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>> GOOD MORNING. WE'LL GET STARTED. THIS IS OUR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE OF JANUARY 16TH, 2024. CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES. I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE.
>> MOTION. >> SECOND. >> MOTION CARRIES. DO
WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT, MADAM CLERK? >> WE HAVE NO MEMBERS OF
THE PUBLIC SIGNED UP TO SPEAK. >> I'M EXCITED TODAY FOR OUR ITEMS WE HAVE BRIEFING ON OUR 2023 CRIME DATA FOR THE FULL YEAR, I BELIEVE, AND THEN, OF COURSE, REPORT ON TECHNOLOGY SITUATION WITH THE POLICE THAT I'M EXCITED TO HEAR AS WELL. I HAD TO TAKE A QUICK NOTICE, ONLY WOMEN AT THE TABLE. IT'S GOING TO BE A VERY EFFICIENT MEETING TODAY. A LOTTED OF -- A LOTTED OF INFORMATION. THIS IS OUR FIRST PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE OF THE YEAR. WE HAVE BEEN MONITORING THE PROGRESS OF VIOLENT CRIME. IF I MISSPEAK, CORRECT ME WHEN YOU COME UP. THE GOOD NEWS IS IT LOOKS LIKE MOST OF THE STATISTICS ARE DOWN. A LOT OF INFORMATION THAT WE'LL HEAR TODAY. I INVITE YOU TO THE
PODIUM, PREVIOUS. >> GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT FBI REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE UNDER THE IMPRESSION WE ARE MANDATED BY LAW OR SOME OTHER REGULATION TO REPORT OUR NUMBERS OR ANY CITY IS MANDATED TO REPORT THEIR NUMBERS, BUT IN FACT THEY'RE NOT, BUT --
>> WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THAT. WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE CRIME STATISTICS FOR 2023, AND THEN LOOK A LITTLE BIT AT OUR STRATEGIES FOR REDUCED VIOLENT CRIME AND PROPERTY CRIME. SO THE FBI EXPECTS EVERYONE TO REPORT THEIR CRIME STATS THROUGH THE YEAR, AND JUST AS AN ASIDE, THESE NUMBERS THAT WE'RE REPORTING TODAY ARE NOT SANCTIONED YET BY THE FBI. THESE ARE THE NUMBERS WE REPORT TO THEM WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THEY ARE ACCURATE AND ARE OUR OFFICIAL NUMBERS. SO WE USED TO REPORT OUR CRIME UNDER THE UCR REQUIREMENTS, WHICH IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE. THE U CR NUMBERS WERE REPORTED UNDER A HIERARCHY BASIS. SO THE HIGHEST CRIME COMMITTED IN A SERIES OF EVENTS WAS THE ONE THAT GOT REPORTED. SO IF IT WAS A HOMICIDE RELATED TO A BURGLARY. IT'S UP TO 10 RELATED TO A SINGLE EVENT IS REPORTED. IT'S CONSIDERED TO BE MORE ACCURATE THAN WHAT IT WAS. THERE ARE 24 CATEGORIES WITH OVER 50 OFFENSE TYPES. WHAT THAT MEANS IS UNDER EACH CATEGORY, LET'S SAY IT'S A THEFT, IT COULD BE A PICKPOCKET OR A THEFT FROM A STORE. SO THERE'S DIFFERENT OFFENSE TYPES THAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE. AND THEN WE HAVE GROUP B. GROUP A IS ALL REPORTED WHETHER THERE IS AN ARREST OR NOT. GROUP B OFFENSES ARE REPORTED ONLY IF THERE'S AN ARREST. NIBRS CATEGORY, GROUP A YOU'VE GOT THREE CATEGORIES, CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS, SOCIETY, AND PROPERTY.
CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY IS NEW, AND IT IS -- THEY ARE CRIMES THAT PRETTY MUCH DON'T HAVE A VICTIM ASSOCIATED WITH THEM. THEN LOOKING AT OUR CALLS, EMERGENCY AND NON-EMERGENCY CALLS, WE HAD OVER -- CLOSE TO 2.5
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MILLION CALLS IN 2023. 1.4 MILLION EMERGENCY AND JUST OVER A MILLION NON-EMERGENCY CALLS.SO OUR CRIME AGAINST PERSON VIOLENT CRIME, WE WERE DOWN ALMOST 10%.
CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY, VICTIMLESS CRIMES, DOWN 2%. THEN PROPERTY CRIMES, WE'RE LOOKING AT AN INCREASE AS WE DID LAST YEAR.
OUR 9% DECREASE, WE PRETTY MUCH HAD A DECREASE IN EVERY OFFENSE EXCEPT KIDNAPPING AND ABDUCTION. OUR ASSAULT WAS DOWN 9.5%. HOMICIDES, 26%. SEX OFFENSES, NON FORCEABLE, ALL OF THOSE ARE DOWN FOR A TOTAL OF 9.6% DECREASE. HERE'S WHAT'S INTERESTING. I'LL TALK ABOUT THE FIRST THREE MOTIVES HERE, FIRST THREE FACTORS HERE, ARGUMENT RELATED, MOST OF OUR HOMICIDES WERE DUE TO AN ARGUMENT. TWO PEOPLE ARGUING WITH EACH OTHER, AND THEY RESULTED IN SOMEONE GETTING SHOT OR STABBED TO DEATH, AND THEN SECONDLY, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, WE SEE BACK IN 2022, WE HAD THE INVENT DOWN IN CANTANA ROAD WHICH GIVE US 54 HOMICIDES THIS YEAR. THIS YEAR WE HAD NONE RELATED TO HOW MANY AN TRAFFICKING. AND THEN FAMILY VIOLENCE, INTIMATE PARTNER-RELATED HOMICIDES WAS THE THIRD HIGHEST CATEGORY. THAT, OF COURSE, OUR FAMILY VIOLENCE HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN ISSUE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO AND IT CONTINUES TO BE SO. CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY, DOWN IN MOST CATEGORIES. WE HAVE A FRACTION OF A PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN DRUGS AND NARCOTICS WITH AN OVERALL REDUCTION 2.2%. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY -- AND THIS, AGAIN, HAS BEEN AN ISSUE FOR US. I THINK MUCH OF IT WAS RELATED TO THAT TIKTOK VIDEO THAT CAME OUT EARLIER IN THE YEAR.
OUR MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS, WAY UP. HERE'S THE THING ABOUT MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS: MANY OF THOSE VEHICLES THAT ARE STOLEN, THEY'RE NOT STOLEN FOR JUST JOYRIDES. AS A MATTER OF FACT, MOST OF THEM ARE NOT. THEY'RE STOLEN TO COMMIT OTHER CRIMES. SO OFTENTIMES WE'LL GET A TAG NUMBER ON AN OFFENSE THAT'S COMMITTED AND WE FIND OUT AFTER WE RUN THAT TAG NUMBER HOPING TO GET NOT A ID OF THE HONER -- AN ID OF THE OWNER. WE FIND OUT IT'S STOLEN. WE HAVE A 6, ALMOST 7% INCREASE IN MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT, AGAIN, DUE TO THE TIKTOK VIDEO. I THINK THAT'S WHAT HELPED OUR INCREASE ALONG. AND THEN LOOKING AT OUR -- THE ETHNIC BREAKDOWN OF OUR PROPERTY CRIMES LAST YEAR, WE SEE THE BREAKDOWN THERE, WHITE, HISPANIC, LATINO, UNKNOWN, AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN, ASIAN, PACIFIC ISLANDER, NATIVE AMERICAN FOR A TOTAL OF 100%. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT VEHICLE THEFT AGAIN. LOOKING AT THE NUMBER OF STOLEN VEHICLES, MOST POPULAR VEHICLES STOLEN, AGAIN, KEKIA, AND I SAY THAT DUE TO THE TIKTOK VIDEO, AND THEN WE HAVE HYUNDAI AND THEN PICKUP TRUCKS WITH THE FORD F SERIES BEING THE MOST POPULAR. EVERY COMMUNITY MEETING THAT WE MAKE, IT'S USUALLY -- THERE'S USUALLY A DISCUSSION ON PROPERTY CRIMES. WE TALK ABOUT THAT AT EVERY MEETING WITH OUR SAFE OFFICERS. THIS YEAR, AS WE DO EVERY YEAR, WE HAD A HOLIDAY CRIME TASK FORCE -- REDUCTION TASK FORCE. IT'S A GROUP THAT STAYS ON THE STREET AND ACTIVELY GOES AFTER PEOPLE BREAKING INTO CARS OR HAVE WARRANTS FOR A VARIETY OF
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THEFT-RELATED OFFENSES. FROM NOVEMBER -- THAT'S TOWARD THE END OF NOVEMBER -- WE HAD 180 ARRESTS. HERE YOU GO. 51 STOLEN WEAPON RECOVERIES. OUR REGULAR PROPERTY CRIMES TASK FORCE IS DOING A GREAT JOB REPORTING CAS CASES, 5800. ARRESTS, ALMOST 2,000. ARREST WARRANTS, JUST OVER 600 AND THEN WE RECOVERED OVER A MILLION DOLLARS IN PROPERTY AS A RESULT OF WORK OF THAT TASK FORCE. OUR FOCUS ON VIOLENT CRIME, YOU ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH THIS. WE ESTABLISHED A PARTNERSHIP WITH UTSA. THE SECOND PHASE OF THAT WAS A HOTSPOT POLICING STRATEGY. OUR MIDYEAR RESULT OF THAT HOTSPOT POLICING STRATEGY IN THE TREATMENT AREAS WAS A 42% REDUCTION. THEN THE SECOND PHASE, WHICH WILL BE COMING UP THIS YEAR, PROBLEM ORIENTED -->> OUR GOALS WHEN IT COMES TO REDUCING VIOLENT CRIME, I THINK THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN THAT AND THE MOST IMPACT THAT WE COULD HAVE IS IF WE HAD MORE PEOPLE, MORE WITNESSES REPORTING WHAT THEY KNOW TO POLICE. WE WOULD BE ABLE TO CLOSE A LOT MORE CASES, A LOT MORE QUICKLY THAN WE DO RIGHT NOW. BUT THE CHALLENGE IS, AGAIN, GETTING WITNESSES TO TALK TO POLICE. I THINK THAT NUMBER THREE DOT POINT INCREASING COMMUNITY TRUST AND ENGAGEMENT WITH SAPD, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT INCREASING TRUST AND ENGAGEMENT, GETTING PEOPLE TO TALK TO POLICE WHO ARE WITNESSES. THEY'RE AFRAID TO DO THAT FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, UNDERSTANDABLY SO. THEN WE WANT TO IMPROVE THE PLACE-BASED CONDITIONS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO VIOLENCE. SO TALKING ABOUT OUR PROBLEM WE'RE IN PLACE-BASED POLICING, IT IS A -- AS MENTIONED ON THE SCREEN, IT IS A MULTIDIMENSIONAL STRATEGY, AND I GUESS, IF I WERE TO SUMMARIZE ALL THOSE DOT POINTS ON THAT SCREEN, I WOULD SAY THAT EVERY CITY DEPARTMENT THAT CAN IMPACT A QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD, WHICH IS A REASON WHY THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS WERE IDENTIFIED, WILL BE INVOLVED IN THE STRATEGY. THEN LASTLY, OUR VIOLENT CRIME PREVENTION PLAN WILL BE WORKING WITH METRO HEALTH, AND THEY WILL FOCUS ON A VARIETY OF AREAS, AS YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN, AND THEN LASTLY, THAT PLAN WILL BE PRESENTED TO CITY COUNCIL AT B SESSION LATER ON THIS MONTH. THAT, COUNCILMEMBERS, IS THE END OF MY PRESENTATION. THANK YOU.
>> STUDENT: THANK YOU, CHIEF. I MENTIONED EARLIER THAT, YOU KNOW, THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT AT LEAST THE VIOLENT CRIME STATISTICS ARE DOWN.
BUT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO STAY FOCUSED AND MAKE SURE WE'RE CONTINUING TO WORK ON VIOLENT CRIME AND, OF COURSE, GET PROPERTY CRIME NUMBERS DOWN. I RECALL YOU CAME TO A NEIGHBORHOOD IN MY DISTRICT AND WERE TALKING TO THEM ABOUT -- THEY WERE COMPLAINING TO YOU ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS HAPPENING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND YOU TOLD THEM, WELL, YOU NEED TO CALL US BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T CALLING YOU. SO I THINK THAT'S A BIG PART OF IT IS MAKING SURE THAT OUR COMMUNITY IS OLD SCHOOL, WATCHING OUT FOR EACH OTHER AND BEING GOOD NEIGHBORS ANDERT RAND REPORTING THE THINGS THEY SIGH. I HEAR FROM COMMUNITY THEY DON'T WANT TO BOTHER THE POLICE WITH THIS THING THEY SAW, BUT SOMETIMES IT'S HELPFUL. SO ENCOURAGE ANYBODY WATCHING TO, IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING. RIGHT? I THINK, TOO, THAT WHILE THESE NUMBERS ARE ENCOURAGING, THEY'RE NOT A LOT OF SOLACE TO THE VICTIMS OF THESE CRIMES. THEY'RE NOT WORRIED ABOUT STATISTICS.
THEY'RE CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR SAFETY AND SAFETY OF THEIR PROPERTY. I THINK YOU MENTIONED IN SLIDE 17, BUT CONTINUING TO FIND INNOVATIVE WAYS TO DETER VIOLENT AND PROPERTY CRIMES IS VERY IMPORTANT. OF COURSE, TAKING SOME OF THE PRESSURE OFF OUR HARDWORKING POLICE OFFICERS. THE PROPERTY CRIME ESPECIALLY, BUT WE HAVE OUR WORK CUT OUT FOR US IN THE NEXT YEAR AND BEYOND. SO HOPEFULLY THE TREND OF VIOLENT CRIME CONTINUES TO GO DOWN BUT WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO
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REVERSE THE PROPERTY CRIME. I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS. I'M SORRY.I THINK IT WAS SLIDE 15. YOU MENTIONED IMPROVE PLACE-BASED CONDITIONS.
CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT? THAT'S ONE OF THE GOALS.
>> YEAH. SO IF YOU HAVE ABANDONED HOUSES, YOU HAVE A LOT OF CODE VIOLATIONS IN A NEIGHBORHOOD, YOU HAVE THOSE CONDITIONS THAT DRAW PEOPLE TO THAT NEIGHBORHOOD TO COMMIT CRIME, DRUG DEALING, WHATEVER IT MAY BE, THAT IS A PLACE-BASED CONDITION THAT WILL AFFECT THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD AND AFFECT THE AMOUNT OF
CRIME THAT GOES ON THERE. >> STUDENT: THAT'S SOMETHING I ACTUALLY DO HEAR A LOT. WE HEAR -- WE GET FOLKS CALLING FROM NEIGHBORS SAYING THEY SEE ACTIVITY IN AN ABANDONED HOUSE. THEY CALL CODE. SOMETIMES THEY CALL POLICE. CAN YOU GIVE KIND OF A SUGGESTION FOR HOW THAT SHOULD BE IF A NEIGHBOR SEES SOME ACTIVITY IN AN
ABANDONED HOUSE, WHAT THEY SHOULD DO? >> IT COULD BE A 311 CALL. IT COULD BE A NON-EMERGENCY CALL. BUT, YOU KNOW, I LIKE EN THIS BACK TO THE BROKEN WINDOWS THEORY WHERE IF YOU HAVE AN A BAND ONED CAR ON THE STREET AND A COUPLE DAYS LATER YOU SEE THE TIRES GOING. A COUPLE DAYS LATER YOU SEE THE DOORS GONE. IT DRAWS THE -- IT DRAWS A BAD CROWD TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT ARE PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, GOING TO DO NOTHING THERE BUT COMMIT A CRIME, WHATEVER IT MAY
BE. >> COUNCILMEMBER, IF I MAY, WHAT THE CHIEF MENTIONED AND TO LET THE COMMUNITY KNOW IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THEY CALL, AS THE CHIEF SAID, THE NON-EMERGENCY NUMBER AT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OR 311. ONE OF THE EFFORTS WE INCLUDED IS MORE ANALYSIS OF DATA. THE ANALYSIS OF THE DATA ACROSS CITY DEPARTMENTS, FROM CODE, ANIMAL CARE SERVICES, POLICE DEPARTMENTS, WE CAN HAVE INTERVENTIONS THAT ADDRESS, PERHAPS, NOT NECESSARILY CRIME THAT IS BEING COMMITTED BY
QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES. >> THAT'S A GOODS POINT. THANK YOU. AGAIN.
THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND DATA ANALYSIS AND HOW ALL OF THAT IS KIND OF GATHERED. CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT, CHIEF?
>> SURE. YEARS AGO, WE WERE WE DISCUSSED THE NEED TO HAVE AN ANALYTICAL TEAM TO GIVE US MORE INFORMATION OTHER THAN CRIME IS UP THIS YEAR VERSUS LAST YEAR OR VICE VERSA. NOW WE HAVE A LOT MORE INFORMATION ON MOTIVES, TIMES OF DAY, DAYS OF THE WEEK, THATERT SO OF THING. THERE'S A LOT MORE DATA IN THE WEEDS INFORMATION THAT WE GET NOW THAN WE WERE GETTING BEFORE WE HAD THIS ANALYTICAL GROUP.
>> OKAY. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT GOING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY, JUST HOW MAYBE RESIDENTS CAN ACCESS CRIME DATA IF THEY'RE INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT IT. DO WE HAVE OUR FAMOUS OR INFAMOUS DASHBOARD FOR
MAYBE THE COMMUNITY TO SEE? >> THERE'S A VARIETY OF TYPES OF INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE THAT YOU CAN -- ANYONE CAN GET THAT INFORMATION. JUST LET ME SAY THIS: SO FOLKS WHO WANT TO REPORT IT UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKS, IT'S VERY, VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE GET BACK TO PEOPLE WHO COMPLAIN ABOUT SOMETHING, HAVE A COMPLAINT ABOUT SOMETHING, WHETHER IT'S CRIME OR CONDITION ON THE BLOCK OR WHATEVER. EVEN ALLOW THEM TO ASSIST OR TO MAKE SUGGESTIONS ON HOW WE CAN AFFECT THAT ISSUE THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN THEY CALL MY OFFICE, IT'S USUALLY TO JOE FRANK. AND JOE FRANK WILL GET ALL OF THEIR INFORMATION. WE'LL PUSH THAT INFORMATION, IF IT'S NARCOTICS RELATED TO THE PROPERTY UNIT.
IF IT'S CODE RELATED, IT WILL GO TO CODE. IT WILL GO TO THE APPROPRIATE PLACE FOR RESOLUTION AND THEN WE'LL ALWAYS GET BACK TO THE INDIVIDUAL WHO CALLED WITH WHAT WE DID AND WHAT WE FOUND AND WHAT ACTIONS WE TOOK TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE, IF IT WAS RESOLVEABLE. WE'LL ALWAYS DO THAT. FOLFOLLOWUP IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. IF NOT, THEY'RE GOING TO GET ANGRY WITH US.
>> GOING BACK TO SOME OF THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT C CALL US ABOUT A BANDENED 0 HOUSES, WE WILL CONNECT THEM TO YOU OR CODE. YOU'RE NOT NECESSARILY GOING TO SEE SOMETHING, BUT OF COURSE LIKE YOU SAID, FOLLOW-UP IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ENSURE FOLKS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON THESE ISSUES
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FOR THEM. SO I APPRECIATE THAT. I HAVE JUST ONE MORE COMMENT.RESPECTFULLY, I CHALLENGE THAT THE CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY ARE VICTIMLESS. I THINK ANIMAL CRUELTY, THERE'S A VICTIM THERE. I KNOW IT'S NOT A HUMAN VICTIM. ALSO, THE PORNOGRAPHY OR OBSCENE MATERIAL IF IT INVOLVES A CHILD, THERE'S A CHILD VICTIM SOMEWHERE. SO I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE DEFINING IT PROBABLY IN LAW ENFORCEMENT TERMS AND I'M THINKING, YOU KNOW, AS A LAYPERSON, BUT MAYBE QUESTION WHETHER WE SHOULD USE THAT LANGUAGE BECAUSE THERE ARE SOME OF THESE THAT PEOPLE WOULD SAY DRUG NARCOTICS THERE MIGHT BE A VICTIM. I WILL SAY, TOO, IN YOUR DEFENSE THAT MAYBE DRUG NARCOTICS IS NOT WHAT YOU'RE ARRESTING FOR LEADS TO ANOTHER CRIME AND THEN YOU WOULD CALL A VICTIM -- A CRIME WITH A VICTIM, BUT I THINK LANGUAGE IS A LITTLE CONFUSING TO PEOPLE THAT AREN'T MAYBE LAW ENFORCEMENT.
>> NOTED. THANK YOU. >> THANKS, CHIEF. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?
>> THANK YOU, CHAIR. ACTUALLY, I'M GLAD YOU SAID THAT BECAUSE I THOUGHT THE SAME THING. WELL, THERE ARE VICTIMS HERE. SO YEAH. WORDS MATTER. SO I WOULD ECHO THE SENTIMENTS. I DID HAVE I A COUPLE QUESTIONS. ON SLIDE FIVE, IT SHOWS OUR RESPONSE TIME FOR EMERGENCY CALLS, 6:19. WHAT IS IT LIKE FOR OTHER MAJOR CITIES? WHAT IS THE RESPONSE TIME? AUSTIN'S IS FOREVER. RIGHT?
>> YOU KNOW, IT'S HARD TO COMPARE TO OTHER CITIES AND SAY, WELL, THEY ARE LESSER OR MORE THAN WE ARE. SO WE SHOULD EITHER IMPROVE OR WE'RE REALLY -- IT JUST DEPENDS ON THE STAFFING LEVELS, ON THE AMOUNT OF CALLS THAT THEY GET, THE OTHER CITIES, BUT OUR RESPONSE TIMES -- AND I DON'T JUST SAY THAT BECAUSE I'M HERE REPRESENTING SAPD OR YOU'RE ASKING ME, BUT THEY'RE PRETTY DARN GOOD COMPARED TO OTHER
CITIES. >> OKAY. NOW, THAT'S HELPFUL TO KNOW. THE REASON I'M ASKING IS BECAUSE THERE ARE THOSE CASES FROM OUR NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE THE RESPONSE TIME IS REALLY LONG, YOU KNOW, AND IT COULD BE A NON-EMERGENCY. I KNOW THAT THERE WAS ONE, I BELIEVE, IN MONTICELLO, WHERE THEY HEARD A GUNSHOT OR SEVERAL GUNSHOTS. IT WAS A LONG TIME UNTIL THE POLICE RESPONDED. SO I JUST WANT TO BE ARMED WITH INFORMATION, HEY, OUR RESPONSE TIME IS GOOD.
THIS IS AN ANOMALY FOR WHATEVER REASON. >> WITH THE REPORT OR WITH A CALL THAT WE HEAR GUNSHOTS, IF THERE'S NOBODY DOWN, NOBODY HIT, THE RESPONSE TIME IS NOT GOING TO BE AS GOOD AS IF IT WERE. THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY, YOU KNOW, CODE THREE CALL EVERY TIME WE HEAR GUNSHOTS.
SO -- >> OKAY. NO. THAT'S HELPFUL. ON SLIDE NUMBER 7, I SEE THE RISE IN KIDNAPPING. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT SAPD IS DOING TO DECREASE THE NUMBER OF KIDNAPPINGS?
>> WELL, WHENEVER THERE'S A KIDNAPPING, YOU'VE GOT TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT YOUR SURROUNDINGS AND BE AWARE OF WHERE YOU'RE GOING, WHAT TIME YOU'RE GOING. IT'S IMPORTANT. WE DON'T LIKE TO HEAR THAT, BUT IT'S THE WORLD WE LIVE IN. YOU JUST HAVE TO BE COGNIZANT WHEN YOU'RE GOING OUT AND ABOUT. A LOT OF KIDNAPPING REPORTS WE GET ARE FAMILY RELATED. IT'S A PARENT WHO IS NOT AUTHORIZED TO TAKE THE CHILD, TAKES THE CHILD, REPORTED AS A KIDNAPPING SOMETIMES. BUT WE TALK ABOUT IT WHEN IT TYPICALLY HAPPENS. KIDNAPPING IS NOT A TOPIC OF CONVERSATION AT EVERY COMMITTEE MEETING, BUT IF THERE ARE INCIDENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE MAY TALK ABOUT.
>> UH-HUH. OKAY. ON SLIDE 8, THE UNKNOWN CATEGORY, I SAW THAT IT WENT FROM 51 TO 70. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE TYPES OF CRIMES THAT
KIND OF FALL IN UNKNOWN, THAT BOTTOM LINE? >> IT COULD BE ANY OF THEM. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS. IT COULD BE ANY OF THOSE LISTED UP THERE. WE JUST DON'T HAVE ANY FACTS THAT WOULD POINT TO ANY OF
THOSE PARTICULAR MOTIVES. >> OKAY. SO IT COULD BE
ANY OF THESE? >> WE JUST DON'T HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT
WOULD POINT TO ONE OF THOSE MOTIVES. >> CHIEF, CAN YOU GIVE
AN EXAMPLE? >> I HATE TO BE GRAPHIC, BUT IF WE FIND A DEAD BODY ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE MOTIVE MAY HAVE BEEN. IT COULD HAVE BEEN NARCOTICS. IT COULD HAVE BEEN
GANG-RELATED. >> THANK YOU. THAT'S HELPFUL. THANK YOU.
ONE OF THE THINGS -- AND THIS MIGHT BE FOR YOU, MARIA, THAT WE ASKED IN THE PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING A COUPLE MONTHS AGO WHEN WE WERE LOOKING
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AT THIS WAS A MAP. COULD WE SEE LIKE A MAP OF WHERE THESE CRIMES ARE HAPPENING AND CAN THAT BE PUBLIC INFORMATION?>> YES. I WANTED TO ALLUDE A LITTLE BIT TO THE QUESTION OF COUNCILMEMBER HAVRDA. THE POLICE HAS BEEN WORKING ON A DASHBOARD TO REPORT SOME OF THE INFORMATION THAT THEY HANDLE ON A DAILY BASIS, CALLS, RESPONSE TIMES, CRIMES, ET CETERA. WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE DONE PROBABLY -- WE COULD PRESENT IT TO THIS COMMITTEE EITHER NEXT MONTH OR THE MONTHAFTER, BUT THEY ARE PRETTY CLOSE. TO YOUR POINT, THAT WOULD SHOW ON A MAP WHERE THE CALLS ARE COMING FROM AS WELL AS WHERE THE CRIME DATA IS COMING FROM AS WELL. WE HAVE SOME OF THAT INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE ALREADY, BUT THIS WILL MAKE IT A LITTLE -- MUCH MORE USER FRIENDLY.
>> I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT BECAUSE WE DO NOT ONLY FROM OUR COUNCIL OFFICE WOULD IT BE HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THIS IS HAPPENING, BUT WE DO HAVE A LOT OF CONCERNED RESIDENTS WHO ALSO WANT TO STAY VIGILANT IN THEIR AREAS. I THINK THAT IF WE CAN PROVIDE THEM WITH THAT INFORMATION AS WELL, THAT'S HELPFUL. IT'S HELPFUL FOR ALL OF US IN TERMS OF TRANSPARENCY. LET ME SEE. I DID HAVE ANOTHER QUICK QUESTION.
SLIDE 9, IT SHOWS THAT THE -- FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY, THAT NUMBER STAYED CONSISTENT. HOW DOES SAPD WORK WITH ANIMAL CRUELTY?
>> WHEN THERE'S AN ANIMAL CRUELTY EVENT THAT THEY RESPOND TO, IF SAPD ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED TO FILE THAT CASE OR DO FURTHER INVESTIGATIVE WORK THEY MAY NOT BE COMFORTABLE DOING, WE WILL ASSIST
THEM WITH THAT. >> I'M WONDERING WHERE -- I CAN'T REMEMBER -- I DON'T KNOW IF WE TALKED ABOUT IT IN A PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING OR SOMETHING, BUT I REMEMBER WE TALKED ABOUT IF SOMEONE IS HURTING AN ANIMAL, THEY ARE LIKELY HURTING PANDEMIC. I'M WONDERING HOW WE TRACK THOSE PEOPLE HURTING ANIMALS TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE NOT GOING TO CONTINUE TO HURT AN OLDER PERSON OR TOWARDS KIDS. SO I'M WONDERING WHO IN THE CITY WOULD KIND OF TAKE THE LEAD ON TRACKING THOSE PEOPLE.
>> SO IT'S A COMBINATION OF BOTH, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND ACS. IF ACS REPORTS THAT THERE'S A CASE OF ANIMAL CRUELTY, THEY WILL WORK WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO MAKE SURE THEY HAVE, PERHAPS, INFORMATION THEY NEED SOMETIMES THAT WOULD LEAD TO AN ARREST AND THEN BASED ON THAT INFORMATION, AS THEY WORK THE CASE, THEY MAY BE IDENTIFYING OTHER ISSUES IN THAT HOUSEHOLD. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE DOING MORE WITH A GOOD NEIGHBOR PROGRAM, AS WE ARE ADDRESSING SOME OF THOSE ADDRESSES THAT HAVE MANY CALLS, 311 AND 91 1, AS ACS OFFICERS GOES INTO THE HOUSE OR IT COULD BE SOMEBODY FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, IF THEY SEE OTHER SIGNS WITHIN THAT HOUSEHOLD, THOSE ARE BEING REPORTED TO SAPD. IT COULD BE, FOR INSTANCE, POTENTIAL ELDER ABUSE. IT COULD BE POTENTIAL CHILD ABUSE, AND THEN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WILL TAKE THE LEAD ON THOSE.
SOTHE REPORTING COULD COME FROM SAPD OR ACS.
>> THE GOOD NEIGHBOR PROGRAM IS KEEPING TRACK OF, HEY, THIS HOUSE, YOU KNOW, HAS A COUPLE OF CALLS AND SO KIND OF BEING PROACTIVE?
>> YES, MA'AM. >> WITH THE INVESTIGATIVE WORK? THAT'S HELPFUL. THANK YOU, MARIA. ALSO, ONE ISSUE THAT WE HEAR A LOT OF IS FROM NEIGHBORS IS MAIL THEFT IN THE CLUSTER MAILBOXES. I KNOW IT'S FRUSTRATING. I'M WONDERING WHAT WE COULD DO AS A CITY TO -- I THINK IT'S AT THE CONGRESS LEVEL, OUR CONGRESSMEN HAVE TO DO
SOMETHING ABOUT THAT. RIGHT? >> I'M LOOKING AT LIZ OR
THE CHIEF. >> THE PENALTY FOR MAIL THEFT IS NOT ENOUGH TO DETER ANYBODY FROM DOING IT. WHAT WE TYPICALLY RECOMMEND -- WHAT I TYPICALLY RECOMMEND IS SOMEHOW OR ANOTHER, FORTIFYING THE AREA AROUND THE CLUSTER BOXES WITH MORE LIGHTS, MORE SECURITY BOXES. MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE LOCKS ARE OWNED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, BUT THE HOUSING AROUND IT IS SOMETHING THAT THE NEIGHBORHOOD COULD ALTER
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TO MAKE IT MORE SECURE. BASICALLY, IT'S THE LOCKS GETTING BROKEN INTO. SO IT'S BEEN AN ISSUE SINCE I WAS IN DC, AND THAT WAS 50 YEARSAGO. >> I FEEL HORRIBLE FOR THE NEIGHBORHOODS. ONE, IT'S STOLEN. TWO, IN ORDER TO GET ANOTHER MAILBOX, SOME OF THEM HAS QUOTED UP TO 10 GRAND WHICH WIPES OUT A WHOLE NEIGHBOR ASSOCIATION'S FUNDS. I MENTIONED THIS BEFORE, BUT IT'S LIKE THAT SPIDERMAN MEME WHERE THEY ARE ALL POINTING TOWARDS EACH OTHER AND NOBODY IS DOING ANYTHING. WE'RE JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE HELP OUR NEIGHBORHOODS WITH THIS, YOU KNOW. WE'RE NOT
FINDING A GOOD ANSWER. >> WE'LL FOLLOW UP TO SEE WHAT CHANGES COULD BE MADE POTENTIALLY THAT WE CAN, PERHAPS, ADVOCATE THROUGH OUR IGR
COMMITTEE. >> SOUNDS GOOD. THANK YOU. ONE OTHER QUICK QUESTION, ON SLIDE 13, I SEE Y'ALL RECOVERED 51 WEAPONS. HOW MANY
WEAPONS ARE REPORTED STOLEN A YEAR? >> YOU KNOW, I HAD THAT NUMBER IN MY HEAD. I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS, BUT I'LL GET IT FOR YOU, AND I WILL TELL YOU THAT IT'S A LOT.
>> THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING, TOO, BECAUSE WHEN YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT ALL THE CARS GETTING STOLEN AND THEN THEY'RE USED TO COMMIT OTHER CRIMES, WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH MY MIND IS, HOW MANY GUNS ARE
KIND OF CIRCULATING IN THAT PROCESS? >> WE THINK IT'S 2400.
>> 2400 GUNS? >> THAT'S A LOT OF GUNS.
>> THAT'S A LOT OF GUNS. OKAY. THANK YOU. STILL PROCEPROCESSING THAT. THEN, FINALLY ON SLIDE 16, THE PROBLEM-ORIENTED PLACE-BASED POLICING. IT SOUNDS GREAT TO WORK TOGETHER AND FOR THAT DATA TO COME TOGETHER AND WORK FOR US SO WE CAN BE PROACTIVE. I WAS CURIOUS, WHO IS THE LEAD ON THAT? IS THAT CITY DEPARTMENT SAYING, HEY,
HERE'S ANALYSIS. LET'S BE PROACTIVE ON THIS? >> YES. SO WE'VE ALREADY STARTED THE WORK UNDER THAT INITIATIVE WORKING WITH UTSA. OUR DEPARTMENTS WENT THROUGH A TRAINING AND THOSE DEPARTMENTS INCLUDE THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, METRO HEALTH, PARKS AND RECREATION, PUBLIC WORKS, HUMAN SERVICES, NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOUSING SERVICES, PLANNING, THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE. SO WE CREATED AN INTERNAL TASK FORCE.
THROUGH THE DATA ANALYSIS THAT UTSA HAS BEEN DOING FOR US, THEY IDENTIFIED THE HOTSPOT POLICING CRIME PREVENTION PLAN. THOSE HOTSPOTS THAT WE HAVE TREATED SEVERAL TIMES AND WE HAVEN'T BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN REDUCING CRIME, SO THOSE ARE THE AREAS THAT THEY IDENTIFIED. RIGHT NOW, WE'RE FOCUSING ON ONE OF THEM. ALL THE DEPARTMENTS ARE COMING UP WITH STRATEGIES TO BE ABLE TO DETER CRIME, SOMETHING THAT WE'RE HAPPY TO COME BACK TO THIS COMMITTEE AND PRESENT ON THE RESULTS. THAT'S WHAT IS BEING DONE. WE'RE ON THE FIRST STEPS OF THAT PLAN STARTING WITH ONE LOCATION. EVENTUALLY,
WE WILL EXPAND TO OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE CITY. >> AWESOME. I'M EXCITED TO SEE THAT AND TO SEE, YOU KNOW, AGAIN HOW WE CAN COLLECT ALL THESE DATA POINTS, WHETHER CODE COMPLIANCE REQUEST FROM 311, ANIMAL CARE SERVICES, YOU KNOW, AND ALSO THE EYES AND EARS OF THE POLICE AND WHAT THEY SEE AND THEN BE MORE PRO A PROACTIVE ON THAT. I'M EXCITED ABOUT THAT. I DON'T THINK I TELL YOU ALL ENOUGH, BUT THANK
YOU FOR ALL Y'ALL DO. THANK YOU, CHAIR. >> THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN. I WANT TO MAKE A BRIEF COMMENT ABOUT THE MAILBOX CLUSTERS. I KNOW COUNCILMEMBER CASTRO WROTE A MEMO TO THE POSTMASTER GENERAL. THERE'S A CONTENTION ON WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE SAYING THAT THE HO AS ARE RESPONSIBLE. I THINK I'LL PROVIDE YOU A COPY OF THAT LETTER, MARIA, AND IGR WILL WORK
ON THAT. IT'S BECOME A BIG ISSUE. DR. KAUR. >> THANK YOU, CHAIR AND CHIEF FOR ALL YOUR WORK. I WANTED TO GET MORE OF AN UNDERSTANDING OF THIS REPORT AND HOW IT FITS IN WITH ANY OF THE OTHER DATA WE'RE LOOKING AT ON AN ANNUAL BASIS. SO IS THIS THE ONLY ANNUAL CRIME REPORT THAT WE
LOOK AT AS A DEPARTMENT AND AS A CITY? >> IT'S THE ONLY CRIME REPORT THAT WE SEND OUT TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OR THE FBI.
THEY WILL REVIEW THE NUMBERS. IF THEY SEE ANY ANOMALIES OR SOMETHING THAT THEY QUESTION, THEY'LL GET BACK WITH US. BUT THESE NUMBERS ARE WHAT'S BEEN REPORTED TO US RIGHT NOW FROM REPORTS TAKEN ON
[00:35:03]
THE STREET AND THE INFORMATION WE TAKE OUT OF THE CAD. THAT'S WHATWE SEND TO THE FBI. >> UNDERSTOOD. THAT IS WHAT WE'RE SENDING TO THE FBI FOR THIS SPECIFIC REPORTING MECHANISM. WHAT IS OUR INTERNAL DATA ANALYSIS PROCESS LOOK LIKE? DO WE GET A MORE COMPREHENSIVE REPORT AS A COUNCIL THAT SHOWS BREAK DOWNS INTO ANY OF THESE CATEGORIES OR NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWNS OR ANYTHING WE MIGHT LOOK AT TO MAKE OUR PLAN OR OUR DECISIONS FOR THE NEXT YEAR? IS.
>> INTERNALLY, WE LOOK AT THINGS T -- THE INVESTIGATIVE UNITS WILL DIG DOWN WHERE THEY NEED TO, TO BETTER TRACK A CASE. AS FAR AS WHAT THE COUNCIL GETS, THIS IS PRETTY MUCH IT PERIODICALLY THROUGHOUT
THE YEAR. >> I WOULD ADD TO WHAT THE CHIEF MENTIONED.
INTERNALLY, THERE ARE MANY REPORTS THAT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT LOOKS AT AND SPECIFICALLY ON THE WORK OF THE INVESTIGATIVE UNITS AND HOW WE'RE PROGRESSING IN RESOLVING THOSE CASES. ADDITIONALLY, IF THERE'S A REQUEST FROM A COUNCILMEMBER ON ANY SPECIFIC CRIME DATA, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WILL PROVIDE THAT. WHAT WE ARE BUILDING ON THIS OTHER DASHBOARD IS MUCH MORE COMPREHENSIVE THAT YOU SEE HERE. FOR INSTANCE, RESPONSE TIMES BY SUBSTATION, ALSO THE WORK OF THE INVESTIGATIVE UNITS AS WELL THAT IS NOT REPORTED IN HERE, AS WELL AS THE CALLS. WE'VE DONE QUITE A BIT OF ANALYSIS ON THAT IN THE PAST. SO IT'S GOING TO BE MORE COMPREHENSIVE THAN THIS ANNUAL REPORT THAT WE PROVIDE. WELL, ACTUALLY, PROVIDE IT TO THE COUNCIL ON A
QUARTERLY BASIS. >> SO, FOR EXAMPLE, THE ONE OF THE LAST SLIDES, THE FOUR AREAS YOU'RE WORKING ON WITH THE VIOLENCE, I DON'T SEE ACTUAL DATA RELATED TO THAT. I DON'T SEE A BREAKDOWN OF -- I SEE THE HOMICIDE BREAK DOWN AND THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS HERE THAT COULD BE CORRELATED TO THOSE BUCKETS, BUT I DON'T SEE WHAT ARE THE AGE GROUPS FOR THAT, WHAT ARE THE AREAS, HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT CATEGORIES ARE DEFINED UNDER THOSE? SO I WAS KIND OF CURIOUS TO SEE IF WE'RE GOING TO CREATE A PLAN WITH METRO HEALTH, WE NEED TO HAVE A STARTING POINT. IT WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE WHAT THE HISTORY OF THOSE SPECIFIC CATEGORIES LOOKS LIKE. SO I THINK THAT WOULD BE A REQUEST IF WE COULD SEE THOSE FOUR CATEGORIES AND WHAT THE DATA LOOKS LIKE AND PARTICULARLY FOR ME THE OTHER THING I WAS THINKING OF IS BY NEIGHBORHOOD OR BY COMMUNITY. I'M CURIOUS BECAUSE EVEN LOOKING AT THIS VICTIM DEMOGRAPHIC DATA, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REQUIRES FOR US TO SUBMIT? OKAY. SO I'M CURIOUS AS TO WHY WE SELECT THAT. IF YOU LOOK AT THIS DATA AND THEN THE DATA TWO SLIDES LATER ON THE CRIME AGAINST PROPERTY DEMOGRAPHIC DATA, WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO SHOW WITH THAT SPECIFIC INFORMATION?
>> ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE ADDED, COUNCILMEMBER, TO THIS REPORT AS WE GET QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE AND THOSE HAVE BEEN QUESTIONS IN THE PAST TO PROVIDE MORE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ON VICTIMS OF CRIME. FOR INSTANCE, IF YOU VISIT OUR WEBSITE ON THE CITE AND RELEASE PROGRAM, BASED ON THE FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY AS WELL FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, WE DEVELOPED THAT SPECIFIC DASHBOARD TO ADDRESS THOSE QUESTIONS. THE INFORMATION IS THERE AND WE'RE HAPPY TO ADD ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT YOU THINK IS RELEVANT. WE HOPE THIS DASHBOARD THAT WE'LL BE PRESENTING WILL CAPTURE SOME OF THAT PRO OBJECTIVELY, BUT WE'RE DEFINITELY OPEN TO ANY
OTHER SUGGESTIONS THAT THE COMMITTEE MAY HAVE. >> I WILL PUSH US TO THINK ABOUT WHAT ARE THE THINGS ABOUT DEMOGRAPHICS THAT WE WANT TO CONSIDER BESIDES RACE AND GENDER AND KNOWING ANY TIME YOU PUT THAT ON A SLIDE, IRE SAYING SOMETHING. SO IS THERE -- ARE THERE OTHER COMPONENTS? IS THERE -- ARE THERE OTHER THINGS TO SEE, GRADUATION RATE WE WANT TO SHOW OR SOMETHING -- OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS THAT AFFECT WHY CRIME OCCURS SO WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE PICTURE VERSUS LIKE IF YOU GO TWO SLIDES FROM NOW TO SEE THAT -- THE VICTIMS JUST OF -- RACE OF VICTIMS. OKAY. THAT'S MY POINT THERE. THE OTHER QUESTION THAT I HAD IS, SO ON THIS SLIDE, THE FAMILY INTIMATE PARTNER RELATED HOMICIDES, DO WE KNOW WHY WE'VE SEEN DOUBLE IN THAT AREA.
[00:40:11]
>> DO WE KNOW WHAT? >> HAVE WE LOOKED INTO THE FAMILY INTIMATE PARTNER-RELATED INCREASE IN HOMICIDE RATE, NUMBER THREE ON THIS?
>> I'M NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN BY HAVE WE LOOKED INTO IT?
>> DO WE TAKE THIS DATA -- DO WE GO AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT, OKAY. WE SEE SPECIFIC LINE ITEM, THIS IS INCREASED. WHY IS THAT?
>> I MEAN, WHEN WE GO TO A FAMILY VIOLENCE-RELATED HOMICIDE, FOR EXAMPLE, MURDER, WE WILL LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF THAT INDIVIDUAL WHO COMMITTED THAT MURDER OR MURDER-SUICIDE. WE'LL LOOK AT THE CALL HISTORY. A LOT OF TIMES THERE IS CALL HISTORY WHERE WE'VE BEEN THERE A NUMBER OF TIMES. OTHER TIMES THERE'S NOT. I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN TELL YOU WHY THERE'S AN INCREASE. I MEAN, THAT'S -- ALL THAT STUFF GOES ON BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. I JUST DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN TELL YOU WHY THERE'S AN INCREASE.
>> DO WE TAKE THESE NUMBERS AND DO ANY ANALYSIS WITH THEM? I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, THE STATISTICS ARE STATISTICS. RIGHT? THEY DEPEND ON WHETHER PEOPLE ARE CALLING IN OR NOT TO THE POINT OF -- BECAUSE WE COULD MAKE A STATEMENT THAT CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS HAS GONE DOWN, OR WE COULD SAY THAT PEOPLE HAVEN'T BEEN CALLING IT ENOUGH. SO I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, THESE ARE A LOT OF NUMBERS ON THESE SLIDES, BUT WHAT DO WE DO WITH IT? WHAT'S THE STORY THAT WE ARE TRYING TO
LOOK AT OR UNDERSTAND BASED ON THESE NUMBERS? >> WELL, I THINK THAT THESE NUMBERS IN THIS CATEGORY YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, THE CITY, COUNTY TASK FORCE ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, YOU KNOW, PAYS CLOSE ATTENTION TO THESE NUMBERS. THEY CONTINUE LOOKING FOR THINGS TO AFFECT UPTRE UPSTREAM TO PREVENT THEM FROM HAPPENING. I THINK WE JUST WRUNG OUT ALL THE THINGS WE CAN DO TO PROVIDE VICTIM RELIEF FROM FAMILY VIOLENCE EVENTS, BUT BEYOND THAT, I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE THERE IS TO DO WITH
THESE NUMBERS. >> AND COUNCILMEMBER, IF I MAY, YOU KNOW, JUST TAKING OUTSIDE THE HOMICIDE FACTORS, IF WE GO AND LOOK AT THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING WITH UTSA, WE LOOKED AT THE VIOLENT CRIME DATA, TO YOUR POINT, IF YOU LOOK AT THESE OFFENSES, WE LOOK SPECIFICALLY WHAT IS CONSIDERED VIOLENT CRIME AND WHERE IT IS HAPPENING ACROSS THE CITY. THAT'S HOW WE DEVELOPED THE THREE APPROACHES. WE STARTED WITH THE HOTSPOT POLICING AND IDENTIFY THOSE AREAS WHERE WE HAVE THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION OF VIOLENT CRIME TO BEGIN DETERRING THAT BEHAVIOR. NUMBER TWO, AS WE ARE TREATING THOSE SPOTS AND WE'RE SEEING THAT THE INCREASED VISIBILITY OF POLICE IS NOT DETERRING THAT VIOLENT CRIME, THAT'S WHEN WE'RE GOING WITH PHASE TWO ON THE PLACE-BASED POLICING THAT WE ARE TARGETING, WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF CRIME FOR THAT PARTICULAR AREA? COULD IT BE THAT, AS CHIEF MENTIONED, WE MAY NEED MORE LIGHTING. THEY MAY NOT BE DEPENDING ON THE STRUCTURE OF THAT PARTICULAR FACILITY. WHAT ARE THOSE FACTORS THAT ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMMIT CRIME AND WHAT CAN WE DO TO IMPROVE THOSE PARTICULAR FACTORS? SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THE DATA. THEN ON THE THIRD PHASE OF THE VIOLENT PREVENTION PLAN, WE'RE LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT THOSE INDIVIDUALS COMMITTING CRIME AND DOING A FOCUS DETERRENCE PROGRAM. WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT DATA ON THE VIOLENCE PREVENTION -- I'M SORRY -- THE VIOLENT CRIME. FOR PROPERTY CRIME, THEY ARE DOING THE SAME THING, DOING THE ANALYSIS TO SEE WHAT TYPE OF INTERVENTIONS THEY CAN IMPLEMENT AS WELL AS AREAS OF THE CITY WHERE WE'RE SEEING AN INCREASE ON PROPERTY CRIME. SO THERE'S A GROUP WITHIN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT THAT HAS THE ANALYTICS THAT IS LOOKING AT THIS DATA TO BE ABLE TO DRIVE THE
STRATEGIES THAT THEY ARE IMPLEMENTING. >> SO THE -- I HEARD YOU SAY IS BASICALLY THE UTSA TEAM DID A LOT OF THE ANALYSIS ON LOOKING AT DIFFERENT AREAS, THINKING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS AND THEN TRYING TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS? DOES THAT HAPPEN ONE TIME OR ARE THEY -- IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S ANNUAL THAT WE CONSTANTLY ARE LOOKING AT? YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU PARTNER WITH THE UNIVERSITY ARE, THEY DO RESEARCH AT ONE POINT THAT IS STAGNANT AND THEY DON'T NECESSARILY
REPEAT THAT. >> WE STARTED THE WORK WITH UTSA IN 2021, AND THEY HAVE BEEN DOING IT SINCE. SO AT THE BEGINNING -- I'M SORRY.
[00:45:02]
I THINK IT WAS 2022. >> YEAH. >> AND JANUARY OF 2023, WE LAUNCHED THE HOTSPOT POLICING STRATEGY. WE CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THEM. WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THEM FOR THE YEARS TO COME. THIS IS A CONSTANT ANALYSIS THAT THEY ARE DOING. I'M LOOKING AT THE CHIEF. EVERY 60 DAYS, WE'RE DOING THE ANALYSIS OF THE VIOLENT CRIME
DATA. >> SO WE'RE COLLECTING, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE VIOLENT CRIME DATA. I GUESS WHAT I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IS, WHAT DOES THE TEAM THAT'S WITH SAPD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANALYTICS, WHAT DO THEY DO ON -- WHAT IS WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING AT? WHAT IS THE DATA POINTS THEY ARE EXAMINING AND WHAT ARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY ARE MAKING BASED ON THEIR ANALYSIS? ANY TIME WE LOOK AT -- IS IT -- ARE THEY DIGGING INTO THOSE 25 CASES AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, THIS IS WHAT WE SEE? THIS IS A TREND THAT WE NOTICED. CAN WE MAKE THIS IMPROVEMENT? THAT'S KIND OF WHAT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND.
WHAT IS THAT TEAM WITH SAPD RESPONSIBLE FOR? >> THEY ARE LOOKING AT TIME, DATE, PLACE WHERE THESE THINGS ARE OCCURRING. THE MOTIVES BEHIND IT. WHAT THEIR ANALYTICS DO, IT GIVES US A MAP, I GUESS, TO, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE CALLS ARE COMING FROM, WHAT'S HAPPENING THERE, AND WHEN THEY ARE HAPPENING. WE ADJUST OUR PATROL STRATEGIES TO THAT. SO THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT THAT DATA IS FOR.
>> SO IT'S MORE ABOUT REACTION VERSUS PROACTIVE? IT'S TRYING TO SET UP THE -- LIKE SAPD'S RESPONSE TIME TO BE STRONGER VERSUS THINKING ABOUT WHY SOME OF THESE CRIMES ARE HAPPENING AND ADJUSTING
WHAT WE'RE DOING TO PREVENT THEM? >> SURE. I GUESS TO ADDRESS THAT QUESTION, COUNCILMEMBER, WE ADDED -- WE RECENTLY FILLED THE INFORMATION AS A PUBLIC SAFETY OUTCOMES COORDINATOR LOOKING AT NOT ONLY WHAT'S HAPPENING TO YOUR POINT AND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WHICH IS MORE OF A REACTIVE PROCESS, A CRIME HAS BEEN COMMITTED AND NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED, BUT ALSO THIS POSITION WILL BE WORKING WITH METRO HEALTH PRIMARILY AND OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS LOOKING AT WHAT ARE THE DRIVERS OF CRIMES AND WHAT THINGS CAN WE DO IN HUMAN SERVICES AND NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOUSING SERVICES AND CODE ENFORCEMENT THAT WILL AUGMENT THE WORK OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO TRY TO ADDRESS WHAT IS CREATING CRIME IN THOSE AREAS. THAT IS THE WORK THAT WE STARTED WITH UTSA IN TERMS OF ANALYSIS OF DATA. ALSO, WITH THE GOOD NEIGHBOR PROGRAM AND NOW WITH THIS POSITION THAT WE A PROACTIVE WORK WITH ALL THE DATA. WE HAVE NOT ONLY INSIDE THE POLICE DEPARTMENT BUT ALSO WITH 311, ANIMAL CARE SERVICES, TO HAVE A HOLISTIC APPROACH. WE ALSO PARTNER WITH UTSA TO LOOK AT THE MANY PROGRAMS WE OFFER IN THE CITY AND SEE IF THERE'S EVIDENCE-BASED DATA THAT POINTS OUT THAT THOSE PARTICULAR PROGRAMS CONTRIBUTE TO THE REDUCTION OF CRIME. SO HAPPY TO BRING THAT TO THE COMMITTEE TO SHOW SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE STARTED TO DO AND NOW THAT POSITION IS FILLED,
WILL CONTINUE TO DO. >> I LOVE THAT. I LOVE THAT WE'RE THINKING OF ALL THESE THINGS OUTSIDE OF THE DEPARTMENT. WHAT I KEEP COMING BACK TO IS IF WE WANT OUR OVERALL POLICING STRATEGY TO BE MORE COMPREHENSIVE, WHY ARE WE PARTNERING AND KEEPING ALL OF THOSE POSITIONS OUTSIDE VERSUS ENHANCING THE CAPACITY OF THE DEPARTMENT IN THIS AREA? SO JUST THINKING FROM LIKE A LONG-TERM CONVERSATION PERSPECTIVE. IF SOME OF THESE STRATEGIES ARE WORKING, WHY NOT -- BECAUSE PARTNERING ALL OF THESE POSITIONS WE'RE PAYING FOR IT NOW. RIGHT? SO WHY NOT THINK MORE ABOUT STRENGTHENING SAPD'S CAPACITY TO BE MORE PROACTIVE VERSUS KEEPING ALL THE DATA ANALYSIS, RESPONSE STRATEGIES EXTERNAL? DOES THAT MAKE SENSE ABOUT WHAT I'M SAYING? LIKE IF WE WANT OUR COMMUNITY TO TRULY BELIEVE AND PARTNER WITH SAPD AS A RESPONSIVE, PROACTIVE ENTITY, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THEY HAVE THAT CAPACITY INTERNALLY SO THEY'RE NOT RELYING ON EXTERNAL FOLKS WHY DO WE SEE THIS AND THEN CHANGE PRACTICES. THAT IS MY ONLY COMMENT. THANK
YOU, CHAIR. >> THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER, DR. KAUR.
I HAVE ONE MORE COMMENT. WHEN WE WERE SPEAKING ABOUT PLACE-BASED CRIME AND THE BROKEN WINDOW THEORY, ARE WE, AS A CITY OR POLICE DEPARTMENT, WORKING WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS FOR THEIR SHUTTERED
SCHOOLS. >> WE WORK WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WHEN IT REQUIRES US TO WORK WITH THEM. WE DON'T GET INVOLVED VERY MUCH WITH
[00:50:04]
ISD. >> I WONDER IF THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY THERE JUST TO SIT AND MEET WITH THEM ABOUT THEIR CLOSED SCHOOLS BECAUSE THEY COULD BE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MAYBE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.
>> I SPEAK WITH SOME OF THE CHIEFS ON OCCASIONAL BASIS. I CAN'T SAY I DO
IT REGULARLY. >> OKAY. MAYBE WE CAN BRING THEM HERE AND
THINK ABOUT IT. THANK YOU, CHIEF. >> YOU'RE WELCOME.
>> MOVING ON TO THE SECOND ITEM, GO AHEAD, SIR.
>> MORNING, CHAIR. >> GOOD MORNING. >> PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEMBERS. I'M ROBERT BLANTON, ASSISTANT CHIEF WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND I'LL BE PARTNERING WITH OUR CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER. I'LL START THIS PRESENTATION OUT AND CRAIG WILL CONCLUDE IT. SO THIS BRIEFING IS ON OUR ELECTRONIC CITATION TECHNOLOGY.
CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? I FEEL LIKE I'M -- SO OVERVIEW ON THE BRIEFING HERE, WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT OUR CURRENT DEVICES WE USE TO ISSUE ELECTRONIC CITATIONS. WE'RE GOING TO BRIEF ON E-CITATION TECH NOTHING THAT WE'RE GOING TO EVALUATE AND THEN THE EXPANSION OF THE E-CITATION TECHNOLOGY TO PATROL. SO THE BACKGROUND FOR OUR USE OF E-CITATION, IN 2013, OUR TRAFFIC SECTION, WHICH IS THOSE OFFICERS THAT WORK, DO SPEED RADAR UP ON THE HIGHWAYS AND WHATNOT AND THEY ARE KIND OF OUR BIGGEST ENFORCEMENT TOOL FOR TRAFFIC CITATIONS, BEGAN USING THE E-CITATION DEVICES. THEY REDUCE THE TIME THAT IT TAKES TO ISSUE A TRAFFIC CITATION TO A VIOLATER AND INSTANTLY TRANSFERS THAT DATA TO MUNICIPAL COURT. THE DEVICES WE'RE USING ARE AT END OF LIFE. WE NEED TO INVEST IN NEW EQUIPMENT THERE. THE DEPARTMENT HAS PARTNERED WITH ITSD TO CONDUCT AN EVALUATION AND TESTING TO REPLACE THOSE UNITS THAT ARE IN UTILIZATION IN OUR TRAFFIC SECTION. WE EXPECT THAT EXPENSE TO BE $373,000 TO MAKE THAT UPGRADE. OUR CURRENT USE OF TECHNOLOGY, THE DEPARTMENT ISSUED JUST UNDER 100,000 CITATIONS IN CALENDAR YEAR 2023. ABOUT 65% OF THOSE WERE DONE BY OUR TRAFFIC SECTION. THE OTHER 35% BY PATROL AND OTHER FOLKS WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT. THOSE CITATIONS INCLUDE THINGS SUCH AS SPEEDING, NO LICENSE, NO INSURANCE, AND EQUIPMENT VIOLATIONS LIKE EXPIRED REGISTRATION STICKER, ET CETERA. ALSO. CCO IS DOING THIS FOR PARKING TICKETS. A LITTLE OVER 58,000 PARKING CITATIONS WERE ISSUED BY CCDO, AND THOSE INCLUDE PARKING UNAUTHORIZED ZONE OR FAILURE -- EXPIRED PARKING METER, TO PAY FOR THE PARKING. OUR CURRENT SYSTEM, AS I MENTIONED, THE EFFICIENCIES, IT'S LESS TIME TO ISSUE THAT CITATION. THAT IS IS NOT JUST SORT OF THE FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT EFFICIENCY OF THE TIME. I SAW THE CHIEF HERE AS WELL. BOTH DEPARTMENTS, US AND FIRE, CAN TELL YOU WHEN YOU'RE UP ON THE HIGHWAYS OR ROADWAY DOING STUFF WITH CARS GOING BY YOU AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, IT'S A DANGER FOR THE OFFICER OR FIRE PERSON, FIREMEN OUT THERE DOING THAT JOB. SO GETTING THOSE FOLKS AND THAT CITATION DONE QUICKLY AND GETTING THEM BACK IN THEIR CAR AND OUT OF THAT RISKY ENVIRONMENT IS CRITICAL FOR US. ALSO, THE INSTANT TRANSFER AND INTEGRATION TO MUNICIPAL COURT. THE LAST THREE BULLETS ARE REALLY ABOUT SORT OF IMPROVED HYGIENE THAT COMES WITH THE ELECTRONIC SYSTEM. YOU DON'T HAVE THE POST-CITATION MAIL DELIVERY TO MUNICIPAL COURT. BETTER TRACKING AND MONITORING. THEN LESS DATA ENTRY ERRORS OR OFFICER'S HANDWRITING. WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO MY
FRIEND, CRAIG. >> THANKS, CHIEF. GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. TALK
[00:55:02]
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY AND WHAT WE'RE TESTING THROUGH RIGHT NOW. PD CAME TO US EARLY LAST YEAR AND ASKED US TO START TO EVALUATE THE DEVICES THEY WERE USING. THERE'S THREE COMPONENTS OF THE DEVICE. THE DEVICE ITSELF THAT IS USED TO SCAN AND ACTUALLY PUT IN THE NOTES OF THE VIOLATION AND ACTUALLY COLLECT THE SIGNATURE. THERE'S THE SOFTWARE THAT'S ON THE DEVICE THAT WE USE TODAY CALLED TYLER THAT INTEGRATES WITH OUR MUNICIPAL COURT SOFTWARE. THEN THERE'S THE PRINTER THAT GENERATES A PAPER COPY OF THE VIOLATION AS WELL THAT CAN BE GIVEN TO THE DRIVER. SO WE TALK ABOUT THE E-CITATION. THOSE ARE THE THREE COMPONENTS. THEN WE HAVE TO UPLOAD THE DATA. THAT IS DONE TRADITIONALLY TODAY THROUGH A BATCH PROCESS AT THE END OF THE SHIFT WHERE YOU PUT THE DEVICE IN A CRADLE AND YOU UPLOAD IT. WE W WANT TO DO THAT REAL TIME IN THE VEHICLE IN THE FUTURE AS WE GO FORWARD. WE WENT THROUGH THAT EVALUATION LOOKING FOR, SHOULD WE BE LOOKING AT OTHER EQUIPMENT? SHOULD WE USE AN IPHONE VERSION? WE WENT THROUGH THAT AS WELL IN JUNE AND JULY. THEN WE CAME BACK TO A SELECTION OF THE ZEBRA E-CITATION DEVICE WHICH IS AN UPGRADE OF WHAT WE HAVE TODAY, AN UPGRADE OF THE SOFTWARE TODAY, BUT A NEW PRINTER WE'RE GOING TO PUT IN. I BELIEVE IT WAS A BROTHER AND WE'RE GOING TO A ZEBRA COMPATIBLE AS WELL. WE PUSHED THAT OUT TO VENDORS AND ASKED FORBIDS AND UPDATES ON THAT SOLUTION. WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH A VENDOR RIGHT NOW NEGOTIATING TERMS OF THAT CONTRACT, AND WE SOLUTION TO COUNCIL IN MARCH FOR FINAL CONTRACT. THIS IS PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON TRAFFIC, AND SO WE ALSO HAVE THE CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT DO WE DO WITH PATROL AS WE GO FORWARD AS WELL. WE ARE IN THAT EVALUATION RIGHT NOW HAVING THAT CONVERSATION ABOUT, DO WE TAKE THE EXACT SAME SOLUTION THAT WE'RE BUILT FOR TRAFFIC AND MOVE IT TO PATROL? I THINK THE LATEST NUMBER IS ABOUT 550 VEHICLES THAT WOULD NEED TO BE FILLED IN PATROL. FIVE TIMES THE SIZE BASICALLY AS WE GO FORWARD. BUT HAVING THE SAME TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE. TODAY IT, PATROL IS BASICALLY A PAPER-BASED. WHEN THEY HAVE TO DO A CITATION.THIS WOULD GIVE THEM THE SAME TECHNOLOGY AS TRAFFIC HAS ELECTRONICALLY TO GO FORWARD. WE'RE LOOKING AT TWO OTHER OPTIONS THAT MIGHT BE DIFFERENT FOR PATROL. I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE IS THE RIGHT ONE AT THIS MOMENT. WE NEED TO GO THROUGH IT. IS IT BETTER FOR PATROL TO USE A CELL PHONE BASED OPTION INSTEAD OF THE ZEBRA BECAUSE WE DO LESS VIOLATIONS? WE WILL EVALUATE THAT. IT HAS ITS OWN PROS AND CONS. HOW DO YOU SCAN THE DRIVER'S LICENSE? HOW DO YOU UPLOAD AND CONNECT BACK AS WELL? CAN THEY USE THE LAPTOPS THEY ALREADY HAVE IN THEIR VEHICLES WHICH MAKES COMMON SENSE AS WELL. THEY HAVE A DEVICE. HOW DO YOU SCAN THE DRIVER'S LICENSE OR PUT IT INTO THE PRINTER FOR A PAPER COPY? THOSE THINGS NEED TO BE EVALUATED. WE'RE GOING TO DO THE PROS AND CONS. WE EXPECT THAT TO BE DONE IN JULY AND BE ABLE TO COME BACK WITH A PROPOSAL TO THE FULL ROLLOUT FOR THE TECHNOLOGY. THERE'S ONE THING THAT IS AN OPEN DISCUSSION AS WELL. THE SIGNATURE IS CAPTURED ON THE DEVICE WHEN YOU BRING IT THE TO THE VEHICLE. TODAY, WE PRINT A PAPER COPY AND LEAVE IT WITH THE DRIVER. SO THERE WILL BE THE NEED FOR THE PRINTER IN A VEHICLE WHICH GETS EXPENSIVE WHEN YOU HAVE TO DO LOTS OF VEHICLES. WE ARE HAVING A CONVERSATION ABOUT, IS THE PAPER COPY REQUIRED? I DON'T HAVE ANY -- THAT'S A CONVERSATION WE NEED TO HAVE WITH PD AND OTHERS ABOUT THE BEST PROCESS TO DO THAT, BUT COULD WE MAKE THAT AN ELECTRONIC COPY AS WE GO FORWARD? IT HAS ITS OWN PROS AND CONS. WE WILL WORK THAT OUT IN THE EVALUATION DUE BY JULY. SO THAT CONCLUDES OUR PRESENTATION. CHIEF AND I ARE HERE FOR QUESTIONS
IF YOU HAVE ANY. >> THANK YOU, CRAIG, AND THANKS, CHIEF BLANTON.
I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS. FIRST, DATA SECURITY AND PRIVACY, HOW IS THAT COLLECTED? THESE ARE UNDER THE SAME CONTAINER THAT THE VEHICLE -- THE LAPTOP, EVERYTHING FOLLOWS THE SAME PROTOCOLS. WE HAVE TO BE SENSITIVE ABOUT IT. ONCE THE DEVICE IS OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE, THEN WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY ARE GOING TO CONNECT TO EACH OTHER. BUT WHEN THEY ARE IN THE VEHICLE AND CONNECTED TO THE LAPTOP,
WE HAVE THAT SECURITY. YES. >> EVEN THE DEVICE ITSELF GETTING, YOU KNOW -- I DON'T KNOW -- TAKEN. IT'S UNLIKELY.
>> RIGHT. >> IF AN OFFICER IS THERE WITH IT AND
GETS -- >> WE WOULD HAVE THE SAME PROTOCOL IF THE LAPTOP WAS TAKEN. WE CAN WIPE IT INSTANTANEOUSLY.
[01:00:02]
>> HOW HAS IT BEEN WORKED IN YOUR WORKFLOW? MAYBE IT'S A QUESTION FOR CHIEF. HAS IT BEEN SEAMLESS WITH WHAT YOU ALREADY DO? HAS THERE
BEEN DISRUPTION? WAS IT DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT? >> NO. IN MY CONVERSATION WITH THE TRAFFIC SECTION FOLKS, THEY ARE PLEASED WITH IT. IT WORKS WELL. I THINK WE ALWAYS NEED TO HAVE SOME SORT OF BACKUP BECAUSE TECHNOLOGY IS NOT 100%. WE NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR SOME SORT OF FAILURE OR DISRUPTION IN THAT. BUT IF I'M ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION
CORRECTLY, IT'S WELL RECEIVED. >> THANK YOU. AND DID US IT WORK WITH OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGY, OUTSIDE
AGENCIES? >> WE CAN SHARE DATA WITH THOSE FOLKS. SO, YOU KNOW, THE -- ON WHO THE VIOLATERS ARE IF THERES THAT REQUEST.
THERE'S NO TRANSMITTAL OR PRO ACCOUNT AIVE -- >> PROACTIVE --
>> I THINK YOU JUST SAID IT GOES TO COURT. >> CORRECT.
>> DOES IT SAVE THE CITY MONEY IN THE LONG RUN? >> THAT'S A HARD THING
FOR COPS. >> IF I MAY, BOBBY, WE CAN GO BACK TO THE BUSINESS CASE THAT WE MADE WHEN WE IMPLEMENTED E-CITATION. IT'S DEFINITELY MORE EFFICIENT. IT SAVES OFFICERS TIME. IT WILL ALSO SAVE TIME THAT THEY WOULD -- MUNICIPAL COURT HAS TO ENTER EN IT. I WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK. WE DID MAKE A BUSINESS CASE WHEN WE GOT THE TECHNOLOGY BECAUSE IT SAVES TIME TO THE OFFICER AND MUNICIPAL
COURT. >> THANK YOU. IF YOU DON'T MIND, JUST SENDING IT TO THE COMMITTEE, THE BUSINESS CASE. HAS THERE BEEN GOOD RESPONSE FROM THE POLICE OFFICERS? DO THEY LIKE IT? I THINK YOU
MENTIONED TRAFFIC. >> YES. >> OVERALL, ARE THEY --
>> THEY'VE BEEN USING IT FOR 10 YEARS NOW OR WHATEVER IT IS. IT'S DEFINITELY WELL -- IT'S LIKED. I MEAN, IT'S MORE EFFICIENT.
>> I GUESS I MEANT MORE THE NEW SYSTEM. HAS THERE BEEN A TEST RUN?
>> YOU KNOW, I APOLOGIZE. I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THAT GROUP TESTED, WHAT THE FEEDBACK WAS. I'M SURE THERE'S BEEN SOME
IMPROVEMENTS. >> THE UPGRADE, THE DEVICE, PRINTER, AND SOFTWARE WAS DONE IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT WITH THE CHIEF TECHNOLOGY TEAM AND TRAFFIC FOLKS. NOT A WIDESPREAD GROUP. THROAT HAS GONE THROUGH THE EVALUATION. AS WE GO THROUGH A ROLLOUT PROCESS, WE WILL WORK WITH THE TEAM AND BRING THEM IN AND TRAINING AND
SEE IF WE HAVE OTHER IMPROVEMENTS TO MAKE. >> I THINK THIS IS REALLY EXCITING. WE WANT TO BE AS EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE AND SAFE FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND OFFICERS. I THINK IT'S INNOVATIVE. WE WANT TO MOVE FORWARD AS TECHNOLOGY PROGRESSES. I GUESS I WILL GIVE INPUTT. YOU MENTIONED THE PAPER, FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH. I THINK YOU DO HAVE TO DO THE PAPER BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY HAS ACCESS TO THE INTERNET OR ONCE THEY'VE RECEIVED THEIR TICKET, THEY MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO [INDISCERNIBLE]. JUST MAYBE BE AWARE OF THAT.
I WOULD LIKE TO NOT USE PAPER. WE WANT TO BE AS -- CONSERVE AS MUCH AS WE CAN. BUT I THINK IT MIGHT BE FOR A WHILE NECESSARY OR MAYBE THERE'S AN OPTION, DO YOU NEED IT PRINTED? CAN YOU GIVE THEM THE -- THE PERSON RECEIVING THE CITATION, CAN YOU GIVE THEM THE OPTION FOR
HERE'S THE WEBSITE OR A PRINTED TICKET? >> WE'RE GOING TO TRY A COUPLE PROTOTYPES, AND WE'LL SEE. THE WE KNOW YOU CAN PUSH A BAR CODE TO SOMEBODY AND THEY CAN GO AND GET THE TICKET THEMSELVES. WE CAN SEND IT TO NOT A E-MAIL ADDRESS. NOT EVERYBODY HAS E-MAIL. THERE'S PROS AND CONS. IN THE EVALUATION, WE WOULD LIKE TO SET UP SCENARIOS AND WALK THROUGH. I THINK ULTIMATELY, YOU'LL HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION WHAT'S THE MOST EFFICIENT THING FOR ALL OFFICERS AND ALL RESIDENTS AS YOU GO THROUGH THAT CONVERSATION.
>> I WOULD IMAGINE IT HAS TO BE HYBRID BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE NEED THE
PAPER COPY, BUT PROBABLY MOST PEOPLE DON'T. >> IF SOMEBODY NEEDS A PAPER COPY, EVERY VEHICLES HAS TO HAVE A PRINTER. YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO DO THAT. WE HAVE TO THINK THROUGH THAT.
>> THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE ACTUAL PAPER. BUT PRINTER ITSELF. ALL RIGHT. THOSE ARE ALL MY QUESTIONS. ANY
QUESTIONS FROM YOU GUYS? COUNCILMEMBER GAVITO. >> THANK YOU, CHAIR. I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS. FIRST OFF, THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
THEY'RE NOT RELATED TO THE TECHNOLOGY. IT MAKES THIS MORE EFFICIENT. BUT MY QUESTIONS ARE REALLY AROUND TRAFFIC CITATIONS IN GENERAL. THE FIRST ONE IS, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WE DID 65,249 TRAFFIC CITATIONS, AND SPEEDING IS A HUGE PROBLEM THAT WE'RE ALL HEARING ABOUT FROM ALL OF OUR NEIGHBORHOODS. MY FIRST QUESTION IS, WHY WASN'T TRAFFIC CITATIONS AND SPEEDING IN THE FIRST
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PRESENTATION? IS IT CONSIDERED CRIME OR -- >> YES, IT'S A MISDEMEANOR. YOU CAN'T BE JAILED FOR IT. BUT IT CERTAINLY DOESN'T RISE TO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRIME THAT WE REPORT TO THE FEDS AND
FBI. >> I DIDN'T KNOW IF IT WAS MORE OF A -- ONE OF THOSE A OR B. THIS IS MORE B. IT'S NOT AS SERIOUS AS THE GROUP A OFFENSES, BUT IT'S A PERSISTENT PROBLEM. IT'S PROBABLY THE BIGGEST CRIME PROBLEM WE HEAR ABOUT AS COUNCILMEMBERS IS CONSTANT SPEEDING. SO I'M JUST WONDERING H HOW WE CAN MAYBE HAVE MORE OF A FOCUS ON SPEEDING BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WHEN I'M TALKING TO MY COLLEAGUES, ALL OF US ARE GETTING HOUNDED WITH THE NUMBER OF SPEEDING REQUESTS THAT NEIGHBORS ARE SEEING HAPPEN IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS. IT'S UPSETTING BECAUSE IT'S PASSING BY PLAYGROUNDS IS THEIR KIDS. IT FEELS A LITTLE BIT MORE INTIMATE TO THEM.
>> I WAS JUST ASKING THE CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE, I THINK THERE WERE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT IN ANOTHER COMMITTEE, AND THEY WILL BE HAPPY TO COME BACK AND DO A PRESENTATION TO THIS COMMITTEE AND DIVE DOWN INTO OUR TRAFFIC DIVISION. THE NUMBER OF CITATIONS ISSUED BY TRAFFIC, THE 65,249, THAT'S ONLY TRAFFIC, BUT THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT ISSUES CLOSE TO 100,000. SO WE CAN LOOK INTO ALL TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT INDEPENDENTLY IF IT'S DONE BY THE TRAFFIC DIVISION OR PATROL AND GET MORE INTO THE WEEDS, IF THE COMMITTEE IS INTERESTED.
>> DEFINITELY. >> THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT ON THIS, BUT IF YOU REMEMBER BACK TO BUDGET, WE ADDED 100 POSITIONS. WE WERE
HAVING THAT CONVERSATION ABOUT OFFICER TIME. >> RIGHT.
>> AND ONE COMPONENT OF THAT IS PROACTIVE TIME WHERE THEY CAN DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN RESPOND TO CALLS. SO AS WE PLUS UP AND ADD THOSE OFFICERS AND CREATE MORE OF THAT CAPACITY TO BE PPRO ACCOUNT AIVE, THEY'LL HAVE MORE TIME TO DO TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER THINGS OTHER THAN RESPONDING TO CALLS, ON THE PATROL SIDE.
>> I'M GLAD TO HEAR YOU SAY THAT. WHEN I'M MENTIONING AT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETINGS, THE ADDITIONAL NEW POLICE OFFICERS -- AND THEY'RE ALWAYS MENTIONING ABOUT SPEEDING BEING A PROBLEM -- I THINK FINALLY SOMEBODY IS ADDRESSING SPEEDING ISSUES, WHICH IS FRONT AND CENTER FOR OUR RESIDENTS.
>> SURE. >> HOWEVER WE CAN PLACE MORE OF/FOCUS ON IT, I THINK THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL. THE SECOND ONE IS -- I'M NOT SURE IF THIS IS MORE FOR MUNICIPAL COURT COMMITTEE, BUT IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO TRACK, YOU KNOW, THE NUMBER OF CITATIONS THAT YOU ALL HAVE VERSUS HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY GETTING CHARGED. I SAY THAT JUST BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW -- I MEAN, IF YOU GET AWAY WITH LOW LEVEL CRIME, YOU'RE GOING TO DO OTHER THINGS, TOO. SO I WOULD BE CURIOUS TO SEE THE NUMBER OF SPEEDING TICKETS AND HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE PAYING THE FULL PRICE OF IT AND HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE GETTING AWAY WITH IT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED HERE, NONE OF US SPEED THROUGH ALAMO HEIGHTS AND CASTLE HILLS BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO GET THAT TICKET AND BE FORCED TO PAY IT. I GET NERVOUS THAT PART OF THE REASON WHY WE SEE SO MUCH SPEEDING IS BECAUSE PEOPLE KNOW THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT AND NOT PAY IT OR GET OUT OF THE TICKET SOME WAY, SOMEHOW. SO SURE.
THOSE SUBURBAN CITIES OBVIOUSLY HAVE DIFFERENT POLICE UNITS, YOU KNOW.
I MEAN, THEY DON'T HAVE TO SPREAD THEIR POLICE FORCE SO THIN. BUT, YOU KNOW, HOWEVER WE CAN MAKE THOSE TRAFFIC TICKETS HURT SO THAT WE'RE SETTING THE CULTURE OF, YOU CAN'T SPEED ON OUR STREETS.
YOU CAN'T SPEED THROUGH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS OR BIGGER STREETS. I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT BECAUSE I WAS DRIVING UP NORTH WITH. YOU GO FROM THE HIGHWAY AND YOU JUST SLOW DOWN BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T GET AWAY WITH IT THERE, LIKE AT ALL. SO I'M JUST TRYING TO THINK OF HOW WE CAN GET THAT CULTURE AND THAT PRECEDENT THAT IF WIRE GOING TO GET A SPEEDING TICKET IN SAN ANTONIO, YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR IT AND IT'S GOING TO HURT. YOU CAN'T WIGGLE YOUR WAY OUT OF IT.
>> WHAT I CAN OFFER IS WHEN WE COME BACK AND DO THE PRESENTATION ON TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT, WE CAN ASK THE JUDGE TO JOIN US AND TALK ABOUT
THE OTHER -- WHAT MUNICIPAL COURT DOES. >> THAT WOULD BE
HELPFUL. THANK YOU, CHAIR. >> I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA. I WOULD LOVE TO BRING IN THE JUDGE AND HAVE A PRESENTATION SPECIFICALLY ON THAT. ALSO, I KNOW THAT THE
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COURT IS PUSHING OUT TEXT MESSAGES FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO RESOLVE THEIR CITATIONS. SO I THINK WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN IN DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS TO MAKE IT CONVENIENT FOR PEOPLE TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR CITATIONS AND EFFICIENTLY TO DO THAT. I APPRECIATE THE MUNI COURTS EFFORT. COUNCILMEMBER, DR. KAUR.>> THINKING ABOUT WHAT COUNCILMEMBER GAVITO WAS SAYING, HAVE WE LOOKED AT WHAT COULD BE AN INCREASE IN REVENUE FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IF WE WERE TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF TRAFFIC OFFICERS OR THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WORKING ON CITATIONS TO HELP SUPPLEMENT -- BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY YOU REMEMBER THE BUDGET SEASON, ONE OF THE PUSH-BACKS WE WERE GETTING IS THE INCREASE IN THE BUDGET FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. SO COULD THAT HELP? HAVE WE LOOKED AT THE BUSINESS
CASE FOR THAT? >> I THINK FRED AND [INDISCERNIBLE] KEEP
MOST OF THE MONEY. I'LL DEFER TO MARIA. >> THEY ALL COME TO THE GENERAL FUND, THE CITATIONS. TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, NO.
>> MIGHT BE INTERESTING TO LOOK AT THE BUSINESS CASE TO SEE IF THERE ARE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO SUPPORT BECAUSE, YES, ONE, WE HAVE TO DO SO MAKING SURE THE PEOPLE WHO CANNOT PAY AND ARE NOT BEING UNFAIRLY PENALIZED. BUT IF WE'RE TRYING TO DETER BEHAVIOR IN NEIGHBORHOODS AND FIGURE OUT DIFFERENT WAYS TO GET SOURCES FOR FUNDING. OKAY. THE OTHER QUESTION THAT I HAD WAS, THERE WAS TWO OPTIONS THAT WERE LOOKED AT IN TERMS OF A REPLACEMENT. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO OPTIONS AND WHY DID YOU ALL SELECT THIS ONE?
>> DIFFERENT VENDORS OF THE DIFFERENT KIND OF EQUIPMENT IF YOU WANT TO THINK OF THAT. THE DEVICE IN THE FIELD, THE SOFTWARE AND THE PRINTER WAS THE CONFIGURATION. WHAT VENDORS COULD PROVIDE THOSE.
>> KAUR: I SAW LIKE WHAT OUR CURRENT TECHNOLOGY DOES. WHAT ARE THE CHANGES WE'RE
GETTING WITH THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY? >> THE SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN UPGRADED THROUGH THE YEARS. THE HARDWARE HAS NOT.
SO A LOT OF IT IS IN THE HARDWARE AND THE PRINTER. SOME OF THE SOFTWARE CAPABILITIES ALLOW US TO DO REALTIME UPDATES INTO THE VEHICLE AND DIRECTLY TO THE COURT. WE HAVE TO STILL WORK THROUGH THE OF DOING THAT, BUT WE DIDN'T HAVE THAT OPTION BEFORE. EVERYTHING WAS DROPPED IN A
CRADLE AND UPLOADED. >> KAUR: PIGGY BASEBALLING ON WHAT THE CHAIR SAID, YOU SAID YOU HAD A FOCUS GROUP THAT INCLUDED TRAFFIC OFFICERS TO ACTUALLY USE AND TEST THE SYSTEM, BUT WAS THAT -- WERE THEY USING IT AS IF THEY WERE ACTUALLY IN
THE FIELD OR WAS IT MORE IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT? >> I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH TO ANSWER THAT, BUT TYPICALLY THE CHIEF'S TECHNOLOGY TEAM IS THE ONE WHO ORGANIZES
THAT AND THEY WORK WITH VARIOUS USERS. >> KAUR: I WANTED TO MAKE SURE USER TESTING -- SO WE'VE TESTED IT IN THE FIELD SO IT FUNCTIONS THE WAY WE
EXPECTED IT TO. >> I THINK THE RISK IS VERY LOW BECAUSE OF THE TRANSITION OF THE WORK. IF WE WERE GOING TO A NEW PROCESS --
>> WE'LL PROBABLY HAVE THAT NEW BUSINESS CONVERSATION MORE INDEPTH AS WE TALK ABOUT EXPANDING TO PATROL BECAUSE WE MAY LOOK AT SOME DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR THAT.
>> KAUR: AND I KNOW WE TALKED ABOUT THE OPTION OF GOING PAPERLESS.
IS TEXTING THE TICKET AN OPTION FROM THE SYSTEM? >> YES.
SYSTEM-WISE WE CAN DEPLOY THE TICKET TO THE DRIVER IN SEVERAL ELECTRONIC WAYS.
THE QUESTION IS ARE WE COMFORTABLE WITH THE WAYS WE NEED TO TEST THOSE OUT.
>> KAUR: HOW DOES THE PROCESS LOOK TO DECIDE WE GO THAT WAY?
>> I THINK THAT'S THE EVALUATION WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO LATER THIS YEAR AND IT WILL BE EVEN MORE INVOLVED INVOLVED THAN THE ONE LAST JULY.
>> KAUR: WILL YOU COME BACK AND PRESENT WHICH WAY --
>> WE'LL BE HAPPY TO DO THAT, COUNCILWOMAN, BEFORE WE TAKE IT TO THE FULL COUNCIL. WHAT WE DO IN THAT TESTING IS WE HAVE TO THINK OF THE USER. AND SPECIFICALLY HERE IN SAN ANTONIO, THE CONVERSATION OF OUR COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF THE AVAILABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY THAT THEY MAY HAVE AND THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT MAY NOT HAVE AN IPHONE, FOR EXAMPLE, OR MAY NOT FOR WHATEVER REASON HAVE ANY TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE TO THEM THAT WE ARE TAKING INTO ACCOUNT OF THOSE GROUPS.
SO THAT WILL BE PART OF THE TESTING THAT WE'LL DO BEFORE WE RECOMMEND A SOLUTION.
BUT HAPPY TO COME BACK TO THIS COMMITTEE. >> KAUR: THAT'S WHY I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE TEXTING FEETER BECAUSE YES, WHILE SCANNING A BAR CODE YOU WOULD HAVE TO HAVE AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION, BUT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE HAVE THE ABILITY TO TEXAS AND SMS. IF WE TRY AT LEAST THAT THAT
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WOULD MAKE IT -- THANK YOU ALL. >> HAVRDA: ANY OTHER COMMENTS? ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE PRESENTATION. APPRECIATE YOU AND AS PROMISED, WE WERE EFFICIENT AND PRODUCTIVE. THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED. THANK YOU.
* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.