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Chief and OCC directors report falling violent crime, OCC caseload dip and set timeline for budget briefings
Summary
Chief reported a 6% drop in violent crime in 2011 and a homicide total of 50; OCC Director Joyce Hicks reported 784 cases opened and 846 closed in 2011. Commissioners scheduled budget briefings and discussed a five-year hiring plan amid projected city deficits.
At the commission’s January meeting the police chief and the director of the Office of Citizen Complaints delivered year-end updates that commissioners framed as reason for cautious optimism and as a prompt to review upcoming budget choices.
The chief reported that violent crime was down about 6% in 2011 and that the city recorded 50 homicides in 2011, the same number as 2010 and a cumulative 18% reduction since 2008. The department made 121 DUI arrests during a mid-December through Jan. 1 crackdown, a 29% increase from the prior year, and the chief said the city recorded no alcohol-related DUI deaths during the crackdown period. The chief described community-engagement efforts and pledged a presentation later in the month setting out a plan to reduce shootings by 10% in 2012.
Director Joyce Hicks of the Office of Citizen Complaints presented OCC activity for 2011: the OCC opened 784 cases in the calendar year (8% fewer than 2010), closed 846 cases (62 more than it opened), mediated 60 cases (7% of closed cases), and sustained 59 cases (7% of closed cases). Director Hicks said there were 367 pending cases at the time of the report and that a detailed annual report would follow in February. Director Hicks introduced the OCC’s newest investigator, Dre McKeown (also called Andrea McKeown).
Commissioners asked about the next steps for newly trained Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officers; the chief said 25 officers completed a pilot CIT class and that the department intends those officers to serve as CIT responders immediately while the department defines a permanent identifier for CIT-trained officers.
On planning and budgeting the commission heard from staff that departments have been given targets that include a 5% reduction in each year and a 1% staff reduction per year over a five-year planning horizon. The commission scheduled a budget update from the mayor’s office for March and agreed to earlier OCC and department briefings to allow commissioners time for review before submissions to the mayor.
Commissioners praised the OCC and department for the numbers while flagging the city’s broader fiscal gap: the commission president cited an estimated $263 million deficit for the current year and an estimate of $465 million thereafter as context for the budget discussion. Commissioners emphasized that most discretionary cuts touch personnel costs and that the chief will provide a five-year hiring plan to address attrition and staffing needs.
