To the member s of the:
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September 7, 2023
Council Memorandum
{city of
Carlsbad
Memo ID# 2023094
To:
.From:
Honorable Mayor Blackburn and Members of the City Council Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager, Community Services
Mandy Mills, Director of Housing & Homeless Services
Geoff Patnoe, Assistant City Manager @_ Via:
Re: W indsor Pointe - Letters to Affi rmed Housing Regarding Security {District - 1) This memorandum transmits letters that have been sent to Affirmed Housing from both the Police Department and Housing & Homeless Services related to security concerns at Windsor Pointe.
Background
In 2017 and 2020 the City Council approved a financing package for land acquisition and construction of the Windsor Pointe affordable housing project. The project, developed by Affirmed Housing, is 48 units located on two non-contiguous sites in the Barrio neighborhood, at 965 Oak Avenue and 3606 Harding Street . In each location, half of the units provide affordable housing for low-income households with a veteran and/or local affiliation preference, while the other half provide permanent supportive housing for people who were experiencing homelessness with a severe mental illness diagnosis. Since the project opened a year and a half ago there have been community complaints and concerns related to the level of support needed to match client needs and on-site security.
Discussion
Throughout the first year and a half of operations city staff have worked closely with the project owner and property management company so that this project can provide a safe, quality living environment for the residents and surrounding community . The attached letters were recently sent to the owner of Windsor Pointe to identify the city's concerns and recommendations to improve safety at the property. The Police and Housing & Homeless Services departments are in regular communication about incidents and potential solutions to address concerns.
Next Steps
City staff will continue to work together and with the property owner to advocate for policies and resources that improve the safety for Windsor Pointe residents, visitors, surrounding community members, and Police Officers who respond to the facilities for calls for service.
Community Services Branch
Housing & Homeless Services Depar tment
1200 Carlsbad Village Drive I Carlsbad, CA 92008 I 442-339-2810 t Council Memo - Windsor Pointe - Letters to Affirmed Housing Regarding Security (District - 1) September 7, 2023
Attachment: A. Letter from the Police Department to Affirmed Housing B. Letter from the Housing & Homeless Services Department to Affirmed Housing cc: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Cindie McMahon, City Attorney
Mickey Williams, Police Chief
Michael Calderwood, Fire Chief
Laura Rocha, Deputy City Manager, Administrative Services Paz Gomez, Deputy City Manager, Public Works
September 5, 2023
VIA E-MAIL.heather@affirmedhousing .co~
AND U.S. FIRST CLASS MAIL
Heather Averick
Director of Supportive Housing
Affirmed Housing
13520 Evening Creek Drive North, Ste. 160
San Diego CA 92128
Dear Ms. Averick,
Attachment A
( .Cityof
Carlsbad
I am writing on behalf of the Carlsbad Police Department regarding the Windsor Pointe facilities located at 965 Oak Ave., and 3606/3618 Harding St., Carlsbad, California. This letter is intended to provide information regarding the ongoing criminal activity and safety concerns occurring at the Windsor Pointe facilities, along with a specific request for additional assistance and resources. The requested assistance and resources are intended to help prevent the facilities from continuing to be used for disorderly and unlawful purposes and to enhance the safety of residents, visitors, and the Carlsbad community.
Since the Windsor Point facilities opened in 2022, the Carlsbad Police Department has expended a significant amount of public resources responding to calls for service at Windsor Pointe facilities. These calls for service and associated investigations have been related to the actions of both residents and visitors of the facilities. To give you an idea of the frequency and severity of cases related to Windsor Pointe, I have provided a partial list of police activity related to Windsor Pointe facilities since January 1, 2023.
Windsor Pointe (965 Oak Avenue and 3606/3618 Harding Street, Carlsbad):
• January 7; Officers investigated a reported _residential burglary by an unknown suspect.
A resident reported that their apartment had been burglarized. CPD case 23-00142. • January 18; Officers arrested a non-resident for attempted murder where a resident and a non-resident companion were attacked by the known suspect at the facility. CPD case 23-00367.
Police Department
Police Administration 2560 Orion Way I Carlsbad, CA 92010 I 760-931-2100 I www.carlsbadca.gov Heather A verick
Director of Supporting Housing
Affirmed Housing
Page2
• January 23; Officers investigated a reported violation of restraining order by the attempted murder suspect listed above, where the non-resident suspect was seen jumping the fence into the facility. CPD case 23-00481. • February 1; Officers investigated a reported restraining order violation by th e same att empt ed murder suspect listed above. CPD case 23-00692. • February 18; Officers investigated a vandalism following an argument between residents. CPD case 23-01109.
• February 24; Officers investigated suspicious circumstances involving two persons in th e parki ng lot of the facility. Officers arrested one subject for narcotics related offenses.
Both subjects contacted during th e investigation were not residents of the facility . CPD case 23-01241.
• March 2; Officers investigated a report of a restraining order violati on involving a domestic dispute between residents . U lt imately officers served one resident with a restraining order. CPD case 23-01401.
• March 12; Officers investigated a report of child abuse at the facility . A non-resident of the facility reported he suspected a child was being abused at the facility by two facility residents. CPD case 23-01612.
• April 18; Officers investigated a theft from a residence where the suspect was believed to be a visit or. CPD case 23-02405.
• May 9; Officers arrested a resident for domestic violence involving another resident, that occurred at the facility. CPD case 23-02857.
• May 14; Officers arrested a resident for a battery causing serious bodily injury that occurred at the facility. The resident stated that God told him to commit the assault.
The victim was not a resident and did not know the suspect. CPD case 23-02973. • July 13; Officers arrested a non-resident after a resident called the police and reported that the non-resident, who had been invited into the facility, was heavily intoxicated and refused to leave. CPD case 23-04346.
• July 17; Officers arrested a non-resident, who had been invited int o the facility, after receiving a report of that a child had been sexually abused at the facility. CPD case 23- 04429.
• July 20; Officers investigated a report of a fight at the facility and ultim~tely arrested a non-resident for narcotics violations and an outstanding arrest warrant . CPD case 23- 04514.
• July 21; Officers investigated a vandalism where a resident was recorded on security camera breaking a window with a rock. CPD case 23-04522. • July 28; Officers investigated a domestic violence battery that occurred at the facility.
CPD case 23-04689.
Heather A verick
Director of Supporting Housing
Affinned Housing
• August 3; Officers served a search warrant at a residence in furtherance of a drug sales investigation resulting in the arrest of a resident. CPD case 23-04826. • August 3; Officers served a second search warrant at a different residence within the facility in furtherance of a drug sales investigation . CPD case 23-04827. • August 4; Officers arrested a subject for two domestic violence incidents tha t had occurred at t he facility involving cohabitating residents. CPD cases 23-04689 and 23- 04851.
It should be noted that this is NOT a list of all police related calls for service at the respect ive facilities. In fact, there are many additional calls for service at the facilities. The above list of criminal investigations is only a snapshot of t he police activity that has occurred since January 1, 2023.
REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE
As a result of the significant disorderly and unlawful conduct which has occurred and is still ongoing at the Windsor Pointe facilities, I respectfully request the following security measures at both the Oak Avenue and Harding Street facilities to prevent unlawful entry and promote a s·afe, crime-free, and drug-free living environment .
1. Uniformed security, on-site at both locations, 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.
2. Policy change requiring all visitors to check-in and check-out of the facility, to include recording identification and vehicle information of visitors. (Uniformed security could be used to maintain the visitor log information.)
3. Maintain operational surveillance cameras covering all exterior locations of the facilities and parking areas.
4. Provide law enforcement 24/7 access to surveillance camera recordings through on-site personnel trained to access and review the surveillance recordings. (Unifor1T1ed security could be used for this function.)
5. Proactively engage the Police Department in a Neighborhood Watch Program.
These security enhancements are intended to improve the safety for Windsor Pointe residents, visitors, surrounding community members, and officers who respond to the facilities for calls for service. Additionally, these recommended security improvements will enhance police responses to the facilities because on-site security personnel will be able to help responding officers access the facility.
Heather A verick
Director of Supporting Housing
Affirmed Housing
Page4
I would appreciate a written response to this letter within two weeks and would be happy to engage in conversation regard ing implementation of these security enhancements.
Sin~ereY,
(A//_ ~L I~ fif,_fi1-M1cl<ey WiOiams l
City of Carlsbad
Chief of Police
cc: Mandy Mills, Director
Housing & Homeless Serwice
Sept. 6, 2023
Heather Averick, Director of Supportive Housing
Affirmed Housing
13520 Evening Creek Dr N, Suite 160
San Diego, CA 92128
[email protected]
Dear Ms. Averick,
As we have discussed in the past, the City of Carlsbad is concerned about criminal activity and safety issues at Windsor Pointe. The Carlsbad Police Department sent a letter on Sept. 5, 2023, with similar concerns, along with a specific request for additional assistance and resources to enhance safety for residents, visitors, and the Carlsbad communi ty. I hope the crime-related information provided by the Police Department was helpful in better understanding the scope of some of the issues. Since some of the Police activity may be at night, property management may be unaware of the magnitude of problems at the properties . We are working on obtaining ongoing information from the Police Department regarding the criminal activity at the properties so that we can better understand if t here are patterns with particular residents and/or their guests.
We'd like to work with you, and any partners you'd like included, to identify and develop some changes with property maintenance and operations to address the concerns. The City of Carlsbad offers third party review and consultation by lain De Jong of OrgCode Consulting who has international expertise in supportive ·housing if that would be helpful. Here are some initial staff recommendations:
1. Provide on-site security at bot h locations, 7-days a week. At the most recent monthly coordination meeting it was mentioned that the projec t will be discontinuing on-site security and moving toward courtesy pat rol. Given the level of criminal activity in recent months with on-site security, it does not make sense to lower the amount of security.
We continue to press for more on-site security.
2. Create a visitor's policy that requires check in/out, t enant escort while in building , and prohibits non-compliant guests and visitors who present a risk to the safety and well being of residents and staff from entering the building at any time. There are examples of best practices of visitors' policies for permanent supportive housing available. Since the project first opened, some of the serious criminal activity was committed by visitors.
A strong policy should be in place to either deter some of the activity, or at least have record of who was on site.
Housing & Homeless Services
1200 Carlsbad Village Dr. I Carlsbad, CA 92008 I 442-339-2810 t I [email protected] Ms. Averick
Sept. 6, 2023
3. Put measures in place to ensure staff is on site 24 hours a day and are accessible to provide assistance in after-hours emergencies.
4. Work with the Regional Task Force on Homelessness (RTFH) and the County of San Diego to discuss concerns about how people in the Coordinated Entry System (CES} are verified with regards to their diagnosis of a serious mental illness. Currently all referrals are coming from CES with the Cerner database as the verification of mental illness, but it is our understanding that people are not required to be a client or have a history of interactions with the County Behavioral Health Department or a recipient of mental . health or othe r services in order to qualify for a No Place Like Home (NPLH) assisted unit.
5. Ensure all service providers maintain fidelity to the core principles of the housing first intervention including providing individualized service plans that match the needs of each person, a recovery-oriented service philosophy, and a focus on social and community integration. Additionally, ensure that all staff have been trained in providing an evidence-based case management model such as Recovery-Oriented Intensive Case Management, Critical Time Intervention, or Assertive Community Treatment.
6. Meet with Carlsbad Police at least quarterly to discuss concerns.
These recommendations are intended to improve the safety for Windsor Pointe residents, visitors, surrounding community members, and police officers who respond to the facilities for calls for service. We aim for this to be a collaborative, solution-oriented conversation . Our goal is for Windsor Pointe to be a positive example of supportive housing for residents and the community so that more communities will embrace projects in the future .
Sincerely,
~I
,/
( __ J·• .. ___ !.(___...c_
Mandy Mills, Director
cc: Casey Gale, CONAM Management Corporation