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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 20, 2012 3 Sheriff Bostrom announced that within the communities they serve, there were 132 Night to Unite parties, which is up from last year's 116 registered parties. Councilmember Holmes stated that the Sheriff's Department does a good job of being professional when responding to calls but a real connection to the community is still lacking. She indicated that she believes there is too much emphasis placed on the Night to Unite event considering there are more neighborhoods not participating than those that are participating. Sheriff Bostrom explained that in terms of providing neighborhood services, serving the City of Arden Hills is a"beat". When a patrol officer works a beat, they should get out of their squad cars and talk face-to-face with residents and business owners. That practice may have happened more in years past than it does today, so the purpose behind Night to Unite is to try getting back to officers and residents communicating. Councilmember Holden stated that she thinks there is plenty of communication taking place between officers and those working in the commercial areas. She thinks the problem is that residents are not seeing enough of officers driving through neighborhoods. Sheriff Bostrom noted that it is beneficial for him to meet with cities to learn what the community expectations are so he knows how to accommodate those expectations. Mayor Grant stated that he would like to discuss the police budget. He has been on the City Council for 12 years, and during his tenure, he has seen new deputies added every few years. His concern is that Arden Hills' population has not increased, nor does he think the crime rate has increased. He is sensitive to additional officers being added because he does not see the need, and he does not feel it is as useful for Arden Hills as it is for other cities to have added police staff. The cities participating in the police services contract are treated as a whole, but he thinks the needs of each city are different. Sheriff Bostrom indicated that sharing police services is a good way to share resources. He noted that factors such as `calls for service' are in the formula to determine fees, but maybe the formula needs to be revisited to ensure that the City is getting the services it pays for. He stated that other cities, like Roseville and White Bear Lake, feel that Arden Hills, and all the contract communities, are getting a good deal under the contract. Councilmember Werner thanked the Sheriff for the ride-along that he participated in last month. He was impressed with the equipment in the squad car. Mayor Grant commented that a ride-along provides a good exchange of information between the participant and the officer. Sheriff Bostrom noted that the Sheriff's Department is working on a system that will allow for computer-aided dispatch. Such a system would maintain a database of information that would be available to the public in the form of a web-based dashboard tool. For example, a person hears sirens at 2:00 a.m.; that person could later look at the dashboard online and read about the call. Police calls are public information, so it makes sense for the public to be able to access the information.