HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2012-03-21I 2V =0
Meeting to be held at*-
MUNICIPAL SERVICES BUILDIN("
COMMUNITY ROOM
33 AR ROYO DRIVE
Soti"I"H. SAN FRANCISCO, CA
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2,011
7:001
I - Call to G.rden 7,-00, p.�m.
2. Roll Call. Present-, Councilmembers Addiego, Matsumoto and
Mufllin,Vice Mayor, Gonzallez and Mayor
Garb,arin.o.
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3. Public Comments — comments are limited to zten,is on tllle,S�ecial Meeting
Agencla.
4. Agenda Review.
5. Study Session: Overview of tb,e Neighborhood Response Team (NRT)
Chief Massom began by recounting recent department training witan tside consullwit entitled
"Police Leadership Chafleii.ge," Trainer, Cpt. Hajur Nuriddin, left a positive in-tpression and will,
come back to present a "Women in Policing" program in the i,,i,e future. his half day program
would not be offered, to dust women., but the entire department.
Councilman Ad ego inquired as to how any women were inthe South San Francisco Po lice
Departn-ient ("SSFPD"),.
Chief Ma,ssoni, re!sponded there were eight (8) women, in the SSFP�D., "I"his, nuniber was one of'
the h1ghest In the County, but could still, be higher.
The Chief gave an overview of the Neighborhood. Response Team. ("NRT"), Program statistics
and acconipl.i.shments. NR,T'was created in February,, 2011, with one (1) Seargent and three (3�),
Officers. Primary us is community outreach and includes cooperation with County Gang
Task Force and has reinstated the School Lialson, programs. SLO and C Officers
administer a, number of prograrns including Great Classes ,for 6t" grade classes, Great Middle
School.., Great Fain]''I'les, Citizen Academy, Hispanic Cite n Academy, Every 15 minutes, and
much, more. Response to NR T and its programs have been positive. The Chief noted parents
involved, in Great Fami.l.i'e:s Program. offering pira ise and relaying successes with their children.
Councilman Addiego as how many farnilies caii, participate in the progrw,,n.
Chief Massoni said thi,s past session had four (4) partic�ipants but there could be as many as six
(6)1. The class is only limited by the: number of trainers.
Vice, Maryor Gonzalez asked,, where the f�xnihes come from.
Chief Massoni stated the f�milies had, come from all parts of the City., Corporal Dominguez had
received ref��i:Taisl from the School District and now farnii,ifies w . h,o have partici.pated are now,
referring others. The first class was a smashing success and the prograrn will only bui,ld on itsel,]
Regarding the Citizens Academy, the SSFPD program. is different .irony the one conducted by the
City and this, time ar ind, does not have enough participants. The'Rispanic Citizens Academy on.
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the: other had isto capacity all tie e, ana turns people away regularly.
Crime stati,sti,cs were revtewed, detai1ing number of and reasons, for arrests.
Councilnian Mullin understood the public, interest, aspect, of being diligent about crime related
press releases and but wondered about information released about arrests, made. He asked if
1 1* 0 there was sensi.tivity around pu I oncizing when an arrest, is made due. to the crime ce process.
He felt there was too muchattention of crimes that occur but not enough about the successes.
Chief Massom related, that often information is not released due to investigations. Things are
held close to the vest but get released once process, is completed.
Chief Massoni went over statistics regar ff ing community ls.,
bar checks, school checks, and service calls.
Councilman Addiego noted there, were more bar checks than school. checks. He hopedthat
number could be reversed, notIng that kids love, it when Office�rs stop by. He asked if school
checks, were planned or unannoUnced..
'The Chief touched on.- formalizing code enforcernentltems,, bilingual outreach, Boys and, Girls,
Club outreac hhi, and developing strategies with th,,e County on how to deal the State's release of
prisoners:.
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 21, 012
MINUTES PAGE 2
Vice Mayor Gonzalez asked how many chances youth offenders axe given-
Chief Massoini. said it was hard, to answer as it depien.ded on orders, from the court. Court orders
can be many things from style of dress to associati.ons. Youths, may come back many times
before getting the messiagle and in some cases can and do eventually get itime at Hillcrest.
Councilman Addi,ego asked for a definition on, t . he terms "held to, answer," and, "'detention no
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grounds, ,for criminal. complaintil
The chief explained the tern -is in order as being in process and if an arrest leads to: no arrest there
is a code stating such.
Councilman Mullin asked, when, it says "dismissed," by whom, the City or the DIstrict.Attornee?
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Were there st1i'1I. rap sheets for the dismissed cases, containing Mf6ri-nation, that couldbe used if
other, crimes were to be committed?
The Chief explained cases were dismissed by the D.A. or the courts. Certain, information is
retained; a rap sheet is definitely used in the pr �ation portion of the crime, potential for
rehabilitation judge sentences accordingly.
Councilman Addiego felt it was a, good thin when arrests end up being settled, out, of court, as
was, the case with 223 81 Lane. The City needs more of that, property owners and, the City
working together to eliminate gang activity in the neighborhoods.
Councilwoman Matsumoto asked how many of the gang related arrests were residents.,
The Chief responded that the data hadn't been broken down to that level but a good. majority of
them were. He: could provide the data later. The Chief went on to summarize the juvenile,
arrests, rejected cases, dismissed cases and other statistics.
Mayor Garbarino noticed n-tore than half of the arrests were gang related.
Chief Massoni stated the, focus 'for Wf was gang activity but they did do other things for
Councilman Addiego asked how long similar teams throughout the County had, been, working.
Chief responded a lot longer than SSFPD., There use to be a team called, the Special Enforcement
Team., funded by RDA. That was rolled into the N'RT with.. two added officers.
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Councilman AWIego, thought there had been siomethiiigi pr ior that, inthe 1.990's.
Councilwoman Matsumoto had, spoken with Chief Manhe'inier ftom, San Mateo; their team has
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'been very ef-- ctive doing, things block by block. Is, that a strategy that worKS �ior S,SFPD
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Chief Mass stat ed the NRT had, been created in. reaction to events, in December, 2010 and as
part, of the strategy agenda, it has primarily, beenfocused in. a particularly troubled area however,
th ere was plan to expand. When.. crime, trends occur, they are addressed. He gave an example of
recent marijuana sales, at the, BART'station. The NRT ha,d'becom.e aware of it, developed a plan,
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 21,, 2012
MINUTES PAGE 3
and made aiTes,ts wil t imp acting, normal jobs. That's how he personally saw thefuture, of
NRT.
Councilwoman Matsumoto noted, the importance ofresidents to help and. offlar t,ips.
Chief Massoni said there was a level of cooperation but the sensItivityof it made it unsuitablefor
discussion. There has been improvement in that area since the N'RT and continuous strides were
being made,
Vice Mayor Gonzalez,hoped the Great Families program oMred an opportunity fbr the
community to f cl comforta le in coming to the police and learning their duti.esas residents.
Chief Massoni f��!t It was and re'laycd a story! about a, young person,,wwib,ng to tdlkl to an of cer in
about what he did not know, but that in and of itself was a huge step. it was wonder. ul.
that youngster felt, comfortable enough, to make that call,,. �He hopcd to foster that, feeling more
often.,
While Councilman Addiego was grateful to see the importance and effectiveness of NR T, he was
disappointed that Chief Massoni had offered no altematives.
Chief Massoni explained that, un.Bortunattily, there was not, a lot of fat to trim. Four (4) officers Is
significant, others layoffs would not get it close to budget, necessities,
Councilman Mullin felt the case for funding SL O and CO PPS was made. He asked the Chief if
he had numbers for the motorcycle officer, po sit ion,for salaries and benefits versus revenue. He
questioned the need for a fourth officer., He agreed the NR,T should re, tatij tundir-ig, but how
could that be achieved through other, departmental changes,. Coui.-icilman Mullin felt the City
could, see more money and offier'' revenues in a collaborative way perhap, s from the County as a
: ,f ou
result of'the changes to/elimination of RDA. He stressed looking at opti,ons, ot . herthan the
General. Fund.
Councilwoman Matsumoto concurred with Councilman Addlego's earlier statement regarding
the NR T having multiple focuses. Some ofh greatest concerns included the growth of the sex
trafficking n. stry in South San Frwicisco and publicintioxi , cation. While great strides were
being ade, she hoped to see more efforts diverted in that direction. Another concern for her
was mutual aide. SInce the, City was the hub to pr vide emale and bi'lingu al : officers,, it could
become a, detriment to the Department and meanie extra, paper work and, court appearances,
I ess being mad i,
The Chief ex l ained the progr e *n the development, of a countywide sex trafficking
protocol. Once one was established, enforcement would, be much more effective. Regarding
mutual aide, this is something that is, mutually beneflicial. aswas displayed during the vents of
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEFFING MARCH 21, 2012
MIN'UTES PAGE 4
December,201.05. However, if an Officer i's not available, then that" s, what it Thepaperwork
i's less, detai, led mutual a'de report. Courtlap
pearanuces would only occur if the responding
Olffi.cer actually flinds someth Pertlinent to the case.
Councilwoman Matsumoto reiterated the importance of Code Enforcement. Offic ers walking with
the NRT at least one time a month. Ifs. call, is Code Enforcement related, -there should be no
reason. to tale,-e an of facer off th.e street., Code Enforcement can make: sure areas are less conducive
Chief Masso� i agreed, and expressed his disappointment a bout the six (6) referrals. He and Chief
White were set to formalize how the NRT and Code Enforcement departments would be workn-ig.
together.
Vice Mayor Gonzalez did, not, want to see NRT eliminated but hoped there could be other
rlof'% - d
options. Perhaps it could, be reduced have Officers dispersed di.i.ierently. Council nee de
options.,
Councilman Add go found A encoura ire that other department heads had come I I
,g 3 with, long
range plans. He would be glad to see that from the Chief, that would be enough. Long range:
thinking, should be that more Officers-should become part of tb,e program. As people cycled out
they would, still have a'll the ski.11s and, abilities out one the regular beat. Were there any changes
headed towards, that direction in the future .9
ChiefMas,soni, stated absolutellj,,y. Rotation plans being Worked on,, cross, traiming efforts are
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planned, out. The�re was a, lot to be saia about serving on special, unit, not forgetting the skills
beingi able to implement them on a normalbeat.
Council,man Eddie go thought this would be the appropriate time to share an incident he had been.
told about involving the N'RT. He relayed a story of a young, women pulled over and arrested on
'New Year's Eve for driving . under the influence. The woman understood her physical,.,
appearance may resernble what some would consider a "tweekef" but she was, as it was later
detennined, not under :lie influence of alcohol or any controlled substance. During the stop,,
subsequent arrest and booki,ng process, she, reported her continued, mistreatment by the arresting
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Officer inc,tuaing a pat down. by a male Of icer. She was, never told why she was pul d over
being detained. After refusing to give perr mission to her purse being, searched, it was searched,
anyways .d. r "'reasonable suspi.cion." She was given a field. sobriety test, hand cuffed and taken
away. Her'boyfriend, who had been the passenger, was not ai,,Tested wid allowed to drive away
from the scene even. after, telling the Officers, he had, beep . drinking, he: ce the reason she was
driving at the time of the stop. The only time she was treated, with dignity was when. she was
taken to San Carlos and processed by a fern le Officer. She was, photographed, gave, urine
samp'le and held for six 6�) hours. 48 days later, she received a letter from the District Attorney
clearing her of any wrongdoing,. Since then., she's never been offere d. any apologies and feels
that the arresting Officer was a horrible person who had abused. his authority. It turns out that in.
the end, she was pulled over for a partially obscured license plate.
ChiefMassoni was made aware of the incident and has, spoken, to the Officer involved. Calls
k.
have to be made on sight with information shown through an investi.gation. In this case her puls
SPECIAL C.FTY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 21., 20,12
MINUTES, PAGE 5
rate was, significantly higher than. n nn,al and her I", upils didn't dilate; gees ire symptoms, of
bei ng under the influence of narcotics. The Officer made the call to make an arrest. Sometimes
negative fee, 1-ings will occur but these thingshappen..
Coutioilman Addiego asked the Chief if he felt, this was good police work and i"t he department
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could not act in a, human tasnon and apologize when it's wrong.
Chief Massoni said he could �n,ot say either way, it was just police work. He stated apologles
were usua,lly not given. The Officer had reasonable cause and the dcpartment had met the legal
standard. The Chief communicated he would be willing to, speak with the woman.
This is, where Councilman Addiego did not want the NRT to be, pulling people over for traffic,
i i-widents when. there are more troubling things happening, on Eighth Lane for example.,
Councilwoman Matsumoto asked, ifCouncil was being asked to con time fund,ing through a
second year.
City Manager Nagel stated the NRT was, funded through. January of 2013.
Councilman Add,te,go asked to clarify the nurnber of persomiel being, asked for', and what was
current department staffing.
Chie f Massioni said seven (7) opemngs needed to be filled to reach staffing of 83.,
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Counc�llwoman Matsumoto, wanted, to support more efforts place in, the haisons r�ather than
$50,0001 being used towards the community coalition. She did not, think attendance at meetings
and, progress sup poi-ted the funding.
Counci.1mar. Mullin explained there was a, strategic planning group that accounted for the number
of staff. , He saw the lack of comrnunicatilon and agreed it needed to be, stepped up- I however, he
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ha raid in. PCRC, to mcrease the output and communication. Right now the group was at an
important phase 'in the development of a strategic plan. He pivoted back to staffing in the Police
Department and asked how long the openings, could go unfilled and, if '83 was an absolute
necessity. Perhaps, three (3) could be held pending additional revenue sources to back fill NRT.
Chief Malso noted, there was already minimum staffing on the street and now he fills, the
openings with overtime.
Councilman Mullin asked about the early prisoner releases and what it meant for the City. Are
P risoners released to their cities of or*
igin or where programs exist".
those Chief Massoni ans,w ere d yes to'both. It was also worth. noting t , nose pri soners were being
released when they should still be in jail, with outa parole tail.
Councilman Mullin had a feeling those, released would, not be relocating to Hillsborough,, but
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 21 , 12
MINUTES PAGE6,
rather South San Franci,sco and Daly City where rent is more affordable. Regarding urgent
crime rends was: it moving',.?, Has this City become safer in the last couple, of years
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Chief Massoni felt the City was very safe,, eves . though there was a spike in 2010. This City nas
always, had issues with gangs, but overall crime as stayed level throughoUt the years. Overall
the City was in, good shape without a lot of violent crimes, but they are there. The most
significant change had been the rise burglaries, along hotel strip, and other economically
motivated crimes. Stratz,gles to decrease these crimes have included reaching, out to hoteliers and
the use of social media.
Councilwoman Matsumoto asked about the potential for offiets in costs regarding, LIDAR; was
th,ere a benefit:.? Alsoi, do ment of overtime come out to be less than, hiring more staff?
Chlef Mas,sioni stated the court was dismissing a lot of cases due to lack of training and costs
ji I and related t ' * 1 -
were hard to quiantify against overtime costs due to cow ramings, Last year,
is negabvi,,e in
overtime'Was at $900,0001 equal to the salaries of six (6);Officers. Overftine alsoi
tiernis of the fatigue it causes.
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Mayor Garban.no stated, Councl.1 was not prepared -to make decisions tonight but felt the
commitment was definitely there. He asked the Chief to provide the requested data before the
next budget subcommittee mecting.
6. Add o urnin en t.
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