Village of Western Springs Public Health and Safety Committee met April 4.
Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:
Members Present:
William Siffermann, Chair
Berry Allen, Trustee
Staff Present:
Chief Patrick Kenny, Fire & EMS
Chief Brian Budds, LES
Deputy Chief Daniel Albrecht, LES
Shaun O'Connor, LES
Staff Not Present:
Deputy Chief Gary Mayor, Fire & EMS
Public Present:
None.
Electronic Attendance: None.
#1 Call to Order and Approval of Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 am on Wednesday, April 4, 2018.
Trustee Allen asked for clarification on page 2 of the March 7, 2018, minutes to reflect that the number of surveys is monthly
Previous statement: The methodology for the summaries consists of fifteen surveys being sent out to Western Springs' residents who had contact with the police department. The following criteria are used for the surveys.
Amended statement: The methodology for the summaries consists of fifteen monthly surveys being sent out to Western Springs' residents who had contact with the police department. The following criteria are used for the surveys.
Motion: Trustee Allen made a motion to approve the minutes, as amended, of March 7, 2018, meeting. Chair Siffermann seconded the motion to approve the minutes and they were approved by unanimous vote.
#2 Public Comments
None.
#3 Police Department - 2017 Annual Report Presentation
Chief Budds discussed the Police Department 2017 Annual report. Chief Budds went over calls for service, staffing, training, and the different programs and activities we do on a yearly basis. He also went over the crime statistics, tickets, and the case file statistics for the year.
Chair Siffermann asked if this was the Chief's first annual report since taking over. Chief Budds reported that the 2016 report was the first one.
Chief Budds highlighted certain pages in the report.
Page 4 – Organizational Chart
Trustee Allen asked if the Police Chaplain was the same for both the police and fire departments. Both Chief Budds and Fire Chief Kenny reported that the Chaplain works for both departments.
Pages 5 – 11 – Department Photos
The Chief noted that, including the two new recruits, approximately 40% of the patrol staff have less than three years' experience.
Chair Siffermann asked if there were other recruits at the academy, not including the two newest members. Chief Budds reported that we did not have any others at the academy.
Page 12 – Patrol Division
The Chief noted that the Patrol Division is the largest section of our department. It is the most visible portion of the agency. The patrol division is the first responders to calls for service.
Chair Siffermann asked what the majority of what the warning ticket violations were. Chief Budds reported that they are for various traffic violations.
Trustee Allen asked for clarification on what defines a call for service. Chief Budds explained that a call for service consists of any call that requires a police response or service, including traffic stops and 911 calls.
Trustee Allen noted that the department's contacts are up from last year.
Chair Siffermann reported that he thought warning tickets were the prime example of what crime prevention really was.
Trustee Allen asked what the Chief believes to be the reason for the increase in Local Ordinance Violations.
Chief Budds reported that with newer officers comes more officers that are aggressive. In order to gain their experience, they do that through contacts. The majority of the Local Ordinance tickets are from parking violations.
Trustee Allen asked if the department is pushing these violations and if the department has quotas.
Chief Budds reported that the department does not have quotas and tickets are officers' discretion. Chief believed that you could accomplish the message of safety with warning tickets as opposed to state tickets for some occasions and that it can be an effective way to prevent future violations.
Chair Siffermann mentioned that he thinks adding a question about traffic stops to the community surveys could benefit the department.
Chair Siffermann asked if the Chief had knowledge about the relationship between the number of traffic citations and the revenue that develops for the Village. He also asked if there has been an increase in revenue.
Chief Budds reported that he does not keep track of revenue and has no interest in keeping track. The revenue that the department gets from the Circuit Court is minimal but in response to the question, he would believe that with the increase in tickets, there would be an increase in revenue.
Page 14 – Mutual Aid / NIPAS
Chief Budds went over the different mutual aid and tasks forces. We currently have three members of NIPAS. One is assigned to the Emergency Services Team (EST), in which Detective Terry Madler has been a member of for several years. Two members of the department are assigned to the Mobile Field Force (MFF).
Chair Siffermann asked if there was a membership fee for NIPAS. Chief Budds confirmed there was a yearly membership fee that is budgeted. Chief Budds noted that the EST was activated thirty times in 2017.
Chair Siffermann asked who would activate the mutual aid request for NIPAS or ILEAS. Chief Budds reported that the Chief of the home agency would activate it.
Page 15 - ILEAS
ILEAS is another mutual aid program. It is a mutual aid car plan. The Chief or Deputy Chief can request a car plan for a major incident.
Pages 16 & 17 – Training
Chief Budds went over the training section. The Field Training Program took up a significant part of the training in 2017 due to the training of several new officers to become Field Training Officers in anticipation of the two new officers coming out of the academy.
Chief Budds noted that some training is due to updated training classes for changes in certain laws or new state mandates.
Chief Budds explained that the cost of training is not just from the training budget but also there is an overtime cost to fill the shift with an officer.
Chair Siffermann asked if there was an increase or decrease in budgeted training. Chief Budds reported a decrease in funding due to him not having to attend a training conference in Harvard. It has hovered around forty thousand year to year since the recession in 2007 and 2008.
Page 18 - Training
Chief Budds reported that on page 18 there were the highlights of the department's training for the year.
Chair Siffermann asked how the department gathers information and the results of the training officers attend. He further asked if there was a review system in place for training. Chief Budds reports that there is a system in place. Sgt. LoChirco has created a system on the department SharePoint that details the training requests and the officer has to justify the reason for the training request. The officer also has a section in the program for an evaluation or review of the training attended.
Page 19 – Annual Report / Ten Year History of Index Crimes
Chief Budds went over the annual report crime and a ten-year history of index crimes that we supply to the Illinois State Police and FBI.
Chief Budds noted that the first half of 2017 was one of the most challenging this department has faced as far as higher-level crime and the surrounding towns were in the same situations as we were.
Chief Budds reported that it appears, at least for Western Springs, the crimes have calmed down. Chief Budds went over some of the things that the department did in order to stop the trend, including drone vehicles, community meetings, and constant reminders to the citizens. Chief Budds stated that Chicago has reported crimes against persons have gone down, but crimes against property have increased.
Trustee Allen asked about the increase in case files. Chief Budds explained that a case file could also be created for certain non-criminal incidents. Any incident that may require any additional work or follow-up. Some examples could include committals or IRMA accidents.
Trustee Allen asked how the department was doing on solvability from a Detective standpoint. Deputy Chief Albrecht reported that solvability could seem low due to certain crimes, such as identity theft. Deputy Chief Albrecht reported that due to how the law is written, identity theft crimes are hard to prosecute because they happen in multiple jurisdictions.
Trustee Allen asked if Chair Siffermann and he could get additional crime breakdowns periodically. Chief Budds reported that he could prepare a memo with a more detailed breakdown of the first half of the year crimes and case updates. The memo would also explain how and why closed cases are classified a certain way.
Trustee Allen asked how everything was going with LTACC. Chief Budds reported that they just celebrated their one-year anniversary. Chief Budds stated it is going well and that it is still a work in progress. Chief Kenny reported that there are some day-to-day kinks with it but that is expected when you go from one agency to three. Chief Kenny stated that he believed the overall service provided has been an enhancement.
Chair Siffermann asked if there had been any negative feedback from the community. Chief Kenny reported that last summer when there were heavy rains, LTACC was not sure who was working and where they were located in town. Chief Kenny stated, in years past they would have contacted Western Springs' dispatch, and this time they did not contact LTACC.
Trustee Allen asked if there have been any tests on bandwidth for excessive calls and if there was a procedure for excessive calls. Chief Budds reported that there would not be a difference from when dispatch was at Western Springs, there are certain amounts of trunks that are able to handle calls and the department has procedures in place for those types of situations.
Chair Siffermann asked the cost of the report. Chief Budds reported that cost to be approximately $1,200.00. The cost is budgeted and the company supplied forty copies. Chief Budds noted the majority of the cost is the design of the report.
#4 New Police Officers - Swearing-in Ceremony
Chief Budds reported that the date for the two new probationary officers' formal swearing-in ceremony will be April 23, 2018, during the Board Meeting.
#5 PD - Distracted Driving Awareness Week
Deputy Chief Albrecht reported that the Illinois Association of Chief of Police spoke with the Governor and requested a proclamation to identify April 24 through April 28 as Distracted Driving Awareness Week. Deputy Chief Albrecht reported that during that week, our officers would go out and educate the public. The School Officer will also be conducting training with the students on the statistics of accidents as related to distracted driving.
Trustee Allen asked for clarification on the Graduated Driver's License rules. Deputy Chief Albrecht reported that sixteen years old could have one extra person, not including family members. Deputy Chief Albrecht also stated curfews hours have changed as well. Previously weekdays was 11 pm and weekends was midnight. Now it is 10 pm on weekdays and 11 pm on weekends unless you are returning home from work. At age eighteen or after having your license for a year, the GDL requirements change. Chief Budds stated the reason for that was to help eliminate distractions. Chief Budds will put out a press release shortly before the Distracted Driving Week begins.
Chair Siffermann asked if there was a breakdown of residents verse non-residents in regards to citations for Distracted Driving. Deputy Chief Albrecht reported we have never done that. Chief Budds stated that the majority are probably not residents, due to a large majority of our stops being on Ogden Avenue or other major roads.
#6 Other
Chief Kenny reported that at the next meeting he would be discussing the Fire Department's promotional exam for Lieutenant.
Adjournment:
Motion: Trustee Allen made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:57 a.m., Chair Siffermann seconded the motion, and the motion to adjourn was approved by a unanimous vote.
http://www.wsprings.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_04042018-704
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