 15%. low priority call responses increased by approximately 8%. the number of medium/ I the number of arrests made increased by approximately 6%. the number of traffic citations issued decreased by approximately 24%. the number of accident reports written decreased by approximately 6%. I the number of offenses cleared decreased by approximately 4%. the number of investigations completed decreased by approximately 27%. the number of graduates from the citizens police academy decreased by g approximately100%. However, it should be noted that in 2006- 07 YTD, 19 new graduates of the academy have matriculated. the number of sworn officers per 1, 000 citizens has decreased by about 5%. I the percent of false alarm calls decreased by approximately 2%. the average cost per response increased by approximately 19%. the net cost for services per citizen increased by approximately 18%. I the rate of violent crimes per 1, 000 residents increased by approximately 41 %. the rate of property crimes per 1, 000 residents increased by approximately 13% the emergency response time increased approximately 12%. E 9. 2 Maior Policies and ODerationallssues In the past, turnover in the Department has been high. The Department used to L only hire pre- certified officers. A recent initiative in terms of pre- service hiring includes 3) screening for good candidates, then subsidizing Academy training in return for three ( I: years of creditable service. This program could be expanded in the future to address similar needs such as training, certification, and continuing education needs and their E associated costs. I The nature of law enforcement is constantly changing - agencies need the ability threats to public safety. In the future, the to adapt to changing conditions or new I Department may need to consider alternative options for lateral movement or opportunities for advancement in terms of new positions, or units, focusing on evolving I issues of local concern ( e. g. Gang Suppression). Ii Ii Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 9- 11 t  11 Ii Police The Police Department recently initiated a " take home" vehicle E policy for officers. The vehicles necessary to provide them to officers were obtained through a variety of Ii ways, including donation from other law enforcement agencies. Through a recent community outreach and fundraising effort, the Police E Department raised the funds necessary to purchase two ( 2) K- 9 Officers. These K- 9s will be assigned to two ( 2) Officers for duty, who will care for the animals in their own homes. I If the City values such assets, the City and Department should include continued funding I of K- 9 operations into future budgets. The Department should consider participation in the available programs I coordinating Local, State, and Federal law enforcement in the areas of drug crime, interdiction, asset seizure and forfeiture. Opportunities exist to increase revenues to the I City by participating in such programs, even though there may be an associated E personnel assignment cost. The Department had a position allocated to this under the previous administration ( C- Square Detective), but for various reasons the position, r: function, inter- agency coordination - and more importantly, sharing in any forfeited assets - has stopped. The Department should consider the option of reviving the C- II Square Detective position as a potential avenue for revenue generation - not to mention II providing increased law enforcement efforts to the effects of drug related crime. A large contributor to the amount of overtime dollars spent is staffing levels; I coverage for vacation/ sick days, special events and details, and unforeseen circumstances and emergencies results in excessive overtime expenses. An alternative I is to develop the reserve officer corps to cover staffing shortfalls and aggressively I develop the Field Training and Academy programs. Additional sources of overtime costs include: I I Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 9- 12 Ii E Police Court time; E Training; Reports and administrative work; and, Investigative call- outs. j;, Future Trends Ii The City is in a rather unique position in terms of population, growth, and I: expansion. Available population data suggests that the City population has in fact decreased ( or at best remained stable) over the 9- year time period from 1997 to 2006. The population trend is illustrated by Exhibit 9- 5. I EXHIBIT 9- 5 POPULATION TRENDS I Year PODulation* 1998 22588 1999 21782 2000 22130 2001 20491 2002 20887 2003 20466 2004 20379 2005 20443 E 2006 19339 UCR figures, except 06 Census Estimate. I: I I I I I: Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 9- 13 I: III I: Police Population* l 30000 E 25000 g 20000 I J 15000 I_ Population* I Q. 10000 I 5000 o I 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 I I Additional growth issues related to resident population and service population is the nature of the location of Fort Walton Beach. The City is a unique geographic location bound serving as a conduit for local traffic along several primary thoroughfares, and is and restrained by military facilities, other municipalities, Choctawhatchee Bay, the Inter- I: coastal Waterway, and the Gulf of Mexico. Exhibit 9-6 illustrates the FWB environs. E I I I I 11 1."; Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 9- 14 E  Police EXHIBIT 9- 6 FORT WALTON BEACH ENVIRONS L ...!!>, V"Q..~ 1'-"'" ~.~ I 123)