Agenda Item No. 12
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council DATE: September 23, 2024 FROM: Matthew Bronson, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Jim Munro, Police Chief
Scott Hallett, Five Cities Fire Authority Chief
SUBJECT: Public Safety Update
RECOMMENDATION
Receive an update from the Grover Beach Police Department and Five Cities Fire Authority on key public safety initiatives and highlights.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this staff report is to provide the Council with an update from the City's two public safety departments (Grover Beach Police Department and the Five Cities Fire Authority) who are collectively responsible for carrying out the City’s Major City Goal of Public Safety.
Grover Beach Police Department
2024 has been a significant year for the Grover Beach Police Department (GBPD), marked by the retirement of long-serving Police Chief John Peters. Under Chief Peters' leadership, the department was positioned for continued success with the appointment of Police Chief Jim Munro.
Over the past 60 days, Chief Munro has met with each department employee individually, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback on the current state of the department. The team indicated they greatly appreciate the ongoing support of the Council and the community. The department also recently welcomed newly promoted Commander Nelida Aceves to the Command Staff. Commander Aceves, a long-time member of the GBPD, is excelling in her new role, where she manages the daily operations of the Operations Division. Commander Bryan Millard continues to oversee the Support Division.
Currently, the Police Department is fully staffed with 24 full-time sworn officers, six full-time professional staff members and two part-time employees following an extensive online and wordof-mouth recruitment campaign. Although all 24 sworn positions are technically filled, three of the positions are officer trainees who are currently in training and not yet available for solo patrol. To further strengthen the team, the department recently opened a full-time Community Services Technician (CST) position to replace the current CST, who will attend the police academy in January 2025. Additionally, the department is pleased to welcome Sergeant Jeremy Douglas, who joined the department on September 16, 2024, filling the vacancy created by Commander Aceves' promotion. Retaining current staff remains a key priority moving forward.
The department was very active during the summer months due to increased tourism, traffic, and community events. Comparing January to August 2024 with the same period last year, the department saw a 18% decrease in property crimes, 13% increase in Part “A” offenses (typically Staff Report: Public Safety Update Page 2
September 23, 2024
felonies), 6% rise in case reports, and 20% increase in traffic accidents, while traffic citations decreased by 12%. An increased number of assaults, drug offenses, and sexual-related offenses accounted for a majority Part “A” offense increases. The rise in felony cases and the time associated with investigating them has impacted traffic and proactive enforcement. To address these challenges, the department established a new “Special Enforcement Detective” assignment focused on major crimes, drug issues, and directed enforcement. This role has already shown success, resulting in several arrests, investigations, and search warrants. The department also continues to enforce the City’s updated camping ordinance, leading to a significant decline in homeless encampments and related debris within the city. Currently, there are few if any encampments located within the city limits.
Looking ahead, the department is committed to investing in equipment and technology to enhance safety for both Police staff and the community in general. The department recently received six new Chevrolet Tahoe Police Patrol Vehicles, replacing an aging fleet and providing advanced safety features such as ballistic glass and door panels. Several recent grants have also enabled the department to make significant progress in areas that would otherwise be challenging. These grants include a state wellness grant allowing the department to develop a "wellness room" and workout facility and the department continues to collaborate with UC San Diego on a grant to expand the wellness program focusing on physical, mental, and financial health. Additionally, a $543,000 federal technology grant will fund new radio and camera equipment, and other grants will support DUI enforcement and the acquisition of traffic accident and electronic citation software.
The department anticipates receiving a total of $929,000 in grant funding this year, including a pending state tobacco enforcement grant.
The department’s continued focus through 2024 will remain on crime prevention, traffic enforcement, community outreach, and technological advancement. The department is planning a Citizen’s Police Academy and Volunteer Program as well as a dedicated traffic/motorcycle officer as staffing allows to address traffic concerns. Looking to the future, the department recognizes potential challenges, including anticipated population growth over time and its impact on staffing and response times, as well as increased training costs and requirements. Lastly, as identified in the City of Grover Beach Facility Needs Assessment presented to the council in September 2023, the current Police Department facility lacks the necessary workspace, storage, parking, ADA requirements, repairs, and other requirements of a 21st century police agency.
Department leadership will continue to be engaged in planning efforts to replace the current facility to better serve Police staff, crime victims, and the community.
Five Cities Fire Authority
The Five Cities Fire Authority (FCFA) was created to increase service levels to residents, businesses, and visitors within the FCFA service area, ensure consistent and professional training standards, and increase operational efficiencies. The FCFA has a service area of approximately 10 square miles that encompasses the communities of Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach, as well as contract fire services to the Oceano service area. The communities served by the FCFA have a combined population of approximately 38,768 people with an influx of visitors throughout the year. The Fire Chief leads the FCFA with the assistance of three shift Battalion Chiefs, nine Captains, nine Engineers, six Firefighters, one Operations Manager, one reserve Captain (radio communications manager), and one part-time Office Assistant. The FCFA currently responds from two fire stations to approximately 4,600 calls per year and is governed by a four-member Board of Directors (which includes Council Members Rushing and Weirick) with the City Managers of Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande serving as executive management.
Staff Report: Public Safety Update Page 3
September 23, 2024
The FCFA has had an eventful year with significant changes to the organization. A Fire Department Analysis was completed by consulting firm Baker Tilly in February 2023 which provided numerous recommendations to the organization that have been implemented in FY 2024-25. This work coincided with the request from the Oceano Community Services District (OCSD) to divest from the FCFA and the retirements of Battalion Chief Riki Heath and Fire Chief Steve Lieberman at the end of 2023. The Baker Tilly analysis included a recommendation to transition to shift Battalion Chiefs, which required the hiring of an additional Battalion Chief and filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Heath in fall 2023. Chief Salce transitioned from his previous 40-hour schedule to shift Battalion Chief, Chief Ryan Bird was hired in November 2023 from the Fresno Fire Department, and longtime FCFA employee Craig Angello was promoted from Captain to Battalion Chief in February 2024.
The OCSD divestiture process has included negotiating a service agreement between the County of San Luis Obispo and the FCFA to provide funding for continued service to the Oceano community. This process began in 2023 and is scheduled to conclude on October 17, 2024 when the Local Area Formation Commission is requested to approve the OCSD divestiture. The service agreement is for a term of three years with the option to extend twice on an annual basis. The terms of this agreement were guided by the recommendations in the Baker Tilly analysis.
Following Chief Lieberman’s retirement at the end of 2023, retired Fire Chief Keith Aggson was brought in to serve as the Interim Fire Chief during the Fire Chief recruitment process. On April 29th, 2024, Fire Chief Scott Hallett was appointed to the lead the FCFA. Additionally, Dani Klein was hired as a part time assistant in May 2024. With the agreement between the County and FCFA in place along with a short-term agreement with OCSD, the FCFA opened the recruitment process to fill firefighter vacancies in July 2024. The recruitment yielded 200 applicants from across the state with a wide array of education and experience. The FCFA is very excited to have five highly qualified recruits that have begun the background investigation process. The recruit academy is anticipated to start in mid-November and the firefighters to be placed on shift by the beginning of the new year, following an eight-week recruit academy. The FCFA will also be conducting promotional testing in the coming months to fill Captain and Engineer vacancies.
To provide successional training and enhance response capabilities, the FCFA has added several individuals to regional response teams in 2024. This concept of regionalization was developed to capitalize on the specialized training and equipment agencies can provide throughout the county without overburdening one agency. This provides a much more cost effective and efficient emergency response model to high risk/low frequency events. The addition of FCFA members to these regional teams will provide direct benefit back to the communities served by the FCFA. The regional teams include the San Luis Obispo Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team, San Luis Obispo County USAR (urban search and rescue) Team, and the San Luis Obispo Type 3 Incident Management Team.
Training continues to be a high priority for the FCFA. Successional training and career development will be vital to continuing to meet the response demands and safety of our communities and staff. Year to date in 2024, the FCFA has completed over 5,080 hours of training including hosting State Fire Marshal-approved wildland and confined space training. Staff has attended numerous training courses on Incident Management, Arson Investigation, Public Information, Confined Space, Explosives, and Leadership training. FCFA staff also participated in the City of Grover Beach Emergency Operations Center exercise as part of the countywide Nuclear Power Plant drill. The FCFA has also finalized an Instructor Services Agreement with Alan Hancock College and will be sending a member to the National Fire Academy later this year.
Staff Report: Public Safety Update Page 4
September 23, 2024
A key element to response readiness is the apparatus and equipment the FCFA utilizes for response. As apparatus and equipment age and technology advances, it is crucial to assure the dependability and performance of these vital assets. The FCFA received new auto extrication equipment through a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety in May 2024. A new tractor drawn arial ladder truck (tiller) and Type 1 engine has been ordered with delivery expected in 2026. The type 3 engine placed in service in August 2023 has been deployed as a first-out engine to improve reliability of response and reduce overall maintenance cost of FCFA’s aging fleet. Three staff vehicles that were beyond their useful service life were sold at auction in July 2024. On September 6, 2024, the Friends of Five Cities Fire nonprofit organization approved a $10,000 dollar donation to FCFA to assist with the purchase of a new ventilation prop to expand our training capabilities.
In addition to emergency response, a key function of the FCFA is community risk reduction and prevention. The FCFA has worked closely with the Community Development Departments in both Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande to improve compliance with State mandates and requirements of the fire code to protect citizens and first responders. Year to date in 2024, the following inspections have been completed in Grover Beach:
• 112 multi-family/hotel buildings
• 4 fireworks booths
• 291 weed abatement letters issued after initial inspections • 14 lots abated for an assessment of services
• Food booth inspections were conducted at community events held at Ramona Park The FCFA has also been actively involved in community engagement and public education in 2024. The FCFA held two wildfire preparedness neighborhood events to promote the Ready, Set, Go program sponsored by the Friends of Five Cities Fire and PG&E including an event on Margarita Avenue in Grover Beach. FCFA attended the “Strawberries through Grover” event in May where the engine companies displayed the new auto extrication equipment and provided tours of the fire engine while Chief Hallett served as a judge for the strawberry pie contest. FCFA also participated in the career day at Arroyo Grande High School and have hosted numerous ride a longs throughout the year for those individuals seeking a career in the fire service. Lastly, FCFA is excited to host an Open House on October 12 at Fire Station 1 in Arroyo Grande.
To prepare for the future of FCFA, a Request for Proposals was issued to complete a Community Risk Assessment / Standards of Cover / Strategic Plan. Four proposals have been received from reputable consulting firms to complete the study. Standards of Cover is a systematic way of looking at the basic service provided by an emergency response agency. The purpose of a Standard of Cover document is to provide a system which will assist with:
• Assessing community fire and non-fire risk
• Defining baseline and benchmark emergency performance standards • Analysis of current response capabilities in terms of time and on-scene performance • Development of standards describing how resources shall be allocated and deployed to maximize emergency response effectiveness
• Supporting strategic planning and policy development relative to resource procurement and allocation
The importance of these finding will help guide the FCFA, by providing scientific data that will support the strategic plan and identify areas for improving emergency service delivery in the future.
The recommendation to award the contract will be presented to the FCFA Board at the October 21st, FCFA Fire Board meeting.
Staff Report: Public Safety Update Page 5
September 23, 2024
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
ALTERNATIVES
The Council has the following alternatives to consider:
1. Receive an update on key public safety activities and highlights from the Grover Beach Police Department and the Five Cities Fire Authority; or
2. Provide alternative direction to staff.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act.