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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC AG PKT 2012-02-27 #QAGENDA STAFF REPORT DATE: February 27, 2012 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council THRU: Jill R. Ingram, City Manager FROM: Robert M. Luman, Chief of Police SUBJECT: SEAL BEACH DETENTION CENTER STATUS REPORT SUMMARY OF REQUEST: At their meeting of September 23, 2007, Council approved the opening and operation of the Seal Beach Detention Center by the Police Department. Upon culmination of the budget process for FY2011/2012, Council directed staff to return to Council February, 2012, to provide an update on the status of the Detention Center. BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS: On June 15, 2007, the City ended its relationship with Correctional Systems, Inc. for jail operations. Subsequently, the Police Department sought Requests for Proposals (RFP'S) from approved American Correctional Association jail operators. No acceptable submissions were received. At the September 23, 2007, City Council meeting, Council authorized the Police Department to open a City operated jail to provide booking, processing, and transportation services for arrestees. The goal was to serve as a sustainable, potentially profitable inmate correctional service with inmates attained through Federal contracts. The City invested nearly $100,000 and hundreds of hours of staff time into the rehabilitation of the Detention Center. These areas included: • Physical improvements o New paint o Locks o Security enhancements and procedures o Video recording system o New kitchen • Accreditation o Revised policies and procedures to meet current State and Federal standards o Inspections and certification by governing agencies. Agenda Item .Q • Staffing o Recruitment o Selection o Hiring of nine full time Community Service Officers • Currently staffed with six plus a supervisor The decision was made to self- operate the jail in an effort to provide the community with a greater police presence and provide improved response times to emergency calls. The Police Department staffs three patrol officers and a supervisor per shift to cover the 11.2- square mile community of Seal Beach. When one officer is busy with an arrestee, the Police Department's ability to quickly respond to emergencies degrades by a minimum of 25 %. State Regulations Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations establishes minimum standards relating to custodial operations. All custodial facilities in California are mandated by law to be compliant with Title 15. Title 15 establishes the following mandates relating to staffing of custodial facilities: "Whenever there is an inmate in custody, there shall be at least one employee on duty at all times in a local detention facility or in the building which houses a local detention facility who shall be immediately available and accessible to inmates in the event of an emergency. Such an employee shall not have any other duties which would conflict with the supervision and care of inmates in the event of an emergency." This mandate is currently met by maintaining full -time staffing in the jail. In the event that the jail was not staffed on a full -time basis, there are two means to meet the standard. The first method would be for the arresting officer or watch commander to stay with the inmate while he is in custody. However, the employee would not be available for any other task such as responding to emergency calls for service. The second means in which to follow this regulation is for the arresting officer to transport the arrestee to an alternative facility such as the Orange County Jail. Booking Process When a police officer makes an arrest, the arrestee is transported by the officer to the Seal Beach Detention Center. Currently, custody is relinquished to a full - time jailer and the officer returns to the field. The jailer then completes the booking process which includes the following: the arrestee is searched; the arrestee's personal property is inventoried; the arrestee is interviewed for the purpose of completing booking paperwork; the arrestee is fingerprinted; the arrestee is photographed; and the arrestee is allowed to make telephone calls. After the booking process is complete, the arrestee is either issued a notice to appear in court and released; or allowed to post bail and released; or held pending a court appearance; or transported to a county or state jail facility. Felony arrests require the posting of bail or transport to court or jail only. Page 2 Felony suspects cannot be issued a citation and released. If the jail was not staffed by jailers, the higher salaried arresting officer would complete all of the above actions. Another classification of arrest involves those with arrest warrants or parole holds. If someone has been arrested who has an outstanding warrant for their arrest, the arrestee can either post the assigned bail amount and be released, or they can be transported to county jail. If the arrestee is a parolee, he /she must be transported to a state prison, with the closest facility being Chino State Prison. Our current juvenile in- custody procedures involve the jail staff for fingerprinting, photographing, and transport purposes. Once the fingerprints and photographs have been taken, the juvenile is released to a guardian. The jail staff will also temporarily hold juveniles for serious felony crimes until the detainee is transported to juvenile hall. Without a full -time custody facility, the process would be similar; however, patrol personnel would have to complete the holding and transporting portions of the arrest them self. Substance Abuse Arrest Challenges California law also establishes standards relating to those arrested for an offense involving their sobriety, either alcohol and /or drugs. The sobering cell described in Title 24, Part 2, Section 1231.2.4, shall be used for the holding of inmates who are a threat to their own safety or the safety of others due to their state of intoxication. In addition to the requirements previously set forth from Title 15, Title 24 requires, "Intermittent direct visual observation of inmates held in the sobering cell shall be conducted no less than every half hour. Such observation shall be documented." The arrestee is held until they have achieved a state of sobriety. The minimum amount of time they are held is four hours. Often, if the arrestee is highly intoxicated, the sobering period in custody is up to six hours. During the time period of achieving sobriety, law requires that the arrestee be constantly monitored, with physical checks required every 30 minutes. Orange County Jail does not accept prisoners who have been arrested for being drunk in public. Without a fully staffed jail, the arresting officer or the watch commander would have to monitor the arrestee until the inmate was sober enough for booking into the Orange County Men's Jail or sober enough to be cited & released. Regardless of our jail staffing status, drunk in public and drunk drivers must be held in our facility and monitored by staff during their entire stay. Without jail staff, this process is handled by either the arresting officer or the watch commander. California law requires that the officer monitoring the arrestee have no assignment other than the monitoring of the inmate. The police department has averaged over three hundred arrests annually over the past two years for violations involving substance abuse alone. Those arrests include drunk drivers, drunk in public, and under the influence of a controlled substance. As such, at least 1200 police officer hours were saved each of the past two years by having Page 3 jail staff to monitor arrestees during the mandated detoxification period. This alone equates to seventy percent of one full time equivalent (FTE) police officer. Arrest and Transportation Statistics Operating the facility has allowed the Police Department to keep its Officers in their beats by allowing them to turn their arrestees over to a 24/7 booking staff and facility in Seal Beach, and return almost immediately to their beats. Without a staffed jail facility, an Officer would have to book many arrestees into the Orange County Jail located in Santa Ana. It typically takes an average of three to five hours per booking to transport to Orange County Jail in Santa Ana, complete the County booking process, and return to Seal Beach. This can take up to 12 hours or more depending on the arrestee's situation and medical conditions. Over the past two years, Police Department jail staff has averaged nearly 150 prisoner transports of suspected felons or wanted persons to the Orange County Jail or Juvenile Hall. Approximately 10 arrestees are transported annually to state prison. A burden of that effort is that each arrestee must be given a medical clearance before the state prison will accept them. This process requires that two employees transport the arrestee to a hospital and maintain their security during a medical screening process. In essence, this can lead to a nine hour ordeal depending on the health of the arrestee. With two employees, it can total 18 employee hours. The following figures detail the average amount of time spent by personnel booking arrestees, monitoring substance abusers, and transporting to County Jail or other custody facilities. (Since the jail became self- operated and fully staffed, the department has averaged 874 arrests annually.) Currently, the detoxification monitoring process is conducted by jailers. If the jail facility was not staffed on a full -time basis, police officers would be responsible for booking, monitoring, and transporting arrestees. The following figures are presented to demonstrate the personnel costs if this process were conducted by police officers. Page 4 Number of incidents Time per incident Total hours annually Orange County Jail Transports 150 3 — 5 hours 450 — 750 Monitoring Detox arrestees 300 Over 4 hours Over 1200 Local bookings 424 2 hours 848 Annual Total 874 2498 — 2798 hours jail staff to monitor arrestees during the mandated detoxification period. This alone equates to seventy percent of one full time equivalent (FTE) police officer. Arrest and Transportation Statistics Operating the facility has allowed the Police Department to keep its Officers in their beats by allowing them to turn their arrestees over to a 24/7 booking staff and facility in Seal Beach, and return almost immediately to their beats. Without a staffed jail facility, an Officer would have to book many arrestees into the Orange County Jail located in Santa Ana. It typically takes an average of three to five hours per booking to transport to Orange County Jail in Santa Ana, complete the County booking process, and return to Seal Beach. This can take up to 12 hours or more depending on the arrestee's situation and medical conditions. Over the past two years, Police Department jail staff has averaged nearly 150 prisoner transports of suspected felons or wanted persons to the Orange County Jail or Juvenile Hall. Approximately 10 arrestees are transported annually to state prison. A burden of that effort is that each arrestee must be given a medical clearance before the state prison will accept them. This process requires that two employees transport the arrestee to a hospital and maintain their security during a medical screening process. In essence, this can lead to a nine hour ordeal depending on the health of the arrestee. With two employees, it can total 18 employee hours. The following figures detail the average amount of time spent by personnel booking arrestees, monitoring substance abusers, and transporting to County Jail or other custody facilities. (Since the jail became self- operated and fully staffed, the department has averaged 874 arrests annually.) Currently, the detoxification monitoring process is conducted by jailers. If the jail facility was not staffed on a full -time basis, police officers would be responsible for booking, monitoring, and transporting arrestees. The following figures are presented to demonstrate the personnel costs if this process were conducted by police officers. Page 4 o Personnel Costs — Average police officer total comp is $74.68 per hour* *Rate for top step officer with 10 years experience o Seal Beach Police Officers average 874 arrests annually Total booking time expense if entire process handled by police officer: $197,753* *Averaged to 2648 hour figure Table provided to detail above statistics Additional Benefits Afforded by City Operated Jail The City has enjoyed the benefits of labor provided by inmates at the Seal Beach Detention Center. These include: o Free labor o Cleaning the roof, clearing drains, preventing further damage to our roof o Beautification of the PD's exterior - Parking lot and exterior grounds landscape maintenance with leaf pickup, trash pickup, etc. o Moving furniture o Floor polishing and other upkeep, which extends the lifespan of equipment and infrastructure. Marketing To improve revenues, staff developed a marketing plan utilized during 2011. The plan incorporated media efforts as well as public outreach. Low cost advertising was developed and placed on Internet -based sites geared towards reaching potential clients. Further, Web -based outreach to attorney groups (Bar associations) was created to enhance client referrals. Beyond the advertising efforts, staff made personal visits to a variety of entities and members of the criminal justice system. Presentations were made to District Attorney associations and Public Defender associations. Individual meetings were held with Judges throughout the Southland. Finally, presentations were made to individual criminal defense attorneys. As a result of these efforts, overall jail operational costs for the Police Department were significantly reduced Page 5 Hours spent annually Cost per hour for police officer Annual cost if performed by police officer Orange County Jail Transports 600 (mid- range) $74.68 $44,808 Monitoring Detox arrestees Over 1200 $74.68 $89,616 Street bookings 848 $74.68 $63,329 Annual Total 2648 $74. $197,753 o Personnel Costs — Average police officer total comp is $74.68 per hour* *Rate for top step officer with 10 years experience o Seal Beach Police Officers average 874 arrests annually Total booking time expense if entire process handled by police officer: $197,753* *Averaged to 2648 hour figure Table provided to detail above statistics Additional Benefits Afforded by City Operated Jail The City has enjoyed the benefits of labor provided by inmates at the Seal Beach Detention Center. These include: o Free labor o Cleaning the roof, clearing drains, preventing further damage to our roof o Beautification of the PD's exterior - Parking lot and exterior grounds landscape maintenance with leaf pickup, trash pickup, etc. o Moving furniture o Floor polishing and other upkeep, which extends the lifespan of equipment and infrastructure. Marketing To improve revenues, staff developed a marketing plan utilized during 2011. The plan incorporated media efforts as well as public outreach. Low cost advertising was developed and placed on Internet -based sites geared towards reaching potential clients. Further, Web -based outreach to attorney groups (Bar associations) was created to enhance client referrals. Beyond the advertising efforts, staff made personal visits to a variety of entities and members of the criminal justice system. Presentations were made to District Attorney associations and Public Defender associations. Individual meetings were held with Judges throughout the Southland. Finally, presentations were made to individual criminal defense attorneys. As a result of these efforts, overall jail operational costs for the Police Department were significantly reduced Page 5 Budget Category FY 2010/2011 Jail Closed Cost Annual Expenditure $634,697 $ 0 Annual Revenue $537,492 $ 0 Officer Booking/Transport Time $ 0 $197,753 Cost to City $ 97,205 $197,753 compared to most municipal jail operations. Our revenue vs. expense data is outlined below as is a comparative analysis of typical cost for jail operations. 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Revenue: Revenue: Revenue: Revenue: Revenue and Expense Figures $266,765 $663,010 $537,492 $303,465 * Year to date as of February 1, 2012 Expenses: $565,355 Expenses: $753,089 Expenses: $634,697 Expenses: $387,401 Comparative Data Net cost: Net cost: Net cost: Net cost: ($298,590) ($90,079) ($97,205) ($83,936)* In order to place this information into context, staff conducted a survey of Southern California Type 1 jail facilities. They were selected due to their similar business plan as ours, operating pay -to -stay and other programs. The cities surveyed included Anaheim, Azusa, Beverly Hills, Fullerton, and Hawthorne. At the time of the survey, results for FY11/12 were not available and therefore, the most current data, Fiscal year 2010/2011, figures were used for comparison. 2010/11 Jail Budget 2010/11 Expenditures 2010/11 Revenues 2010/11 Loss City A $1,029,380 $1,005,223 $65,010 $ -964,370 City B City C City D $457,360 $1,411,000 $4,050,000 $373,413 $1,425,000 $4,000,000 $180 $93,000 $730,000 $ - 373,233 $- 1,332,000 $- 3,270,000 *Seal Beach Adopted FY 11/12 Detention Facility Budget is $689,100 Page 6 City E $518,927 $482,183 $103,395 $-378,788 In order to compare the costs of operating the jail versus the option of not staffing the jail and having police officers conduct booking and transports, the following table is offered: Seal Beach $827,200* $634,697 $537,492 $ - 97,205 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: There is no Environmental Impact related to this item. LEGAL ANALYSIS: This section is not applicable to the report. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The jail is operating under budget for this fiscal year even though our expenditures will exceed revenues. The jail budget for FY 2011/2012 is - $689,100. As of February 1, 2012, jail expenses were $387,401 with 40.82% of the fiscal year remaining. The jail is 2.68% or $18,467 under budget at this point in the fiscal year. With revenues to date of $303,465 our expenditures exceed revenues by $83,936. Based on our best projections, it is anticipated that expenditures will exceed revenues by approximately $143,891 in FY11/12. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council receive and file this report and that the City continue to operate the Seal Beach Detention Center. The Detention Center has provided a significant means to allow for a greater police presence within the Seal Beach community. The presence of jail staff has provided a demonstrated 2498 -2798 hours of additional annual patrol time for police officers by minimizing time Patrol Officers spend in the jail facility and maximizing their time spent in our Community. The jail operation is being conducted in a professional, efficient manner, adhering to correctional standards and mandates. The State of California reports that the jail has met or exceeded all training standards established by California Standards and Training for Corrections (STC). The California Correction Standards Authority (CSA) recently completed a physical inspection of the facility. The CSA report indicated that the jail is completely in compliance with state law and standards. The Orange County Grand Jury inspected the jail and provided a verbal report indicating that the jail was operating at a standard that should be the benchmark for correctional facilities in the County. Based on this comprehensive review, it appears to be in the City's overall best interest to continue the operation of the Seal Beach Detention Center. SUBMITTED BY: 0 rt M. Luman, Chief of Police Page 7 NOTED AND APPROVED: Ilk -iuv*u R. Ingram, City nager