Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 06-14-11 regular — reading text

the costs and feasibility of the city establishing its own police force. PERF is a private, nonprofit police research and consulting organization based in Washington, D. C. that has expertise in a wide range of police issues. The PERF team examined the City of Destin, reviewed how police services are currently being provided to the city by the Zr Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office ( OCSO) under contract, and interviewed city leaders. This information was used to construct models for a police department for Destin. 0da:N g PERF created two basic models, one an optimal staffing model, the second a minimal Eo N staffing model. Each projected a need to staff three patrol beats 24 hours a day, seven d days a week. The largest difference is that the optimal model uses five full time r' r supervisors, the minimal model designates senior patrol officers as " officers in charge" MM with them still having call response responsibility. a At the city' s request alternatives of these models were developed varying whether dispatch services and marine patrol are integrated into a Destin Police Department or contracted from the OCSO. Another variation is whether beach patrol is staffed with full time officers who can be utilized in other ways during the off -season or by seasonal civilian personnel. The table below summarizes these models. 1'' - ep ` Ml— 1,1, 893,893, 920920 1, 534, 382 1,1, 944,944, 946946 o s. 1, 817, 436 1, 517, 851 1, 663434 1, 503, 949 1, 293, 509 1, 465, 938 ntrrr is 1, 543, 838 1, 331, 830 1, 357. 224 PagePage 44 PacketPacket Pg.Pg. 150150  14. 3. e The study also provides an implementation plan should the city decide to create its own police department and recommendations should the city decide to negotiate a new contract with the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office. THE COMMUNITY The City of Destin is located in the southeastern quadrant of Okaloosa County, Florida along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Destin is considered to be a premier tourism destination location in Okaloosa County. The community is situated on the barrier 1 1 islands between the Gulf of Mexico and the Choctawhatchee Bay. Due to its proximity to deep ( 100 fathoms) water, Destin has an expansive sportfishing industry and is described as "The world' s luckiest fishing village. "' The City of Destin has a permanent population of approximately 11, 200.2 The current population total is a 3P% increase over the reported 1990 population total of 8, 080. There is an adjacent unincorporated residential area ( Kelly Plantation) not part of Destin with approximately 9, 000 residents. The city currently has 7. 5 square miles inside its borders. Residential and commercial growth of the community is limited to currently undeveloped areas within the city limits or to areas not currently incorporated into the city. The total potential growth area is finite due to the adjacent Gulf and Bay waters to the north, south, and west, and the county line to the east. During the peak of Destin' s tourist season, the city may have an additional 18, 000 temporary residents. The tourism industry' s impact is also identified by the high percentage of seasonal housing units in the city. Of the approximate 10, 600 housing Emerald Coast, ' Online / w+av. emeraldwast. com," 1999. 2 U. S. Census Bureau, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000. Page 5 Packet Pg. 1S}  14. 3. e units almost 6, 000 are listed as vacant in the most recent census report'. Of those shown as vacant in the census report, almost 3, 000 units as designated as seasonal or rented housing. In all probability, most of the rest of the " vacant" units are in use seasonally, also. The ethnic makeup of Destin is considered to be relatively homogenous in that 97% of the householder population are Caucasian, 2% Hispanic and the remainder divided between Native Americans, Asians and African Americans. School age juveniles 1, 916) compose approximately 17% of the current population. Those residents who are over age 60 ( 2, 564), make up approximately 23% of the current population. The City of Destin is governed by a city council - city manager structure, with a part-time mayor and a seven -member city council. Department heads are accountable to the city manager. CURRENT LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES FOR DESTIN The city of Destin contracts for public safety services with the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office ( OCSO)' in its incorporated area. There are no specific service delivery goals or objectives that have been agreed to between the city and OCSO in the current service agreement other than " a minimum of forty ( 40) hours per week per deputy."' The one - year cost of the service contract was $ 785, 722 for the previous budget year and has been set at $ 978, 338 for the current budget year. Indications are that the next contract is likely to increase to about $ 1, 050, 000 primarily to cover increased deputy salary costs. U. S. Census Bureau, General Housing Characteristics, 2000. Law Enforcement Service Agreement, September 5, 2000. Law Enforcement Service Agreement, p. 1 Page 6 I Packet Pg: 152  14.3. e The OCSO assumes all personnel- related costs, insurance protection, expenses related to vehicle maintenance as well as any other liability issues as part of the agreement. Article VII of the Service Agreement establishes the Destin City Manager I as the city' s liaison. The document specifies that the city manager will meet and confer with the Sheriff or his designee on a " regular basis to review activity and other city related activities." The current agreement requires the OCSO to provide 13 patrol deputies, two beach patrol deputies, one investigator, one clerical person and one marine patrol officer ( who may also be used in the off season for patrol and /or investigation). ( The previous contract also called for two additional positions that were to he funded under the COPS 1 Universal Hiring agreement. However, that grant was not received and the positions were not funded.) The total number of hours of service, by sworn officers, that was specified for the current agreement can be calculated to be 35, 360 hours ( 17 deputies X 52 weeks X 40 hours per week). Scheduling needs and peculiarities may cause actual weekly hours to vary. Deputies work a twelve -hour shift schedule. Currently, the Sheriffs Office maintains three patrol beats in Destin, one for west Destin, one for east Destin, and one for the unincorporated areas. A fourth unit is assigned as a " rover" car primarily to back up the units which patrol the city. These patrol deputies are supervised by a sergeant on each shift who spends a majority of his time in Destin, although the sergeant does have supervisory responsibilities outside I Destin. These personnel are housed in a former fire station in the City of Destin that has been converted for use as a police facility. The facility is outfitted with OCSO owned telephone and computer systems. The Sheriff provides all cleaning and building j maintenance, except for repairs more than $ 1, 500 which are the responsibility of the city. The facility is also home to other Sheriff Department personnel, including K -9 and Page 7 Packet,.Pg;.153  14. 3. e traffic. Though these deputies are assigned to areas outside the city, their being housed at the Destin facility increases the amount of time they are actually working and available for back -up in Destin. Other police support services, not housed in Destin, provided by the Sheriff include the Emergency Response Team, the Crime Scene Unit, and narcotics and investigative support for major criminal investigations. Because the city has entered into a contact for police services, the State of Florida declines to provide traffic enforcement and crash investigation services on U. S. Highway 98 which runs through the city. Supervision for the personnel contracted to Destin comes from other non -contractual OCSO supervisors and command level officers. Two OCSO captains share temporal responsibility for a geographic area that includes Destin' s city limits. Day to day coordination of policing needs is communicated by city officials to these captains or their immediate superior, a major. The OCSO is responsible for patrol and other police services in the unincorporated area. In addition to on -duty county deputies, many of the gated communities and commercial establishments in the unincorporated area employ their own security personnel and off -duty deputies. This is also the case within the city limits at various hotels, condominiums and reports. Deputies contracted to the city are dispatched, as all other deputies, by a Central Communications Center where Fire Department, EMS, and OCSO call takers and dispatchers share responsibilities. Though the contract calls for a specific number of deputies to be assigned to Destin, the Computer- Aided -Dispatch system selects nearest available back -up units, irrespective of their contract/non- contract status. In the same regard, Destin' s contract deputies may be selected by the computer as the most appropriate back -up for deputies