This report is intended for the internal use of the C ity of Stockton , and may not be provided to, used, or relied upon by any third parties.
Proprietary & Confidential
FINAL REPORT
City of Stockton
MEASURE A PERFORMANCE AUDIT
October 2023
Moss Adams LLP
999 Third Avenue, Suite 2800
Seattle, WA 98104
(206)
302-6500
Attachment A
Measure A Performance Audit
FOR INTERNAL USE OF THE CITY OF STOCKTON ONLY
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 1
A. Introduction 1
B. Summary of Findings and Recommendations 1
Introduction 3
A. Project Overview 3
B. Statement of Compliance with GAGAS 9
Commendations 10
Findings and Recommendations 11
A. Compliance 11
B. Performance 14
MANAGEMENT RESPONSES 21
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Stockton (the City) engaged its internal auditor, Moss Adams LLP (Moss Adams), to conduct a performance audit of Measure A (the Measure), the City’s transaction and use tax that supports law enforcement, crime prevention services, and services to residents, businesses, and property owners. Measure oversight includes a Measure A Citizens’ Advisory Committee (the Committee) that reviews expenditures and makes recommendations for the use of the funds. As the Measure approaches its 10-year initial horizon, this performance audit was intended to assess performance outcomes and compliance with expenditure provisions. This audit included the following objectives:
Compliance
• Review annual financial audits and agreed-upon procedures reports, and summarize findings and recommendations
• Summarize Measure revenues and expenditures to date
• Interview City staff and review relevant information to document and validate how revenues are collected and expended
• Provide recommendations to improve compliance with Measure provisions in alignment with municipal finance best practices
Performance
• Interview City staff, Councilmembers, and Committee members to gain an understanding of the Measure and progress toward goals
• Review annual reports and other documentation, including annual budget and program updates provided to the Committee
• Review the City’s implementation plan and progress toward stated outcomes by the Police Department (SPD), Office of Violence Prevention, mission critical, and other relevant programs • Conduct peer benchmarking to assess the City’s performance in context, compared to other cities with similar public safety measures/initiatives and national public safety trends • Provide recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of program and service delivery
Findings and recommendations are grouped into two themes: compliance and performance. They are summarized in the following table and presented with greater detail in Section IV of this report.
Attachment A
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FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Compliance
1. Finding
W
hile expenditure processes appear to comply with Measure A provisions, the City does not have updated expenditure guidelines to define allowable expenditures, proactively plan for future use of the funds, or support tracking of expenditures. This contributes to limited visibility into the impact of the Measure among the public and creates a lack of clarity among City staff for what constitutes allowable use of the funds.
Recommendation
Update expenditure guidelines to clarify which public safety costs are allowable or unallowable and use those guidelines to inform improved expenditure tracking and proactive strategic planning for the use of the funds.
Develop methods to track the use of Measure A funds more consistently over time to improve visibility into fund use.
Continue to strengthen processes for strategically and proactively planning for the use of Measure A revenues over time.
Performance
2. Finding
D
ue to challenges with recruitment and retention of police officers, the City has not been able to consistently achieve target Police Department staffing levels or use at least 65% of Measure A funds on law enforcement or crime prevention. Recommendation
To improve Police Department recruitment and retention:
Consider how the City could use Measure A funds to incentivize recruitment and retention of police officers.
Maintain a formal recruitment and retention plan for the Police Department that includes strategies for reducing turnover.
Continue to evaluate compensation with each labor negotiation cycle to ensure that compensation is competitive with nearby cities.
Continue to focus on efforts to prioritize officer wellness.
Continue to evaluate opportunities to streamline the application process and increase the application-to-hire conversion rate.
Continue to enhance opportunities for career development at every level of the Police Department.
3. Finding W hile crime has reduced over the life of the Measure, the outcomes of Measure A are not clearly or consistently reported to the community.
Recommendation
More clearly define what success looks like for the Measure.
Develop and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) that are focused on outcomes.
Pursue opportunities to improve impact and performance reporting to the public.
The Measure A Citizens’ Advisory Committee should resume annual reporting.
Attachment A
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INTRODUCTION
On November 5, 2013, the citizens of Stockton approved Measure A, a 3/4-cent sales tax measure, effective April 1, 2014. The purpose of Measure A was to pay for law enforcement and crime prevention services, help end the City’s bankruptcy, and restore other City services. The citizens of Stockton also approved Measure B, an advisory measure (a non-binding companion measure through which citizens can recommend use of funds), which advised allocating 65% of the sales tax revenue toward increasing public safety through the continued implementation of the Marshall Plan on Crime and 35% toward ending bankruptcy and restoring City services. As written, Measure A allows funds to be used to support increasing public safety, such as through the activities in the Marshall Plan on Crime, or to support the City’s overall recovery from bankruptcy. Measure A also established a Citizens’ Advisory Committee to review expenditures and make recommendations for the use of the funds. In accordance with Measure requirements, this Committee has met annually over the life of the Measure.
Additionally, in accordance with Measure requirements, the City's external auditor conducts annual Agreed-Upon Procedures (AUPs) engagements of Measure funds to evaluate whether the tax was collected in accordance with Measure A and expenditures were spent in alignment with Measure B.
The use of the funds is also subject to the annual Citywide financial statement audit, which provides an overall opinion on the fairness of the City’s financial statements as a whole. There have been no exceptions noted throughout the AUPs or financial audits related to Measure A.
Since the Measure was implemented, there has been continued interest from the Committee, staff, and Council members in an independent assessment of performance. As the Measure approaches its 10-year initial horizon, the City engaged Moss Adams, its internal auditor, to conduct a performance audit of the Measure to assess performance outcomes and compliance with expenditure provisions.
Specifically, this audit included the following objectives:
Compliance
• Review annual financial audits and agreed-upon procedures reports, and summarize findings and recommendations
• Summarize measure revenues and expenditures to date
• Interview City staff and review relevant information to document and validate how revenues are collected and expended
• Provide recommendations to improve compliance with Measure provisions in alignment with municipal finance best practices
Performance
• Interview City staff, Councilmembers, Committee members to gain an understanding of the Measure and progress toward goals
• Review annual reports and other documentation, including annual budget and program updates provided to the Committee
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• Review the City’s implementation plan and progress toward stated outcomes by the Police Department, Office of Violence Prevention, mission critical, and other relevant programs • Conduct peer benchmarking to assess the City’s performance in context, compared to other cities with similar public safety measures/initiatives and national public safety trends • Provide recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of program and service delivery
The project consisted of four phases. Our analysis was informed by employee interviews, document review, data analysis, testing, and research into best practices.
PHASE DESCRIPTION
1 Project Initiation
an
d Management
This phase concentrated on comprehensive planning and project management, including identifying employees to interview, identifying documents to review, communicating results, and attending biweekly calls to review project status. 2 Fact- Finding This phase included interviews, document review, testing, and peer benchmarking.
● Interviews: We conducted interviews and focus groups with City staff within Finance, the Police Department, the Office of Violence Prevention, and other central administration departments to gain insights into the current operational environment, strengths, and opportunities for improvement related to Measure A. We also extended the option to meet with a member of the project team to all City Councilmembers and Measure A Citizens’ Advisory Committee members. Two Councilmembers participated in interviews, while no Committee members chose to participate.
● Document Review: We reviewed a variety of documents, data, and information provided by the City, including expenditure and revenue reports, performance reports, and administrative policies and procedures. ● Testing: We tested provisions contained in Measure A for compliance and alignment, including:
○ The requirement that the City track CPI-adjusted General Fund revenues ○ The guideline that the City use 65% of Measure A proceeds to pay for law enforcement and crime prevention and the remaining 35% to pay for the City’s efforts to end the bankruptcy and provide services to residents, businesses, and property owners
○ The requirement that the City appoint a seven-member Citizens’ Advisory Committee that meets at least annually
○ The requirement that the proceeds and expenditures of the tax be audited annually by an independent accounting firm
○ The guideline that Measure A funds be used to rebuild the Police Department, implement a Neighborhood Betterment Team, and create an Office of Violence Prevention
● Peer Benchmarking: We reached out to six cities who are peers to the City of Stockton, and/or have similar recent measures, to understand their approach to police recruitment and retention and any measure expenditure guidelines they adhere to. Staff from three cities (Elk Grove, Oakland, and Bakersfield) agreed to be interviewed.
Attachment A
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PHASE DESCRIPTION
3 Analysis B ased on the information gained during our fact-finding phase, we conducted and consolidated research on relevant industry standards, best practices, and national public safety trends. Best practices learned from interviews were supplemented with available industry resources wherever possible. Based on this research, we identified potential areas for improvement and developed practical recommendations.
4 Reporting W e communicated the results of our analysis with findings and recommendations presented first in a draft report that was reviewed with management to confirm the practicality and relevance of recommendations before finalizing the report.
The City’s fiscal emergency began in 2009, when the Great Recession caused General Fund revenues to drop from $203 million to $166.5 million over the course of a single year . In response, City leaders spent down reserves, adopted drastic budget cuts, and implemented significant reductions to services and other spending. Between fiscal year (FY) 2009 and FY11, $90 million of budget cuts were made, including $52 million in labor compensation reductions and $38 million in staffing and service level reductions. These cuts represented a 36% reduction in the annual General Fund budget.
Even after these significant reductions in budget and services, the City still found its General Fund short by an annual average of $11 million and declared bankruptcy in 2012. In the face of insolvency, additional tax revenue was seen as the only option to balance the budget sustainably over time, pay for necessary and adequate City services, and fund the pursuit of increasing public safety. According to the 2013 Annual Consolidated Financial Report (ACFR), the City Council’s strategic focus following bankruptcy comprised four primary goals: improving public safety, prioritizing fiscal recovery, supporting economic development, and increasing the organizational capacity of the City’s workforce.
The 2013 ACFR refers to Measure A as “the start toward rebuilding the City’s long-term viability and reputation as a safe place to live, work and invest.” The City exited bankruptcy in 2015.
Measure A has played a critical role in the City’s recovery from bankruptcy. Between FY15 and FY22, Measure A revenues totaled more than $273 million. Revenues have increased every year — beginning with $27.8 million in FY15 and growing to $45.4 million in FY22, which was 15% of total General Fund revenue that year. This money has allowed the City to rebuild its budget following bankruptcy, and enabled service provisions that would not have been otherwise possible. According to City leadership, it is likely that any return to pre-bankruptcy levels of service can be attributed to Measure A.
MEASURE A REVENUES FY15 – FY22 (IN MILLIONS)
FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22
Revenue $27.8 $29.3 $30.0 $31.7 $34.6 $34.3 $40.8 $45.4 Attachment A
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In addition to aiding in bankruptcy recovery, Measure A has funded the support and creation of several key initiatives aimed at improving public safety. Based on the Marshall Plan on Crime—the City Council’s strategic initiative intended to address mounting violence in Stockton—Measure A was designed to support the following:
• Rebuilding the Police Department: As a result of bankruptcy, the Police Department experienced a 25% reduction in sworn staffing and a 20% reduction in civilian support staff.
Limited staffing reportedly contributed to a significant increase in gang and gun violence in the City and resulted in record-breaking homicide levels in 2011 and 2012. Measure A funded 120 sworn and 43 civilian staff positions.
• Crime Reduction: Since implementing Measure A, crime has reduced; the Part I Crime Index in the City decreased by 24.9% between December 2015 and December 2022. This is in comparison to nationwide crime rates, which increased by 4.4% between 2015 and 2019, and crime rates among a group of select peer cities, which increased 21.4% on average. • Creating an Office of Violence Prevention: Measure A funded the creation of the Office of Violence Prevention (OVP). OVP is a program aimed at reducing gun and gang violence in the City by providing support to the people at highest risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violent crime. OVP works directly in the communities most affected by violent crime and provides highly personalized services that are tailored to the support each person needs to be able to exit the gang community. According to OVP’s 2023 Annual Update, OVP has supported a C itywide reduction in gang and gun violence through continuous data analysis, communication with high-risk individuals, intensive case management, and community engagement. • Implementing a Neighborhood Betterment Team: The Neighborhood Betterment Team (NBT), previously known as the Neighborhood Blitz Team, is a concept coined by the Police Department to reclaim neighborhoods through disorder and blight reduction. In a community context, blight refers to systemic levels of vacant, abandoned, or dangerously ill-maintained buildings and lots.
NBT is a dedicated team within the Police Department, funded by Measure A tax dollars, that embeds in rotating neighborhoods chosen for their high levels of blight and helps communities rebuild. The team takes a preventative approach to cleaning up neighborhoods by addressing health and safety issues through Neighborhood Services Code Enforcement, placing additional law enforcement in neighborhoods, and engaging residents to work collaboratively with police to develop and implement an improvement plan and initiate clean-up. NBT was fully staffed as of FY15. NBT provides increased enforcement for 90 days followed with check-ins 90 days and one year after enforcement ends. Neighborhoods are chosen based on the number of citations, violations, abatements, abandoned vehicles, and graffiti.
Measure A revenues over the life of the Measure have also funded many other City services and initiatives, which the City refers to as mission critical. These mission critical services and initiatives have been reported in Committee reports and include projects such as those described in the following table. These expenditures align with the purpose of restoring City services as outlined in Measure B.
Attachment A
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MEASURE A MISSION CRITICAL EXPENDITURES
Project Description Measure A
Funding
Total Project
Funding Project Update
Public Safety
Radios (Police) $1,800,000 $1,800,000 342 portable radios and 70 mobile radios purchased
SEB 4th Floor Build Out $1,500,00 $1,500,000 Space for increased SPD positions
Body Camera Program
(Police)
$175,000 $175,000 Body cameras purchased and
distributed
Network Encryption
Infrastructure (Police)
$396,000 $396,000 Improvements aligned with
technology security
requirements
Police Communications
System Upgrade
$650,000 $1,175,000 Upgrade Police records and
dispatch systems
Fiscal Sustainability
Information Technology
– ERP System
$5,000,000 $18,416,134 Replacement of outdated
financial and HR systems
Information Technology
– Arena Point of Sale
System
$236,000 $236,000 Upgrade Point of Sale system
at arena to address credit card
security requirements
Purchasing
Improvements
$164,000 $334,000 Purchasing improvements
Organization Development
Radios Replacements $1,000,000 $1,690,767 Portable and mobile radios for MUD, Public Works, Police,
and Fire
IT Projects – Back Up
Infrastructure
$385,000 $385,000 Cloud-based backup solution
Citywide Training $130,000 $294,400 Citywide training
Economic Development
Attachment A
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MEASURE A MISSION CRITICAL EXPENDITURES
Project Description Measure A
Funding
Total Project
Funding Project Update
Economic Dev.
Implementation – Urban
Land Institute
$100,000 $100,000 Work with firm to review
proposed master development
plans and programs,
Prepare and negotiate
agreements with developers for
appraisal and evaluation
services of City-owned sites for
marketing and sale of
properties to promote
development downtown
Infrastructure
LED Lighting Project
Phase I
$1,200,000 $1,475,869 Annual energy savings from
Phase I and Phase II total
approximately $400,000 per
year
LED Lighting Project
Phase III
$1,347,285 $1,576,000 Converting streetlights in
residential areas to LED
Streetlight LED
Replacement
$228,715 $699,166 Replacement of failing LED
fixtures citywide
Parks Irrigation
Controller Upgrade
$588,000 $735,000 Improvements for 24 large park
systems, 25 small park
systems, and three antenna
relay facilities
Street Resurfacing $500,000 $500,000 Street resurfacing at 11 locations
Sidewalks $300,000 $550,000 Removal and replacement of
damaged sidewalks at 375
locations, removal of 186 City
trees and stumps, installation of
ADA compliant curb ramps at
28 locations
Public Relations/Image Target
Implementation of
Strategic Priorities
$200,000 $350,000 13 projects in Community
Services, Police, Human
Resources, Office of Violence
Prevention, City Manager’s
Office and Administrative
Services per Council resolution
2014-11-25-0402
Attachment A
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MEASURE A MISSION CRITICAL EXPENDITURES
Project Description Measure A
Funding
Total Project
Funding Project Update
Marketing/
Communications Plan
$100,000 $100,000 Production and promotion of 10
high-quality videos to improve
Stockton’s image, build
community pride, and
encourage the community to
represent City positively
In addition to these initiatives, there are further City services and programs that were restored or implemented due in part to the addition of Measure A funds to the General Fund, though these expenses were not directly tracked as Measure A expenditures. The following table shows total Measure A expenditures from FY15 – FY22, according to the City’s annual financial statement audits.
MEASURE A EXPENDITURES FY15– FY22 (IN MILLIONS)
FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22
Police $4.9 $12.3 $17.4 $21.6 $23.3 $25.0 $26.2 $25.4
OVP $0.21 $0.61 $0.85 $0.87 $0.88 $1.0 $0.95 $0.85
Other City Services $22.3 $15.8 $11.6 $9.1 $10.2 $8.3 $13.4 $18.8 Total* $27.8 $29.3 $30.0 $31.7 $34.6 $34.3 $40.8 $45.4
*The total of Police, OVP, and Other City Services Expenditures does not always exactly equal the overall total due to encumbrances.
Although Measure A was passed for a period of 10 years, it included a sunset provision that states the tax may end before that time if the Council or voters repeal the tax, or if the Council determines that economic recovery has been sufficiently achieved to warrant reducing or eliminating the tax. The 10-year tax sunset may also be extended by the Council if the revenues continue to be necessary to accomplish the original purposes of the tax.
We conducted this performance audit in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Attachment A
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COMMENDATIONS
Based on insights gathered throughout our assessment, we noted areas of strength within the City that can be leveraged for further improvement across the organization. • Compliance with Measure Provisions: As required by Measure Provisions, the Measure A Citizens’ Advisory Committee was established and meets at least annually to review expend itures and make recommendations for the use of the funds. Additionally, the proceeds of the tax are audited annually by an independent accounting firm through annual Agreed-Upon Procedures (AUPs) engagements and as part of the City’s annual Citywide financial statement audits, and there have been no compliance findings noted in these engagements related to Measure A over the life of the measure.
• Mission-Driven Employees: Across the City, staff are aware of and driven by the importance of the work that the Measure funds as well as a commitment to increasing public safety.
These commendations, coupled with our findings and recommendations, provide an overview of areas of strength and opportunities for improvement that can help enhance the outcomes of Measure A.
Attachment A
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FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Findings and recommendations are grouped into two themes: compliance and performance. Our aim is to provide City leadership with actionable information on opportunities for improvement, with recommendations intended to provide positive impacts on Measure A outcomes.
1. Finding
While expenditure processes appear to comply with Measure A provisions, the City does not have updated expenditure guidelines to define allowable public safety expenditures, proactively plan for future use of the funds, or support tracking of expenditures. This contributes to limited visibility into the impact of the Measure among the public and creates a lack of clarity among City staff for what constitutes allowable use of the funds.
Recommendation
Update expenditure guidelines to clarify which public safety costs are allowable or unallowable and use those guidelines to inform improved expenditure tracking and proactive strategic planning for the use of the funds.
Develop methods to track the use of Measure A funds more consistently over time to improve visibility into fund use.
Continue to strengthen processes for strategically and proactively planning for the use of Measure A revenues.
As discussed in the Introduction o f this re port, Measure A was passed with the intent of aiding the City’s recovery from bankruptcy and restoring and implementing services that increase public safety.
Although the companion Measure B, a non-binding advisory measure, recommends that the breakdown of the use of the funds should be around 65% to the activities described in the Marshall Plan on Crime and the remaining 35% to support the City’s recovery from bankruptcy, there are no requirements around those parameters. This flexibility in the use of the funds has allowed the City to effectively direct the revenue where it is most needed (mission critical projects) and will have the greatest impact, while adhering to the spirit of the Measure’s intent and taking the public’s desire for investing in public safety into account. As described in the Introduction, annual audits have not delivered any findings on the City’s use of the funds.
Currently, the City takes a collaborative approach to deploying Measure funds. Determinations on w
hat Measure A funds can be used for within the Police Department are made through leadership collaboration by the Police Department and Administrative Services Department on an ongoing ad hoc basis. Money is dispersed to the Police Department for use in rebuilding staffing, the operations of the NBT, and to the OVP (Measure funds make up 50% of OVP’s budget). When that portion of expenditures does not represent approximately 65% of the Measure’s revenues, staff across the City work to identify opportunities to use the funds in ways that increase public safet y. Remaining Measure A revenue that is not specifically allocated for public safety remains in the General Fund, where it supports overall City services, operations, and fiscal recovery.
Attachment A
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This flexibility in the use of the funds, though compliant with Measure requirements and in adherence with the spirit of the Measure, contributes to limited visibility into the impact of the Measure among the public. It also creates a lack of clarity among City staff for what constitutes an allowable use of the funds to support public safety, which makes strategic planning difficult. • Public Safety Expenditures: Measure revenues that support public safety have primarily been dedicated to funding sworn and civilian positions within the Police Department. However, positions can be difficult to recruit and retain, which can reduce the funds spent on public safety.
There are not currently documented definitions of what else within the Police Department could be funded through Measure revenues to support public safety in the community. • Impact Visibility: When Measure funds are not specifically allocated for public safety, they are included in the City’s overall General Fund and there is currently not a process in place to track how those funds were used. Because of this, it is difficult to track the impact of the full breadth of the Measure’s revenue.
• Proactive Strategic Planning: There is not currently a well-established way to proactively budget and plan for the use of the funds, in part because the guidelines around the use of the funds are so broad that interviewed staff reported being unsure of what constituted an allowable use of the funds in support of public safety.
The current process for planning and deploying Measure funds has caused the Committee concern over the years due to the limited insight into some Measure expenditures. The Committee was created to review expenditures and to make recommendations around the use of the funds. The limited visibility into the use of revenues that are returned to the General Fund makes it difficult for the Committee to fulfill this role.
To improve understanding of the use of the funds and the impact of the Measure, the City should update its expenditure guidelines to clarify what public safety costs are allowable or unallowable and use those guidelines to inform proactive strategic planning for the use of the funds. The purpose of these guidelines would be to provide a consistent understanding of what is comprised within the recommended 65% of revenues that are dedicated to increasing public safety within the community.
The remaining 35% of revenues support the provision of core City services and post-bankruptcy needs. Clarifying expenditure guidelines would also provide additional transparency into the use of the funds for the Committee and the broader community.
Many jurisdictions follow expenditure guidelines that place helpful guardrails around measure spending but do not place strict limits on the use of the funds. For example, the City of Galt’s Measure R provides funding for police services beyond expenditures that are reflected in the budget .
This includes all programs, functions, and operations of the police department, including hiring additional police personnel, recruitment and retention of police officers, enhancing youth anti -gang and anti-drug programs, improving police training, purchasing police equipment, enhancing graffiti abatement, and increasing police presence in neighborhoods, parks, and schools .
Generally, expenditure guidelines include the following:
• Standards for transparency and accountability, as well as a commitment to public reporting on the use of the funds
• A statement of the City’s approach to effective resource allocation Attachment A
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• A process by which the City will undertake strategic planning on the use of the funds and incorporate data into strategic decision-making
• A discussion of what constitutes an allowable use of the funds and what does not It is helpful for expenditure guidelines to include a clear delineation of the various categories where funds can be directed, definitions of allowable and unallowable expenses within each category, and guidance on how much funding should be allocated within each category. It can also be useful to include a process for contingency planning within expenditure guidelines to enable the City to address any unexpected situations or emergencies that arise. Expenditure guidelines should be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changes in City needs, priorities, and funding levels. They should also be proactively shared with the community to increase transparency around expenditures.
As part of its effort to improve expenditure guidelines, the City should also consider developing improved methods for tracking how Measure A funds are spent. While Measure A funds can be spent flexibly on City services, tracking their use can provide more transparency and accountability to the community. Among reviewed peer jurisdictions, one city maintains a subsidiary fund that is part of the General Fund and can show all revenues and expenditures for that fund for improved fiscal transparency. Although Stockton keeps Measure A funds that are allocated toward activities in the Marshall Plan in a subsidiary fund and returns the rest of the money to the General Fund as the ordinance requires, it may be possible to set up additional subsidiary funds within the General Fund to increase transparency.
The City should also develop a process for strategically and proactively planning for the use of Measure A revenues as part of the annual budget process. Most reviewed peer jurisdictions collect public feedback on important programs and services and use that information to guide measure spending. One city proactively defines all planned expenses as part of the budget development process and allows residents to submit suggestions for the use of the revenue.
Attachment A
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2. Finding
Due to challenges with recruitment and retention of police officers, the City has not been able to consistently achieve target Police Department staffing levels or use at least 65% of Measure A funds on law enforcement or crime prevention.
Recommendation
To improve Police Department recruitment and retention:
Consider how the City could use Measure A funds to incentivize recruitment and retention of police officers.
Maintain a formal recruitment and retention plan for the Police Department that includes strategies for reducing turnover.
Continue to evaluate compensation with each labor negotiation cycle to ensure that compensation is competitive with nearby cities.
Continue to focus on efforts to prioritize officer wellness.
Continue to evaluate opportunities to streamline the application process and increase the application-to-hire conversion rate.
Continue to enhance opportunities for career development at every level of the Police Department.
One of the City’s main strategies to increase public safety through the use of Measure A funds was to rebuild the Police Department. This included adding an additional 120 sworn and 43 civilian staff positions, funded by Measure A, to be phased in over the first four years of the Measure. According to City leadership, this goal was considered to be highly ambitious at the time and was intended to set a benchmark for the number of additional staff that the Measure would pay for, rather than set a firm target.
Over the life of the Measure, the City has found it difficult to maintain target Measure A-funded staffing levels despite a continuous focus on hiring. Based on data provided by staff, the City exceeded its target by hiring 45 additional sworn police officers in FY15 and achieved 83% to 97% of its target between FY16 and FY22.
FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22
Measure A-Funded
Sworn Positions
40 80 120 120 120 120 120 120
Measure A Filled
Sworn Positions (as of
June 30)
45 71 101 116 111 108 100 100
% Filled 113% 89% 84% 97% 93% 90% 83% 83%
Challenges with meeting Measure A-funded staffing levels have impacted the ability of the City to meet the advisory guideline that 65% of Measure A proceeds should be allocated to law enforcement and crime prevention services in the City. The City aligned with this guideline during FY18 – 21, but not prior to or following those years. The percentage of funds used to pay for Marshall Plan on Crime services ranged from a low of 18% in FY15 to a high of 76% in FY20.
Attachment A
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FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22
Measure A Revenues $28M $29M $30M $32M $35M $34M $41M $45M Measure A
Expenditures on Law
Enforcement and Crime
Prevention
$5M $12M $17M $22M $23M $25M $26M $25M
% Measure A
Expenditures on Law
Enforcement and Crime
Prevention
18% 44% 61% 71% 70% 76% 67% 59%
It is challenging for any city to achieve or maintain 100% of their staffing level goals , particularly in public safety departments. Despite due diligence on the part of the City to improve police staffing, there are several reasons why achieving 100% remains difficult, such as:
• Turnover. Police leadership reported that the Police Department has hired a total of 545 police officers (including Measure A and General Fund positions) since April 2014, but that significant turnover has made it difficult to maintain target staffing levels. Many officers reportedly move laterally to other cities where the work is perceived as easier and the pay is higher . Additionally, according to data provided by staff, 129 officers have retired since FY13. Turnover is a challenge that many police departments are struggling with, as officer resignation and retirement rates across the country have increased in recent years. According to one survey of 194 police departments by the Police Executive Research Foundation, there was an average 18% rise in resignations and a 45% rise in retirements between 2020 and 2021. 1 • Compensation. Starting pay for new officers in Stockton is less than other nearby jurisdictions , including Tracy and Pleasanton. Additionally, officers reportedly reach the top of the compensation ladder after several years on the force, which does not create an incentive to stay with the City long term.
• Trainee Processes. Leadership reported 59 trainees failed the Police Academy and 170 failed the Field Training Program since FY13. This undermines the Police Department’s increased focus on recruitment efforts over the life of the Measure. Additionally, the process to be hired as a sworn officer takes several months, and many applicants drop out throughout the process. The Police Department is aware of this and has been working to streamline the process. • Officer Wellness. Officer wellness is an increasingly important component of police departments nationwide and an important tool for recruitment and retention. Interviewed staff reported a historical lack of resource investment in officer needs, including wellness and safety equipment .
All interviewed Police staff reported that this has been improving significantly under the new Police Chief.
Interviewed City and Police staff reported significant efforts to improve the City’s recruiting and retention success rates, including a strong commitment to organizational culture, a dedicated Police recruitment team, and continuous improvements in the recruiting process. The Police Department has historically maintained an informal recruiting and retention plan, which is continuously revised to adapt to the quickly changing recruitment environment. The Police Department has also worked to
1 Survey on Police Workforce Trends, Police Executive Research Forum Attachment A
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reduce the typical hiring timeline from six months to four months and continues to assess opportunities to streamline that process. Additionally, the Police Department is developing new strategies for recruitment, including a traveling recruiting team and the formation of a Police Aide program that acts as a pipeline to employment. As previously noted, the Police Department has also taken action to improve officer retention, including placing increased focus on officer wellness. As the City continues to develop strategies to improve police recruitment and retention, it should consider the following:
Use Measure Funds to Incentivize Recruitment and Retention Staff reported that the Police Department implemented a dedicated recruiting team comprised of one lieutenant and two sergeants. To continue to strengthen recruitment and retention efforts, the City should continue to consider how it can use Measure A funds to incentivize recruitment and retention of sworn officers. The following strategies have been undertaken by peer jurisdictions or are supported by best practices to develop a strong recruitment and retention environment:
• Strong Branding: Several departments put a strong emphasis on thoughtful branding behind their recruiting efforts including using taglines; creating sophisticated marketing collateral including video, photography, and a well-designed recruitment booth; and maintaining a user- friendly recruiting website (such as the City of Tracy w ebsite). Social media is also used as a key recruitment tool in many cities.
• R ecruiting Laterals: Laterals are reportedly strong hires because they can hit the ground running. Making the recruitment process as quick as possible is a key element because laterals are often looking into multiple agencies. One city offers a higher recruiting bonus to laterals ($30,000) than to new recruits ($7,500). According to SPD’s website, the City offers a $6,000 recruiting bonus to experienced lateral officers.
• Stimulate the Recruiting Environment: One city offers referral incentives of $1,000 to City employees who refer a lateral hire or new recruit, and supports candidates by reimbursing applicant fees, travel expenses, and approved moving costs, as well as supporting housing and job-finding assistance for partners or spouses.
• Hire Civilian Recruiting Positions: Many police departments have a dedicated civilian recruiter assigned solely to and embedded within their police department. Embedding a recruiter within the Police Department allows the recruiter to gain a deep understanding of the department’s culture and be better able to communicate it to candidates. Additionally, their sole focus on the Police Department will yield more effective long-term recruiting strategies. • School Partnerships. Some departments partner with colleges and universities to allow police recruits to earn college credit for their training hours. Others have conducted outreach and partnered with secondary schools and colleges to develop opportunities for students to connect with officers, such as through ride-alongs. According to City staff, a college credit partnership is available to recruits at SPD through Delta College.
Formalize a Recruitment and Retention Plan
SPD should continue to maintain and formalize its recruitment and retention plan to align with strategic hiring goals and reflect the full scope of recruitment and retention activities that the Police Department is currently undertaking. A formal recruitment and retention plan that is updated annually is a common practice among reviewed peer departments and can be used to identify specific recruitment and retention strategies that could be funded by Measure A.
Attachment A
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Continue to Evaluate Compensation
The City should continue to evaluate compensation with each labor negotiation cycle to ensure that compensation is competitive with nearby cities. Competitive pay is more important than ever as opinions about a career in police work have changed and since it has become easier for officers to laterally transition to nearby agencies that can offer higher salaries. Although recruitment bonuses are popular in the news, it can often be more compelling to offer officers a higher salary that equates to a more attractive monthly take-home pay package than a recruitment bonus and a comparatively lower salary do. As part of its ongoing efforts to evaluate compensation, the City should also consider whether changes should be made to the compensation ladder to better incentivize retention. The City can also consider offering relocation reimbursements.
Continue to Prioritize Officer Wellness
The City should continue to focus on efforts to prioritize officer wellness. Wellness support is a crucial element to a well-run agency. Benefits offered among reviewed jurisdictions included peer support, psychological services, and allowing officers dedicated time to exercise on duty. The Police Department established an Officer Wellness Unit at the beginning of 2023 comprised of two wellness officers, a police psychologist, and new rooms in the police operations building to be used for counseling.
2 Staff report that this team has implemented multiple wellness-focused initiatives, including wellness training, family support, outreach and support for injured officers, and critical incident support.
Continue to Streamline the Application Process
Although Police Department and City leadership have already demonstrated a commitment to prioritizing an efficient hiring process, the City should continue to evaluate opportunities to streamline the application process and increase the application-to-hire conversion rate. Successful departments are always looking ahead to understand their staffing needs over the next several years and view recruitment as a constant effort that occurs on an ongoing basis. For example, it is important to know how many officers are likely to retire in the next five years and start to plan for those vacancies well ahead of time, as an academy recruit takes over a year from recruitment to being placed in the field.
Similar to efforts undertaken by Stockton, a common theme that arose among peers was the practice of examining the recruitment process and employing efficiencies wherever possible. Examples of improvements made in peer jurisdictions included:
• Contracting out background checks to a private background firm with quicker turnaround times and conducting background checks in the week following the exams • Eliminating background check requirements that rule out candidates otherwise qualified for the profession on the basis of credit history or minor, usually drug-related, offenses • Holding testing every three weeks
• Holding the written exam, physical agility test, and oral board on the same day (compared to four to six weeks for most agencies)
• Outsourcing the written exam
2 After years grappling with officer stress, Stockton police opens new 'wellness unit'. Recordnet.com, 2/ 23/23. Accessed 10/3/23.
Attachment A
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In addition, one City has developed the strategy of finding recruits who are service minded in unlikely places. Instead of focusing on the traditional police recruiting majors like criminal justice, they expand their search to computer science, English, and mathematics majors, and look to other fields that service-minded people gravitate to, like teaching and social services.
Continue to Focus on Career Development
The City should continue to ensure that robust opportunities for career development exist at every level of the Police Department. The following ideas arose among peers for prioritizing career development and training:
• Special Assignments: One City placed nearly half its officers in special assignments (e.g., detectives, motorcycle officers, school resource officers, narcotics investigations). This reportedly helped retention because officers could exercise control over the direction of their career, take advantage of growth opportunities, and leave patrol if they wanted to. City staff reported the City makes special assignments available to officers.
• Rotational Assignments: One City implemented rotational assignments to ensure that all positions were reasonably available to all interested officers. • Fair Advancement: One City reported success with implementing a promotion review board staffed with personnel who were not part of the police department and requiring a test to advance. This reportedly limited bias and helped to recruit women to sworn positions. 3 Finding While crime has reduced over the life of the Measure, the outcomes of Measure A are not clearly or consistently reported to the community.
Recommendation
More clearly define what success looks like for the Measure.
Develop and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) that are focused on outcomes.
Pursue opportunities to improve impact and performance reporting to the public.
The Measure A Citizens’ Advisory Committee should resume annual reporting.
There is no single place where a City staff member or member of the public can obtain a clear or holistic understanding of the impact of Measure A. Staff report to the Committee on a regular basis, but these reports are only made available to the public when a Committee meeting is held.
Committee meetings are often unable to be held due to a lack of quorum or members being unavailable to meet. In 2023, the Committee has only met once. The City also separately tracks crime and public safety measures specific to OVP and the Police Department (e.g., weekly shootings, homicide data, and recidivism among individuals involved in gangs). The Police Department also maintains a public-facing dashboard that includes key public safety performance measures. However, these metrics are not reported in a way that allows the community to understand and track the success of the Measure over time. Due to the importance of the Measure, the City should develop a coherent, comprehensive, and consistent picture of Measure A performance and be able to track large-scale progress toward the Measure’s goals to enhance community understanding.
Attachment A
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Defining Success and Tracking KPIs
The City has not clearly defined outcomes or KPIs to track the success of the Measure holistically, clearly, and consistently over time. For example, although a reduction in crime is an indicator of Measure A success, there is not currently a performance reporting structure that allows the City to clearly describe the causal relationship between that reduction and the revenue from the Measure.
Without clear goals and related KPIs, it is challenging for City leadership to objectively understand how effectively the City is using Measure A funds. As the City continues to recover from bankruptcy and looks to the future of this revenue, it will be important to define what success looks like more clearly for all elements of the Measure. The goals of the Measure should be clearly defined and evaluated over time to demonstrate the impact of these additional funds to the community and support data-driven decision making. The City should inventory the performance measures that currently exist and align them with Measure A where possible, with an emphasis on developing and reporting KPIs that are focused on outcomes. Among reviewed peers, one city is planning to hire a staff person dedicated to designing and tracking performance measures that will track the impact of their measure.
In addition, the City does not currently measure the public’s perception of public safety. It is important to track this because the Measure is intended in part to increase the public’s perception of public safety. Understanding changes in the public’s perception could also provide additional insight that would inform strategic planning.
Improving Public Reporting
Although the City maintains a Measure A webpage on the Stockton website with relevant reports, Measure information, and Committee meeting minutes, the City should pursue opportunities to continuously improve Measure A impact reporting to the public to ensure that the good stewardship of the funds is communicated effectively. The following jurisdictions with similar measures offer examples of public reporting structures that each contain some elements of effective reporting:
• San Mateo County ma
intains a separate website to publish news on Measure K, including key financial information on revenues and expenditures broken down by category. • T he City of Roseville pub lishes a list of Measure B uses, including essential services maintained, services restored, services added, and a breakdown of specific ongoing uses versus specific one-time expenditures.
• T he City of Oceanside pu blishes summaries of Measure X Public Safety -related expenditures and yearly spending plans annually online.
An effective community-f acing website could include the following elements, many of which Stockton currently makes available on the Measure A page of the City website:
• An overview of the tax measure and its purpose
• Expenditure guidelines to show a breakdown of how the funds will be used (see also Finding 1 ) • Outcome measures and KPIs over time that show the progress and impact of the measure in the community
• Information about the Committee, including membership, annual reports, minutes, etc. • Opportunities for community input related to the Measure • Calendars with key dates related to the Measure, such as public hearings Attachment A
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• Links to resources such as quarterly or annual reports • Frequently asked questions to support knowledge building around common questions or concerns related to the measure
• Contact information to make it clear to the community who to contact with questions A community-facing website can also be made more user-friendly by using plain language and including visual aids where possible, such as charts or graphs.
Resuming Committee Reporting
As of the September 27th Committee meeting, which was cancelled due to lack of quorum, the Committee has not produced an annual report since FY18. It is the responsibility of the Committee to provide oversight on the use of Measure funds. The annual Committee report provides an important progress snapshot on the impact of the Measure. The annual report is a tool to communicate the impact of the Measure and improvements to public safety clearly and regularly, and it is difficult to conclude the Measure’s impact without it. To further improve the reporting and compliance environment, it is important that the Committee resumes publishing annual reports.
Attachment A
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MANAGEMENT RESPONSES
Finding 1: While expenditure processes appear to comply with Measure A provisions, the City does not have updated expenditure guidelines to define allowable expenditures, proactively plan for future use of the funds, or support tracking of expenditures. This contributes to limited visibility into the impact of the Measure among the public and creates a lack of clarity among City staff for what constitutes allowable use of the funds.
Recommendation Management Response/Implementation Plan
A Update expenditure guidelines to clarify which public safety costs are allowable or unallowable and use those guidelines to inform improved expenditure tracking and proactive strategic planning for the use of the funds.
Measure A was approved to provide funding for Stockton’s Marshall Plan on Crime (Marshall Plan) and the ballot language began with “to pay for law enforcement and other prevention services such as those described in Stockton’s Marshall Plan on Crime…” The Marshall Plan and the initial implementation plan approved by the City Council on February 25, 2014, provided expenditure guidelines for the public safety expenses. The Marshall Plan recommends the establishment of the Office of Violence Prevention, adding police officers, establishing Neighborhood Betterment Teams, and various other approaches to reduce violence. Since 2013, all the major efforts and many of the smaller tasks outlined in the Marshall Plan have been implemented through the utilization of Measure A dollars.
As the City moves forward with the extension of Measure A, it will be beneficial to move from these broad guidelines toward more specific expenditure guidelines to take a more proactive approach to strategic spending of the funds. The Administrative Services Department, Police Department, and Office of Violence Prevention will collaborate to develop guidelines that will more thoroughly outline what kind of expenditures are a best use of Measure A funds.
Attachment A
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B Develop methods to track the use of Measure A funds more consistently over time to improve visibility into fund use.
The updated guidelines discussed in Recommendation #1 will be developed for the public safety costs as well as expenditures intended to restore other City services and bankruptcy related activities. These guidelines will add structure to the allocation of funds which will aid in tracking the specific uses of Measure A revenues.
The law enforcement and crime prevention expenditures from Measure A revenues in the Police and Office of Violence Prevention departments have been tracked and reported out since the beginning of Measure A revenues. Projects identified as mission critical and funded with Measure A dollars have also been tracked and reported out.
Methods of reporting include quarterly program and financial updates to the Measure A Advisory Committee (committee), annual audit reports, annual agreed upon procedure reports, the annual budget, and annual reports prepared by the committee. Reports on the use of Measure A revenues for restoring City services and bankruptcy related activities were provided to the committee on October 3, 2022, and September 9, 2020.
All of these reports are available on the City’s website.
Section 3 of Ordinance No. 2013-07-09-1601 (hereafter “the ordinance”) enacting the Measure A tax states that the purpose of the ordinance is “To provide transactions and use tax revenue to the City to be used for the general governmental purposes of the City, with any transactions and use tax revenue received being placed into the City’s general fund.”
The Performance Audit suggests a separate fund to track the measure expenditures.
Adopting this recommendation would create a risk that the City would be noncompliant with Section 3 of the ordinance and the legal aspect of Measure A as a general tax (not a special tax). Section 3 compliance approaches that compromise between more thoroughly documenting and publicizing the direct positive effects of Measure A on the City but do not restrict or separate the funds, are currently being assessed.
C Continue to strengthen processes for strategically and proactively planning for the use of Measure A revenues over time.
Measure A revenues are General Fund revenues – as such they receive highly proactive and strategic planning during the annual budget development process. The General Fund is the focus of the City’s Long-Range Financial Plan (LRFP) and is where the most possible scrutiny is placed on the allocation of resources.
Proactively and strategically planning for the use of Measure A revenues will be part of developing more specific expenditure guidelines for long-term uses of the funds. The updated guidelines will add structure to the annual budget process of allocating General Fund dollars and aid in communicating the specific uses of Measure A revenues to City Council and the citizens.
Attachment A
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Finding 2: Due to challenges with recruitment and retention of police officers, the City has not been able to consistently ac hieve target Police Department staffing levels or use at least 65% of Measure A funds on law enforcement or crime prevention.
Recommendation Management Response/Implementation Plan
A Consider how the City could use Measure A funds to incentivize recruitment and retention of police officers.
Many of the proposals made in this section of the Performance Audit Report are being considered by staff. The City is working on a retention plan funded through savings from Measure A law enforcement and crime prevention expenditure budgets. In addition, the new expenditure guidelines that are being developed will outline retention and recruitment related efforts as an allowable and encouraged use of funding.
B Maintain a formal recruitment and retention plan for the Police Department that includes strategies for reducing turnover.
Stockton and the nation face ongoing challenges in law enforcement recruitment and retention, underscoring the need for innovative solutions and robust support systems.
Stockton is continually updating and refining its recruitment and hiring strategies to remain at the forefront of this need, recognizing the importance of adapting to evolving circumstances and ensuring the safety and security of the community.
The Police Department has already revised its recruiting strategy by working with the Human Resources Department to streamline the hiring and background check process.
Streamlined improvements included testing for the trainee position every month instead of every three months, establishing an ongoing hiring list, and establishing a process to hold examinations outside of California. These process improvements have almost doubled the Department’s applications received and reduced the time it takes to hire an applicant by approximately 3 months. The Police Department is also actively recruiting nationally for qualified applicants in this shallow pool environment. The recruiting plan started with increasing the intentionality of recruiting efforts by assigning a Lieutenant and two Sergeants full-time to recruiting duties. The Recruiting Unit strategies include leveraging relationships with universities and the U.S. Military to recruit qualified applicants. Additionally, the recruiting plan has included using social media, geo-fence marketing, and consistent presence at community events in the region. The Police Department has also contracted with a vendor for an online recruiting campaign using video production, photography, and a recruitment website. In FY 2023-24, a paid Senior Cadet I/II program is being implemented. Paid Cadets will be trained throughout all areas of the department and will aid in recruiting efforts.
The Department believes that by bolstering training opportunities, emphasizing employee wellness, and regular assessment of remuneration of employees of all levels through the labor negotiation cycle, we will experience a reduction in turnover. The Police Department will codify the recruiting and retention efforts into a plan that can be reviewed annually.
Attachment A
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C Continue to evaluate compensation with each labor negotiation cycle to ensure that compensation is competitive with nearby cities.
The City has completed market studies for employee compensation with each labor negotiation cycles (about every 2-3 years). It is the City’s goal to bring employees to the median of market. The Stockton Police Officers Association agreement approved by the City Council in 2022 included a 12% market adjustment. As part of the effort to prepare for next labor negotiation cycle in 2025, the City will be reviewing the benchmarks used in the market study including the comparable cities studied.
D Continue to focus on efforts to prioritize officer wellness. The Police Department has established an Organizational Wellness Unit that consists of two dedicated sworn officers and a part-time employee. This program is in addition to the City of Stockton’s Employee Assistance Program. Recently, the Department assigned a Lieutenant to oversee the Unit to ensure all staff are encouraged to take advantage of its services. The Department is in the process of onboarding a second clinician to assist in addressing the wellness needs of staff.
The Department will consider its approach in wellness and expanding services will become an allowable and encouraged use of Measure A/B funds in the new expenditure Guidelines.
E Continue to evaluate opportunities to streamline the application process and increase the application-to-hire conversion rate.
The Police and Human Resources departments have streamlined the application process by eliminating fields that can be captured during the background process.
Recruiters take devices to all recruiting events and support applicants who are encouraged to submit applications on-the-spot.
Data is key to analyzing how to streamline the application process and increase the application-to-hire rate. An annual review of the hiring process as well as comparing the fruitfulness of different methods of recruiting will be conducted annually before the end of each fiscal year to continue strategizing recruitment efforts.
Attachment A
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F Continue to enhance opportunities for career development at every level of the Police Department.
Career development will continue to be a top priority for the Police Department and City management. The Police Department offers volunteer cadet and sentinel programs as a pipeline for youths and adults to become part of the Department. The Department has established a paid Police Explorer position which allows persons from 16 years old through college to work part time at the police department while going to school. This program will provide a pipeline to a career with the Department as it has in other agencies.
The Department is working with the University of the Pacific to establish a supervisory training course to help in the career development of our leaders. Added staffing provided by enhanced recruitment efforts will allow for special assignments to be filled, resulting in career development as assignment availabilities and promotional opportunities present themselves. Additionally, promotional opportunities will organically present themselves through retirements and attrition. As more new employees are retained, more opportunities will arise for specialized assignments, and further training will be outlined as an allowable and encouraged Measure B expenditure in the new expenditure guidelines.
Finding 3: While crime has reduced over the life of the Measure, outcome-based performance measures to evaluate the impact of Measure A have not been regularly reported to the community.
Recommendation Management Response/Implementation Plan
A More clearly define what success looks like for the Measure. Measure A was enacted to provide law enforcement and crime prevention services, bring overall service levels back to a basic level after the bankruptcy, and to allow the City to do so without operating at a deficit. The law enforcement and crime prevention services were defined in the Marshall Plan with the goal of reducing violence. In developing updated expenditure guidelines, the broad goals of the Measure can also be further refined to define success more clearly.
Attachment A
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B Develop and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) that are focused on outcomes.
The City created the Office Performance and Data Analytics (OPDA) in 2020 to establish and implement a comprehensive, integrated performance management program. The OPDA is already assisting the Police Department with tracking public safety statistics. A performance scorecard with key performance indicators is part of the workplan for OPDA. As the scorecards are further developed, the KPIs can be integrated into Measure A reporting.
Some KPIs that might be considered include:
● Increase the number of police hires annually by 5%;
● Experience an annual drop in Non-fatal Injury Shootings of 3%; ● Increase the number of OVP Interventions annually by 5%.
The Neighborhood Betterment Teams already track their outcomes – such as number of abatements performed, and square feet of graffiti removed. In addition, KPIs can be tailored from the OVP data that is already made available regularly to the public.
The OVP operates a robust data tracking and reporting system, holding quarterly meetings throughout the city to share Ceasefire data outcomes. This includes OVP and Stockton Police Department program outcomes, focusing on overall shooting data.
Measure A funding details are not outlined in the community meetings, although this information can be included for transparency. These quarterly meetings are held in addition to the Measure A Committee meetings and the annual City Council strategic planning session.
Program outcome data currently being tracked and reported are as follows:
● Annual OVP recidivism rate; This looks at the rearrest of OVP clients. ● Conflict mediation; to show the number of conflicts and lives saved through OVP interventions.
● Shooting responses; and the number of victims and families served and connected to Victim Service following a shooting incident.
● Communication Interventions; OVP and the Police Department track the number of high-risk clients that attend Ceasefire Call-in events and Safety Meetings. ● Community Engagement; OVP tracks the number of community engagements and how many people are interacted with through resources and food. ● Addressing Root Cause of Violence; Research shows that the most effective violence prevention programs address the root cause of violence, which is Attachment A
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connected to human basic needs. OVP’s intensive case management does just that, and those outcomes are tracked and reported on:
○ Employment attainment
○ Emergency and permanent housing
○ Education attainment
○ Driver's license/ID attainment
○ Vital records attainment (SSN card & birth certificates) ○ Addressing trauma through clinical support
○ Providing perishable and non-perishable foods
○ The number of clients that attend cognitive behavioral training ○ The number of clients taken on field trips outside of Stockton, to show them there is more to life in their neighborhood.
● Client Success Stories; OVP reports on clients who have found success and graduated from the OVP program. This involves sharing the data and inviting the client to speak to the city council and the community.
The City will look into making these sources of data into a regularly updated dashboard that is integrated into the Measure A website to provide key success information to the public.
C Pursue opportunities to improve impact and performance reporting to the public.
The City has been making improvements to performance reporting since the creation of OPDA. Each February, City accomplishments are reported to the City Council in an easy-to-read format before their strategic planning session. These accomplishments include activities related to Measure A, but do not separate out the Measure A accomplishments. The City will consider applying a similar approach for reporting Measure A performance based on the guidelines and KPIs developed. Discussions are underway to scope out a way to make Measure A’s importance to basic City services more evident to the public.
Attachment A
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D The Measure A Citizens Advisory Committee should resume annual reporting.
The City agrees with this recommendation but cannot compel the committee to comply with the annual report requirement. Unlike other oversight committees, the Measure A Advisory Committee opted to prepare their own annual reports. The committee completed the last report in August of 2019 for FY 2017-18 and has not drafted another report since then. City staff has ensured that the requirement is part of every committee meeting agenda. The September 2023 committee meeting agenda included three (3) draft annual reports prepared by City staff on behalf of the committee to get caught up on the requirement. The committee was unable to hold a meeting to discuss these draft reports due to a lack of quorum. The committee members assigned to the annual report subcommittee have not responded to a separate request to review these staff-prepared annual reports. The FY 2021-22 Annual Report will also be drafted by City staff and presented at a future committee meeting.
Attachment A