COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

SHERIFF’S OFFICE

DATE:

March 17, 2008

BOARD MEETING DATE:

March 25, 2008

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Sheriff Greg Munks

SUBJECT:

Agreement With the City of East Palo Alto for Law Enforcement and Public Safety Communication Services

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a Resolution authorizing the President of the Board of Supervisors to execute an Agreement with the City of East Palo Alto, including the negotiation of any minor adjustments not significantly impacting services, costs, or payments, for a one-year term from July 1^st, 2007 through June 30^th, 2008 with a total reimbursement to the County of $1,353,054.

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Commitment: Ensuring basic health and safety for all residents and visitors. Provide responsive, effective, and collaborative government.

Goal: No 7, 8, and 20: Maintain and enhance the safety of all residents and visitors; protecting the quality of life of the vulnerable elderly and children, who are disproportionately victimized by street crime activity; Provide responsive, effective, and collaborative government; Ensure decisions are based on careful consideration of future impact, rather than immediate relief.

The proposed Agreement aligns with the Shared Vision 2010 Goal by providing quality public safety to all residents and visitors within the city of East Palo and contributing effective law enforcement services in collaboration with the East Palo Alto Police Department, the Office of Public Safety Communications, and the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

FY 2007-08

Target

FY 2008-09

Target

No. of PSC calls processed annually by category:

- Emergency

- Non-Emergency

- Wireless Calls

80,000

555,000

4,000

85,000

565,000

30,000

Percent of High Priority calls dispatched within established time frames:

- Police

- Fire

- Medical

88 %

94 %

92 %

82 %

94 %

92 %

BACKGROUND:

San Mateo County has been providing contract supplemental law enforcement and public safety communication services to the City of East Palo Alto since 1996. The deployment of Sheriff’s Office personnel in the City has historically helped mitigate and reduce serious crime rates against residents, visitors, and property within the City.

DISCUSSION:

The one-year Agreement term is retroactive to July 1, 2007. This will be the final Sheriff’s Office contractual commitment to the City. For FY 2008-09 and beyond, Public Safety Communications will bring their separate agreement with the city, to the Board. The Agreement provides for total reimbursement to the County of $1,353,054 for FY 2007-08. This represents an increase of $15,074 or 1% from FY 2006-07. Sheriff’s Office services and corresponding reimbursements decrease to $567,402 in FY 2007-08 and reimbursement to Public Safety Communications increase to $785,652 in FY 2007-08.

Under the Agreement, Public Safety dispatch services remain unchanged. The Sheriff’s Office assistance will consist of providing direct patrol services for the City. Police Chief Ron Davis intends to initiate to full City-led patrol services by the end of the 3^rd quarter of FY 2007-08 eliminating any Sheriff’s patrol services. The Sheriff’s Office will continue to assist in the investigation of extra-ordinary major crime cases under mutual aid (which is the case for all cities within the County), and will negotiate a reimbursable cost with the City for additional or supplemental investigative work, on a case-by-case basis.

Sheriff’s staffing begins FY 2007-08 with one Sergeant and four Deputies for patrol services and reduces Sheriff’s staffing to a Sergeant and two Deputies on November 1, 2007. Then one Sergeant and two Deputies will be assigned for direct patrol services through March 31, 2008. All Sheriff’s Office services will be eliminated effective April 1, 2008, as the City intends to commence full service policing by that date. Public Safety Communications services will remain unchanged.

The proposed Agreement has been developed in consultation with City officials, and was approved by the City Council and Mayor of East Palo Alto on October 2^nd, 2007. It was agreed that we would review staffing levels and the transition plan one final time in January, 2008. It is now recommended that your Board authorize the President of the Board of Supervisors to complete the execution of the Agreement on behalf of the County. County Counsel has reviewed the final Agreement prior to this recommendation.

FISCAL IMPACT:

By FY 2007-08, the County’s cost of service, and the City’s payment of same, will be fully reimbursed through contractual payments from the City. Revenue from the Agreement is included within the Sheriff’s Office and the County Manager’s Office of Public Safety Communications FY 2007-08 budgets, and the City will make payments for the contractual service through the December 2007 and April 2008 property tax levy, which has been the historical method of payment as provided under the Agreement. Upon completion of contracted Sheriff’s services in April, existing staff in the East Palo Alto Unit will be transferred into other vacant positions within the department, and the vacated East Palo Alto Unit positions will subsequently be eliminated in the FY 2008-09 Sheriff’s Office Budget. Public Safety Communications services are not impacted by this change, and will continue to be provided through to June 30^th under the Agreement.

CC: Peggy Jensen, Deputy County Manager of Community Services

Jaime Young, Director of Public Safety Communications Manager