Police Advisory Committe meeting agenda

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. I was in San Diego enjoying the beach and baseball.

The agenda for tomorrow's police advisory merger meeting is available for download. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

Police merger advisory committe meeting recap

Police Advisory Committee Meeting
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Grand Chute Town Hall

The following are notes I presented at tonight's meeting.

Reason for committee is to ensure numbers are accurate. Checks and balances with an Appleton based Interim Deputy Chief in charge of the numbers.

Fringe Benefit Savings
Calculation from Chief Peterson of 57,312 savings over five year period.
Requested breakdown of savings.


Inaccurate information.
Failure to take into account benefit comparisons of Grand Chute and Appleton PDs
The following is over five year period (Breakdown on attached sheet)

Physical Fitness Incentive up to $173,380.81
Retiree Health Insurance 17,500.00
Clothing Allowance 46,452.00
Body Armor 10,150.00
Sick Leave (78,883.67)
Wisconsin Retirement Contribution 71,552.40

Five year payout for additional benefits with merged department $240,151.54

Sick Day Accumulation
Grand Chute would need to pay Appleton for officer sick hours accrued at Appleton rate with any merger.

Currently 15,535 Hours banked
Grand Chute current accumulation $342,609.00
(Rate increase to Appleton would still be needed)

Myth:
Grand Chute is not a proactive police department

• Virchow Krause reported Grand Chute has little to no proactive policing.
• Ed Henschel in January 27, 2009 phone conversation stated no analysis or service structure report was performed. Mr. Henschel said the statement was based entirely on direction from Interim Appleton Deputy Chief Peterson.

Why this statement is false

• Officer time is broken down into committed and uncommitted time
• Committed time includes screens generated for calls for service, paperwork, initiated tasks, administrative and out of service screens.
• Uncommitted time is used by officers to conduct proactive policing.

Committed and Uncommitted Times for past three months

October
Committed Time
43%
Uncommitted Time
57%

November
Committed Time
37%
Uncommitted Time
63%

December
Committed Time
36%
Uncommitted Time
64%


Myth
Grand Chute is lacking in specialized services

• Many services are, in fact, provided by Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department for free, but were never noted.
• Notation on some services that Grand Chute because of its size of the department does not have specific organized teams. However, Grand Chute does have individual officers specializing in these services.
• Grand Chute officers have gone through many of the 26 courses noted as Appleton State Certified instructional staff. While they are not state certified, they have gone through training for these courses as required for continuing education.

Uncommitted, proactive policing time was used to

· Actively patrol for drunk drivers
· Perkins Restaurant patrol
· Business checks during every shift
· Neighborhood Watch Program
· Citizens Police Academy
· Crime Prevention Activities w/kids
· Bike Rodeos
· Halloween Trick or Treat Bags
· National Night Out for Neighborhood Watch
· Bicycle PatrolCommunity Development officer/Liaison
· Prevention with local banks on incidents involving robberies
· Grand Chute I.D., Program established years ago for tellers/clerks checking two forms of ID and how to decipher fake IDs
· Licence Premise Checks
· Grant Projects related to speed enforcement, alcohol enforcement & seatbelts
· IRS Projects
· Fox River Mall Patrol/crime prevention
· Roadstar Inn targeted patrol for Drugs, underage drinking etc.
· Apartment complexes ALL in Grand Chute receiving letters for Apartment watch where nightly officers routinely walk through the complexes. This includes 3321 Woodman Drive which recently had a homicide.
· High Accident Intersection of Wisconsin/41 which led to officer's monitoring intersection and seeking out violations. This led to reduction in accidents at this intersection

Loss of Accountability

• Grand Chute taxpayers will be giving up the accountability of its police department.
• There will be little to no Grand Chute managers within the merged department.
• Can Grand Chute taxpayers comfortably give Appleton 25% of the town’s operating budget?
• Are the numbers provided accurate? What happens if they aren’t?
• Is there an established trusted relationship between the two municipalities?
• There is no turning back if the merger doesn’t work.

Staffing Levels

• A merged department brings no increase in staffing
• Grand Chute loses part time positions equaling 1.5 officers
• Reliant on positive placement up to discretion of the Appleton Chief
• No secured place for Grand Chute’s 5 staff sgts.
• No room in the budget to hire additional future staff
• No study has been done if a merged department or level of services Appleton promises to provide can handle influx of Grand Chute’s population.

Grand Chute has the ability to add more officers without increasing taxes

Salary difference GC officers raised to Appleton levels $ 464,626.00
Savings in Fringe Benefit payout (excluding sick time) $ 240,151.00
Half of Current GC Overtime Budget $ 649,565.00
TOTAL $ 1,354,342.00

New Officer Hires
Year One 74,500
Year Two 76,735 76,735
Year Three 79,037 79,037 79,037
Year Four 81,408 81,408 81,408 81,408
Year Five 83,850 83,850 83,850 83,850

Total 4 New officers over five years $1,126,113.00
Remaining in budget 228,229.00

Future Level of Grand Chute Police Department remaining intact
21 Patrol Officers
5 Staff Sgts
4 Investigators/PSL
2 Leuitentants
1 Police Chief
5 Part time positions (Equals 1.5 officers)

34.5 Grand Chute Officers


Conclusion

• Grand Chute is a fully functioning department
• Grand Chute is adequately staffed
• Interim Appleton Police Chief has failed to provide accurate numbers to the committee, resulting in biasness for a merged department.
• There has been no documentation in support of the half sheet of projected cost savings.
• Projected cost savings are completely wiped out with benefit payouts needed to meet Appleton’s.
• Virchow Krause, a respected accounting firm with experience in negotiating numerous municipal mergers concluded funding formulas do not favor Grand Chute taxpayers.
• Grand Chute has the resources to add more officers and keep the department autonomous without increases to the Grand Chute taxpayer.

K9 Services available in Grand Chute

The following is a communication I received yesterday from Outagamie County Supervisor (and Grand Chute resident) Pat Stevens regarding K9 services provided by Outagamie County Sheriff's Department.

January 21, 2009

TO: Police Merger Advisory Committee

FROM: Pat Stevens

I was concerned with a comment made about the K9 dog at the Appleton Police Department possibly not being available to Grand Chute.

Apparently some are not aware that the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department currently has 3 fully trained K9 dogs. They are dual trained in bomb and tracking. (searching for lost children, robbery suspects, etc.) Also, the County Board recently approved a grant application for the Sheriff’s Department. It is a “for sure” grant and they will be using the money to acquire a fully trained drug K9 dog before the end of the year.

My concern is that you may not realize the availability of these dogs and that the taxpayer’s in Grand Chute are already paying for that service. We really do not need to think of duplicating it.

Examining why control matters

One of the issues that comes up with merging governmental entities is the issue of control. Many times, one municipality will have to give up partial control to the other. In the case of Grand Chute merging it's police department with Appleton, Grand Chute will be giving up ENTIRE accountability of it's police department. Right now, indirectly, the citizens of Grand Chute have control of their police department. As a town board member, this becomes an important factor. After all, I am accountable to Grand Chute residents. That includes being able to make the best financial decisions for taxpayers. Giving up control of a large portion of the town's budget must carefully be looked at. Do I trust the municipality with managing over three million dollars of the town's money? Are the numbers provided accurate? What happens if they aren't? What is the past relationship we have with the City of Appleton? Many consolidation reports cite the importance an already established trust relationship between both municipalities. Is the city of Appleton fiscally responsible with their taxpayers money? These are the questions I will be examining.

Town of Grand Chute
Delivery of Police Services
An Outline in Representative Accountability to Grand Chute Citizens

Option 1:
The merger of the Appleton Police Department and the Town of Grand Chute Police Department. The legacy Grand Chute Officers are merged into the ranks of the Appleton Police Department. The elected Town of Grand Chute turns over control of the Grand Chute Police Department to the City of Appleton. A 6 member control board is created. It consists of 4 Appleton members and 2 Grand Chute members.

• Appleton Mayor Elected by Appleton Citizens
• Appleton City Council Elected by Appleton Citizens
• Appleton Police Chief Answers to the Appleton Mayor and City Council
• Grand Chute Police Chief Answers to the Appleton Police Chief
• Answers to a 6 member board
• Level of Service Dependent on the Appleton City Council

Option 2:
To contract police services to the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department/ The legacy Grand Chute Police Officers are merged into the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department. A detailed contract will dictate the level of service provided to Grand Chute.

• Outagamie County Sheriff Elected by Grand Chute and all Outagamie County Citizens
• Answers to the Outagamie County Board on fiscal matters
• Outagamie County Executive Elected by Grand Chute and all Outagamie County Citizens
• Outagamie County Board Five Elected by Grand Chute Citizens
• Assigned Grand Chute Officers Answers to the Outagamie County Sheriff
• Level of Service Dependent on the Contract for Services Agreement

Option 3:
To maintain the existing Grand Chute Police Department.

• Town of Grand Chute Chairman Elected by Grand Chute Citizens
• Town of Grand Chute Board Elected by Grand Chute Citizens
• Town of Grand Chute Administrator Answers to the Grand Chute Town Chairman
• Answers to the Grand Chute Town Board
• Town of Grand Chute Police Chief Answers to the Grand Chute Town Chairman
• Answers to the Grand Chute Town Board
• Answers to the Grand Chute Administrator
• Town of Grand Chute Police Officers Answers to the Grand Chute Police Chief

Keep in mind that both Option 1 and Option 2 require that the existing Grand Chute Police Department cease to exist. The officers will merge into a separate department. It is anticipated that the officers will receive an increase in salary and fringe benefits. With these two options, there will be no turning around.

Option 1 removes the Grand Chute citizens and their elected officials from managing the delivery of Police services to Grand Chute.

Option 2 maintains a fairly high level of control since Grand Chute citizens elect the Sheriff, County Executive and their(s) Representatives to the County Board. In addition, the Sheriff’s Department may relocate its Patrol Division in Grand Chute, thereby increasing the law enforcement presence over and above what the contract provides.

Option 3 mandates control of the Grand Chute Police Department to the citizens of Grand Chute.

Police merger report

Grand Chute (and Appleton) residents have been asking what I think of the analysis of the two municipalities police merger report that was released by consulting firm Virchow Krause yesterday.

The report is pretty straight forward in that shared costs formulas do not paint a viable picture for Grand Chute residents. The writing was on the wall by doing simple math from the budgets and different formula scenarios provided in last week's post. Grand Chute residents would pay anywhere from $1.7 million to $14.2 million (over the next five years) more with a merged department.

Now that the numbers don't come out, I expect the push for merger approach to change to an increase in specialized services justification. A request will probably be made that all cost formula scenarios be thrown out the window, and a contract of services agreement looked into, something that had previously been rejected as not optionable by the Town Board when Outagamie County Sheriff's Department had submitted an RFP.

Much has been made about Grand Chute police being a reactive instead of a proactive department. This claim has been a point of frustration for many officers in the Grand Chute police department who say this is a biased and false statement. They spend many hours on proactive policing in the community. A small sampling of proactive policing includes:

• Neighborhood Watch
• Business Watch
• Citizens Police Academy
• Crime Prevention Activities w/kids
• Bike Rodeos
• Halloween Trick or Treat Bags
• National Night Out for Neighborhood Watch
• Bicycle PatrolCommunity Development officer/Liaison

• Prevention with local banks on incidents involving robberies
• Grand Chute I.D., Program established years ago for tellers/clerks checking two forms of ID and how to decipher fake I.D.s
• Licence Premise Checks
• Grant Projects related to speed enforcement, alcohol enforcement & seatbelts

• IRS Projects

• Fox River Mall Patrol/crime prevention
• Roadstar Inn targeted patrol for Drugs, underage drinking etc.
• Apartment complexes ALL in Grand Chute receiving letters for Apartment watch where nightly officers routinely walk through the complexes. This includes 3321 Woodman Drive which recently had a homicide.
• High Accident Intersection of Wisconsin/41 which led to officer's monitoring intersection and seeking out violations. This led to reduction in accidents at this intersection

Virchow Krause's analysis also discovered that Grand Chute's police department is adequately staffed. This was a huge turnaround from the $800,000 figure stated in the town newsletter mailed to all Grand Chute residents this past spring. Remember this post?

The panel's next meeting is scheduled for January 27th. Committee members will be able to give presentations or speak their thoughts at this meeting with one another. This is something that really hasn't been available due to time restraints at past meetings. I will be busy the next couple of weeks sorting through all the information.

Grand Chute citizens advisory committee meeting

Below is the agenda for this Wednesday's meeting

Appleton – Grand Chute Police Merger
Citizen Study Committee Meeting
January 14, 2009
6:30 PM – Board Room

Agenda

A. CALL TO ORDER

B. APPROVAL OF AGENDA/ORDER OF THE DAY

C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Approval of the November 25, 2008 meeting minutes

D. NEW BUSINESS
1. Presentation of the Town Staffing Analysis by Ed Henschel
a. Patrol Analysis Model (PAM)

2. Presentation of Cost Allocation Analysis by Ed Henschel

3. Discussion of service levels vs. costs

4. Discussion of Options for Consolidation
a. Merger
b. Contract for Services

E. Other matters, questions, discussions.

F. ADJOURNMENT

Police Advisory Committee update

Two meetings of the Police Advisory Committee are scheduled for January. They are January 13th and January 27th. Both meetings are at the Grand Chute Town Hall at 6:30. Some of you have been asking for updates regarding the merger. December was a slower month for merger talks because of the holiday. A meeting was cancelled on Dec. 30th to allow committee overseer Virchow Krause time to examine how many additional officers Grand Chute could use if the department stays autonomus.

At the last meeting, Virchow Krause presented three different formulas on how each municipality would finance the merger. These formulas are percentages based off of three scenarios: Population, number of service calls and equalized values. I'll try and scan in this document this week. Numbers weren't plugged in to the formulas at this point. The committee is supposed to receive this information at te January 13th meeting.

October 28th Police Advisory Committee minutes

Minutes from the October 28th police advisory committee meeting are finally available for download.

October 21st meeting mintues

Minutes for the October 21st Town Board meeting were missing, but now are posted and ready for download. GCJesse, I have an inquiry out about why the police advisory meeting minutes were taken down from the web site.