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PSC - Minutes - 10-27-22MINUTES OF THE ROSEMEAD PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 27, 2022 The regular meeting of the Rosemead Public Safety Commission was called to order by Chair Michael Cao at 7:00 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 Commissioner Wu INVOCATION: was led by Vice -Chair Foutz 1. PUBLIC COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE Chair Cao opened the Public Comment period. Public comment was provided by resident Charlie Chavez. Mr. Chavez thanked the Sheriffs Department for their presence in the City parks and proceeded to read the following comment: I am a resident of the City of Rosemead, and I enjoy going to our City parks; however, on Saturday, October 8th at about 12:00 p.m., my family and I were riding bikes and decided to take a water break at Zapopan park. To our surprise, there was a group of middle-aged men drinking alcohol in plain view by the running track. I also encountered teenage students from the high school in the restroom at Rosemead Park. They would lock themselves in the restroom and would not allow public access to the restroom. I would like to see if public safety officers or patrol deputies can conduct additional patrol checks at the parks more often to discourage this type of behavior at our parks. Public comment was also received via email and read into the record by Assistant City Manager Bruckner. I, John Thai, have been requesting the assistance of the City of Rosemead, Temple City Sheriff s Department, and Mr. Gerard Ngo for five to six years now. This is regarding the property located at 7539 & 7545 Garvey Ave in Rosemead, CA. Facts: I. 7539 & 7545 Garvey Ave is owned by Del Mar Property LLC. It is a Limited Liability Company owned and operated by Mr. Gerard Ngo and Hawaii Supermarket. 2. The property has been vacant without active construction for at least 10 years now. 3. Unhoused individuals/Vagrants have been entering the property without permission. I 4. Unhoused individuals/Vagrants have been utilizing and/or selling drugs at the property 5. Unhoused individuals/Vagrants have been setting up camp in the property 6. Del Mar Property LLC, Mr. Gerard Ngo, and Hawaii Supermarket have been UNRESPONSIVE to complaints 7. Del Mar Property LLC, Mr. Gerard Ngo, and Hawaii Supermarket failed to allow the City of Rosemead and Temple City Sheriff s Department to access its property Safety Concerns: 1. Unhoused individuals/vagrants have been causing a nuisance on Prospect St 2. Unhoused individuals/vagrants have been defecating and urinating at private properties located on Prospect St 3. Unhoused individuals/vagrants have been jumping private property fences to shower in front yards 4. Unhoused individuals/vagrants have been roaming and stealing properties at private properties located on Prospect St 5. Unhoused individuals/vagrants have been intimidating and following residences of private properties located on Prospect St Resolution Sought: 1. Del Mar Property LLC, Gerard Ngo, and Hawaii Supermarket to obtain a perimeter fence permit and erect a 5-6 ft fence throughout their property 2. Del Mar Property LLC, Gerard Ngo, and Hawaii Supermarket to secure and lock their property 24/7 3. Del Mar Property LLC, Gerard Ngo, and Hawaii Supermarket to hire maintenance crew to clean waste located on their property and on the sidewalk adjacent to their property 4. Del Mar Property LLC, Gerard Ngo, and Hawaii Supermarket to allow City of Rosemead and Temple City Sheriff's Department full access to their property while vacant and under construction to address public safety matters 5. Del Mar Property LLC, Gerard Ngo, and Hawaii Supermarket to hire 24/7 private security, if they refuse or fail to erect a locked perimeter fence 6. Del Mar Property LLC, Gerard Ngo, and Hawaii Supermarket to provide all neighbors on Prospect St with a main contact person and phone number to address concerns regarding public safety 2. CONSENT CALENDAR: Commissioner Fonseca made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 22, 2022, Public Safety Commission Meeting and was seconded by Commissioner Garcia. Motion carried by the following vote: YES: 5-0 3. MATTERS FROM STAFF A. Presentation and Discussion of Public Safety Services and Programs Assistant City Manager Michael Bruckner mentioned that the Commission previously received a presentation regarding City programs and services related to emergency preparedness, crime prevention, and code enforcement. The Commission also received a presentation from the Los Angeles County Fire Department regarding their service orientation, calls for service, and other information that was requested. To follow is a presentation from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Temple Station to go over their service orientation, as well as other information requested by the Commission at their September meeting. Sergeant John Marquez provided the presentation on behalf of the LA County Sheriffs Department. The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department ("LASD") was established in 1850. It is the largest Sheriffs Department in the United States and the fourth-largest agency in the United States. There are approximately 20,000 employees and of those employees, 9,000 are sworn deputies. Police services are provided to unincorporated communities and are contracted with 42 of 88 cities. Services are also provided to detention centers, correctional facilities, community colleges, LA County Parks, golf courses, special event venues, Universal Studios, NFL games, hospitals, and other county facilities. Rosemead contracts for a special assignment unit, or SAO Team. That team is manned by Lieutenant Paul Shigo and Sergeant John Marquez, and seven SAO deputies. The SAO Team specializes in crime suppression and works hand in hand with the City to address issues or concerns. Chair Cao asked whether the SAO Team was comprised of more than one unit and secondly if the coverage provided was seven days a week, 24 hours a day, or separated into specific time frames. Sergeant Marquez responded that the SAO unit is one team. The coverage that is provided is based on a flex schedule and currently, the team is working Monday through Thursday ten hours a day. The team starts at 12:00 p.m. and stays until 10:00 p.m. and is based on the crime trends of the City. If there is anything requiring special attention or an event, then the schedule is modified accordingly. Vice -Chair Foutz asked if the SAO Team was in addition to the patrol cars, to which Sergeant Marquez replied with a yes. Commissioner Fonseca asked if there are calls prior to 12:00 p.m., then who would take those calls. Sergeant Marquez mentioned that the SAO Team does not take service calls that are generated but rather dispatch will assign the calls to patrol deputies. Chair Cao inquired as to what happens Friday through Sunday when an incident occurs outside of SAO hours. He followed up by asking what happens when the SAO Team needs to come in and what that response time looks like. He further asked how it was decided that Monday through Thursday is the most optimal time versus Thursday through Sunday, or seven days a week. Chair Cao stated that he has noticed an upward trend in crimes per resident. The goal of the Commission is to figure out how to work together to try to reduce crime in the City. 3 Sergeant Marquez asserted that the SAO Team can rotate to come in on weekends as the hours are not fixed. The hours currently set were based on probation operations and conducting checks to make sure that those on probation are complying. Furthermore, those hours were set to help keep crime trends down. In response to crime trends, Chair Cao asked if there was software or forecasting applications to analyze current trends and where it is projecting. Sergeant Marquez expressed that the department does not currently have any forecasting software. The department will review stats from the prior month to see what stands out and determine where there is an issue. Captain Mark Reyes expanded on the response and reported that there is a crime analyst at the station. The analyst puts together crime stats for the department as well as heat maps. Captain Reyes mentioned that the City of Rosemead is a large contract and includes patrol officers on the weekend. The SAO Team deals with quality -of -life issues that regular patrol officers have no time to do as they are responding to calls. Sergeant Marquez explained that response times fall under three categories: emergent call, 8 -minute response; priority call, 15 -minute response; and routine call which takes 50 minutes. Commissioner Wu asked if officers would need to respond within the given timeframe. Sergeant Marquez replied yes that timeframe needs to be met. Captain Reyes mentioned that sometimes it is so busy that deputies cannot respond in that timeframe, but the goal is to stay within that time. Sometimes there are emergencies and therefore deputies cannot respond to a routine call. Commissioner Wu followed up by asking that if the time has not been met, should residents or businesses call back. Captain Reyes stated that residents and businesses should call back. Chair Cao examined the 2018 number of cases of crime which were high and then dropped in 2019. The numbers are in an upward trend, and therefore he asked if there was a reason for it. Sergeant Marquez mentioned that COVID came into play with a downtick during those years. He also stated that community awareness and education would be the best way to keep numbers down. Chair Cao asked how the department utilizes video footage and tapes to generate leads on residences and businesses that are broken into. Sergeant Marquez responded that the department uses the evidence and collects it to be given to the detectives. Sergeant Marquez explained that organized crime trends usually occur near the south of the 10 freeway as egress to flee the scene. He informed the Commission that it has become increasingly harder to address as rental cars have also become popular among criminals. Commission Foutz reminded the public of the "See something, Say something" campaign slogan to raise public awareness about being vigilant. Sergeant Marquez agreed and stated it is important to remind residents as well as business owners to not be afraid to act and place a phone call. He further explained that callers can choose to remain anonymous. Sergeant Marquez explained that it is through the internal communication among the detectives, the crime analyst, and the SAO deputies that it is determined which areas require attention. He proceeded to state that programs such as Neighborhood Watch allow our residents and business owners to know, discuss, and disseminate crime prevention information with the purpose of being more vigilant. The presentation also discussed Assembly Bill 109 which established the California Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, which allows for current non-violent, non- serious, and non -sex offenders, who after being released from prison, are to be supervised at a local county level. Instead of reporting to the state parole officers, these offenders report to local and county probation officers. Proposition 47, as explained by the Sergeant, was implemented to broaden changes to felony sentencing laws. First, it reclassified certain theft and drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. Secondly, it authorized defendants currently serving sentences for felony offenses that would qualify as misdemeanors under the proposition to petition courts for resentencing under the new misdemeanor provisions. It authorized defendants who have completed their sentences for felony convictions, that would have qualified as a misdemeanor under the proposition to apply for reclassification of their convictions to misdemeanors. The presentation also elaborated on Proposition 57 with the intent to restore justice authority over juvenile offenders by allowing Juvenile Court judges to determine whether or not juveniles ages 14 and older should be prosecuted and sentenced as an adult and repealed Proposition 21, which was passed in March 2000. Proposition 21 gave prosecutors the sole authority to decide whether to try a young offender as juveniles or adults. He also explained that this proposition allows parole boards to release nonviolent prisoners once they have served the whole sentence for their primary criminal offense. In addition, Proposition 57 requires the Department of Corrections to dedicate uniform parole credits to prisoners with good behavior with reduced sentences. He states that the deputies in the City actively continue to enforce the laws in the state of California and their priority is to keep the citizens of Rosemead safe despite the changes in state law. Chair Cao stated he wanted to make a comment to the public emphasizing the election is on November 8th and the importance of voting. He went on to explain that the reason why these propositions and the assembly bills pass is because of voting results, which make it extremely difficult for our public safety officers to do their job. He emphasized that whatever we decide to vote on can potentially have very negative ramifications. He explained that due to the increased crime in our community, this Public Safety Commission was created. He stated that the data presented to the public by LASD is so that the public can figure out how to improve 5 the lives of our residents and businesses. He proceeded to give a shout -out to the Captain and Sergeant for the difficult work they do given the constraints that they have. The presentation continued to discuss Rosemead City programs such as the Neighborhood Watch and Business Watch meetings. The last Neighborhood Watch meeting was on October 24, 2022, at Rosemead Park. He explained that the deputies patrol City events such as the Fourth of July Parade, 911 Ceremony, Memorial Day Ceremony, Pumpkin dive, Fall Festival, Trunk or Treat, and the Toy Drive. He also mentioned the Catalytic Converter Etch and Sketch. The Sergeant explained that there are various ways to disseminate information to the public through social media, Nixle Alerts, and the Neighborhood Watch meetings, and concluded his presentation. Commissioner Fonseca asked about any fentanyl workshops to raise awareness of this growing issue. Captain Reyes informed the Commission of their upcoming event called "Run Away From Drugs" on November 5`h and proceeded to discuss the severity and dangers of this drug. He explained that the SAO team can be called to patrol a specific area in response to Commissioner Garcia's comments about patrolling the parks. The Captain provided the number to call to request the SAO Team to come out. The number is (626) 285-7171. He stated that the public can also use Crimestoppers.com to report any suspicious activity. He also mentioned that Crimestoppers is a setup where the person who reports something can be rewarded for the information provided. There was a discussion of potentially giving a presentation at the local high school to discuss the growing fentanyl issue. Commissioner Wu mentioned that the topic of homelessness was not addressed during the meeting and asked it to be a topic of discussion. Sergeant Marquez stated that there is a trend in specific areas where homeless individuals like to linger. Chair Cao asked if there was an ordinance for anti -camping. Assistant City Manager Bruckner informed the Commission that there is currently an anti -camping ordinance in place. He stated that City staff can look into how to strengthen the current ordinance. Captain Reyes discussed the Homeless Outreach Services Team ("HOST") which is managed by Captain Jeff Diedrich. They are contacted to address the homeless individuals who need additional resources. Assistant City Manager Bruckner reminded the Commission that the City is limited to deterring the homeless from finding other areas and finding new encampment sites. Assistant City Manager Bruckner recapped the previous meetings and presentations provided and reminded the Commission that their purpose is to serve as an advisory board to the City Council. He stated that the Commission should discuss recommendations they would like to submit to the City Council so that they can deliberate and take action on how to address safety concerns in the City. Chair Cao asked about the timeline of when the action items would need to be presented, Assistant City Manager Bruckner stated that since the Commission meetings will go on in perpetuity, there is no timeline per se; however, having the goal of presenting a list of action items to City Council in a year would allow time to gather information and determine how the Commission would like to proceed moving forward. 2 Vice -Chair Foutz inquired about the vacant lot that received a complaint and asked what our options were legally to address this issue. Assistant City Manager Bruckner stated that the City has a Vacant Lot Ordinance that requires the owners to maintain the property to a certain standard, and the lot in question is in compliance with the ordinance. 4. MATTERS FROM COMMISSION A. Commissioner Comments Vice -Chair Foutz discussed the auto meet -up event that occurred at the Target parking lot that affected traffic and auto safety and asked what our options are to avoid that. Sergeant Marquez stated that deputies were called in and shut down the event. He stated the best course of action would be to escort them off the property. Commissioner Garcia thanked the Fire Department for attending the Trunk or Treat event and expressed her gratitude. 5. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:36 p.m. The next Public Safety Commission meeting will be held on Monday, November 28, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. APPROVED: Jennifer Ii1'Mda, MahYar'ement Analyst Whit «k„% 6, Michael Cao, Chair