City Council
February 15, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: Guillermo Cespedes
City Administrator Chief, Violence Prevention
Le’Ronne L. Armstrong
Chief, Police Department
SUBJECT: FY21 Bureau of Justice Assistance
BCJI Grant
DATE: January 14, 2022
City Administrator Approval
Date: Feb 2, 2022
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To:
1. Accept And Appropriate A Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program (BCJI) Grant From The United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) In An Amount Not To Exceed One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) For The Triangle Incident Response in East Oakland;
2. Allocate Eight Hundred Thirty-One Thousand Fifty Dollars ($831,050) Of The Grant Funds To The Department Of Violence Prevention And The Remaining One Hundred Sixty-Eight Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty Dollars ($168,950) To The Oakland Police Department;
3. Authorize The City Administrator To Create And Add Two (2) 1.0 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Family Crisis Responder Positions To The Department Of Violence Prevention For The Duration Of The Grant Term For A Total Amount Not To Exceed Seven Hundred Thirty Thousand Three Hundred Thirty-Six Dollars ($730,336);
4. Waive The Competitive Process And Authorize The City Administrator To Purchase Additional DNA Typing Supplies From Promega Corporation For Forty- Six Thousand Four Hundred Dollars ($46,400);
5. Waive The Competitive Process And Authorize The City Administrator To Purchase Additional DNA Typing Supplies From Qiagen North American Holdings, Inc. For Twenty-Two Thousand Five Hundred Fifty Dollars ($22,550).
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: FY2021 Bureau of Justice Assistance BCJI Grant Date: January 14, 2022 Page 2
City Council
February 15, 2022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed resolution, if adopted, will authorize the City Administrator to: (1) accept and appropriate the BCJI grant from BJA in the amount of $1,000,000 for the grant term of October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2024, with the possibility of a no-cost extension if approved by the BJA; 2) allocate BCJI funds in an amount not to exceed $730,336 to fund two (2) 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) Family Crisis Responder positions in the DVP; 3) purchase DNA typing supplies from Qiagen North American Holdings, Inc. in the amount of $22,500 and waive the competitive procurement process; and 4) purchase DNA typing supplies from Promega Corporation in the amount of $46,400 and waive the competitive procurement process.
Of the total amount, $831,050 will be allocated to operating expenses for the Department of Violence Prevention and $168,950 will be allocated to operating expenses for the Oakland Police Department.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) has been awarded a $1,000,000 grant from the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) through its Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Program to enhance the triangle incident response (TIR) in East Oakland.
The TIR is a 24/7 crime scene or hospital response to shootings with injury and homicides that aim to reduce retaliatory violence, reduce levels of trauma experienced by impacted individuals, and improve relations between community and government partners. The grant will fund two staff members to serve as crime scene response advocates who respond to shootings with injury as part of the TIR. Acceptance of the grant will also fund crime scene equipment and DNA typing supplies for the Oakland Police Department (OPD) to assist in solving shootings and homicides, and it will engage residents of East Oakland in developing and implementing solutions to violent crime. The BCJI-funded project aims to: (1) reduce crime in hot-spot neighborhoods of East Oakland; (2) engage community in reducing collective trauma and solution building; (3) enhance collaboration among criminal justice partners, and (4) improve relationships between community and city government.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Gun violence in Oakland has increased significantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Total shootings with injury in Oakland increased from 815 in 2019 to 1,303 in 2020, and homicides, which predominantly result from shootings, increased from 75 to 102. Oakland ended 2021 with 124 homicides, indicating that gun violence is not subsiding. Shootings with injury are concentrated in specific regions of Oakland, including eight contiguous community police beats in East Oakland that accounted for 41% of all shootings within injury in 2020 out of 54 total beats.
Since April 2021, the Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) has coordinated the TIR, a 24/7 crime scene or hospital response to shootings with injury and homicides in Oakland. The TIR involves the following three partners responding to shooting and homicide scenes in Oakland Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: FY2021 Bureau of Justice Assistance BCJI Grant Date: January 14, 2022 Page 3
City Council
February 15, 2022
within 1 hour of the incident occurring: (1) violence interrupter; (2) a crime scene response advocate; and (3) law enforcement officers with knowledge of the TIR neighborhoods. The goal of the TIR is to reduce retaliatory violence, reduce levels of trauma experienced by impacted individuals, and improve relations between community and government partners.
Each member of the TIR has a specific role. Violence interrupters assess likelihood of retaliation, implement strategies to interrupt retaliation, share responsibility for crowd control at the scene, and share responsibility for engaging and attending to the family of the victim.
Violence interrupters are employed by community-based organizations that are contracted by the DVP. Twenty existing violence interrupters are divided into three teams by geography – East Oakland, West Oakland, and Central Oakland. Crime scene response advocates coordinate with city departments and DVP-funded agencies to connect victims and their families to needed services and resources, facilitate communication between OPD and victims regarding investigation activities, share responsibility for crowd control at the scene, and share responsibility for engaging and attending to the family of the victim. Three DVP staff members currently respond to homicide scenes as crime scene response advocates; crime scene response advocates currently do not exist for shootings with injury. Law enforcement officers process evidence at the crime scene, share pertinent information with crime scene response advocates, and share responsibility for crowd control (last resort).
Operation of the TIR involves the following steps:
Activation: The TIR is activated when the DVP’s violence prevention coordinator receives an email from the Oakland Police Department (OPD) providing the time and location of a shooting with injury or homicide. Within 15 minutes, the DVP’s violence prevention coordinator notifies the lead VI and the on-call crime scene response advocate. The lead VI activates one of the three VI teams based on location of the incident.
Deployment: The on-call crime scene response advocate and one member of the assigned VI team go to the scene of the incident or the hospital (this is determined based on intelligence that the DVP’s violence prevention coordinator receives from OPD). Other members of the assigned VI team begin soliciting information from their networks regarding the incident and prepare to engage in medication activities, if needed.
Assessment: Using information gathered from network intelligence and the VI who responded to the scene or hospital, the VI team conducts an assessment of safety and retaliation concerns within 1 hour of deployment. The crime scene response advocate who responds to the scene conducts an assessment of service and resource needs at the individual, peer, family, community, and school levels.
Protocol: In circumstances when likelihood of retaliation is high, VIs immediately engage in mediation conversations with peers and family members of the victim. This work continues in the days and weeks following the incident. During this time, the crime scene response advocate connects victims and family members to needed services resources, including organizations Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: FY2021 Bureau of Justice Assistance BCJI Grant Date: January 14, 2022 Page 4
City Council
February 15, 2022
that assist with relocation and applications to California’s Victim Compensation Board, and conveys appropriate crime investigation information from OPD.
Implementation of the TIR addresses the citywide priorities of holistic community safety and responsive, trustworthy government. Violence interrupters who respond to each crime scene through the TIR facilitate mediation activities that reduce the likelihood of retaliation. Crime scene response advocates connect individuals and families to needed services and ensure that procedural justice protocols are followed at the crime scene, supporting the development of trust and positive relationships between victims and representatives of city government.
The City will use BCJI funding to enhance TIR efforts by:
• Hiring two full-time staff members in the Family Crisis Responder classification within the DVP to serve as crime scene response advocates in eight contiguous police beats in East Oakland in which a high percentage of shootings with injury occur. • Providing funding to OPD to purchase: (1) crime scene scanning equipment (crime scenes are currently drawn by hand) to expeditiously preserve crime scenes, easily and accurately collect critical evidence related to shootings, and return to the virtual scene of the crime to evaluate evidence; and (2) DNA testing kits and instruments that will assist investigators in solving shootings and homicides.
• Engaging residents in East Oakland to develop and implement solutions to ongoing gun violence.
Justification of Waiver
OPD currently lacks an adequate number of DNA testing supplies required to test all DNA samples related to shootings and homicides in Oakland. The OPD Criminalistics Division must use rigorously validated DNA typing reagents and instruments purchased from specific vendors in order to ensure adherence to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s DNA Quality Assurance Standards. Oakland Municipal Code (OMC) Section 2.04.050.1.5 authorizes the City Council to waive the advertising and competitive bidding requirements of OMC Section 2.04.050 after finding and determining that it is in the best interests of the City to do so. For this reason, it is recommended that City Council finds and determines that it is in the best interest of the City to waive the advertising and competitive bidding requirements of the OMC for OPD’s purchase of DNA typing supplies from Qiagen North American Holdings, Inc. for $22,500 and from Promega Corporation for $46,400.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this resolution will authorize the City Administrator to accept and appropriate a BCJI grant for a total of $1,000,000 for the grant term of October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2024, with the possibility of a no-cost extension if approved by the BJA. Of the total amount, $831,050 will be allocated to operating expenses for the Department of Violence Prevention and $168,950 will be allocated to operating expenses for the Oakland Police Department (Table 1 below).
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: FY2021 Bureau of Justice Assistance BCJI Grant Date: January 14, 2022 Page 5
City Council
February 15, 2022
Table 1. Budget for BCJI Grant
CalVIP Grant Funds Description Total Amount
Department of
Violence Prevention
Two (2) 1.0 FTE Family Crisis Responder positions
to serve as crime scene response advocates for
the TIR
Travel to Washington, D.C. for grant meetings
(required by BJA)
Phones for two (2) crime scene response
advocates
Office supplies
$831,050
Oakland Police
Department
Two (2) 3D crime scene scanners, related IT
equipment, and ongoing maintenance ($100,000)
35 DNA typing kits ($68,950)
$168,950
Total $1,000,000
The BCJI grant will be appropriated into the Department of Justice Fund (2112); Oakland Unite Organization (70211); in the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation 2021-2024 Project (1006291); Bureau of Justice Assistance Award (24108) and Fostering Safe and Healthy Communities Program (SC22).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
The DVP and OPD developed the grant proposal referenced this report in close consultation with key violence prevention and public safety partners, including the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, the Alameda County Probation Department, Youth ALIVE!, and Oakland’s Transformative Climate Communities Program.
COORDINATION
In preparation of this report and resolution, the City Attorney’s Office, Budget Bureau, and the City Administrator’s Office were consulted. Once operational, the TIR will involve constant coordination between the DVP, OPD, and community-based organizations that are funded by the DVP to employ violence interrupters.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION, AND FOLLOW-UP
The TIR responded to 299 shootings with injury in Oakland between June 1, 2021 and November 30, 2021. Although the TIR has not yet been evaluated in Oakland, an evaluation of the TIR in Los Angeles suggests that it reduced retaliation events by over 40% in South Los Angeles between 2014 and 2017 (Brantingham et al, 2020).
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: FY2021 Bureau of Justice Assistance BCJI Grant Date: January 14, 2022 Page 6
City Council
February 15, 2022
Seventy thousand dollars ($70,000) from the BCJI grant has been allocated to evaluate the TIR in Oakland. On December 3, 2021, Request for Qualifications (RFQ) #267688 was issued on by the City Administrator’s Office to solicit submissions from qualified applicants to perform an evaluation of DVP violence prevention and intervention services and OPD geographic and community policing services funded through the Oakland Public Safety and Services Violence Prevention Act of 2014, also known as Measure Z. The City Administrator’s Office expects to select a vendor to perform the services outlined in RFQ #267688 no later than April 30, 2022.
The DVP will work with the vendor selected through RFQ #267688 to conduct an evaluation of the TIR using grant funding.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Providing support services for Oakland residents affected by violence will improve their economic stability by linking them to organizations and programs geared to produce positive outcomes around recidivism reduction, educational achievement, and employment.
Breaking the cycle of violence has the potential to reduce expenses in medical care, police services, and incarceration costs, which can be reinvested into community development and contribute to safer, revitalized neighborhoods.
Environmental: There are no environmental benefits.
Race & Equity: The vast majority of shooting and homicide victims in Oakland are people of color. In 2020, 48% of shooting victims were African American even though African Americans represent roughly 25% of the Oakland population. By reducing the likelihood of retaliation in response to shootings and homicides, the TIR contributes to a reduction in shootings and homicides that disproportionately impact Oakland’s black and brown community members.
Additionally, by helping victims and their families connect with needed financial, housing, and mental health services, the TIR improves outcomes for individuals from underserved neighborhoods who are directly impacted by gun violence.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To:
1. Accept And Appropriate A Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program (BCJI) Grant From The United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) In An Amount Not To Exceed One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) For The Triangle Incident Response in East Oakland;
2. Allocate Eight Hundred Thirty-One Thousand Fifty Dollars ($831,050) Of The Grant Funds To The Department Of Violence Prevention And The Remaining One Hundred Sixty-Eight Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty Dollars ($168,950) To The Oakland Police Department;
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: FY2021 Bureau of Justice Assistance BCJI Grant Date: January 14, 2022 Page 7
City Council
February 15, 2022
Guillermo Cespedes (Feb 1, 2022 20:02 PST)
3. Authorize The City Administrator To Create And Add Two (2) 1.0 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Family Crisis Responder Positions To The Department Of Violence Prevention For The Duration Of The Grant Term For A Total Amount Not To Exceed Seven Hundred Thirty Thousand Three Hundred Thirty-Six Dollars ($730,336);
4. Waive The Competitive Process And Authorize The City Administrator To Purchase Additional DNA Typing Supplies From Promega Corporation For Forty-Six Thousand Four Hundred Dollars ($46,400);
5. Waive The Competitive Process And Authorize The City Administrator To Purchase Additional DNA Typing Supplies From Qiagen North American Holdings, Inc. For Twenty-Two Thousand Five Hundred Fifty Dollars ($22,550).
For questions regarding this report, please contact Guillermo Cespedes, Chief of the Department of Violence Prevention, at 510-238-2916.
Respectfully submitted,
Guillermo Cespedes
Chief
Department of Violence Prevention
LeRonne L. Armstrong
Chief
Police Department
Reviewed by: Mailee Wang
Administrative Services Manager
Department of Violence Prevention
Prepared by: Jenny Linchey
Budget and Grants Administrator
Department of Violence Prevention