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PSC - Minutes - 11-28-22MINUTES OF THE ROSEMEAD PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING NOVEMBER 28, 2022 The special meeting of the Rosemead Public Safety Commission was called to order by Chair Michael Cao at 7:04 p. m. in the Rosemead City Council Chamber located at 8838 East Valley Boulevard, Rosemead, California. PRESENT: Commissioners Cao, Fonseca, Foutz, Garcia, and Wu ABSENT: None PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: was led by Vice -Chair Foutz INVOCATION: was led by Commissioner Fonseca 1. PUBLIC COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE Chair Cao opened the Public Comment period. No Public Comments were received. Chair Cao closed the Public Comment period. CONSENT CALENDAR: Vice -Chair Foutz made a motion to approve the minutes from the October 27, 2022, Public Safety Commission Meeting and was seconded by Commissioner Wu. Motion carried by the following vote: YES: 5-0 2. MATTERS FROM STAFF A. Discussion of Public Safety Services and Programs Assistant City Manager Michael Bruckner mentioned that over the past few previous Public Safety Commission meetings, presentations were provided by the City's Public Safety Department, the Los Angeles County Fire Department ("LACFD"), and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department — Temple Station ("LASD"), which encompasses the totality of the City's public safety programs and services. Now that the Commission has been briefed and understands the City's service orientation, this is the opportunity to give staff feedback on the information that has been received thus far, including ideas for enhancements, improvements, or things they would like to recommend to the City Council at the conclusion of the fiscal year to make any programmatic or substantive changes to improve public safety in the City of Rosemead. The report included in the agenda packet is a summary of where staff thinks the conversation might be well suited for direction. Commissioners, at any time, can offer their thoughts and suggestions to the City, LACFD, and LASD. Mr. Bruckner also noted that Sergeant Marquez was unable to attend this meeting; however, Deputy Zhao, from our SAO Team, is in attendance. The Public Safety Department has a mix of programs that are offered such as Neighborhood Watch, Business Watch, Community Area Watch, Coffee with the Chief, CERT programs, Community Academy, National Night Out, and overall, provide a wide variety of services. Assistant City Manager Bruckner questioned whether the programs are the right mix for the Rosemead community or are they suited to the community. Is the City doing a good job at reaching out to the community and getting participation? Are people aware of it? Is the City being responsive to the public safety needs and concerns of the community? These are the questions that we as staff often ask ourselves, but don't necessarily get direct feedback from representatives of the community. This is the purpose of the Commission to hear from the public when they come in with public safety concerns, as well as for the Commission to offer ideas and expertise to help the City and staff become better at what it is that we do. Assistant City Manager Bruckner opened the floor by asking about the current programs and whether they are the right mix or should the City offer different things. Lastly, how does the City generate or maximize the efficiency of the current programs so that they're the best that they can be? Commissioner Fonseca offered her sincerest condolences to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for the passing of Deputy Slobojan and mentioned that her prayers are with the department at this time. Commissioner Fonseca stated that for the last few months, the Public Safety Commissioners have gathered information presented by the Public Safety Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, and the Sheriffs Department. She discussed three areas of concern. First was Narcan administration and fentanyl education workshops and proposed that the Commission works collaboratively with the Sheriffs Department to host a public information event or training for the Rosemead residents. Topics for the event can include the administration of Narcan, signs and symptoms, or identifying someone who is under the influence of fentanyl. The Orange County Sheriffs Department hosted an event named Fighting Fentanyl Together: Education, Prevention, and Intervention, which had over 600 people in attendance and included educational leaders, law enforcement personnel, PTA members, representatives from the county criminal justice system, and others whose work impacts student's safety. Commissioner Fonseca sent her sincerest gratitude to deputies, Duran, Cuevas, and Lopez from the Temple Station for administering lifesaving first aid, CPR, and Narcan to two teenage boys in the City of Duarte. Vice -Chair Foutz mentioned the problem with street parking and the issues it causes for emergency vehicles. Getting in and out of some neighborhoods is difficult as roads are old and small. Temple City issues parking permits for overnight parking and it was one thing that was mentioned during the National Night Out event. Vice - Chair Foutz explained that he liked the idea, but people in his neighborhood don't seem to hear about it. The broken window policy is an overstated policy, perhaps, 2 but if the small things get addressed quickly, they usually don't become large things. Assistant City Manager Bruckner informed that the broken windows concept is a theory based around the notion that when you leave an area to be vandalized, it tends to lend itself to more crime and more serious crime. The idea is that if you start addressing small things ahead of time, it doesn't lend itself to more crime down the road. There is a policing element to all of that and he deferred to the Sheriffs Department for a follow-up on their approach to those items. Commissioner Fonseca continued with her second recommendation which is to bring back the sidewalk CPR workshops. She proposed that the Public Safety Commission request to bring back the sidewalk CPR workshops that were held by the Public Safety Department and the Fire Department. Number three would be to review the City ordinance and possible revision of overnight camping on City property and streets. At the last meeting, it was discussed that the City ordinance may need some revamping, and it would be great if the Commission can take a look at it a bit further. Captain Reyes disclosed at the last meeting that the City of Duarte passed an ordinance in their City that's been helpful for their residents. Commissioner Fonseca made a recommendation to review that to bring it to City Council. Lastly, the US Army Corps of Engineers, Sheriffs and Fire Departments disclosed having difficulty in gaining access to areas due to jurisdictional issues. Fires and increasing homeless encampments in fact pose a threat to the City and its residents. Commissioner Fonseca asked that Commissioners review this concern and discuss ways in which the City can work collaboratively with the governing body that oversees areas of concern. Assistant City Manager Bruckner mentioned that there is an existing relationship with the Army Corps. The encampment that Commissioner Fonseca referred to is behind River Avenue adjacent to the Garvey Community Center. There are maybe one or two smaller ones, but that's the largest one that the City is aware of at the moment. The Army Corps is planning a cleanup of that site in the next couple of weeks. The City is working proactively with the Sheriffs Department and LA County, as well as all interested parties to try to do that. This is the second time that the location is being cleaned. There is an ongoing conversation with the US Army Corps on how to prevent future access to that site so that there isn't repetition. There are jurisdictional issues and as well as who is responsible for the security and the fencing of the perimeter, but we are engaging with them actively in those conversations and can certainly provide the Commission with an update as we move through that process. Deputy Zhao mentioned he received an update from the Army Corps to schedule a meeting to survey the site behind River Avenue on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. in the morning. A few deputies will escort them into the riverbed and homeless encampment to see what they can do and what kind of services they can offer as well as safety measures. 3 Commissioner Garcia stated she does not hear about Neighborhood Watch meetings until they have already happened. She mentioned getting messages from my neighbors that have had break-ins, and they don't know how to express their frustration because they don't feel like they are being heard. Commissioner Garcia suggested that the Commission along with the department that runs those meetings, work together to bring more awareness to the meetings. Sharing the meeting information with neighbors would be great given that these meetings are helpful to preventing crime. Commissioner Wu commented that there are a lot of great programs out there like the Neighborhood Watch, Business Watch, and Community Area Watch which she would like to learn more about to understand what is overlapping and make these programs more efficient. There are a lot of programs out there, but making sure people are being reached is important. She asked how these meeting times are being publicized, how are people getting the information to attend these meetings, how often are they being held, and is it targeting the same group of people. She also asked whether Neighborhood Watch and Community Area Watch are similar. Assistant City Manager Bruckner mentioned this was an item he would like to dive into deeper with the Commission because there is Neighborhood Watch, Business Watch, and Community Area Watch, and if we watch all these things, are we watching nothing? The feedback from the Commission about outreach methods and whether they are effective is appreciated, but it would also be helpful to understand where residents consume their information from the City. Are you on Facebook, or Twitter, do you subscribe to some listsery or the new Rosemead this week, because we do advertise it? The City puts out press releases, information on the website, social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If someone is not following us, how do we get them to follow us? What are some of those suggestions that the Commission has as residents and business owners that the city could be doing to be better at our communication? Commissioner Garcia mentioned having that conversation with one of her neighbors and suggested that the information should be posted instead of listed as a story to make sure it is not deleted after 24 hours. If a resident goes into the account, trying to find out when the meeting is going to happen, the information is no longer available. Commissioner Fonseca commented that different social media platforms cater to different demographics and there are multiple platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and which are popular with young folks as well as Instagram. Making sure that information is always readily available because stories delete in 24 hours and therefore archival information is important. Assistant City Manager Bruckner asked about language and whether that was a concern. 2 Commissioner Wu replied that the City does a really good job in communicating in different languages. Different type of newspapers is important because the older generation still relies on newspapers. Assistant City Manager Bruckner inquired about the newspapers that are popular amongst that demographic. Commissioner Wu responded that the Asian community looks to the World Journal. Commissioner Fonseca suggested that City staff give a brief introduction in different languages on social media for the stories and posts would help. Assistant City Manager Bruckner expressed that the City does not necessarily have the staff available to translate the materials into those languages (Spanish, Mandarin, and Vietnamese) and therefore it needs to be sent out to a professional translator to get it done. This creates a time element to have all those documents translated into all those languages and then posted. Information is usually sent out as quickly as it is received from other departments, press releases, social media, and all those types of things. The Commission needs to be aware that with that, there is a time element as well as a cost element for those activities. Assistant City Manager Bruckner mentioned that certain areas of town that have been defined for purposes Neighborhood Watch, but not the entire community is set up that way. Some cities have area commands, and those area commands are defined by patrol sectors. There are Officers, Sergeants, and Lieutenants who are responsible for managing those areas, but the way Rosemead is set up with Temple Station, they're responding and reacting to calls wherever they are in the City, and not necessarily patrolling a defined area. But that certainly is something that can be an evolving conversation with Temple Station regarding the approach, just to see if there are any impacts on crime if we were to make changes. Commissioner Wu asked in regard to the neighborhood watch and how they are formed. Assistant City Manager Bruckner responded that if somebody is interested in forming a Neighborhood Watch group, they can contact Mandy, at the Public Safety Center. She will help facilitate the group, provide templates and flyers, and then those individuals can go out, knock on their neighbor's doors, and talk to neighbors about participation. The more people that participate the better the results will be if we're all in this together. The City can help coordinate that with the Temple Station and they'll send out the SAO Team or deputies to the meeting. It would be an opportunity for them to interact with the City's Public Safety Team and address issues and concerns that they are seeing. Chair Cao mentioned that what he is hearing from the Commission is that they would like to see health programs and teaching programs which explore the issues with narcan and fentanyl as well as the sidewalk CPR. Secondly, would be the Neighborhood Watch programs and their effectiveness. Another item is outreach and how to improve it. Also looking into setting up the infrastructure for 5 Neighborhood Watch with a grid system. The third item is about communication on social media, paper press, and word of mouth and its effectiveness. The fourth is about the infrastructure regarding traffic and how to improve routes of egress for our safety vehicles. Chair Cao requested more information on the infrastructure and what can be done. Assistant City Manager Bruckner mentioned that the City has had conversations regarding permit parking in the past and has come up with pros and cons that can be explored more. Chair Cao recalled the presentation by LASD and the high -crime areas, and asked from a budgeting standpoint, what is the budget of the contract with the LASD? What would that budget look like with increasing the number of patrol officers and increasing the number of SAO Team members? Secondly, Chair Cao asked about installing cameras in high -crime areas and high -traffic streets. Thirdly, how can the average 8 -minute response time be improved? Another question posed is how does the City engage with the HOST Team? Lastly, adding to the health programs would be Methamphetamine awareness which goes hand in hand with other potential dangers. Chair Cao asked how these issues would be broken down in subsequent meetings as there are many topics to tackle in one meeting. Assistant City Manager Bruckner replied that lots of feedback were received from all Commissioners. The information can be organized into categories and the Commission can work its way through the list and present it to City Council. Staff will research and gather information to present to the Commission. M I:11ll1_ AMILy till WI A. Commissioner Comments No Commissioner Comments were provided. 4. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m. The next Public Safety Commission meeting will be held on Thursday, January 26, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council ghambers. APPROVED: Michael Cao, Chair Analyst 0