Okaloosa County BOCC — March 18, 2014 — Sheriff's Office Request for Grant Application — reading text

Proposal Main Body of Proposal @ Statement of the Problem. This agency has neither the equipment nor trained personnel to examine, compare, and identify suspects based on latent fingerprint evidence. Requests for latent examinations must be submitted to a state laboratory. Typically, we do not receive the results for approximately 60 days. This often delays identification of a suspect and/or the preparation of an arrest warrant for a like period. During that delay, the suspects are often committing other offenses or have sufficient time to leave the jurisdiction to avoid detection and arrest, Furthermore, paper print cards for misdemeanor arrests etc have been stored in archives and cannot be compared to new and “cold” cases, thus losing potential leads for investigation. MH Project/Program Design and Implementation. The project entails the following elements: o Purchase of approved equipment for scanning lifted latent fingerprints, submitting those images to the AFIS database, and displaying the results of the database query. o Training and certifying of three current employees in accordance with IAI standards, and to operate the equipment and perform comparative identification of the results of automated queries, o Hiring a certified latents examiner to set up an internal process that meets laboratory standards and to mentor the three newly-trained employees. This person will also serve as the secondary review examiner. Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office -Paul Coverdell Grant Proposal o The three current employees and new employee will undergo vendor-provided training on the equipment. o Then, a certified trainer from an authorized law enforcement agency will provide interim additional training necessary while the certification process progresses (this training will be funded by the agency and is not a requested funding element of the grant). o The newly hired CLPE employee will coordinate with the state lab and accreditation sources to develop an internal policy and procedures document for the processing of latent fingerprints. The procedures document will include a “Field Training Officer” log to list performance competencies and progress for trained staff. This document will be reviewed for consistency by the Office of Professional Standards (the agency’s internal review entity) and coordinated with the Office of State’s Attorney. Once approved by the stakeholders and review authorities, it will be formally approved by the Sheriff as a “General Order.” o Once the project is implemented, latent prints lifted by CSI personnel will be processed “in-house” rather than submitted to the state lab. This will reduce the backlog at the state lab and at the requesting agency. Rather than a 60-day wait by this agency, prints will be examined generally within 72-hours. o The current CSI staff trained in latent examination will process the latents under the mentoring of the experienced certified examiner. A Field Training Officer log will be used to document the progress of the employees’ competencies. o The Information Technology staff will be tasked with developing standard computer queries that will document the performance measures necessary for grant reporting. Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Paul Coverdell Grant Proposal o We have consulted with the Special Agent in Charge of the regional state laboratory to coordinate our intentions and to seek input on implementation. This application reflects elements of that coordination. M@ Capabilities/Competencies. o The CLPE to be hired will have demonstrated abilities and expertise through their training and experience in a properly-certified forensics lab. A background check to verify their competency and work performance will be conducted. o CSI employees will be able to scan, submit, compare, and identify latent fingerprints using approved equipment for AFIS submission and comparisons. o CSI employees will be able to properly document and report their procedures and findings. o CSI employees will be able to present latent evidence in court and explain the procedures used. o The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has a demonstrated capability to implement such programs. The agency achieved accreditation through the Florida Commission on Law Enforcement Accreditation, and is currently working toward achieving national accreditation. Examples of recent projects include complex programs funded by the US Department of Homeland Security, including programs of regional impact, such as a 10- county computerized data sharing system, critical infrastructure hardening projects at two ports and two airports in the region, a regional intelligence task force, managing a regional fusion center, and others. Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Paul Coverdell Grant Proposal M@ =Impact/Outcomes and Evaluation. ie) [?) 1o) Backlogs in processing latent fingerprints will be reduced from 60 days to two days. Reduction in time to identify suspects will be reduced by the same period. The time necessary to initiate warrants or probable cause arrests will be reduced by the same period. Habitual or serial offenders will be identified and incarcerated sooner, thus resulting in a reduction of crime. The regional state lab currently sends out 25 to 50 latent exam requests to other labs in an attempt to reduce their existing backlog. The state lab must pay the other labs for the estimated overtime costs to process these requests. Our program, if approved, will reduce those out-of-lab requests by 28% to 56% per week. M@ Other / Part 1 violent crimes data. The average Part 1 crimes for 2010-2012 are as follows: Murder Rape Sodomy Fondling Robbery Agg Asslt 1 1 0 30 37 52 7 10 11 18 37 51 77 69 60 318 401 469 Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Paul Coverdell Grant Proposal Plan for Collecting the Data Required for This Solicitation’s Performance Measures The Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office currently has a computerized records management system that contains an Evidence Tracking Module. Evidence is tracked “From cradle to grave” using a barcode and numeric system. This system contains data elements of date/time recovered, location of recovery, type, date/time entered into evidence, date/time submitted to lab, date/time received from lab, etc. The agency has “in-house” Information Technology personnel with the ability to write custom report queries to track information in a variety of ways. The report queries can be saved for standardized and reproducible results. All computer entries are saved in an audit tracking file. The existing system therefore provides the means to collect and report the required performance measures. External Investigations Narrative External and independent investigations of laboratory procedures are designed to have multiple checks and balances. The Okaloosa County Sheriff is an elected official and is designated as the chief law enforcement officer of the county under Florida law. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has authority for inspection and enforcement of standards under Florida statutes. The first layer is provided by the agency’s Office of Professional Standards, which performs internal administrative and disciplinary reviews/investigations. This office answers directly to the Sheriff and is commanded by a Captain who is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Florida Department of Law 9 Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office Paul Coverdell Grant Proposal Enforcement Executive Leadership Institute, and various state and federal training programs on internal investigations, The next layer is provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), which has statutory authority to inspect and review agency compliance with the Criminal Justice Standards Commission, applicable statutes, and regulations of the FDLE for evidence handling. The FDLE also has statutory authority to conduct criminal investigations of law enforcement agencies when warranted. The Office of State’s Attorney also has statutory authority to investigate misconduct or malfeasance bya law enforcement agency. Attachments 10 FY 2014 Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program Mar 10, 2014 Attachment: External Investigations Name of Applicant Agency (including Name of State or Unit of Local Government): Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Date: March 10, 2014 Existing government entity (entities) with an appropriate process in place to conduct independent external investigations 1. Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 2331 Phillips Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32308 Okaloosa County 2014 Paul Coverdell Forensics Grant Application Plan for Collecting the Data Required for This Solicitation’s Performance Measures The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office currently has a computerized records management system that contains an Evidence Tracking Module. Evidence is tracked “From cradle to grave” using a barcode and numeric system. This system contains data elements of date/time recovered, location of recovery, type, date/time entered into evidence, date/time submitted to lab, date/time received from lab, etc. The agency has “in-house” Information Technology personnel with the ability to write custom report queries to track information in a variety of ways. The report queries can be saved for standardized and reproducible results. All computer entries are saved in an audit tracking file. The existing system therefore provides the means to collect and report the required performance measures. General Instructions & Resources View Budget Summary OMB APPROVAL NO: 1121-0329 EXPIRES 7/31/2016 Budget Detail Worksheet (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Purpose: The Budget Detail Worksheet is provided for your use in the preparation of the budget and budget narrative. All required information (including the budget narrative) must be provided. 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Show the annual salary rate and the percentage of time to be devoted to the project. Compensation paid for employees engaged in grant activities must be consistent with that paid for similar work within the applicant organization. Include a description of the responsibilities and duties of each position in relationship to fulfilling the project goals and objectives. (Note: Use whole numbers as the percentage of time, an example is 75.50% should be shown as 75.50) To View an Example, Click Here PERSONNEL (FEDERAL) Computation Name Position Cost Salary Basis Percentage of Time Length of Time Year Oe eal co me a 4 : $0 FEDERAL TOTAL $0 PERSONNEL NARRATIVE (FEDERAL) PERSONNEL (NON-FEDERAL) Computation Name Position Cost Salary Basis Percentage of Time Length of Time Year $0 NON-FEDERAL TOTAL $0 PERSONNEL NARRATIVE (NON-FEDERAL) TOTAL PERSONNEL $0 B. Fringe Benefits — Fringe benefits should be based on actual known costs or an approved negotiated rate by a Federal agency. 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