2021.06.22 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

B. Traffic Stop Outcomes —Tony Paetznick,Public Safety Director Director Paetznick stated as a follow-up to the annual review that occurred for the 2020 traffic stop data at the February 2021 Public Safety Commission meeting, staff has looked further into a request from Commissioners to learn more about the outcomes of these interactions in terms of enforcement(i.e., warning, citation, arrest, etc.). Currently, that is not one of the pieces of information collected and reported on in the annual traffic stop data report. Staff has done some analysis of the limited data available from 2020 to produce a draft report. As a reminder, the COVID-19 global pandemic impacted law enforcement operations throughout a majority of last year,with a significant numerical difference in traffic stops performed in 2020 compared to prior years. Most notably, during the initial stay- at-home order of 2020, traffic stops were 90% lower than the same period for the previous year in 2019. This additional information on enforcement outcomes contains data from both the Computer Aided Dispatch(CAD) and Records Management System(RMS). As separate pieces of software, there is some data lost in translation between the two independent operating systems. In a few instances, incomplete or duplicate data was manually removed. Further, consistency of clearances has not been fully verified to be accurate due to differences in coding. Staff encountered some limitations in developing this data set, and reminds Commissioners that it is just one year of data. However,based on the data available from 2020, staff created several graphs for the Commission to view that show some of the following information: • White and Black drivers were within 5 percentage points of similarity for citations • White and Black drivers were within less than 1 percentage point of similarity for arrests • White and Black drivers were within 5 percentage points of similarity for warnings Director Paetznick indicated he was pleased to report the City Council would be pursuing an Inclusive Community Task Force in 2021. He went on to describe the numerous ways the Public Safety Department connected with the community through Santa Cop, Cops and Bobbers, Safety Camp, as well as volunteer programs that include VIPS, Explorers, Neighborhood Watch programs, the Police Reserve Auxiliary, Crime Free Multi Housing program, and faith based community partnerships. Further discussion ensued regarding the partnerships the Public Safety Department had with the community. He discussed how he was working to hire a more diverse workforce in order to be responsive and reflective of the community. The departments internal efforts, the dedicated LISTEN webpage and police training were then described in further detail with the Commission. Discussion included: • The number of arrests for the Native American population was further discussed. • It was noted the race of the individual being stopped by the Public Safety Department was based on the officer's perception. • A member of the Commission questioned why the traffic stop data was not more reflective to the demographics of the community. • It was noted the individuals being pulled over may not be from New Brighton,but rather could be traveling through the community. • A Commission member asked if the types of citations and arrests could be greater defined within the data collected. Director Paetznick commented this information was not collected.