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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10 - Analysis of Police Operations - July 4 2005CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT Agenda Item No. 10 October 25, 2005 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: Police Department John Desmond, Captain; 644 -3650; jdesmond @nbpd.org Bob McDonell, Chief of Police; 644 -3701; bmcdonell @nbpd.org SUBJECT: ANALYSIS OF POLICE OPERATIONS —JULY 4, 2005 RECOMMENDATION: Review the contents of this report recapping the day's events and associated costs of policing over the July 4`" holiday. DISCUSSION: Deployment Of Police Resources Historically, the Newport Beach Police Department has had to deploy virtually all of its resources to deal with large crowds and associated traffic control for many years over the July a holiday, and those facts have remained a reliable assumption in the development of our ongoing deployment strategy. Over the past several years, we have supplemented our deployment with officers from the California Highway Patrol, the Orange County Sheriffs Department, and various municipal police departments in order to provide a highly visible police presence within the impacted areas of West Newport, while allowing us to provide a heightened level of police services to the remainder of the City. This year, with the 4'" of July falling on a Monday, we had a concern of increased activity on the weekend leading up to the holiday. In order to ensure that our normal patrol deployment was not overwhelmed, a decision was made to utilize a portion of the additional officers from other departments to supplement our deployment over that weekend. These officers were teamed up with our personnel and allowed us to put out select two- officer patrol units. On the 40' of July holiday, we have learned that a strong presence of highly visible uniformed officers in potential problem areas serves as a deterrent to potentially lawless behavior. The principal element of this uniformed presence continues to be our "tactical" and "foot beat" teams. Typically, these teams are composed of one sergeant and three officers. Tactical teams are deployed in a vehicle and are capable of being assigned to any area where a problem or potential problem has developed. Foot beat teams rove on foot within a relatively small, pre- designated area, generally a single street, and are tasked with maintaining order within that area. Beat officers, bicycle officers, motorcycle officers, Analysis of Police Operations —July 4, 2005 October 25, 2005 Page 2 transportation officers, helicopter crews, and a variety of non -swom support personnel augment these teams. With the additional resources from other Orange County police agencies, we were able to assign a four - officer foot beat to almost every street in the Safety Enhancement Zone. By doing so, each group had an early "investment in the real estate" that returned dividends in temps of their ability to prevent and control any potentially disruptive behavior. With the small area of responsibility for each team, they were able to make early contact with potential problem houses, advise them of the rules, seek their cooperation, and monitor their actions throughout the day and evening. "Safety Enhancement Zone" The heavy influx of bicycle and pedestrian traffic into the West Newport area continues to necessitate a system of street closures and restricted access to ensure everyone's safety and allow for crowd control. The annual City Council action enacting the "Safety Enhancement Zone" has given us additional tools and resources to address the dangerous and volatile situations we have historically encountered. One of the more effective tools is the "triple fine" provision, where fines for municipal code violations are three times the amount normally assessed. Most of the visitors and residents were well aware (upon their arrival) of the potential for increased fines, and it was a topic of many conversations between officers and partygoers. This increased awareness can be attributed to the Police Department's media release of information in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, along with the distribution of hundreds of informational fliers hand - delivered by Police Explorers to residents in the Safety Enhancement Zone. In addition, most of the property management companies provided the Department's informational fliers to their short-term renters upon check -in. As always, our goal in the pre -event publicity campaign is to use it to our advantage in an effort to serve as a deterrent to engaging in disruptive behavior, and we believe we enjoy some success from that effort. Regrettably, the benefits of the Safety Enhancement Zone and other restrictions do not come without sacrifice. The residents of the West Newport area continue to endure City - imposed street closures and interference with access to their homes the afternoon and evening of July 4'". Some residents of the area stridently object to these restrictions, while others accept them as "making the best of a bad situation." Overall, we have enjoyed a grateful partnership with the leadership of the West Newport Community and numerous residents of that segment of the City. The Newport Crest Community continued to express concerns that the Safety Enhancement Zone was pushing problems into their neighborhood and requested to have the Zone enlarged to incorporate their neighborhood. Their concerns centered on parking problems and additional police presence to augment their private security efforts. A tactical team was assigned on a part time basis to patrol the area and assess the need for additional resources in the future. Overall, we believe the overall effort in that area was successful. Analysis of Police Operations — July 4, 2005 October 25, 2005 Page 3 Police Planning Strategy Results The one constant factor on the 4"' of July is the large crowds that fill the streets of West Newport and we can expect those large crowds to be there for the foreseeable future. The deployment plan that we have implemented for the past three years has given us the ability to deal with, or prevent, potential riotous behavior as well as ensuring the public's safety. While we have had an impact on the tone of the holiday atmosphere, we have not had a significant impact on the sheer numbers of people who visit the West Newport area. Even though we believe our efforts have made a considerable difference, we are still not ready to significantly reduce or alter our policing strategy for this holiday. We remain committed to exploring other approaches in concert with the residents of West Newport as we prepare for future operations. As to the specifics of our deployment strategy, we had no major incidents or significant problems that were beyond our resources. The decision to deploy outside agency officers on the weekend leading up to the 4d' of July continues to be a positive one. It was a busy weekend and we were able to keep up with the calls for service and managed to keep illegal activity under control. On the holiday itself, our activity and enforcement numbers essentially mirrored the levels of the past two years. The increased number of officers, coupled with a steady enforcement level, has produced a fairly consistent result. There were no major assaults, confrontations with officers, or crimes in or adjacent to the Safety Enhancement Zone. The most serious injury occurred when a party attendee fell off the balcony of a private residence. Noteworthy is the fact that we received no complaints of officer misconduct. The activity level in Newport Crest was minimal, as their private security personnel kept non- residents from parking within their neighborhoods. Residents and not outsiders caused whatever activity we did observe. This neighborhood is not in need of additional resources and does not need to be included as part of the Safety Enhancement Zone. As to our overall ability to handle calls for service outside the Safety Enhancement Zone, we have managed that well and for the most part, have sufficient resources. However, we continue to fall short in our ability to handle calls regarding the Citywide use of fireworks. We received approximately 122 calls reporting the illegal use of fireworks, and our helicopter crews observed literally hundreds of displays during the 36 -hour deployment period. While our officers take enforcement action for the possession and use of fireworks when they encounter it in the field, we lacked the resources to respond to these calls. This inability to respond to each and every report of illegal fireworks activity has led to frustration on the part of those who do call us and then see this illegal activity go unchecked. Enforcement Summary Beginning in 1998, we established a uniform 36 -hour deployment period for the purpose of capturing enforcement data from one year to the next. This time frame commences at 6 PM on July 3rd and concludes at 6 AM on July 5d'. Historically, this is when most of the problems occur, regardless of which day of the week the holiday falls. In addition to enforcement statistics for this year, I have included information from the past five years for comparison purposes. Analysis of Police Operations — July 4, 2005 October 25, 2005 Page 4 ARRESTS 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Felony 10 17 10 14 17 19 Misdemeanor 92 97 93 148 176 137 TOTAL 102 114 103 162 193 156 CITATIONS B & P* 78 80 69 110 92 80 H& S* 9 0 17 11 5 1 Municipal Code 300 329 307 341 366 344 Vehicle Code 80 149 108 171 178 169 Misc. 0 1 1 0 1 9 Parking 766 707 722 711 667 753 TOTAL 1233 1266 1224 1344 1309 1356 DISTURBANCE 28 44 36 35 42 33 ADVISEMENTS ADMINISTRATIVE 194 253 231 169 67 0 CITATIONS ** *B &P refers to the California Business and Professions Code. Almost all citations issued pursuant to this code relate to minors in possession of alcohol or false identification documents. H &S refers to the Cal'rfomia Health and Safety Code. Most citations issued pursuant to this code relate to possession of marijuana. **Administrative Citations are a civil process as opposed to using the criminal process. Administrative Cites are issued for violations of the NB Municipal Code, and those issued in the Safety Enhancement Zone carded a fine triple the standard fine amount. The Administrative Citations issued are incorporated into the Municipal Code citation total. Our arrest numbers, which dropped slightly from last year, continue to be for mostly alcohol - related offenses (over 72%). The typical arrestee was male (84 %), white (88 %), 25 years of age, and a non - Newport Beach resident (89 %). Most of the arrests made were within, or adjacent to, the Safety Enhancement Zone (86 %). As to the other enforcement numbers, they have remained constant over the past three years. We did see a reduction in the number of citations for Vehicle Code violations and the number of Disturbance Advisement Cards issued. While the number of Municipal Code violations remained somewhat consistent, there was a significant increase in the number of them written as criminal citations versus Administrative Citations. Also, the California Highway Patrol Officers wrote an additional 65 citations and those numbers are not included in the above statistics. Analysis of Police Operations —July 4, 2005 October 25, 2005 Page 5 Traffic Management As in past years, our plan for controlling traffic in the West Newport area centered around the installation of barricades. These barricades close Seashore Drive to vehicular traffic and prevent vehicles from accessing the westbound lanes of Balboa Boulevard between Pacific Coast Highway and 32nd Street. The installation of barricades by General Services Department personnel was started at approximately noon and they remained in place until approximately midnight. This was the fourth year of a collaborative effort with Cal Trans to monitor and control signal phasing at West Balboa Boulevard and West Coast Highway. At the close of the evening, Cal Trans representatives manually reset the signals departing northbound Newport Boulevard leaving the peninsula. This expedited departing traffic on Newport Boulevard. In the future we will secure another Cal Trans representative to increase the northwest flow on West Balboa Boulevard onto West Coast Highway or Superior Avenue, thereby eliminating the necessity of police officers to direct traffic at this intersection. Our traffic control and enforcement efforts were supported again this year by a contingent of traffic officers from the California Highway Patrol. This contingent was divided into two groups: motorcycle officers for enforcement of traffic laws and CHP officers on foot assigned to staff barricades and checkpoints. Department Support Activities As in past years, our Command Post and Field Booking Operation were established in the rear parking lot of the City Hall complex. The staffing level of this operation was reduced slightly from the previous year based on changes that increased efficiency. The Command Post/Field Booking Operation opened at 2 PM on July 4th and closed at 1 AM on July 5th. NBPD Support Services personnel, NBPD Jail personnel and NBPD Reserve Officers staffed this operation. It was supplemented by OCSD Jail Deputies who performed searches and handled prisoner management and OCSD Transportation Deputies who transported prisoners in Sheriffs vans and utilized a full -sized OCSD Jail bus that served as a detention facility. A total of 77 arrestees were transported to and processed through the Command Post's Field Booking Operation, which was a decrease from the previous year (85). We again utilized the services of a Jail Nurse from the Orange County Health Care Agency during the booking process. This service continued to be an overwhelming success on two fronts. We increased our level of service to all prisoners in our custody, rendering medical attention when needed and evaluating potential health problems. We also eliminated the need to transport prisoners with minor injuries to a hospital in order for them to receive first aid treatment. Of the 77 prisoners processed through the Command Post, none required transportation to a hospital for evaluation prior to booking at our Jail. In addition to serving as an initial receiving point for arrestees, the Command Post housed Communications personnel and equipment. The assigned Dispatchers handled all radio traffic related to the transportation of prisoners to and from the Field Booking Operation. The Command Post also served as a staging area for personnel, a storage point for supplies and equipment, as well as a location where City officials and media personnel were directed to gather for situation briefings. Analysis of Police Operations - July 4, 2005 October 25, 2005 Page 6 Supplemental Law Enforcement and Salary Costs Supplemental services were provided by eight different law enforcement agencies compared to only three agencies in 2002 (the overall number of officers involved remained essentially the same). The California Highway Patrol provided 30 officers who were assigned to traffic control and enforcement. The Orange County Sheriffs Department provided 27 deputies who were assigned to transportation duties, as well as searching/booking duties at the Command Post. The Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Irvine, Orange, and Santa Ana Police Departments provided approximately 58 officers who were teamed with our officers for patrol and enforcement duties. The Orange County Health Care Agency provided two nurses to examine and treat arrestees during the field booking process. The costs for these services are listed below, along with the costs from the previous four years for comparison purposes. Per the Memorandum of Understanding with our employee associations, NBPD personnel receive "Premium Pay" for working on July 4"'. The Premium Pay, Overtime Pay (for employees who worked longer than their assigned shift) and the number of hours of Compensatory Time taken in lieu of Overtime Pay is also listed below. OC Sheriff CHP Costa Mesa PD Anaheim PD Brea PD Fullerton PD Irvine PD La Palma PD Orange PD Santa Ana PD OC Health 2005 $26,461 $27,774 $1226 $1,529 0 $6,874 $12,869 0 $10,356 $4,459 $764 2004 $28,479 $25,358 $5,921 $13,638 0 $8,825 $6,956 0 $14,765 $5,086 =ME 2003 2002 2001 $28,567 $19,685 $15,343 $22,203 $23,345 $23,465 $8,156 $3,685 0 $12,994 $657 $1,963 $8,084 $1,927 0 $6,020 im 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $678 Total $92,312 $109,717 $91,251 $47,393 $38,808 Supplemental Services Overtime Pay $13,235 $15,020 $52,187 $43,928 $56,210 Premium Pay $38,040 $38,180 combined Combined Combined w /oT w /oT War Comp. Time 158 hrs 225 hrs N/A N/A N/A Hours TOTAL: $143,587 $162,917 $143,438 $91,321 $95,018 The overall cost to have the majority of the Police Department's 280 personnel working this holiday is significant. When you factor in the supplemental law enforcement costs, we have a better understanding of the total budgetary impact for ensuring we have an adequate law enforcement presence on the July 40' holiday. Analysis of Police Operations — July 4, 2005 October 25, 2005 Page 7 Planning For Next Year Planning for the deployment of Police Department personnel on July 4, 2006, has already begun in the form of critiques of this year's operation prepared by key personnel within the Police Department. These critiques form the basis of future staff discussions to explore and implement operational improvements as well as determining staffing levels and resources. We value Community feedback from those most affected by our operation and will continue to be open to suggestions on ways to improve the services we provide on this holiday. CONCLUSION: Overall we were satisfied with the results of our efforts, but we remain mindful of the potential for serious problems due to the huge influx of party- seeking revelers and the excessive consumption of alcohol. Unfortunately, we do not believe there will be a significant reduction in the considerable number of rental properties on the peninsula, nor in the general party atmosphere that will continue to attract these visitors to our City. We are still not at a point where we can take a step backwards in terms of our deployment of personnel and resources. Much in the way that the Newport Beach 4"' of July party atmosphere is ingrained in the minds of the public, we need to equally ingrain an enforcement posture and a level of tolerance that will bring sensibility to the holiday celebration. Again, our employees, and those of the other involved agencies, performed in an exemplary manner and significantly contributed to a safe and peaceful holiday. Not one complaint was lodged, despite our high profile enforcement effort. We are grateful for the cooperation of other City Departments, most notable General Services, whose employees made valuable contributions to our efforts. The support received from the Orange County Sheriffs Department, the Orange County Health Care Agency, the California Highway Patrol, Cal Trans, and the Police Departments of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Irvine, Orange, and Santa Ana was much appreciated as well. In conclusion, the staffing levels and tactics we have employed these past three years have given us the ability to help our Community enjoy the July 4t° holiday in a safe and lawful manner. In preparing for the future, we will take into account our experiences and continue to look for ways to refine and hopefully improve our approach to this annual challenge. Our overall recommendation is to continue to "stay the course" for the foreseeable future, while continuing to assess any progress we make in curbing the traditionally disruptive behavior which this City has experienced over the years. Prepared by: 4Z6 John Desmond CAPTAIN Submi d b Bob McDonell CHIEF OF POLICE