2016.01.25 Public Safety Commission Packet

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D. Public Safety/Homeland Security Update Officer McNeely has 49 families scheduled to be receiving assistance from Santa Cop this year. We will expect to serve more than 200 children during the holiday season. This year, we will host a “Santa Cop” party for those receiving assistance which will be held on Friday, December 18, at 6 pm at the New Brighton Community Center. We finished in 1st Place in the nation for the third time for National Night Out for Cities in the 15,000 to 50,000 category!! Officer/Deputy Fire Chief Trevor Hamdorf coordinated this event again this year and completed the award winning submission. This is the fourth time we have finished in 1st Place for National Night Out (previous years for 1st place include 2005, 2009, 2013) and no other MN law enforcement agencies were in the top 45 cities in our category. And, we have been in the top five for sixteen consecutive years. We are continuing to investigate the Henry McCabe death. As you may recall, Mr. McCabe was reported missing to the Mounds View PD during the Labor Day weekend and was located on November 2 by a kayaker in Rush Lake. The manner of death is undetermined and the cause of death is drowning. We have met with representatives of the Liberian Community and the McCabe family and have kept them apprised of our investigation. We are going thru a Fire Captain promotional process. Two Fire Captains, Ron Finney, Sr. and Jay Frischman, have advised us that they will not continue on as Fire Captains next year. We will finish the process by mid-December. Commissioner Lamp had several questions and observations to include why we have had a substantial increase in DUI arrests and a significant decrease in hazardous moving violations. Director Jacobson explained that we now have a full time DUI officer. Hazardous moving violations may be down due to staffing shortages. Commissioner Schumann asked about the training in Somali culture attended by Officer Voeller. Director Jacobson indicated that Officers attend training such as this to become more familiar with different cultures and customs of immigrants. Council Liaison A. Council Report Council Member Brian Strub noted that the MN Chiefs of Police Association and Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute have signed a lease to rent space at City Hall. This will occur after significant renovations are completed. Commissioner Eichers inquired as to the financial health of the MN Chiefs of Police Association. Commissioner Eichers was reassured as to the long tenure and financial stability of the Association. Council Member Strub reported that our City Council voted to move from odd year to even year elections. And, they recently held a Truth in Taxation hearing on the 2016 budget with an upcoming Budget Approval business item being voted on at the December 8th Council Meeting.