Okaloosa County BOCC — January 5, 2016 — Interlocal Agreement for Enhanced Law Enforcement Funding During — agenda request

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: January 5, 2016 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Rick Owen SUBJECT: Interlocal Agreement for Enhanced Law Enforcement Funding During Spring Break DEPARTMENT: County Administrator BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: As a result of concerns as to the potential influx of large and disorderly crowds during Spring Break, the Board previously directed staff to work with the Sheriff and the City of Destin to negotiate an Interlocal Agreement for enhanced law enforcement funding for the Sheriff’s Department during the upcoming Spring Break. Staff has arrived at a proposed Interlocal Agreement for the funding of these activities. BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS: During the 2015 Spring Break period, beaches within the City of Panama City Beach and Bay County were subjected to large and disorderly crowds and destructive and criminal behavior. The news reports related to these incidents were extensive. As a result of the disruptive behaviors during Spring Break, the Board of County Commissioners of Bay County and the City Commission of Panama City Beach adopted additional restrictions aimed at eliminating this type of activity. Based upon Board direction, staff evaluated the County’s current regulations to determine whether additional controls might be appropriate in the event that the large crowds which frequent the Panama City Beach area during Spring Break begin utilizing the beaches of Okaloosa County. One area that was to be addressed was to provide sufficient funding to allow the Sheriff to adequately address these large disruptive crowds should they begin utilizing the beaches of Okaloosa County. In furtherance of this effort, discussions were instituted with the Sheriff’s Department to develop a work plan to address Spring Break issues and to work with the City of Destin to arrive at a shared funding approach. A proposed Interlocal Agreement has been arrived at between the agencies for enhanced law enforcement funding in the total amount of $107,000. The funding of this amount would be shared between the City and the County with the City of Destin providing $74,900.00 of this amount and the County providing $32,100.00. This reflects a 70/30 percent allocation between the City and the County. The ratio of the funding levels is based upon data obtained from the Sheriff’s Department that reflected that 28% of law enforcement calls for service were to the unincorporated area and 72% were to the City of Destin. The actual disbursement of the funding would be administered by the City of Destin. The term of the Interlocal Agreement is only for one year but can be extended for subsequent years and modified as to funding levels based upon an evaluation of need. The Sheriff has approved the Interlocal Agreement and the City of Destin is to consider it at their meeting of January 4, 2016. OPTIONS: Approve/Disapprove Interlocal Agreement. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the County approve the Interlocal Agreement between the County, the City of Destin and the Sheriff’s Department for enhanced funding of law enforcement activities during Spring Break, 2016. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator