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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday, August 12, 2019 <br /> Page 7 <br /> Councilmember Etten asked if the Criminal Sexual Conduct Investigator is a low- <br /> er cost because that person is already on staff and does not need some of those <br /> additional pieces of training. <br /> Chief Mathwig indicated the Council will see in the next couple of weeks a re- <br /> quest to accept a grant from the Ramsey County attorney's office for salary and <br /> benefits which is a cost not to exceed $89,000 and is just the salary and benefits <br /> for that person. <br /> Councilmember Willmus explained with respect to the police department, a big <br /> part of the conversation last fall was regarding clearance rates, as noted in the re- <br /> marks. He asked with the additional officers, what metrics or measure does the <br /> city have with respect to clearance rates and what did the Chief expect to see <br /> there. <br /> Chief Mathwig noted it is very difficult to predict that but hoped to see improve- <br /> ments with two officers. He noted the Criminal Sexual Conduct Investigator will <br /> be able to take some of the case load off of the other investigators. <br /> Councilmember Etten asked if Chief Mathwig had an idea of how that will bal- <br /> ance out the investigative load. <br /> Chief Mathwig explained for the first year, the grant limitation is working strictly <br /> on sex crimes and sex trafficking. The sex crimes are approximately forty cases <br /> per year. He noted the Roseville police department will be able to more thor- <br /> oughly look at the hotels for sex crimes with a Criminal Sexual Conduct Investi- <br /> gator, which he thought was the tip of the iceberg. <br /> Councilmember Etten noted the city might see an increase in the crime reported <br /> while the police department is digging in more thoroughly to help more people <br /> with added officers. <br /> Chief Mathwig indicated that was correct. <br /> Councilmember Laliberte appreciated the background, utilization of the grant, and <br /> bringing that forward at a future meeting for the Council to dig into. She asked if <br /> there were other scenarios that Chief Mathwig might have looked at that might be <br /> more administrative time spent to clear cases versus the proposal that is officer <br /> based. <br /> Mr. Trudgeon explained the original request was for an investigator and two of- <br /> ficers. Prior to conversations with the county attorney, he was struggling with <br /> how the city could fill and fund all of that and how to get the most impact for the <br /> dollar. As the grant came forward and was developed, he thought it was a great <br /> compromise to get the ball rolling and adding another investigator and very spe- <br />