Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Floyd Mitchell
City Administrator Chief of Police
SUBJECT: FY 2024-25 OPD Traffic Safety Grant DATE: August 20, 2024
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Accept And Appropriate Grant Funds In The Amount Of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000) From The State Of California, Office Of Traffic Safety (OTS), For The Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP), To Be Administered By The Oakland Police Department (OPD); And To Authorize The General Purpose Services Fund To Contribute Sixty Five Thousand Three Hundred Dollars ($
65,300) To Cover The Related Central Services Overhead Charges.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Approval of this resolution will allow traffic safety OTS grant funds to be received by OPD Traffic Operations Section (TOS) for traffic safety. The $500,000 grant awarded to OPD will also be used to:
Fund overtime costs for OPD officers engaged in DUI1 and other traffic safety and enforcement operations, including operations conducted in collaboration with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO)
Purchase DUI checkpoint supplies
Cover related In-State Travel
OTS does not allow grant funds to be used for overhead costs. However, it is unlikely that OPD should incur any overhead costs outside of normal business hours. In the unlikely event that OPD does incur overhead costs, then OPD is requesting any CSO costs be authorized from general purpose services fund.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Every week, on average two Oaklanders are killed or severely injured in traffic crashes on our streets. These crashes disproportionately harm people in Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities, people with disabilities, seniors, and low-income communities. Crashes are a leading cause of death among Oakland youth. All traffic crashes are preventable. Safe
1 DUI = driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs (legal and illegal) Jestin Johnson (Aug 29, 2024 17:07 PDT)
Aug 29, 2024
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: FY 2024-25 OPD Traffic Safety Grant
Date: August 20, 2024 Page 2
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
Oakland Streets (SOS) is a Citywide initiative that is taking a new approach to preventing crashes, focusing on strategies that will save lives and deliver equitable outcomes.
The SOS
collaboration includes Oakland’s Department of Transportation (OakDOT) and Department of Race and Equity as well as OPD – in partnership with community groups, to implement the most effective and equitable strategies. As a component of this work, SOS initiative identified enforcement strategies that were presented to City Council on April 20, 2021, and in October 2022. The proposed investments are in alignment with these strategies.
The State of California and SOS have made positive strides in recent years in reducing the rate of motorist-related fatal and serious injury collisions. Vehicle collisions occur primarily due to alcohol consumption, speeding, running of red lights and other select vehicle code violations. Incidents involving these factors remain prevalent causes of death and injury nationally and in California. Traffic studies have shown that cities engaged in enforcement operations targeting dangerous moving violations have seen substantial reductions in fatal and injury collisions.
City Council previously approved acceptance and appropriation of the STEP grant via
Resolution No. 80130 C.M.S., dated September 19, 2006, Resolution No. 80578 C.M.S., dated May 15, 2007, Resolution No. 81223 C.M.S., dated April 15, 2008, Resolution No. 83555 C.M.S., dated September 20, 2011; Resolution No. 84712 C.M.S., dated November 19, 2013; Resolution No. 85274 C.M.S., dated November 18, 2014; Resolution No. 85768 C.M.S., dated September 8, 2015; Resolution No. 86491 C.M.S., dated November 3, 2016, Resolution No. 86920 C.M.S., dated October 3, 2017, Resolution No. 87363 C.M.S., dated October 16, 2018, Resolution No. 87878 C.M.S, dated September 12, 2019, Resolution No. 88403 C.M.S., dated December 1, 2020, Resolution No. 88883 C.M.S., dated November 2, 2021, Resolution No. 89496 C.M.S., dated December 6, 2022, and Resolution No. 89891 C.M.S., dated September 19, 2023.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The acceptance and appropriation of these funds will advance the citywide priorities of holistic community safety and responsive trustworthy government. The state of California and SOS are strategizing how to mitigate traffic injuries, collisions, and deaths. With the appropriate staffing, enforcement, and equipment, OPD, along with its partners, can continue to address the issues which are causing harm in the community.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) funds OTS to administer the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP). These grant funds will provide OPD with the added tools to be more successful in curbing problems associated with impaired drivers, red light runners, speeding vehicles and other aggressive and reckless driving.
OPD's goals for use of STEP grant fund include:
increasing motorist, pedestria n, and bicyclist safety; and reducing traffic fatalities and injuries.
OPD staff plans to achieve these goals by deploying comprehensive, consistent, and targeted traffic enforcement.
In January 2021, OPD’s Traffic Enforcement Unit personnel was cut due to limited budget funds. On October 15th, 2022, 1 Sergeant and 6 Officers formed a Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: FY 2024-25 OPD Traffic Safety Grant
Date: August 20, 2024 Page 3
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
Traffic Enforcement Team on a full-time basis. The STEP grant funding would provide much needed traffic enforcement in the City of Oakland.
OPD Traffic Operations Section (TOS) will use the grant funds to promote vehicular safety through both education and enforcement. OPD will partner with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office (ACSO) to conduct high visibility collaborative DUI and Traffic enforcement operations. Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) devices are used to enforce speed limits around schools, certain residential neighborhoods, and roads that have a current speed survey (which allows for the use of LIDAR). Also, OPD will purchase DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint supplies needed for those operations.
Staff will continue to operate the STEP grant in accordance with OPD policies and the OTS grant requirements. These requirements include the performance of the following operations planned between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025:
6 Conduct DUI/DL Checkpoints
21 DUI Saturation Patrol Operations
16 Traffic Operations, including, but not limited to, select primary collision factor violations
5 Bicycle and Pedestrian enforcement operations in identified areas of high bicycle and pedestrian traffic collisions
2 Conduct Specialized Enforcement Operations focusing specifically on street racing and sideshow activities
2 Motorcycle Safety Operations
2 Night-time (1800-0559) “Click it or Ticket” seatbelt enforcement operations 12 Highly Visible DUI Enforcement operations in collaboration with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO)
12 Highly Visible Traffic Enforcement operations in collaboration with Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO)
2 Send Law Enforcement Personnel to DUI Checkpoint Planning and Management Training
3 Traffic Safety Educational presentations with an effort to reach out to community members
Participation in NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) winter and summer mobilizations, National Walk to School Day, National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, National Click It or Ticket mobilization period, National Bicycle Safety Month, National Motorcycle Safety Month, National Teen Driver Safety Week, National Child Passenger Safety Week, California Pedestrian Safety Month Maintain a “HOT Sheet” program to notify patrol and traffic officers to be on the lookout for identified repeat DUI offenders on a monthly basis 16 Send law enforcement personnel to the NHTSA Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) POST2-certified training
5 Send law enforcement personnel to the NHTSA Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) POST-certified training
3 Send law enforcement personnel to the Drug Recognition Expert DRE recertification training
2 Send Law Enforcement Personnel to the Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) training
2 POST = California Commission on Police Officer Standards and Testing Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: FY 2024-25 OPD Traffic Safety Grant
Date: August 20, 2024 Page 4
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
OPD administered STEP grants in FY 2010-2011, FY 2011-2012, FY 2013-2014, FY 2014- 2015, FY 2015-2016, FY 2016-2017, FY 2018-19, FY 2019-2020, FY 2020-2021, FY 2021- 2022, FY 2022-2023, and FY 2023-2024. Table 1 below provides collision data for the prior three years.
Many factors (undetermined in many cases) can contribute to collisions. Table 1 below shows that traffic collision injuries have increased in FY 2023-2024 compared to the prior fiscal year.
The number of victims has decreased from FY 2021-2022.
There was also an increase in fatal collisions in FY2023-2024 from the previous year, but a decrease from FY 2021-22. The number of fatalities related to collisions happening at nighttime remained the same in FY2023-24 compared to the previous year. The number of fatal collisions at nighttime is lower than FY 2021-22. The chart shows that more traffic enforcement work needs to be done. The City of Oakland is prioritizing traffic enforcement and has increased their work on the Safe Oakland Streets Initiative. These efforts have a positive impact on the lives and safety of Oakland community members.
Table 1 - Oakland Collisions, Injuries, and Fatalities: 2021-2024
Collision
Type
FY 2021-22 FY 2022-23 FY 2023-24
Collisions Victims Collisions Victims Collisions Victims Fatal 36 38 23 23 34 35
Injury 1490 3218 905 1231 1028 1341
Fatal Injury Killed Injured Fatal Injury Killed Injured Fatal Injury Killed Injured Alcohol -
Involved 2 64 2 91 2 50 2 79 4 55 4 66
Hit &
Run 15 388 16 748 10 261 10 327 13 353 14 412
Nighttime
(2100-
0259
hours) 20 174 21 214 11 134 11 184 11 218 11 478
Top 3 Primary Collision Factors* Fatal Injury Killed Injured #1 - 22107 - Improper Turn 2 293 2 74
#2 - 21453 – Red Light 3 134 3 113
#3 - 22350 - Unsafe Speed 6 112 1 58
* Estimated data
Funding from OTS will position OPD to continue its efforts to make the streets safer for pedestrians and the motoring public. Table 2 below provides the total number of reported collisions from FY 2022-2023 and FY 2023-2024. The number of overall collisions has increased this year from the previous year, but more traffic enforcement work needs to be done to lower the number of collisions in the city. The vast majority of our stops have been on the High Injury Network. We will continue to work with the Oakland Department of Transportation to identify dangerous roads and driver behavior trends in an attempt to make roadways safer for all travelers.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: FY 2024-25 OPD Traffic Safety Grant
Date: August 20, 2024 Page 5
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
Table 2: Collision Incidents: July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023, July 1, 2023- June 30, 2024
FY 2022-2023 FY 2023-2024
Collisions 4002 100% 4664 100%
The data presented in Table 3 below represents Total Parties by Race, who were injured in collisions from Jul 1, 2022 – Jun 30, 2023, and Jul 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024.
Table 3: Total Parties by Race in Injury Crashes: Jul 1, 2022 – Jun 30, 2023 and Jul 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024
FY 2022-2023 FY 2023-2024
Race Number Percentage Number Percentage
Black 1016 25%
1307
28%
Hispanic 979 24% 1303 28%
White 387 10% 374 8%
Asian 228 6% 327 7%
Other 140 3% 46 4%
Not Stated* 1252 32% 1167 25%
Total 4002 4664
*Not Stated includes Hit and Run Drivers
Traffic Officers are directed to focus on areas identified in the Oakland Department of Transportation (“OakDOT”) High Injury Network, locations where the city has its highest number of injury and fatal collisions. Areas of focus also include locations where there are current speed surveys, and Oakland public school sites. Officers are also directed to areas where Area Commanders have requested support due to resident complaints involving traffic violators, or when there is an increase in crime and high visibility enforcement has been requested. The stops are focused on public safety violations, such as speeding, failure to yield, unsafe turning, red light running, and driving under the influence of alcohol and /or drugs. Beginning this grant year, OPD directed motor officers to focus on public safety stops; equipment violations and bicycle/pedestrian violations are the lowest priority stops.
Traffic Officers have all attended Procedural Justice Training and Implicit Bias Training to ensure that officers are aware of how police efforts can negatively impact communities of color.
All stops are reviewed by the first level supervisor and the Traffic Section Commander. OPD recently rolled out a new risk management dashboard for review; OPD plans to use this tool and reduce the high number of stops made in communities of color. OPD considers equity and the geographic distribution of traffic enforcement while also recognizing that there continues to be opportunities to improve how equity informs local traffic enforcement. Table 4 below shows the top violations by type, for stopped vehicles during STEP Grant-funded operations.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: FY 2024-25 OPD Traffic Safety Grant
Date: August 20, 2024 Page 6
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
Table 4: Top Violations by Traffic Officers 7/1/2023 to 6/30/2024
Violation Violation Description # %OTS
22450(A) Stop Sign 298 21%
21461(A) Driver Fail Obey Sign 266 18%
23123(A) Cell Phone Use - Handheld 160 11%
21655.5 Bus Lane Violation 118 8%
23123.5 Cell Phone Use - Text 96 7%
21453(a) Red Light 90 6%
27315(d) Seat Belt 57 4%
22102 Illegal U-Turn in Business District 39 3%
22349 Excessive Speed 23 2%
21453(c) Red Arrow 19 1%
Total 1166
FISCAL IMPACT
OTS will reimburse the city up to $500,000 for the various enforcement operations and education programs during the grant period of October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. The budget for the OTS STEP grant award is outlined in Table 5 below.
Table 5 OTS STEP Funding Plan
Use of Funds Amount
Overtime to conduct enforcement operations $250,600
Overtime to conduct collaborative enforcement operations in partnership with ACSO
$240,000
Travel/Training Expenses $4,000
DUI Checkpoint Supplies $3,000
Lidar Units and Supplies $2,400
TOTAL $500,000
Funds will be allocated in the State of California Grant Fund (2159), Traffic Enforcement Division Organization (107510), Traffic Operations Program (PS14), in Project TBD. The program will be managed by the Traffic Operations Section Commander.
Table 6 - Location of OTS STEP Grant Funds
Fiscal Year Fund Source Organization Project Award Amount 2024-25 2159 107510 TBD TBD $500,000
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: FY 2024-25 OPD Traffic Safety Grant
Date: August 20, 2024 Page 7
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
General Purpose Fund Contributions
Based on the City's Central Services Overhead (CSO) rate of 13.06 percent, overhead charges
associated with the grant’s personnel costs will be approximately $65,300 . OTS does not allow grant funds to be used for overhead costs. However, it is unlikely that OPD should incur any overhead costs outside of normal business hours. In the unlikely event that OPD does incur overhead costs, then OPD is requesting any CSO costs be authorized from general purpose services fund. The funding code for the Central Services Overhead will be General Purpose Fund (1010), Traffic Enforcement Division Org (107510), Project (TBD), Central Services Overhead Account (58522), Program (TBD).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
This item is of interest to the public as these grant funds will be used to promote public safety and in support of Safe Oakland.
COORDINATION
This report and legislation have been reviewed by the Office of the City Attorney and the Budget Bureau.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are no economic activities associated with this report
Environmental: There are no environmental opportunities identified in this report.
Race and Social Equity: Officers are directed to focus on areas identified as locations where the city has its highest number of injury and fatal collisions. Traffic Officers have all attended Procedural Justice Training and Implicit Bias Training to ensure that officers are aware of how police efforts can negatively impact communities of color. All stops are reviewed by the first level supervisor and the Traffic Section Commander. OPD recently rolled out a new risk management dashboard for review; OPD plans to use this tool and reduce the high number of stops made in communities of color. OPD considers equity and the geographic distribution of traffic enforcement while also recognizing that there continue to be opportunities to improve how equity informs local traffic enforcement.
Safe Oakland Streets has a goal of eliminating severe and fatal injury inequities including racial disparities impacting BIPOC communities that exist today in Oakland. In 2018, the Oakland Equity Indicators Report found troubling disparities in pedestrian deaths in Oakland. The City of Oakland experiences approximately two severe or fatal traffic crashes each week, with crashes disproportionately impacting BIPOC, high priority communities, and seniors. In December 2020, OPD reported a surge in traffic-related fatalities where 36 people were killed on Oakland’s roadways, compared to the 26 people killed in 2019. Fatalities decreased only slightly to 31 people killed in 2021. In 2022, 34 people were killed, and in 2023, 32 people were killed. In the first 7 months of 2024, 17 people have been killed. The most common causes of collisions are Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: FY 2024-25 OPD Traffic Safety Grant
Date: August 20, 2024 Page 8
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
speeding, failure to yield, unsafe turning, red light running, and driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. The majority (60%) of crashes are highly concentrated on just 6% of the 800 miles of Oakland’s city-maintained streets, as identified as Oakland’s high injury network.
Furthermore, the High Injury Network (HIN) generally overlaps with Oakland’s map of priority neighborhoods as found in Oakland’s Geographic Equity Toolbox. The toolbox prioritizes neighborhoods based on concentrations of people with demographic factors determined to have experienced historic and current disparities. R
eckless driving, speeding, unlicensed vehicle
operation, DUI, and other traffic problems negatively impact public safety and the quality of life of all Oaklanders. Efforts to address these problems will lead to life improvements for all resident and visitors.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Accept And Appropriate Grant Funds In The Amount Of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000) From The State Of California, Office Of Traffic Safety (OTS), For The Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP), To Be Administered By The Oakland Police Department (OPD); And To Authorize The General Purpose Services Fund To Contribute Sixty Five Thousand Three Hundred Dollars ($
65,300) To Cover The Related Central Services
Overhead Charges.
For questions about this report, please contact A/Lieutenant Greg Bellusa, OPD, Traffic Operations Section, at (510) 777-8707.
Reviewed by:
Greg Bellusa, A / Lieutenant of Police
OPD, Traffic Operations Section
LaRaija Marshal, Fiscal Services Manager
OPD, Fiscal Services Division
Prepared by:
Tracey Jones, Police Services Manager
OPD, Research and Planning