DATE:
October 17, 2023
TO:
Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager
FROM:
Jeff Jennings, Police Chief
SUBJECT:
Resolution Of The City Council Of The City Of Emeryville Authorizing The City Manager To Accept And Appropriate A Grant Award On Behalf Of The Police Department, From The State Of California’s Office Of Traffic Safety, Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) In The Amount Of $31,500 For Funds Related To Improving Traffic, Bicycle, And Pedestrian Safety Within The City Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council of the City of Emeryville adopt the attached resolution accepting the grant award finding from the California Office of Traffic Safety in the amount of $31,500 for traffic safety education and enforcement programs and authorize the Police Department to utilize the grant to continue its education and enforcement of traffic related laws relating to bicycle and pedestrian safety to reduce injury and fatal traffic collisions within the City.
Background
The State of California’s Office of Traffic Safety’s mission is to effectively administer traffic safety grants that deliver innovative programs and eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries on California roadways. The grant funding decisions by OTS are facilitated by two types of rankings: injuries and collision rankings and DUI arrest rankings. In addition, these rankings help identify emerging traffic safety problem areas. The rankings compare traffic safety between cities with similar-sized populations and help them identify their disproportionate traffic safety problems.
To enhance the ability of the Emeryville Police Department to improve traffic, bicycle, and pedestrian safety in the City, the police department applied for and was awarded grant funding from the Office of Traffic Safety, Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP). This well-established state funding program offers grants to law enforcement agencies for the specific purpose of increasing traffic safety conditions within their judications. This funding will be used for directed enforcement operations, community outreach presentations, educational material, and for safety giveaways to those in need.
This grant will provide resources to the police department for equipment, overtime for traffic enforcement operations, officer training, and community outreach presentations. The police department expects that this grant will assist in increasing traffic safety for the motoring public, bicyclists, and pedestrians, within the city. Additionally, the grant funding will enhance efforts to reduce DUI related traffic collisions. The enforcement efforts will also concentrate on primary collision factors for traffic collisions, which include driving while impaired (drugs or alcohol), speeding, and red-light violations.
Some of the programs that would be implemented under this grant include:
DUI saturation patrols
Red light, intersection, and speed violation enforcements Vehicle enforcement for pedestrian and bicycle safety violations Distracted driving enforcement
Highly publicized motorcycle safety enforcement operations Provide additional training to officers in the detection DUI drivers Community outreach educational presentations focused on traffic and pedestrian safety The grant also provides funding for officers to provide focused enforcement on traffic related problems and complaints within the community. This program will concentrate on speed violations and distracted driving enforcement, and bicycle safety operations which will target distracted driving. Additional enforcement operations will be directed at locations with a disproportionate number of traffic collisions and where pedestrians and bicyclists’ safety are challenged. These strategies are designed to attract media attention, thus enhancing the overall deterrent effect.
Implementation of the STEP program will be accomplished by deploying personnel on a grant funded overtime basis at high collision intersections.
The grant funding received has been broken down into the following funding categories:
Personnel Overtime Enforcement / Outreach $27,500
Officer Training Expenses $4,000
Additionally, officers will be trained in impaired driving recognition and investigations. Training will consist of Drug Recognition (DRE), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST).
Community outreach educational operations have also been approved in this grant. These programs provide an excellent opportunity for police staff to engage the community in an educational and partnership building environment. Grant awards have shown to have been met with very positive feedback from the community, particularly in outreach efforts.
In addition to the enforcement operations, a community awareness program will be utilized. The police department will work to create media opportunities throughout the grant period to call attention to the innovative program strategies and outcomes. The police department will be required to submit Quarterly Performance Reports and Quarterly Evaluation data forms to the California Office of Traffic Safety.
The grant period is October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024.
Discussion
The benefits of accepting this grant award will directly impact traffic safety in Emeryville. The potential opportunities for improving traffic safety by this funding and improving the officer training are significant factors to consider. Increasing bicycle and pedestrian safety in the City is also a primary goal of this funding. Officers will work enforcement operations specifically designed to target unsafe motor vehicle drivers to increase bicycle and pedestrian safety.
Fiscal Impact
The fiscal impact to the City will be the initial expenditure of overtime costs to conduct various traffic operations which will subsequently be reimbursed through the OTS grant. Some police staff time will be required to administer the grant, but this staff time is considered part of their normal duties because OTS grant funding is based on the federal fiscal year calendar, which begins on October 1 and ends on September 30, and department expenditures will come from FY23/24 and FY24/25 budgets. The personnel costs will be submitted to OTS on a quarterly basis. Depending on the specific dates of the operations and purchases, reimbursements are anticipated to occur primarily during the City’s 2023-24 fiscal year.
The Police Department is requesting to increase both the revenues (254-53650) and expenditures (254-71050) in the grant fund by $31,500 to accommodate the initial expense and the reimbursement of funds from the State.
Staff Communication with the Public
As of this time there has been no communication with the public as the grant award funding is unknown. However, if this funding is awarded there will be a targeted media campaign.
Conflict of Interest
None.
Conclusion
Staff recommends accepting the grant award to enhance our traffic safety abilities within our community.
PREPARED BY: Oliver Collins, Captain
Jeff Jennings, Chief of Police
APPROVED AND FORWARDED TO THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EMERYVILLE:
Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution
Grant Agreement PT24065
OTS STEP Grant Proposal
| October 17, 2023
City of Emeryville
CALIFORNIA
MEMORANDUM