DATE:
January 21, 2025
TO:
LaTanya Bellow, City Manager
FROM:
Jeff Jennings, Police Chief
SUBJECT:
Resolution Of The City Council Of The City Of Emeryville Authorizing The City Manager To Retroactively Accept And Expend A Three-Year Grant Award On Behalf Of The Police Department From The State Of California’s Department Of Justice (DOJ), In The Amount Of $99,780, Related To Reducing Youth Access To Tobacco Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution retroactively accepting a three year grant from the California Department of Justice (DOJ), in the amount of $33,260 for FY24/25, FY25/26 and FY26/27, for a total of $99,780, to reimburse for Emeryville Police Department staff time related to reducing youth access to tobacco, investigating tobacco retail sale violations, conducting minor decoy and shoulder tap operations, conducting tobacco retailer inspections, and participating in retailer and enforcement officer education.
Background
The goal of this grant is to allow the Emeryville Police Department to identify and reduce problems associated with licensed tobacco retailers in the City. There are 15 tobacco retailers within the City of Emeryville, including 6 within 1,000 feet of schools. The concentration of tobacco retailers in such close proximity to a school can lead to incidents where tobacco is sold to underage individuals.
The goal of the Police Department will be to work with these businesses through education, targeted enforcement, and reducing recidivism given the potential for youth to obtain and/or abuse tobacco within the City.
The following grant goals and objectives have been identified:
Conduct 15 tobacco retailer inspections per year
Conduct 4 Minor Decoy operations per year targeting 15 tobacco retailers Conduct 4 Shoulder Tap operations per year targeting 15 tobacco retailers Conduct 2 undercover buys per year targeting 15 tobacco retailers Distribute educational materials to 15 tobacco retailers per year Conduct on-site education at 15 tobacco retailers per year Conduct training for 40 enforcement officers on state and local tobacco laws per year This funding will allow targeted prevention, education outreach, and enforcement efforts at licensed tobacco retail establishments. Most of these funds will go towards overtime for the officers/sergeant to conduct enforcement operations.
Since the grant period is November 1, 2024, through June 30, 2028, the Council is asked to retroactively accept this grant.
Discussion
The benefit of accepting this grant is that the Police Department will use the grant resources to enhance the efforts in curbing youth access to tobacco, conduct compliance checks, and work with tobacco retailers on improving training and awareness. We believe that increased and continued proactive enforcement of underage tobacco violations will have a positive impact on increasing safety within our community. Additionally, we hope that this proactive program will help to reduce the number of tobacco related offenses in the City.
Fiscal Impact
The fiscal impact to the City will be the initial expenditure of overtime costs to conduct the various operations. However, since the DOJ grant operates through a quarterly reimbursement process, there will be no real impact to the budget. Some police staff time will be required to administer the grant since this staff time is considered part of their normal duties. The City of Emeryville expenditures will come from FY24/25, FY25/26 and FY26/27 budgets. The personnel costs will be submitted to DOJ on a quarterly basis. Depending on the specific dates of the overtime operations, reimbursements are anticipated to occur during the City’s FY24/25, FY25/26 and FY26/27 fiscal years.
The Police Department is requesting to increase both the revenues (254-53650) and expenditures (254-71050) in the amount of $33,260 for FY24/25, FY25/26 and FY26/27, for a total of $99,780 over the full term of the grant, to accommodate the expenses and subsequent reimbursement of funds from the state.
Staff Communication with the Public
As of this time there has been no communication with the public regarding the details of this grant award.
Conflict of Interest
None.
Conclusion
This program offers a great opportunity for the City of Emeryville, the Emeryville Police Department, and the Emeryville community. Staff recommends that the City Council approve the attached Resolution to retroactively accept the grant to compensate for staff time related to reducing youth access to tobacco, investigating tobacco retail sale violations, conducting retailer compliance audits, and participating in enforcement officer and retailer education/outreach.
PREPARED BY: Fred Dauer, Acting Captain
Jeff Jennings, Chief of Police
Approved and Forwarded to the
City Council of the City of Emeryville:
LaTanya Bellow, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
Draft Resolution
Grant Agreement
DOJ Tobacco Grant Proposal
City Council Meeting | January 21, 2025
City of Emeryville
CALIFORNIA
MEMORANDUM