CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY SECOND COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. F/S R-16-125 ENACTMENT NO. ________________________
SPONSORED BY: Brad Winter and Ken Sanchez
RESOLUTION
title
F/S Establishing A Property Crime Reduction Pilot Program By Increasing The Number Of PSA Positions And Providing An Appropriation To The Albuquerque Police Department (Winter, Sanchez)
body
WHEREAS, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is tasked to protect and serve a Metropolitan population base of close to one million people; and
WHEREAS recruitment and retention of officers is an increasing challenge for police agencies in the State and across the Nation; and
WHEREAS, for the past several years, APD has similarly experienced a decrease in the number of officers on its force; and
WHEREAS, while APD is aggressively marketing and recruiting new officers, selecting, vetting, and training new applicants is a lengthy process, making it difficult to quickly fill officer positions; and
WHEREAS, the current APD staffing shortage has hampered APD’s community policing efforts and has resulted in increased response times to Priority Three property crimes (home burglary, auto theft, home larceny crimes, and vandalism/property damage) calls for service where no suspect is reported on scene; and
WHEREAS, the citizens of the City of Albuquerque deserve a timely and high quality response to reports of crime; and
WHEREAS, a solution to address the response times is for the City to establish PSA Positions whose duties would include responding to Priority Three property crime calls through collection of forensic evidence, including latent print evidence, photographing of crime scenes, interviewing witnesses, taking reports, and testifying in court; and
WHEREAS, in Fiscal Year 2014 APD implemented the Police Service Aide (PSA) program to boost officer recruiting and provide general assistance and report taking for certain non-critical calls, including auto and residential burglaries; thereby allowing sworn officers to respond to the more critical calls for service; and
WHEREAS, as of January 18, 2017 there are 21 filled PSA positions and 17 PSAs either in the Academy or on the job training (OJT); and
WHEREAS, APD is budgeted for 25 PSA positions but authorized to fill an additional 35 through vacancy savings; and
WHEREAS, since inception of the program, 27 PSAs have been successfully recruited as APD sworn officers, and another 2 are currently APD Academy Cadets; and
WHEREAS, the filling of 25 PSA positions will enhance APD’s efforts to recruit additional sworn officers through the PSA program; and
WHEREAS, the use of additional PSAs to respond to Priority Three property crime calls will free up APD officers to respond to Priority One emergency and violent crime calls; and
WHEREAS, it is anticipated that the cumulative effect of the Property Crime Reduction Program would be decreased response times overall for both Priority One and Priority Three calls and improvement to service delivery to the community.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE:
Section 1. That the Administration is directed to establish a Property Crime Reduction Pilot Program staffed with up to twenty-five (25) PSAs that will focus on responding to Priority Three property crime calls through collection of forensic evidence, including latent print evidence, photographing of crime scenes, interviewing witnesses, taking reports, and testifying in court. Implementation of the program will begin at the Northeast, Southeast and Southwest Area Commands.
Section 2. That the following amounts are hereby appropriated and/or de-appropriated in the following programs for Fiscal Year 2017 in order to fund this pilot program for the last quarter of the year:
Police Department
Neighborhood Policing $300,000
Municipal Development Department
Design Recovered Storm Drain ($200,000)
Police Department
Transfer to Capital Acquisition Fund 305 ($100,000)
X:\CITY COUNCIL\SHARE\CL-Staff\_Legislative Staff\Legislation\22 Council\R-125FSfinal.docx