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Special City Council Strategic Planning Meeting Saturday, February 7, 2009 Page 6 increased civil liability litigation related to "use of force;" and expressed concern. with impacts in reduced officer training and decreased overall service to citizens. Anticipated MVHC-Specific Reduction = $174,000 plus Chief Sletner opined that the Police Departrraent would be bearing the brunt of cuts if the City realized the full $400,000 cut from the State of MN, requiring some or all of the following options to be implemented: ^ Eliminate the Community Service Officer (CSO) program, with officers on the street needed to pick those additional responsibilities, impacting response times to crimes in progress. Chief Sletner noted that CSO's perform a variety of details that allow officers to focus on crime prevention areas, including detox transports; security vehicles and awaiting tows of impounded vehicles; vehicle shuttling for maintenance; court runs; prisoner transport; bank' deposits for Finance; and errands for Administration. ^ Eliminate volunteer program presence (i.e., park patrols; Police Explorer program, etc.) ^ Digital Recording rooms reduced, of which she's a strong advocate to maintain ^ Citizen on-line reporting, similar to the programs already done by the Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul ^ No access to a golf cart to provide transportation for seniors volunteering for programs Chief Sletner advised that the above service level reductions would need to be implemented at the same time that crime statistics indicate increased crime trends from 2007 - 2009, with those statistics as follows: From 2007 to 2009 Cajlendar Year Robbery increased by 31 Aggravated Assault increased by 16% Auto thefts increased by 21.5% Shoplifting/General theft increased by 9.7% Narcotic incidents & arrests increased by 18% Chief Sletner further noted that other impacts to service levels would include: ^ A ten day waiting period for Police Reports from archives and increased waiting time for the public to see an office to make a report, with current wait time approximately 30 minutes ^ Increased workload for front staff and technicians, which had originally prompted additional records maintenance staffing ^ Increased delay in processing BCA validation reports and suspended files ^ Impacts to other departments and agencies ^ One less officer to assist Fire calls ^ No volunteer personnel for the Parks and Recreation Department to provide security crowd control and traffic direction for community events/activities ^ Reduced service levels to the Public Works Department for traffic enforcement and traffic counts