HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-03-27 - AGENDA REPORTS - PUBLIC SAFETY GRANT (2)CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR I City Manager
Item to be pre;
DATE: March 27, 2001
SUBJECT: RENEWAL OF CITIZEN'S OPTION FOR PUBLIC SAFETY GRANT
DEPARTMENT: Parks, Recreation, and Community Services
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Approve the request from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, Santa Clarita
Station, to use the Citizen's Option for Public Safety Funds, under Assembly Bill 3229, to
continue the City's Youth Intervention Team.
Establish estimated revenue of $328,271 in account number 211-5211, Supplemental Law.
Enforcement Services Fund.
Appropriate $1,500 to account number 7441-7011 for Grant Administration, $2,000 to
account number 7441-7302 for Travel and Training, and $324,771 to account number 7441-
8110 for program implementation.
Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute any contracts, agreements, or change
orders arising out of this program.
1ACKGROUND
Under Assembly Bill 3229, the Citizen's Option for Public Safety bill, funding is allocated to
municipalities for public safety programs. The 2000-01 funding year marks the fifth
program year the City has been eligible to receive grant dollars from this program.
According to grant requirements, City Council shall appropriate the funds in accordance
with a written request submitted by the Chief Administrator of the local law enforcement
agency. The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, Santa Clarita Station, has proposed
continued funding of the Youth Intervention Team, an umbrella entity overseeing all youth -
related law enforcement effort and crime prevention.
The Citizen's Option for Public Safety funding will continue to be used to fund a Youth
Probation Officer, Youth Investigator, Crime/Gang Prevention Officer, clerical support, and
equipment. As a result of past funding, two additional deputies have been able to devote
their time to juvenile cases, which account for over 60% of all criminal cases. The
additional personnel have also been able to provide both a 3 -day gang awareness and
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prevention program and a 2 -day drug awareness and prevention program to all 7° grade
students as part of the teen issues curriculum. The personnel increase has also enabled the
City to prosper from having a probation officer dedicated to juveniles, handling a caseload
between 50-60 youth. This juvenile probation officer has been able to work closely with the
juvenile investigators to effectively address probation violators.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Determine alternate use for the Citizen's Option for Public Safety Grant.
Other action as determined by City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
None. The anticipated cost of this program is estimated to be $328,271 to be offset
completely by grant revenue.
ATTACHMENTS
Letter of Request from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, Santa Clarita Station
- Attachment A.
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LEROY B. BACA. SHERIFF
February 16, 2001
Attachment A
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Laurene Weste, Mayor
City of Santa Clarita
23920 Valencia Boulevard, #300
Santa Clarita, California 91355-2196
Dear Mayor Weste:
For the past two years, the City of Santa Clarita has received a significant criminal justice
grant that has aided us in our efforts to make the City of Santa Clarita a safer place in which
to live and work. This grant was structured under Assembly Bill 3229 and provided
.$328,271 from the State of California for a Citizen's Option for Public Safety (COPS)
Program. This grant funding is available again this year.
The COPS grant was used to enhance our efforts to curb youth crime in Santa Clarita.
Funding has enabled us to increase the COBRA Team staffing. We have a dedicated
Probation Officer, a Youth Crime Investigator, deputies to deliver an anti -gang and anti-drug
message in the schools, and a Station Clerk to assist with the paperwork and case filings
generated by our increased activities. We also reorganized our Community Relations and
Detective Bureau to form the Youth Intervention Team. As an additional bonus, monies not
dedicated for personnel use were used to provide additional directed patrols to address
pressing issues dealing with vandalism, assault related gang activity and auto burglaries.
Some highlights from this year's activities included:
Continuation of the Gang Education and Drug Education Programs for all seventh -grade
students in Santa Clarita.
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Mayor Laurene Weste
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February 16, 2001
• Expanding the School Emergency Operations Response Plans by including all
elementary schools, along with each high school & junior high school
• The COBRA Team continues to enhance their parent -youth counseling efforts. They
have also increased the scope of their public presentations to groups of parents, school
employees, community groups, and business persons.
• Continuation of the Teen Court Program
• The COBRA Team has handled 1,287 juvenile cases for the year 2000, involving 1,017
suspects.
I am encouraged by the continuing results of COPS -FUNDED activities. We have made
quarterly reports to the Prevention Policy Board who oversee the grant and have received a
favorable response. I am asking for your approval to use the 200-2001 COPS Grant funds to
continue these programs.
Sincerely,
LEROY D. BACA, SHERIFF
Donald A. Rodriguez, Captain
Santa Clarita Valley Station
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cc: City Councilmembers