August 16, 2022, Item #11
DATE:
TO:
FROM:
CONTACT:
SUBJECT:
Summary:
AG EN DA REPORT City of Poway
August 16, 2022
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
Chris Hazeltine, City Manager@-
Wendy Kaserman, Assistant City Manager 1,JJ<
Wendy Kaserman, Assistant City Manager
(858) 668-4502, [email protected]
Safe Poway Program Introduction and Authorization
CITY COUNCIL
The City of Poway prides itself on being the safest city in San Diego County and one of the safest cities in California. The City and the San Diego County Sheriffs Department work proactively to identify and utilize tools available to law enforcement to enhance the safety of the City. One such tool is a new program being proposed by the Sheriffs Department called Safe Poway. The City of Lemon Grove served as a pilot for this new program and the City of Santee is in the process of implementing the Safe Santee Program. The program includes two primary components. The first component is strategically placed Sheriff's Department cameras located throughout the City to both deter crime, as well as observe crime when it happens. The second component allows businesses and residents to voluntarily share access to both their live video or simply recorded video with the Sheriff's Department. This shared access has many benefits including providing additional existing resources to the Sheriffs Department to better police the City, potentially tracking crime in real time, and can help facilitate timely investigations and be a valuable tool for prosecutions.
Recommended Action:
It is recommended the City Council approve the City's participation in the Sheriffs Safe Poway Program, authorize the City Manager to execute the related Memorandum of Understanding with the Sheriffs Department, and authorize the appropriation of up to $35k tb fund additional cameras/technology .not funded by the Sheriffs Department.
Discussion:
Recently the Mayor, City Manager, and Assistant City Manager had the opportunity to meet with Sheriffs Department staff to learn about the proposed Safe Poway Program. The Captain and Lieutenant shared their experiences and successes in rolling out the program in the City of Lemon Grove. The City of Santee is in the final stages of approval of the program. The concept of this program is unique in that it is both a partnership between the City and the Sheriffs Department, and the 1 of 3
August 16, 2022, Item #11
Sheriffs Department and local businesses and residents. It provides an opportunity to deter crime by strategically placing cameras throughout the city, promoting awareness of the cameras to make potential criminals aware the Sheriffs Department is watching the city and as local businesses and residents opt in, also provides access to a wide network of privately maintained cameras and video.
Access to these private cameras, enhances the camera network established through the Sheriffs Department and can help further deter crime, allow crimes to be tracked in real time, streamline the process of getting the Sheriffs Department access to video that may document crimes and assist in prosecution. Participation in the program by businesses and residents is 100% voluntary and there is the option to allow access to live video or simply allow access to recorded video if the Sheriffs Department requests it.
The proposed Safe Poway Program would be fully managed by the Sheriffs Department. The Sheriffs Department will provide funding for the camera network infrastructure, as well as a specific number of cameras. Should the City wish to have additional cameras, and/or additional technology (such as license plate reading capability), the City would be responsible for funding the difference. In order to leave the City's options open, part of the requested action with this report, is giving the City Manager authorization to spend up to $35k in unassigned General Fund fund balance to pay for additional cameras and technology beyond what the Sheriffs Department is able to fund. Because the program is managed by the Sheriffs Department, should the City Council approve participation in the program, the City would enter into a separate Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Sheriffs Department. The MOU specifies the Sheriffs Department is responsible for administration and operation of the Safe Poway Program and will defend and indemnify the City from any claim or proceeding to the extent it arises out of acts of the Sheriffs Department related to the Safe Poway Program. Part of the requested action from the City Council on this item is not only approval of participation in the program, but also authorizing the City Manager to execute the MOU with the Sheriffs Department in order to implement the program.
Should the City Council approve participation in the program, following execution of the MOU, City Staff and the Sheriffs Department will coordinate on purchasing and placement of the cameras as well as developing promotional material about the program to create awareness. A component of the promotional material will include information about the website where businesses and residents can opt in to share access to their cameras. The website will provide information about which camera systems are and are not compatible with the program infrastructure. Again, businesses and residents can opt to share access to live video feed or simply opt to share recorded information if it is requested by the Sheriffs Department.
Sheriff personnel with experience implementing the Safe Lemon Grove program will be in attendance at the August 16 City Council meeting. They will present an overview of the program and be available to answer questions.
Environmental Review:
This action is not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with the City of Poway participating in the Safe Poway Program.
However, since the program is being implemented at no additional cost to the City, should the City want more than the minimum number of cameras the Sheriffs Department is able to provide or additional technology such as license plate reading capability, staff is recommending the City Council 2 of3
August 16, 2022, Item #11
authorize
the
City
Manager
to
expend
up
to
$3Sk
from
the
unassigned
General
Fund
fund
balance
on
additional
cameras
and/or
camera
technology
.
Public
Notification:
None. Attachments: None. Reviewed/Approved
By:
W~daserman Assistant
City
Manager
Reviewed
By:
Alan
Fenstermacher
City
Attorney
Ap::::7
,
c~ City
Manager