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CONSENT CALENDAR
City of San Bernardino
Request for Council Action
Date: May 1, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
From: Charles A. Montoya , City Manager;
Darren Goodman, Chief of Police
Department: Police
Subject: COPS Grant Application (All Wards)
Recommendation:
It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, authorize the Police Department to apply for funding for five police officer positions through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program.
Executive Summary
The Police Department anticipates the FY2024 COPS hiring grant application period will open in the near future and it is seeking approval from the Mayor and City Council to apply for five police officer positions.
Background
The Department of Justice COPS grant is intended to reduce crime and promote public safety through community-oriented policing by providing support to law enforcement agencies nationwide. The grant supports hiring law enforcement officers to increase an agency’s community policing and crime prevention capabilities.
The Police Department anticipates the release of the FY 2024 COPS Hiring Program (CHP) solicitation in the near future. The award provides funding for up to 75 percent of the approved entry-level salary and fringe benefits of each newly hired or rehired full-time sworn career law enforcement officer over three years of the award period. There is a minimum 25 percent local cash match requirement unless otherwise waived, and a maximum federal share of $125,000 per officer position. Funding from the program may be used to:
•Hire new officers
•Rehire officers (laid off as the result of budget reductions) 1 9
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•Rehire officers (at the time of application, currently scheduled to be laid off as a result of budget reductions)
The Police Department has applied for COPS grant funds to support its Community Policing program since 2020 and has been awarded grant funds each of the past four years. The collective results of these efforts have included obtaining $10,446,502 in grant funds and the creation of 35 sworn officer positions.
Discussion
In February 2019, the Mayor and City Council adopted resolution 2019-29, restructuring the Police Department to support a community-oriented policing model and philosophy. The program has been successful and resulted in increased engagement between the Police Department and the community, along with a reduction in violent crime and police response times. Additionally, there has been a significant increase in the amount of firearms and narcotics removed from the streets, creating a safer environment for residents, businesses, and visitors alike. Residents and business owners of San Bernardino have been supportive of the Police Department’s community policing efforts and the Department intends to build upon those successes as it continues the program. To do so, the Department must balance the needs of the community policing program and the changing environment of police work created through legislation and reporting mandates.
Some legislation has strained police resources. For example, the legislative elimination of a prostitution-related law has made it more difficult to identify and rescue human trafficking victims, resulting in an increased amount of time and personnel required to address prostitution and human trafficking investigations. Proposition 47 has added strain by reducing penalties for crimes such as theft, vandalism, and drug possession, eliminating some of the deterrent effects that arrest and incarceration previously had on offenders, and forcing law enforcement to arrest the same offenders repeatedly.
Solving each individual issue that arises based on these legislative changes without negatively impacting the Patrol Division’s response to calls for service has involved the dedication of district resource officers toward special enforcement programs and lengthy human trafficking investigations. The Police Department is coping with these issues, but doing so draws officers away from community policing functions and slows progress toward the goals of the Community Policing Program.
The Racial Identity and Profiling Act (RIPA) is a reporting mandate that has emerged as a draw on officer productivity. The RIPA mandate became effective for the San Bernardino Police Department on January 1st, 2022 and it required sworn personnel to complete a Stop Data Survey on all vehicle and pedestrian stops from that point forward. RIPA surveys must be completed by the officers who made the stops themselves and cannot be delegated to other personnel, slowing down police operations with an administrative task that cannot be avoided and reducing the number of minutes each officer spends on actual police work. For the average officer, this consumes five to ten minutes per RIPA survey, and for stops of two or more persons, a separate survey must be done for each individual person present. Most officers will 1 9
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make ten or more contacts requiring a RIPA entry each day, costing them anywhere from 50 to 100 minutes to complete and representing a loss of 8-16% of a single officer’s ten-hour shift each day. Over the course of the entire year, this will cost an individual patrol officer approximately 173 to 346 hours or 4.3 to 8.6 work weeks (at 40 hours per week) each year. At full staffing, the Patrol Division alone has 118 officers impacted by the RIPA mandate, creating an enormous burden on staff time and drawing officers away from their traditional duties. This is an unfunded mandate and each law enforcement agency is required to bear the costs related to compliance.
The loss of productivity to RIPA reporting requirements combined with legislative changes related to prostitution and Prop 47 significantly reduces the number of hours available for officers to focus on community policing. To offset some of this loss and maintain the progress made through community policing to this point, staff believes it would be beneficial to apply for COPS grant funding to add five police officer positions to the Police Department.
The COPS grant offers funding for new police officer positions and supports hiring by subsidizing a portion of the costs of pay and benefits for each officer hired. The grant terms require a five-year commitment to maintaining those personnel positions, with three years of them being supported in part by COPS grant funds and the final two years being entirely supported by the City. The Police Department has requested a salary match waiver in previous years and been granted such a waiver for one grant award. The Police Department will request a salary match waiver for this application as well. The anticipated expenditures are depicted in the table below.
Table A
Cost By
Grant
Year
Salary and
Benefits For
One Officer
Percent
Funded By
Grant
Percent
Funded by
City
Cost to City
for One Officer
Cost for Five
Officers
Year 1 $143,381.58 50% 50% $71,690.79 $358,453.95
Year 2 $151,763.73 35% 65% $98,646.42 $493,232.10
Year 3 $165,733.57 15% 85% $140,873.53 $704,367.65
Year 4 $180,343.49 0% 100% $180,343.49 $901,717.45
Year 5 $195,636.73 0% 100% $195,636.73 $978,183.65
Total $836,859.10 N/A N/A $687,190.96 $3,435,954.80
The Police Department anticipates requesting an increase in staffing by ten police officer positions over the next several years. Under normal circumstances, the City would bear the entire cost of any staff increases, however, the COPS grant presents an opportunity to grow the number of police officers with financial support from the Federal Government. Staff is recommending seeking COPS grant assistance to create five new police officer positions in the Police Department, and is seeking consent from the Mayor and Common Council to move forward with the grant application process. 1 9
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2021-2025 Strategic Targets and Goals
The request to proceed forward with the COPS grant application aligns with Goal No. 3: Improved Quality of Life - Constantly evaluate public safety service delivery models to enhance the quality of service delivery.
Fiscal Impact
There is no impact to the General Fund for the application submission. If the Police Department is awarded the grant, the General Fund impact will be identified when the item is returned to the Mayor and City Council to accept the award.
Conclusion
It is recommended that the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, authorize the Police Department to apply for funding for five police officer positions through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program.
Attachments
Attachment 1 COPS Hiring Program 2024 Solicitation
Ward:
All Wards
Synopsis of Previous Council Actions:
December 6, 2023 The Mayor and City Council approved Resolution No. 2023- 184, accepting the 2023 COPS grant.
November 16, 2022 The Mayor and City Council approved Resolution No. 2022- 241, accepting the 2022 COPS grant.
December 1, 2021 The Mayor and City Council approved Resolution No. 2021- 284, accepting the 2021 COPS grant.
July 15, 2021 The Mayor and City Council approved Resolution No. 2020- 167, accepting the 2020 COPS grant.
February 20, 2019 The Mayor and City Council approved Resolution No. 2019-29, adopting the Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving Philosophy