COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

 

COUNTYWIDE VEHICLE THEFT TASK FORCE

   

DATE:

October 12, 2005

BOARD MEETING DATE:

November 8, 2005

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

   

FROM:

Sheriff Don Horsley

   

SUBJECT:

Countywide Vehicle Theft Task Force FY 2005-06 Budget
 

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a resolution approving the Countywide Vehicle Theft Task Force (VTTF) FY 2005-06 Budget, totaling $860,058, as recommended by the VTTF Advisory Board.

 

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Commitment: County and local governments effectively communicate, collaborate and develop strategic solutions to regional issues.

Goal 7: Maintain and enhance the public safety of all residents and visitors.

 

BACKGROUND:

Operating under the administration of the Countywide Narcotics Task Force (CNTF), the VTTF was established in 1994 for the purpose of reducing incidents of vehicle theft and increasing the arrests and prosecutions of vehicle theft suspects. The VTTF coordinates the activities of County and regional state law enforcement agencies involved in the prevention and investigation of vehicle thefts; provides intensive theft detection, criminal investigation, surveillance, apprehension and arrest of suspects involved in vehicle theft activity; provides ongoing technical and investigative support to individual police departments investigating vehicle theft crimes; and provides both law enforcement investigation training, and theft prevention education to a variety of community groups.

 

The VTTF is comprised of

   

 

One special agent supervisor (currently a Sheriff’s Office Sergeant)

 

One special agent assigned from the Sheriff’s Office

 

One patrol officer from the California Highway Patrol

 

One police officer from a city police department on a rotating basis (currently the South San Francisco Police Department)

 

The Advisory Board, composed of County and city law enforcement officials, oversees activities of the VTTF. At present, Sheriff Don Horsley chairs the Advisory Board, and Supervisor Jerry Hill is the Board representative. Other members include District Attorney James Fox, Captain Bridgette Lott of the California Highway Patrol, and Chief Mark Raffaelli of South San Francisco Police Department. Lieutenant Mark Wyss of the Sheriff’s Office is the Joint Task Force Commander for both the VTTF and the Countywide Narcotics Task Force (CNTF).

VTTF’s annual operating budget is self-contained within a special trust fund. Funding derives primarily from Vehicle Code Section 9250.14 which authorizes the County to collect a $1 fee from vehicle registrations to pay for investigation activities. The County has designated the VTTF as the coordinator of those activities. However, the County is still required to issue an annual fiscal year end report to the State Controller summarizing the total revenues received by the County and the total expenditures by the County for the immediately preceding fiscal year. The information in VTTF’s FY 2005-06 Annual Budget, already reviewed and approved by the Advisory Board, will form the basis for the required fiscal report.

 

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:

Key performance indicators have been tracked and reported since the inception of the VTTF. Each year approximately 30 - 40 direct arrests are made. Additionally, the VTTF assists city police departments in approximately 150 investigations and arrests each year, by providing specialized crime analysis, officer training, surveillance, undercover operations support, and theft-ring intelligence.

Throughout all years of tracking, the County’s percentage of statewide vehicle theft (about 1.2%) remains less than half (averaging approximately 40%) of the County’s percentage of statewide registered vehicles (about 2.6%). Discouragingly, in 2004 vehicle thefts increased by 5% statewide, 9% in the nine Bay Area counties, and 27% in San Mateo County.

Fortunately, there was a 2.9% decrease during the first half of 2005 (latest statistical period available), compared with the same period for the previous year. In the area of recovering stolen vehicles, the state’s average is 89%, while the County achieved a recovery rate of 95%, a 51 % increase from the previous year.

In the past, the VTTF was forced to reduce an analyst position, which was the catalyst for proactive enforcement activities supporting the original mission of theft reduction. In FY 2004-05, a reduction of one special agent position was necessary, which has diverted focus to a “resource and assist” model for all County law enforcement agencies.

In an effort to reduce the percentage of stolen vehicles in the County, the VTTF Commander will encourage a meeting with department heads from the jurisdictions experiencing the highest percentages of auto theft. The objective of the meeting will be to develop and implement a collaborative campaign to combat vehicle theft in designated jurisdictions.

 

DISCUSSION:

The VTTF fulltime workforce is comprised of one supervising special agent and three special agents. Administrative oversight and support are provided by the CNTF/VTTF Joint Commander (10% time), and by additional portions of time of two existing Legal Office Specialists (25% time each) and an existing Sheriff’s Financial Crimes & Administrative Sergeant (10% time) who primarily works narcotics operations. Additional expenses include officer overtime pay, operating expenses, County Service Charges, and vehicle replacement.

The Advisory Board and Commander worked with the California State Assembly in an effort to introduce legislation that would increase the DMV surcharge fees from $1.00 to $2.00., but later learned the legislation would not be supported this year.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

The VTTF FY 2005-06 Annual Budget total (gross appropriations) is $860,058, an increase of $16,893 (approx. 2%) over FY 2004-05. This increase is due to the rising cost of agent salaries and benefits. The workload is likely to remain consistent despite the reduction of one city special agent position during FY 2004-05. Should an upsurge in the workload take place, increasing the overtime budget will be required in order to compensate.

The VTTF operates at no net cost to participating agencies. Salary reimbursements for Sheriff’s Office personnel and shared rental space have been included in the Sheriff’s Office FY 2005-06 Budget.

 

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VTTF Advisory Board Members