Thread by @AndyHS

City of Fresno BudgetJune 15, 2020 Budget Hearing (continued) Airport, Fax , Fire and Police Departments will be discussed today. Live on audio but having video technological issues. Councilmembers joking they will need to pre-order dinner as it will be a long day.

Meeting beginning: City Manager Wilma Quan introduces Airport Director Kevin Meikle. He says CARES act allows Airports to use funds however they choose. Coronavirus effected passenger numbers a lot but slowly coming back. @LisaYFlores1 wirh first public comments: can’t find

Line item Budgets online for airport or any other departments. Why not? Staff: can go to finance department there is a subsection where you can find each departments line item info. Next: Jonathon O Brien: (racial slurs shouted by caller) Next: david (racial slurs again)

Arias cuts off rest of public comments after that. @PaulCaprioglio airport is doing well and Kevin’s team is excellent. @Esmeralda_Soria : we all condemn all these racial slurs. Is there a way we can track these calls? These are threats as they used word “kill” Staff: IP address

will be provided to police. Soria: please provide update on this. On line item updates are continued from last year’s version? Staff Henry: yes. Doesn’t reflect any changes due to Coronavirus. Soria: what vacant spots does airport have? Kevin: 14 vacancies. CARES will cover all

of the fiscal year. We will not fill 50% due to lessened passenger activities. And until that increases those won’t be filled. Won’t have to lay off anyone. Fortunate that Covid dollars cover that and keep airport fully open. Four years to spend those Covid dollars. $3.2 million

for debt service $7 million for running airport. A total of $13 million. We won’t need to spend any of the CAREs dollars this fiscal year but need to save for 2021. Soria: can money be used for workforce or internship? Kevin: we can use cares act dollar we can treat it as normal

airport dollars so we can use it for internships. We were doing record revenues but now slowly building up to 30% from a low of 7% due to Covid crisis. Forcast is looking good. 70% allows us to not need any federal dollars. But we are being cautious. If we don’t use full $13 m

It depends as it is fully reimbursable use only. Airport new garage construction has had no effects from coronavirus crisis. Actually below budget due to supply costs being low due to crisis. Already bond provides money. Terminal side: we haven’t secured funding there yet but can

wait. PLA will provide local workers still. @LuisCha70215912 can we use CARE funds to provide social distancing at airports? Kevin: yes. Things like signage , sneeze guards etc have already been done. Solar project is under PLA (project labor agreement). Grant will cover that

as well as smart parking component as well as EV charging stations. Solar will be on top of new garage. We also have a solar farm that already covers 70% of airports electrical needs. Airport staff : telework is being used. Esparza: @D7Esparza if circumstances change how will

CARES dollars spending change as well? Kevin: worse case passenger travel is completely shut down. Cares dollars could cover 100% of fiscal year. We need $21 million bare bones to run. We get $7 million in fixed rents already so we have a cushion. Esparza: for folks like me who

have heard racial slurs. I would still like public to be allowed to weigh in despite these callers earlier. @GarryBredefeld When did turn in passenger levels change? Kevin: steady increase after Memorial Day. Mexico flights are full already. All airlines are going forward.

Airlines requiring masks and clean in between each flight. Masks will be provided if need be. All heading in correct direction. Bredefeld: racist callers are cowards. We need to open city hall to public as they won’t show up in person to spit their racist bile. Hide behind Zoom.

City Manager: we are shooting for June 25th to open City Hall to public with social distancing in place. Caprioglio: PLA has internships etc in there as well as local hire requirements. @MiguelArias_D3 What changes have been done exactly at airport? Kevin: social distancing

Signage and stickers, stanchions directing which way to go; all the way for those arriving on flights as well to baggage area. People will wait outside flights from Mexico for federal inspections. May add tents for winter time. Currently flights are all evening. Multi languages

are used for signage as well as visuals too. You can find budget items online.

Moving on to FAX Transportation Department with @gregorybarfield 445 positions. All federal funding and none from General fund

Public Safety repairs too.Goal is to draw down CARES dollars July 1st.

57% reduction in passenger fares , 6% reduction from Measure C State may impose cuts as well. @D7Esparza Manchester Transit effected? Barfield: finishing up that project such as planter boxes, epoxy on benches so close to finishing up. One contractor we were using was also

Cleaning the cruiseship
In oakland from Covid. We have worked around that though. Bus routes for new schools such as state center. No onsite students except lab attendees. Buses are limited to only ten passengers due to Covid. Jensen/Willow area has not been sorted out yet.

Chavez: Sanger Unified is building a mega campus and FAX needs to work with them. Barfield: yes that was next on list until Covid occurred. Soria: what type of vacancies? Barfield: Bus drivers and mechanics. We were using it as training program. Personnel for bus drivers is

always needed. ISF : internal service have vacancies too such as mechanics. There is a competition for labor between FAX, Public Safety fleets etc as well as private firms looking for Heavy maintenance mechanics. Soria:what can we do to provide a pipeline for these type of worker

Barfield: we are working with State Community colleges and EV bus manufacturer Tecerra to train mechanics. Jim Schaad: often workers move from graveyard shifts move to other city departments as better times are opened. Need more workers at front end. They do get paid better at

Graveyard shift but maybe that needs to be reviewed. Barfield : Public Safety fleet (PD, FD) are purchased /repaired/sold etc. Handi Ride is running at full capacity but limited to 3 rides a month. But riders would probably get bus to themselves as capacity is down.

Allied Health Students will be main users of bus to State Centers such as City College as most other students will be online only classes.State dollars could be reduced 15% that could be an issue. Measure C is reduced 6% as it is part of gas tax. It will go out to taxpayers again

for approval. Scott Mozier and Barfield are on Committee to look at Measure C and we will advocate for our community. Wifi on busses has been tested but there was security issues when we did internally so looking at third party vendor. Soria: Bitwise wanted to work on wifi. What

happened to that? Barfield: @BitwiseInd wanted to create an app. City created its own and we were in middle of testing it when Covid occurred. We got delayed as we focused on teleconferencing for City. This new version Of app will be more user friendly. Smart Cards are being

Trotted out too. Census Ads are not being used on busses. Soria: can city provide own census Ads ? 93706 zip is lagging behind at this time in filling out census forms. @kmkarbassi Herndon cross town 3 route? Barfield: May get delayed from Fall launch to January. Will go from

El Paseo (99) to Peach Ave and hit most of those medical offices. Karbassi: New VMT Law begins July 1 but hurts those buying new houses. Mass transit is great but also can spread pandemics. Barfield: Hand sanitizers on every bus; discourage those with Fevers not to ride; masks

required by drivers and PPE. Cleaning buses frequently. Zero bus drivers have contacted Covid so far. Sneeze guards added too. Karbassi : lawsuit susceptible ? Barfield: monthly meetings with bus drivers as to lessen that. More training than before such as a driver going thru

yellow/red lights. Arias: Covid dollars can’t be used to provide more routes? Barfield: man power issues such as those who are out with worker’s compensation; some have child care problems and so only can work limited times. If we have more workers we add sweeper busses.

FAX Funds 12 police officers at $2 million cost to FAX. They are on standby and cover three shifts including weekends. Call for services is high due to population served. Medical emergencies ; defiant riders ; handled by police officers. PD is trained for social worker type

calls. 15,000 calls by FAX per year to PD.Arias: Is it priority calls since FAX pays for it ? Can I get a break down of those calls by 25th? Karbassi: how does dedicated PD for FAX helpful ? Barfield : yes it is an asset. Panic alarm can be hit at any time for drivers. AriasS

12 officers but we have reduced number of passengers. Have we reduced Officers ? Barfield: no as we have just as many routes as before. Same number of calls even with less passengers. Soria: Fare evaders? Barfied: Fare box now at front of bus so that has been solved on BRT.

City Manager: On Arias’ question asked about reducing PD officers. We were paying for 18 but we did reduce it down to 12 prior to Covid. We think our bus ridership will increase soon. Karbassi: 5th largest city and one of largest in land mass. If there is a reduction in PD how

will that effect safety. Barfield: we came up with 12 using metrics. It will effect driver safety if that is reduced. PD respond to any bus accidents or issues around bus stops. Mentally ill riders are often a factor. 98 busses running at peak times. @GarryBredefeld do we have

Fare evaders ? Very rare now with fare box out in front and reducing rear door entry. Bredefeld: we are not criminalizing the poor as we provide subsidies for students etc. Arias: you Barfield dealt with fare evaders with common sense as well as reducing PD officers without

Reducing safety. Public: yonus Paulos City College has lots of homeless students. He was called mentally ill by those at Veterans Home when I am an advocate. Next:Matthew Gilain would like to meet with FAX on last Mile answer and thinks @BitwiseInd would be a good partner.

Carolina Garza De Luna:$1.25 is anti racist. Transit has historically been racist. City Manager should not roll her eyes when asked to provide data. Next: @LisaYFlores1 fare evasion is very small part of FAX budget. Seems like $2 million to cover PD is duplication of services.

That money could be used for other things such as day care for drivers. Next: Jennifer Rojas said her members use bus a lot. Fare subsidies for students as well as more routes to Westside. Our response to safety is always more PD. Mental issues and medical problems should trigger

professionals specializing in those. Next: @mmwpro63 Matthew Woodward advocates for college students. Unsure if Measure C could get renewed in this financial climate. If we could pass it we could provide free bus fare for entire city.

Next: Another racial slur callers. Arias: sorry. We can’t block idiots from calling in.

Fire Department Budget Hearing now. . Police will be at 1:30 pm. Primary covers fire, medical , water rescue, hazardous materials, Airport, Fig Garden and other Mutual agreements

Fire training , grants , budgets etc also. A reduction in costs due to lack of FD vacations due to shelter in place. 9 vacancies. 296 sworn safety officers hired as well as inspectors. Station 18 construction is $6.9 million

Fire Chief says we are behind peer cities. We are understaffed and are at same levels as that in the 1980’s with twice the population now. Report generated in 2015 and we have completed over 90% of the recommendations. Changed a culture. Training classes and new equipment

2009 caused a reduction in staffing as well as new staffing being recruited and trained. Lowered staffing morale. Two vacancies at fire inspection level still. 14,000 inspections but only 50 % can be achieved. One fire station remodeling a bathroom was estimated at $100,000 but

only $250,000 in budget for entire department for maintenance. Doesn’t go very far. Increase of long term injury or cancer has led to shift replacements. 21 shifts missing a year leading to backfilling without a relief pool. Hire more for relief pool would be $7 million. 53 new

members to cover that. If we hire from more widespread pool of population it will cause extended training schools. Arias: thanks for transparency. Chief: fire station 18 will be open Spring 2021. SAFER Grant status decision was to not apply to city’s financial status during

COVID. Soria asks City Manager why Council wasn’t asked about this first before this decision. Quan said administration made decision. Tim Orman: our apologies. Quan: we didn’t want to apply And then have to decline grant due to Covid. We will have a better ability to use these

grants under better financial situations.( Soria and Quan having testy discussion). Soria: smaller equipment called squads would be better for medical calls. Chief. We are purchasing one in 8 months but staffing would have come with SAFER Grant. We had hoped for 9 squads.

Inspection fees would Provide money but we are understaffed. Staff Henry: Raising fire fees that were approved by Council will go to FFD. This is already included in budget. Not enough to cover new “squad”. True Up of real costs to do inspections is what that is. Jane Sumpter:

Fee increases would be for inspections but not to provide new fire fighters. Department doesn’t pay for itself. It would lessen drain on General Fund as inspection fee would cover that cost. Soria: Long Beach has squad that goes out to help mentally ill. Perhaps we can do some

-thing similar. Chief: we are looking at solar etc for more efficient utility usage. Karbassi: staffing concern in north central district covers Bluff which can have brushfires. SAFER Grant was voted 6-1 by Council to apply. Not acceptable to not apply with out a mayoral veto.

Federal Government Treasury Secretary said money would help to keep Fire Department from
Laying off anyone. But now we can’t apply for SAFER at all. Chavez : we are understaffed. This conversation is happening because trust between administration and Council. Not interested in

an apology. We don’t want to get into Councilmembers throwing obstacles in the way. Esparza: thanks chief for what she does with not enough funds. SAFER Grant would have helped. Incrementalism is not good in this Department. Inspection vacancies is normal? Yes, it is. Need 9

In recruit school to find 5 viable ones. @GarryBredefeld if SAFER Grant was funded how many staff would that create? Chief: three firefighters per day. Bredefeld: administration decided on its own to decide not to apply. They owe apology to every firefighter in City.

Council shouldn’t be fooled by double speak by this administration. Council needs to look at bloated Mayor’s office and find funding for firefighters. Counsel Doug Sloan: Council holds purse strings. Arias: agrees with Bredefeld. Karbassi: urgency on his part as response in his

District is at 60%. Homeless Task Force is needed but social worker/ firefighters can be at risk at a homeless camp. Chief: Long Beach uses paramedics whereas we use EMT. Arias: how much would SAFER grant ? Chief :one million first year. Covers 75% of costs first two years and 30

% after that. Quan: continuing resolution in budget for three months so we can see if new federal relief funding becomes in. Chief : $500,000 requested for COVID funds. Fire calls have gone up 50% from last year. Arias : is a new deployment model needed for FFD? Chief: analysis

was done but would need hiring more staff to go to 12 hour shifts v 2 days on 4 days off. Arias:trust between Council and administration. They took us out of the loop intentionally. Council tried for bring down as much federal dollars as possible. We were blindsided today on

Unilateral decision. We had to probe you to get this info. Quan: we told you on Tuesday. Arias: we should have known back in March. Esparza: what is next Grant Cycle ? Sumpter: December 2020 and March 2021. Esparza: asks Council to hire three more firefighters. Bredefeld:

Motion to move $1 million from Mayors Office and place into Fire Department. Motion approved. Soria: need to get creative with federal Covid dollars

Karbassi: disappointing in what happened. But does not want to take continuing resolution off the table. But we need to be even keeled. Public: @LisaYFlores1 how will Covid effect fire department? Administration should quit if they don’t like doing their jobsNext: Ivanka Saunders

all districts effected and with Climate Change creating hotter fires. Carolina Garza de Luna: hopes Chief will look into Sunnyvale’s use of training PD and FD together. We need to be creative. Kimberly McCoy of Building Heathy Communities says agrees with taking funding from PD

and given to FD. Arias: thanks Fire Chief and says this was different than most budget hearings. Thanked her for being transparent. Council will be back at 1:30 with Police Department budget hearing.

Acting Police Chief Hall on The Zoom call this afternoon.

Chief Hall: crime down 30% property crime down 7%. Shootings are up mostly due to gang activities. Homicides down Organization chart. 92 vacancies with 27 sworn police officers. 10 dispatchers. 2 community officers.

15 frozen positions that we can’t fill. 700+ officers. Had 800+ before. Some 66 other officers are are paid for by other organizations like FAX, Housing Authority, Probation, And Schools. 60 officers are out with long term injuries related or not to work. Available staff is 1.4

per thousand population. Each PD division head will speak. Liddie Carrasco says internal affairs have 9 officers to investigate. Early Alert to Follow Officers to be tracked and intervene if need be before they become an issue.

Review of informal complaints, public info request , run Blue team to track all complaints, training for new sergeants; Policy Procedures Unit is one officer to be sure policies are sent out and training done. ADA compliant; Body Cam Unit: Drone is under that unit. Make sure

Body worn cameras are up to date , officers are using them when they are supposed to do so , cell phones /tablets ; video redaction as need be; hand held radios; Personnel Bureau run polygraph, background checks ,field training for new officers , recruiting , drug testing

Work with labor group; concealed weapons for retired officers; work with COS and City College police academy. Next: Regional Training Center training our own officers on range and other courses as well as rent to outside agencies.

Fiscal Affairs Bureau: manage budget, payroll , contracts , business manager for PD grants; Employee Services Unit: chaplaincy , wellness programs , responds to all critical events ; infectious disease.

Deputy Chief Mike Reid: 16 different sections under Support. division. 328 FTE ( full time equivalence) 150 collateral workers as well as volunteer such as reserve officers. 563 total under these. Communications has ten vacancies. Includes dispatchers.

State determines goal. We hit 70-90% of that goal. State suggests we should hire 45 more employees to this Communication section. Crime Scene section by collecting evidence and photograph/register internally sex offenders. Processed 2500 cases. Record Section is paperless. Is

Faces the public sees if they come down to PD HQ. Statistical data is gathered there to provide to State and Federal. Manage subpoenas that come in. Public Record requests dealt with. Mobil Command center includes crisis negotiations, explosive disposal (Bombs). Negotiations

is the left hand of SWAT that helps and hopes to get a peaceful resolution. Mobile Field Force 83 officers for after riot at protests. Fortunately haven’t had to use in Fresno. 12-15 call outs for SWAT typically. Next: Traffic safety includes Traffic officers. Techs looking for

Evidence after accidents. Hit and Run unit. 1500 in a year. Traffic grants allows other programs such as DUI, jaywalking, decisions for life (educational) for DUI. 1877 went thru and only 27 ended up repeat offender. Tow officer that oversees tow companies. ABC Officer makes

sure stores is complying with CUP. Blood phlebotomist saves money. CHP uses this person too. Saved $100,000 for PD. 9/10 traffic officers per day per shift. Took DUI drivers off the road. Skywatch 1600 flight hours. 38 second response time. 192 arrests with Chopter. Last section

is Special Response such as canine unit. 1725 calls for service for canine. Dogs were only had to attack 25 times. Mainly alert where suspect is. Community Policing event that go to parades etc. all funding was donatedProperty Evidence is stored until needed. FAX unit 835,000

Ride bus a month. 350 arrested. 2.3% of calls lead to arrest. Next: Crisis and mental health unit. Go to homeless encampment with trained social workers. 40 hour crisis Deescalation class to 17 officers. Next: Phil Cooley of Patrol Division speaks. Five policing districts.

112 sq miles. 1200 calls for service a day. Patrol is the background of the PD. Staffing levels have been the same last ten years. 12 officers at one time in each Of the five districts. We need more for a city this side. One downtown unit including bicycle unit. Community

Partnerships in SW Fresno where partner with schools where officers worked with students tutoring. Coffee with a Cop. SE Fresno Hmong Police meetings. Turkey give aways. Mending Broken Communities. NW district received hockey equipment from NHL for youth team.

Homeless Taskforce: 1.6% of homeless contacted wanted further help. Recycling Task Force. Student Resource Officer at schools.

Next:Investigation Division Pat Farmer four divisions. Family Justice :sexual assaults including child pornography. Domestic violence: partners with Marjoree Mason center. Child abuse includes infant deaths. Missing persons unit. 3000 cases for two detectives. Elder abuse

500 cases for two detectives. Financial Crimes to check , ATM fraud , identity theft, 4200 cases per year. Next: Special Investigstion Bureau: large scale narcotics operation. 40 kilo heroin, 70 firearms and 30 arrests last year. Vice unit: human trafficking ,prostitution, club

One. CCATT : auto theft 237 auto arrests , Chop shops. Next: Street Violence; Night Detectives ;Street Violence includes plain clothes. Homicide : try to solve within 48 hours; Robbery including serial robbers. Felony Assault including going to other cities to retrieve.

MAGEC: multi jurisdiction unit. Goal to lower gang violence in city. Graffiti Unit with 7 abatement officers. Remove within 24 hours. MAGEC investigations. Can help gang members to leave gang lifestyles removing tattoos, anger management etc.

Police Budget: $184,000,000 consisting of mainly personnel costs. Non personnel is 4% of budget=$7 million. Includes building costs , glock purchase , blood draw. Internal Service =12% includes Computer, fleet services , phones. Savings from vacant positions is $4 million

Chief Hall mentions Santa Cruz officer that was ambushed. We mourn Loss of life across the world but we wear badge with black across it for officers killed in California. Public: Perry Shelton knows heroism that those go into Law Enforcement. Perhaps Firefighters would do a

better job on some of these types of issues. Next: @LisaYFlores1 Asks Chief Hall to wear a mask in public. She is daughter of retired Sargent. PD budget is bloated like bullets. Worker’s Compensation is escalation. Why getting so militaristic? Next: Ivanka Saunders says from

Leadership Counsel sent a letter along with Other Groups and we support NCAAP at Fresno State. Real public engagement is needed by new commission. Report should be out in 90 days. Next: Ashley Rojas says budget speaks to values. Can we ever thrive and heal as a community? Our

Basic needs are not met and leaves community trauma. Need investments into our community. We are in urgent need. Increased community wealth. Rebuild social relationships. Reimagine public safety by coerce relationship. Get rid of cannabis unit as it is now legal. Militaristic

Vehicles in city. Next Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula says he wants to fix our problems. Do we need to overturn AB 209. America is crying for change. Peaceful protest recently people rallied because they are angry. I don’t think we need to defund PD. But anything that takes 50% of

Budget needs to be reviewed. Is all fresno feeling safer? Next: Yennifer Gallegos Mejas has been a victim of police profiling. Chavez has 38% of his campaign from law enforcement. Can you still represent your constituents?

@kieltls Concerned about PD budget. A black youth was detained for many minutes for walking however many were violating shelter in place order by going to Freedom Rally. We need to defund PD from some duties like graffiti abatement or FAX. Our built environment would have been

better with increased Park budget. Police Substation rarely has anyone there so not connection to community. Next: Nikko Lara budget for people of Color have little while PD have too much. Slave Patrol is original basis for PD. Next: Michael Krein says Minnesota trainee PD

On many descalstion etc but it didn’t work. All issues with that have not worked gets turned over to PD. Defund police means we need non police solutions to things.

@_mcthompson City is rushing to find a solution but we need to look at the overall structure. Community policing or does something else work instead? Gracia Elmenes: answer cant be more uniformed officers POC don’t feel safer with more police. Reform Commussion needs more blacks

on it. Next: Carolina Garza se Luna doesn’t like Chief Hall referencing officer ambushed by white supremist and then complaining about not being able to march. The Blue Wall has been broken

@LovesMercy Brandi: alternative to homeless task force. Need to give funding to those that deal with homeless the most and not those that are too distant from problem. Social workers, Fire fighters. Police need social workers with them. Next : Simon Biassel thanks Mayor for

Painting Black Lives Matter mural on street near city hall. When Black Lives Matter was controversial just five years ago. Advanced Peace was vetoed last year. Asking City to support it this year. Next: Esmeralda Luna: youth have underlying issues like trauma. And can be victims

of either human trafficking or placed in Juvenile Hall. Our youth deserve better. Next: June asks about diversity on PD. It is an issue when dealing with black lives matter. Police Brutality has been going on too long.

Rosalie Baptisa: we have heard about everything today from meet and greets by PD canine but we don’t talk about those shot by police in Fresno. We can see what needs to cut from police budget today. Next: Michael Dominguez we need care not cops. POC Districts are most surveiled

and Dyer says Race is factored. We need to uplift our community not punish it. Next: listen to community. Divest from PD and back into community. Not fair to tell youth there isn’t enough money but we give 50% of fund to PD. Conflict of interest is not time to take funds from

PD. (Still have 40 speakers to go !) Next: advanced Peace is needed. Affordable housing is needed. Residents need a roof when they ar vulnerable. Mitchean Calihan: why are cops taught mental health when that isn’t their job. Need to give that money to those who are trained to do

that.Next: Mickey C : police budget showed savings. Do you ask for that amount next round? Jessica Morales: Treat budget as a moral document. Living wage , affordable housing, mass transit goes farther to lessen crime. Other ways to resolve crime other than law

Enforcement. We can and just do better. Next: Marissa Corpus we need to create safety. Getting to challenges in our communities
Reinvest PD budget into community. Ask Dyer to decline his salary and invest it into community. Marisela : 185 million to PD shows we need to reimagine

Safety. We need to help people reach their full potential. We don’t need more community policing but note invested into our community. De investment has caused these problems. Thies Dang: i am
From the hood. We need to defund the police. Invest in advance peace. Invest in us.

Hannah Clark: investment in neighborhood creates better outcomes. Kato Prado: inflates PD budget is not what we need. Reimagine public Safety. Affordable housing , Parks etc. demilitarized PD. Look at how other cities have done this. Decades of systemic racism in Fresno needs to

Be tackled. Sadie Gleason of Smittcamp says we need to invest in other ways of solving crime. Corruption at police is a problem. Rape cases are not tried at high rate. Don’t want my money invested this way when they can’t solve the cases rhey are trained to do. Next : sunrise

Movement rep says we have amazing community leaders need to be listened to. Invest in south fresno that is over policed and under funded. Kassandra Clayton says to reduce overtime for PD. Seems to be a money making scheme to look at. Would have liked to that shown to us today.

Is there duplication of services in some of these PD units ? (Still have 46 speakers !) Leslie Martinez: many of the speakers feel terrorized by PD and are here we will today as unpaid community activists. Protests need to be followed by actions. West Fresno Park is built on

Waste dump. Madeline Harris from Fresno Sunrise Movement says PD budget is great too high. Google history of law enforcement in America. Mainly to keep money on a few hands. Need park, education , advance peace and housing. Next: Rose Jones a special ed teacher we are saddened a

Police Officer died but LE is not even in top ten of most deadly jobs. We have a food desert in Fresno. Black lives matter movement has been here for years and wants to help all. Dominic: 16 year old shot by PD in back shows they are not doing their job. Funds not being put to

Good use. Defund and place funds in other areas. Not needed for more tear gas or more militarism. Can you hear us ? Cesar Casa Mayor asks Bredefeld that he watch shooting of Golding and hearing officer say good shot. We are being hunted. Talk to their families.

Pedro Navarro Cruz: Fresno PD Union FPOA corrupts our democracy. All Councilmembers have accepted their money accept for Arias and all incoming Councilmember @Maxwell4Fresno PD budget leads to uninvestment in neighborhood. FPOA toxic money killed Measure P and led to few parks

Felicia Espinoza: need to lean into systemic change and learn what is true public safety like affordable housing and affordable housing. Renegotiate MOU with FPOA. Benjamin Potts : Liability claims for Civil rights violations cost $23 million which is more than after school

Programs etc. please reflect what citizens want. Sky Miller: Fire Dept didn’t have enough money by losing SAFER grant. Perhaps reallocating some funds From PD. ( Chief Andy Hall no longer has his video shown. Hope he is still listening)

Sukaina Hussain : need to reflect on our priorities. Council needs to be sure POC are part of solution such as Advance Peace. Follow NCAAP requests. David Jimenez: reads a shy youth’s notes move money from PD to get more counselors. Define police. Matthew Woodward : north fresno

Residents are afraid of change that this may cause. But please keep an open mind. What is being done is not working. Mary Cesnoros: 50% of our budget is immoral. March 23 Gerald Johnson was killed by police when he was mentally ill and hiding in his backyard.

Christopher Lee Green-Washington says PD has not enough Internal Affairs Officers. Angelica Garcia: when you think public safety think of youth and those Doing good in our community. General Fund dollars should go to community. @Soypedroh4 Pedro Hernandez Shames Chief Hall and

the Councilmembers who have their video screens off. This is a critical moment. We can’t metaphorically shoot ourselves in the foot and miss this Moment (Karbassi, Esparza, and Bredefeld turned their video back on)

Next: poverty is racism. Enslavement of POC. I still fear in ourselves as young and when we get old. This system is already working As it is designed. We need to break it. Alex Ramos-O’Casey says to defund PD. We don’t hate you all or to create division but we love our community.

Are prioritizing white tears over others lives. You need to stand on the right side. Enough here to vote you out of office. Don’t care about re-election now but to help people Dr. Denice Curry : public health is needed. People need to be trained to do the job. PD are not trained

To do all we ask them. Don’t have someone do surgery who isn’t a surgeon. Change duties of PD and do psychiatric examination to see if they are suited to serve at all. Look at budget with fresh eyes. ( chavez back with his video) Zach Baroni: agrees with Dr. Curry. 85% Homeless

Task force funds went to PD. Jonela Shefner says If we want to support Black Lives let’s find infrastructure like clean water. Desiree Miller : racial slurs this morning and we were told they wouldn’t be be brave to door in person. The fact Chief Hall has shut off his video is

not helpful. Gavin Garza of Sunrise says we ask PD to Do too much. Maribel Galviz:Need libraries rather than patrolling the streets. Dez Martinez: PD Said 8000 homeless were contacted. If so our count is way off. PD said only 1% wanted housing. Reason is we don’t have enough

Shelters. Carrie Lorraine: asking Soria about what she will do to stop police violence ? NCAAP advice is good. Measure P had a majority but defeated anyway. People are moving home but can’t wait to leave. Ariel Lopez: defund PD. Lawsuits could be spent elsewhere such as neighbor-

hoods that were systemically targeted by PD. YonAs Paulo says officer killed that was mentioned by Chief Hall was ambushed by veteran. Veterans need our help. Maya Z:knows Fresno are fearful to defund PD but those in South have always fearful of PD. ShotSpotter used because

People are fearful to call Police a they worry innocent people may be targeted. Alex Orozco: we have lots of Democratic POC on Council but when will they listen to us. Chavez worked for Bloomberg who had aggressive stop and frisk. When camera is off it appears you are not listen-

Ing. Sebastian Mayo-Orazco says is you ask those in South Fresno what they need they won’t say more police. James: newly formed commission has Councilmembers who were endorsed by Police so it is hard to believe there will be any real change. Jenn Rojas: Reading for youth who

Wants to stay POC shouldn’t be scared of our own police. Action needs to be done. Better finance schools and homeless. (Another racial slur by next caller). RositaFiguroa : Councilmembers please don’t disappoint us. Dr Matthew Jeasin says he supports NCAAP recommendations.

Ratio of PD officers mentioned today by Chief Hall didn’t include 66 officers working at schools arias: we heard 100 callers today and 1000 emails. Council taking ten Minute break.

Back from break. @LuisCha70215912 thanks public for their comments and it helped. Reminder we won’t be voting on budget today. How many officers are on duty. Hall: 35 officers in morning. Then 25. Swing shift 30. Midnight has 40. 4 Community Officers. Calls are triaged 0-4.

1200 Of 991 Calls. Can be broken down by policing districts. Mental Health is 30% of calls a day. Try to match up social worker with person after situation is calmer. Not that many of the social workers available matched with police officer.

Drug money confiscated ( asset seizure ) $145,000 where most goes to skywatch copter. Not as much as it used to be as many drugs have been decriminalized. We don’t sell any vehicle that was impounded. Tow companies do. State laws allows us to impound cars. Chavez: people get

dinged huge amounts by tow company and people can’t afford to get their property back. Motion by Chavez to look at internal policy to impound. Any licensed person can drive car from a site unless you are drunk. SWAT: 12-15 x a year called out. Chief Hall says his video was off as

their is a current issue going on that may turn into a SWAT situation and apologizes for not being there fall all public comments. Traffic unit has lowered fatalities. Schools always get priorities to slow traffic. Also matrix shows where accidents are common. Checkpoint case law

is set. We have to know DUIs Are common in that area. @Esmeralda_Soria thanks public and shoes strength of a democracy. 30% of calls are of mental health crisis. What are hours that mental health professionals that are matched with Officers. Hall: days/ swing. Rely on County to

Provide the social workers. All our officers are trained for crisis. Some Officers are better than others. As public pointed out today officers are not Social workers. May only have one Officer / mental health worker team out at a time In 112 sq miles. Soria: temporary banned

Chokeholds. Should be permanent. Hall says Obama recommendations is Followed. 8 cant Wait demands
Fresno already does most. Permanently banning choke hold Hall would like further discussion on that. Hall has Been Chief since August. Soria: what legacy will you leave? Hall: our

Citizen complaints have dropped. Suspensions are up so more accountability of the officers. 40 hour Mental Health training of officers is one time only. Bias training. Soria: Overtime may make officers less adequate responsive Hall: limit to 16 hours of overtime And need a day

Off a week. Call volume is very high and has more effect on officers than overtime. Also court or family time can make officers who do midnight shift may have sleep pattern effected. Dispatchers is high stressed job and high turnover. State recommends many more. Can take 4-7

minutes for 911 to answer a call. Not acceptable and tragic. Soria: African American breakdown of officers would be helpful. Hall: COVID expenses include working from home and Extra patrolling shuttered businesses. Soria: heard outcry from public over George Floyd. Great sin of

this country was slavery. Must capitalize on this to bring justice for communities left behind. Thank you Chief for information today. @D7Esparza Lots of details in PD budget compared to last year. Also thanks public activism the past few weeks and today. Homeless task force

percentage of calls required armed officers ? Hall: Task Force doesn’t break it down that way. Esparza: any data is helpful as we go to vote next Thursday. Hall: SWAT officers are patrolling until 12-15 calls come in a year. Sold out plane but have two 15 year old helicopters.

Costs a million a year to operate and then personnel costs on top. 1600 hours per year and mainly during swing shift. Esparza: many of his constituents feel like the copters hover over their neighborhoods when waiting for a call. Hall: fly in a loop around town. Esparza: what

Military type equipment does city own? Hall: Bear Cat that we co-own with Clovis and Sheriff. We also have a MRAP that could pull Ten people out in a hostage situation. No weapons in it. Crowd control include pepper balls. Never used in his 40 years. Automatic weapons that SWAT

Uses. All you owned Straight out. Esparza: video surveillance division has been around since 2006. Been told there was supposed to be an accountability audit. Hall:2013 was done by retired judge. Concern was people would be spying on people. Now we only look at recording until

after a situation occurred such as Hmong mass murders. Nobody is actively monitoring like it used to be. Perhaps an audit is needed again. CSO community service officers not found in Central Policing District. Went from officer vacancy last year of 13 and now 27. 4 officers turn

Over per month due to retirement or other reasons. Slow process to hire new ones. Covid has slowed it down even more from cadet academy is slower to open. Esparza: advanced peace was vetoed by Mayor Lee Brand last year. I would like it funded this year. We can use vacancies

Of officers to be used for that funding not only this year but next four years as well. Motion to spend $300,000 for Advanced Peace. Soria: seconds. City Manager Quan: we don’t have any extra salary savings to use. Been used to balance budget. Esparza: like motion to remain.

Public Safety is a function of what the council does. We need to change from what we have done in past to make this happen. Thanks public for mostly civil engagement today.

Soria: may not be salary savings but we can use CDBG dollars by bringing poverty down. Matter of willingness. Bredefeld: thanks all those that spoke and their concerns. Don’t agree with all of them. Getting rid of police department is not answer. Commission needs all of public

to make police work better. Open to honest dialogue. Need to approve budget by June 30. Karbassi: Long day. Didn’t agree with all comments. Trauma of poverty is true problems. Policy changes is needed. Need PD officers to also have frank discussion. Andy Hall is duty bound and I

have respect. Cognitive Bias is a human element not just for officers but for Council as well. Failure is not going to happen. Defunding PD is not the solution. What reforms have you done as Chief? Hall: projected to be $500,000 over budgeted on overtime. We made changes to

address it. Protests may have eaten up those savings. Karbassi:what will effect by dropping PD budget down to 45% of budget? Hall: can’t go below state guidelines or common sense. If we go down to 45% we will cut 100 officers. What will we not investigate? Elder abuse? When we

Start cutting budget we need to figure that out. Karbassi: his father was a victim of elder abuse. Cutting funding will hurt victims. Real impact. Yes we want reform. But core responsibility is public safety. Thanks community that came out today to speak to us. Thanks Hall for

Speaking about deputy that was killed. Caprioglio: long day and draining. I don’t want to repeat what has been already said so I will reserve comments at regular council meeting. Arias: I wasn’t a big fan of how you were hired but I give you a B+. You have made big changes. You

are duty bound. Have you meetwith NCAAP yet ? Meeting with them And their 8 demands on June 22. We can polish up some policy and hopefully March up with their demands. Arias: what guidance can you give commission ? Hall: get back to community. Start of my career I was assigned

to El Dorodo Park. I was able to meet with especially SE Asians. It was a special time in my life. It would be nice if officers can be free from some of the jobs we are asking officers to do. Then get them back to community. We do need more diversity on PD Force. Start with

Homeless situation. Too few want to accept help from PD. Mentally Ill taken to hospital on a 5150 hold only to have them released five hours later. We are working on a modification of Advanced Peace that is specific Fresno version along with Mayor Brand. Arias: have we done any

investigation into specific units how it works to reduce crime? Hall : there is temporary reduction but revolving door at judicial level there is not much change. Arias : Supreme Court says anti sanctuary cities is legal. Hall: we don’t work with ICE and we don’t ask legal status

of people. Mental health illness is major problem in Fresno. We have at PD we have slowed response to it and Tried to de-esculate. Doesn’t always work but PD going in usually leads to death. Arias: Apple Store closed at fashion fair has a fully uniformed officer outside it.

Should we continue to rent out our officers to businesses that can afford it? Hall: sometimes cheaper to rent us than property stolen. Arias: started out PD helping out other public places but has now turned to providing to private businesses. A Mom and pop store calls police and

it takes awhile for police to arrive. But Walmart calls and they get immediate Response because they can afford it. Workman Comp unit at PD ? Why ? Hall: making sure officers comply rules. It is one staff person. Jim Schaad says all departments have workers comp has that to some

Sense. FPOA has two full time officers plus one at State level. Funded by FPOA and not by General Fund. Schaad: same with labor units as well. Arias: police auditor recommends some changes. Has that been done. Hall: yes. Arias:how did we arrive at 1000 officers would be best?

Hall: we were going for 1.8 ratio per 1000. Arias: motion to remove officer monitoring recycling bins. Motion to take officers off homeless task force except as back up. Motion : PD evaluate gang injunctions Hall: we don’t do that anymore Motion : remove officers at schools

Arias:janitorial service is here and vacuuming so its may be old. Motion to adjourn until tomorrow morning.

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