DATE: February 15, 2022
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Manager
SUBJECT: Public Safety Projects Update: Review and Discuss Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop Projects Update
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council receives and comments on this Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop implementation report.
SUMMARY
On May 18, 2021, Council received the recommendations of the Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop, authorized a budget allocation to support the projects, and directed staff to begin implementing nine of the pilot projects in FY 2022. Council also directed staff to return with progress updates at six-month intervals. This report provides an update on the nine projects, including the creation of the Hayward Evaluation and Response Teams (H.E.A.R.T.) program and the launch of the Hayward People’s Budget neighborhood participatory budgeting initiative (Attachment II).
BACKGROUND
Following the May 25, 2020 murder of George Floyd by an on-duty officer of the Minneapolis Police Department and subsequent national protests and conversations about race, police brutality, and public safety, a group of Hayward community members brought forth concerns about Hayward’s policing services, policies, and programs in light of three Hayward officer-involved shootings that occurred around the same time period. Directed by Council, the City began a year-long effort to elicit and address community concerns about public safety comprised of the following projects.
Community Conversations & Public Safety Survey (August – October 2020) Over 1,700 community members shared their opinions on and concerns about public safety in Hayward. Participants in the community conversations indicated that their main safety concerns in Hayward were racism and homelessness. The conversations brought forth themes of Hayward’s diversity and complexity, a desire for all community members to feel safe, and a connection between neighborhood cohesion and feelings of safety. Many community members have positive views of the police, and among those who do not, their perspectives were informed by concerns about over-policing, specific negative experiences, and trust, systemic racism, and intergenerational trauma. The results of the Public Safety Survey indicated a general satisfaction and feeling of safety interacting with Hayward police, but a significant minority of respondents reported negative or ambivalent responses to general safety-related questions. Close to 60% of survey respondents indicated a feeling that the relationship between Hayward Police and Hayward residents is positive. A majority of survey respondents support reducing the police budget and redistributing it towards other community services while 60% supported establishing a participatory committee for dictating how that funding is reallocated.
Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop (February – April 2021) Teams of community members and City staff, including participants from the Hayward Police Department and Hayward Fire Department, participated in a 10-week workshop to review the community’s feedback, interview key stakeholders, refine their understanding of the problems, and develop and prioritize possible solutions.
Council Adoption of Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop Recommendations (May 2021) The participants in the Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop recommended a list of 25 projects for Council to consider implementing to address four concerns identified in the Community Conversations and Public Safety Survey data:
There is a lack of trust between the community and government, including City Hall and Hayward Police Department (HPD), stemming from a lack of communication and relationship building and an inadequate recognition of the long-term negative impacts of systemic racism.
Systemic health inequities for the Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) community, inadequate cultural responsiveness, and a lack of resources have led to limited and/or uncoordinated response options for mental health crises.
There are inadequate shelter and outreach resources to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness. In addition, the current outreach model and resource options are not meeting everyone's needs, and some people decline services. These challenges are especially burdensome for people that have experienced systemic inequities and other long-term traumas, particularly BIPOC communities.
There are limited public resources and a possible misalignment between resource allocation and community safety needs, including inadequate transparency and focus on the long-term negative impacts of systemic racism.
Council authorized funding for and directed staff to begin implementing nine of the pilot projects recommended by workshop participants, while providing progress updates to Council at six-month intervals (Attachment II).
DISCUSSION
This report provides an update on the nine projects that Council directed staff to implement immediately following the Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop. The remaining 14 recommended projects, some of which required additional research, community engagement, and/or development, have longer implementation timelines and are not yet scheduled to launch.
The pilot projects included in this staff report are still in the process of formalizing and improving data collection and reporting processes, with the intent to provide a more in-depth analysis of project outcomes in the next report out to Council and to sustainably support continuous improvement and program evaluation goals. Additionally, each of the projects has been impacted by general constraints and challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including reduced capacity and limited staffing.
Project 1 - Communications Center Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan (Dispatch Needs Assessment) Federal Engineering, the project consultant, was selected via a competitive Request for Proposals process administered by an interdepartmental staff team. The selected proposal outlined a phased approach to the communications center needs assessment: Phase 1, currently underway, consists of an operations assessment; Phase 2 will identify improvements to existing communications operations, focusing on effectively supporting the Public Safety Workshop pilot programs; and Phase 3 will include the development of a long-term strategic plan for the communications center. Work on the project began in November 2021 and is anticipated to complete by June 2022.
Projects 2, 3, and 4 - Hayward Evaluation and Response Teams (H.E.A.R.T.) The recommendations from projects two, three, and four, have been combined into the newly established Hayward Evaluation and Response Teams (H.E.A.R.T.) service model. The goals of the H.E.A.R.T. program model, drawn from the Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop, are:
Build an integrated continuum of options that allows for the right team or resource to respond to calls for service Improve access to medical, mental health, and other support services Reduce the need for police officers to intervene in calls for service involving people experiencing mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness.
The H.E.A.R.T. program model incorporates a Mobile Evaluation Team (MET) consisting of a specially trained Hayward police officer and an Alameda County Behavioral Health clinician to respond to crisis calls for service where there may be a threat to self or others, a Mobile Integrated Health Unit (MIHU) that pairs a community paramedic with specialized training in mental health issues and nutrition and a behavioral health clinician to respond to calls for service related to mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness where the scene is secure, and a Behavioral Health Coordinator to link community wraparound care resources to City response teams and support pilot program implementation through data collection and community engagement activities. The program model is further described in a September 2021 staff report here.
Project 2 – Mobile Integrated Health Unit (Mobile Mental Health Response Team) This project launched on a part-time basis on January 22. Staff has identified a community paramedic, purchased vehicles and necessary supplies, and identified Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center (TVHC) as a community partner. TVHC is in the process of recruiting a licensed clinician to staff the MIHU pilot. However, because launching the MIHU is a high priority for the City, the Behavioral Health Coordinator (described below) will transfer 50% of their time (or approximately 20 hours per week) to begin responding to calls for service as a clinician with the MIHU.
Project 3 – Mobile Evaluation Team (District Command Behavioral Health Clinician) Since the pilot project’s launch in June 2021, the MET has responded to 257 calls for service. From September 1, 2021 through December 1, 2021, MET responded to 174 calls for service. Calls for service have originated from the Hayward Police Department, outpatient mental health providers, family members or loved ones, schools, community members, Adult Protective Services, and individuals experiencing crisis. Two calls resulted in criminal justice involvement (in the form of an arrest or citation), while the remainder of the calls resulted in referrals to appropriate social services resources (including crisis centers, the Navigation Center, and Child Protective Services), involuntary psychiatric holds in situations where the individual in crisis was a danger to themself and/or others, and de-escalation resulting in individuals following up with their current mental health care providers.
Staff is working to formalize this partnership with Alameda County, which will allow a greater degree of data sharing and reporting for program evaluation purposes. Staff is also working to expand the capacity of the MET by adding staff hours.
Project 4 – Behavioral Health Coordinator
The pilot Behavioral Health Coordinator position was filled on August 13, 2021. The Behavioral Health Coordinator has participated in the City Hall to You neighborhood meetings to meet community members and answer questions about the public safety initiatives and H.E.A.R.T. program; participated in Alameda County Crisis Intervention Training sessions and relevant task forces to learn about resources for care beyond the crisis setting; and engaged community groups and community-based organizations to build relationships and a better understanding of the network of behavioral health care available in Hayward.
In addition to the project activities described above, staff issued a Request for Information seeking input from agencies working directly with community members with lived experience related to mental health crises, substance abuse, and homelessness, with the goal of identifying potential improvements in the H.E.A.R.T. program model. Staff has also applied for a Behavioral Health Justice Intervention Services Project Crisis Care Mobile Unit grant to leverage additional resources for the H.E.A.R.T. program.
Project 5 – Expand Shelter Options & Outreach
Council approved the Let’s House Hayward! Strategic Plan to Reduce Homelessness on July 12, 2021. Updates for this project will be provided in the context of that plan.
Project 6 – Community Services Officers Respond to Property Crimes This pilot began its “soft” part-time launch in November 2021. Under the program, Community Services Officers (CSOs) are dispatched to calls for service related to non-violent property crimes received by the communications center or via the online police report system. to take police reports and collect evidence. Due to staffing constraints, the pilot operates on a part-time basis, though staff plan to expand the program. In the first month of the program, CSOs responded to 30 calls for service, two-thirds of which originated from the non-emergency police line. Nearly 50% of calls were for vehicle theft or break-in.
Staff plans to expand program hours, promote the program to the community, and increase data collection to include qualitative feedback from community members.
Project 8 - The Hayward People’s Budget (Neighborhood Participatory Budgeting) Outreach for the Hayward People’s Budget began at the City Hall to You community meetings in September and October 2021. Project staff divided the City into six sectors based on Census tract data, each containing several neighborhoods, and recruited neighborhood delegates from each sector to receive training in conducting community outreach and drafting proposals. Delegate outreach, community brainstorming, and proposal development will continue through February. The community will vote on project proposals in March. Projects will be completed by December 2022. More information about the People’s Budget can be found on the project website at https://www.hayward-ca.gov/peoplesbudget.
Hayward Police Department Curriculum Working Group (Project 9) and Community Feedback and Complaint Liaison (Project 17) Both projects have been scheduled for the second half of FY 22 due to staffing limitations and are on track to launch.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Support Quality of Life. Specifically, this item is an update on Project 16: Implement Solutions to Increase Community Safety and all associated subprojects.
FISCAL IMPACT
Council authorized funding for the first wave of Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop projects in the FY 22 budget. There are no additional budget requests related to the projects at this time, and no fiscal impact associated with this report.
PUBLIC CONTACT
In September 2021, staff launched a Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop Project Dashboard (www.hayward-ca.gov/HaywardSafeDashboard) so community members can visit to view the status of the pilot projects. Staff plans to expand the dashboard to include links to project webpages, project data and reports as these resources become available. Additionally, staff has continued to center community engagement in project implementation, including meeting with interested community members to provide updates, presenting the proposed H.E.A.R.T. program model to workshop participants, and sharing information about the H.E.A.R.T. and Hayward People’s Budget projects via the City Hall to You meetings held in September and October 2021.
NEXT STEPS
Staff will continue to implement the priority projects, returning to Council at six-month intervals with project updates. At Council meetings in June 2022, staff will provide further analysis and recommendations for the midterm and long-term Public Safety Workshop projects. Additionally, Council will receive project updates through the Strategic Roadmap implementation and update process, and throughout the course of the FY 23 budgeting cycle.
Prepared by: Laurel James, Management
Recommended by: Toney Chaplin, Chief of Police
Garrett Contreras, Fire Chief
Jennifer Ott, Assistant City Manager
Approved by:
_________________________________
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager
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