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The Mayor and City Council shall discuss and possibly take action to provide consent to submit a grant application to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program (CHP) in an amount not to exceed $250,000 for the hiring of two officers; a Crime Prevention Officer and a Youth Liaison Officer. Consent to submit an application includes completion of all necessary paperwork for the application process and designates the City Manager to sign all documents. There is a progressively higher matching requirement for each year of the grant for a maximum City contribution of $285,527. Discussion and Action.
AGENDA ITEM DESCRIPTION
Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnership and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime rather than simply responding to crimes once they have been committed, community policing concentrates on preventing crime and eliminating the atmosphere of fear it creates. Earning the trust of the community and make those individual stakeholders in their own safety enables law enforcement to be understand and address both the needs of the community and the factors that contribute to crime.
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) announced the application period for the 2016COPS Hiring Program. The funding allows agencies to increase their community policing capacity, problem solving and crime prevention efforts through the hiring and re-hiring of full-time sworn law enforcement officers.
2016CHP grants will cover up to 75 percent of the approved entry level salary and benefits for three years for newly hired full-time sworn officer positions. A minimum of 25 percent local cash match is required with a maximum federal contribution of $125,000 per position over the three year grant period. In addition, if the grant is awarded, each officer position must be maintained for a minimum period of 12 months following the conclusion of the three year grant period. This means additional officer positions should be added to your agency's law enforcement with state and/or local funds over and above the number of locally funded officer positions that would have existed in absence of the grant. While hiring military veterans is not a grant requirement under 2016 CHP, applicants who commit to taking active steps to recruit, hire, and deploy at least one military veteran will receive additional consideration for funding.
If the Mayor and Council would only like to consider an application for one officer the grant application would be for $125,000 and the city match will not exceed $142,764 for the grant period.
According to the May 4, 2016 Washing Post in article entitled “The White House has some unexpected ideas about reducing crime,” stated from an economic perspective, the goal of an efficient criminal justice system is to maximize the safety of citizens and minimize criminal activity while also limiting the direct and indirect costs of the criminal justice policies to individuals, communities and the economy. Reform should offer an improvement to current practice, through increasing safety, rebuilding communities, improving economic opportunity or reducing expenditures or other social costs.
The Maricopa Police Department, in alignment with the President’s 21st Century Policing seeks funding for a Crime Prevention Officer and a Youth Liaison Officer. The Crime Prevention Officer would assist residents and commercial businesses with Crime Free Initiatives, CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) evaluations, and assist detectives with property crimes. The Youth Liaison Officer would work directly with the School Resource Officers, and offer mentioning opportunities where youth gather like the skate park. Additional items to be addressed include working with the homeless youth population, assist beat officers, partner with the courts an alternative prosecution practices and assist on identifying early warning signs for students at risk.
This item will be presented by Steve Stahl, Police Chief.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends Mayor and City Council provide consent to submit a grant application to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program (CHP) in an amount not to exceed $250,000 for the hiring of two officers; a Crime Prevention Officer and a Youth Liaison Officer. Consent to submit an application includes completion of all necessary paperwork for the application process and designates the City Manager to sign all documents. There is a progressively higher matching requirement for each year of the grant for a maximum City contribution of $285,527.