COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

DATE:

January 5, 2006

BOARD MEETING DATE:

January 24, 2006

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

4/5

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Sheriff Don Horsley

SUBJECT:

Transfer of New Avoid The 23 Grant ($324,546) Appropriation and Revenue to Daly City Police Department

Recommendation

Approve a Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) in the amount of $324,546, reducing both appropriation and revenue for the new FY 2005-06 AVOID The 23 Grant in the Sheriff’s FY 2005-06 Budget, for the purpose of transferring administration to the City of Daly City Police Department.

Vision Alignment

This aligns with Vision 2010 Commitment No. 7 – protect and enhance the public safety of all residents and visitors; as well as Commitment Nos. 20 and 22, related to effective decision-making and multi-jurisdictional strategic approaches to critical issues affecting the entire County.

Background

The State Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) administers an annual grant for the operation of holiday traffic checkpoints and roving traffic officer teams, designed to reduce the number of accidents, injuries and deaths caused by persons driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol and/or drugs, in all California counties. This well-known holiday DUI “Avoid” program is known as “Avoid the 23” in San Mateo County.

In FY 2004-05, with concurrence from all City police departments, the Sheriff’s Office assumed administrative responsibility for the Avoid-The-23 Grant. With support from State OTS, City police chiefs, and the local California Highway Patrol, San Mateo County embarked on an innovative restructuring of the AVOID Grant, from a program where grant funds were primarily used for publicity and consulting costs, to one where the majority of funds were used to reimburse officer overtime costs for the extra holiday checkpoints and strike teams. In the year 2005, a total of nine DUI holiday checkpoints were successfully operated within the County. These checkpoints were staffed in collaboration with Sheriff’s Office and other law Enforcement agencies within the County.

The Daly City Police Department currently administers another OTS grant which funds motorcycle traffic patrol officers throughout the County. The Sheriff’s Office was among several jurisdictions which received new motorcycles through this program. Both grants require countywide coordination of police and Sheriff’s agency personnel to staff a number of special traffic-related events throughout the year – for the DUI checkpoints and teams in the case of Avoid The 23, and for other similar traffic-patrol-related special enforcement details, in the case of Daly City’s grant.

While both grant programs have been successful, one common problem encountered has been the coordination of staffing assignments and personnel shifts for the special traffic events. All law enforcement agencies involved have a limited number of officers who can be available for working special shifts at any given time, and scheduling conflicts between the two grants have arisen on several occasions. It was determined by the County Police Chiefs and Sheriff’s Association that it would be beneficial for one agency to administer both grants, which would allow improved countywide coordination of scheduling various agency personnel for special traffic enforcement details.

The Sheriff’s Office is currently administering a large number of complex grants, including the countywide Homeland Security grants and several major grants for the Forensic Laboratory. Daly City Police Department is already administering one OTS grant, and is also very familiar with Avoid The 23 requirements. Chief Gary McLane has offered to assume administrative responsibility for both grants, and the Sheriff’s Office believes this is a good solution for the scheduling conflict issue. State OTS has been briefed and has no objection to the administrative transfer.

Discussion

The FY 2004-05 Avoid grant already administered by the Sheriff’s Office carried through the recent Christmas/New Year holiday checkpoints. The new FY 2005-06 grant begins in January, with the first holiday activity beginning on the Memorial Day weekend in May, and there have been no expenditures against the new grant as yet. Thus, timing is excellent to transfer the grant administration at this point.

State OTS will be formally notified of the transfer. Daly City Police Department will be responsible for receiving the grant, managing and reporting back to the State. Sheriff’s Office will still continue to participate in the Avoid the 23 campaigns, as one of many law enforcement agencies. Any overtime expenses incurred by the Sheriff’s Office will be reimbursed from this grant by Daly City Police Department.

Fiscal Impact

The requested ATR eliminates both the FY2005-06 grant appropriation ($324,546) and equal corresponding revenue, from the Sheriff’s Office budget. The City of Daly City will make a corresponding addition to their Police Department budget, adding the grant to their budget. These transactions provide a proper financial trail for State OTS grant administration purposes, to support the administrative transfer. There is no impact on net County cost within the Sheriff’s Office or the County for this action, as both appropriations and revenues are reduced equally.

Avoid the 23 Grant

30533

4176

$64,705

30533

4629

$34,841

30533

5191

$4,000

30533

5343

$50,000

30533

5726

$21,000

30533

5735

$5,500

30533

5816

$144,500

Total

$324,546