September 13, 2022
Police Department
DATE: September 13, 2022
TO: Mayor Butt and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Bisa French, Chief of Police
Subject:
Resolution to Accept and Appropriate the State of
California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) Grant Funds
FINANCIAL IMPACT: These actions do not create any direct cost or liability to the City’s General Fund. This is a reimbursable grant
allowing a maximum amount of $235,000 in grant related
expenses to be reimbursed by the State of California
Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) over the period of October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. The OTS grant does not
require matching of City funds. The Police Department
budget will be amended to add the $235,000 in Fiscal
Year 2022-2023, and the remaining amount will be
budgeted for appropriately in Fiscal Year 2023-2024.
Account strings: 10691021-334351, 10691021-400243,
10691021-400299, and 10691021-400341.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
n/a
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The Police Department seeks authority to accept a
$235,000 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety and to amend its Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget to add this additional grant funding for traffic-related
enforcement.
AGENDA
REPORT
September 13, 2022
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a resolution to accept and appropriate $235,000
in grant funding awarded by the California Office of
Traffic Safety (OTS) to fund efforts to reduce deaths and injuries from motor vehicle crashes – Police Department (Bisa French 510-621-1802).
DISCUSSION:
In June 2022, the Police Department was tentatively awarded reimbursable grant funds in an amount up to $235,000 from the State of California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to be used between October 1, 2022 - September 30, 2023. The amount will be awarded to the Department to develop an effective, comprehensive, and strategic approach to address deaths and injuries from motor vehicle crashes resulting from impaired driving and other Primary Collision Factors (PCFs). The tentative award will become final upon approval from City Council and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
While the number of crashes and traffic injuries declined overall, fatal crashes increased in 2020 by 6.8 percent nationwide as reported by NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).
The City of Richmond experienced the following trends from 2019 - 2020: injury crashes decreased from 422 - 348, a change of – 17.53 percent: total injuries decreased from 570 - 493, a change of -13.50 percent; alcohol related crashes decreased from 54 - 48, a change of -11.11 percent; and total hit and run crashes with injuries increased from 66 - 77, a change of 16.66 percent. The Richmond Police Department can attribute the decrease in numbers due to OTS awarding similar grants FY 2019-2020, FY 2020- 2021, and FY 2021-2022.
The City of Richmond is situated along several main thoroughfares, mass-transits, and a ferry service. Due to its location, the City of Richmond serves as a hub for commuters traveling to local large employers or continuing onto their final destination. Being situated along the I-80 and I-580 corridors, there is a significant increase in commute traffic during morning and afternoon commute hours for drivers traversing the city limits toward their destination in San Francisco, Oakland, and Marin County. The Richmond Parkway, a major artery connecting the I-80 freeway to the I-580 freeway, runs the entire western border of the City of Richmond and is the primary trucking route for many of the industrial complexes within the city limits. Much of this increased vehicular traffic during the daytime has a direct impact on the number of collisions occurring within the City of Richmond.
Excessive speed is the number one primary collision factor in Richmond. It is also the largest complaint received at many of the numerous neighborhood council meetings our officers attend monthly. Speed enforcement remains one of the priorities of the Richmond Police Department. We have been successful in obtaining data from many of
September 13, 2022
our habitual locations for speed violations and targeted enforcement efforts as a result.
Motorcycle safety is also paramount to the members of the Richmond Police Department and Traffic Division. With the increase in motorcycle and dirt bikes riding illegally up and down city streets at high rates of speeds, it is the Richmond Police Departments mission to have a zero-tolerance approach when conducting enforcement and education for these riders.
Organizationally, we recognize DUI enforcement and detection is a critical component to saving lives and reducing collisions. As in years past with this grant, we plan on sending several officers to DUI detection and investigation training. This is imperative as we have seen an increase in DUI related collisions and arrests over the past year.
Additionally, despite the current staffing shortfall within the department as a whole, and within the Traffic Division, the Richmond Police Department is committed to reducing traffic fatalities and collisions through enforcement missions and education activities.
This grant will again provide the overtime required to impact community traffic safety with the Traffic Division and patrol personnel who have the required and necessary training.
This will not have any fiscal impact on the City’s General Fund as the grant does not require any funding match by the City and, therefore, all expenditures will be reimbursed by OTS.
This funding will be extremely beneficial to the Department’s efforts to combat deaths and injuries in motor vehicle crashes resulting from impaired driving within the City of Richmond. Accordingly, the Department is requesting that City Council adopt the resolution to accept and appropriate the $235,000 in reimbursable grant funds.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Award Letter
Attachment 3 – Grant Agreement