PSC - Item 4D - Public Safety Commission 2.23.23
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION
STAFF REPORT
TO: THE HONORABLE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION
FROM: MICHAEL BRUCKNER, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
DATE: FEBRUARY 23, 2023
SUBJECT: REPORT AND DISCUSSION REGARDING PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICES AND
PROGRAMS (CONTINUED FROM JANUARY 23, 2023)
SUMMARY
At the October 27, 2022, Public Safety Commission Meeting, the Commission requested that staff
return with a summary of action items for further discussion which was brought forth at the
November 28, 2022, Special Public Safety Commission Meeting. At this meeting, the Commission
provided a series of topics and suggestions for further review and discussion. This report serves as
a summary of possible policy and programmatic options for the PSC to consider as part of its
comprehensive review of public safety programs and services.
This item was presented at the January 26, 2023, Public Safety Commission Meeting and was
continued to February 23, 2023. Additionally, a summary was added to this report regarding the
Overnight Crime Suppression Patrol Pilot Program. Therefore, it is recommended that the Public
Safety Commission discuss and provide recommendations for improving public safety services in
the City of Rosemead.
DISCUSSION
At the November 28, 2022, Special Public Safety Commission Meeting, the Commission provided
a series of topics and suggestions for further review and discussion. Below is a summary of the
items discussed along with some additional context for the Commission to consider including
staff’s recommendations.
Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Awareness & Narcan Administration
The Commission recommended that the City partner with local schools to offer education courses
on the dangers of fentanyl and methamphetamines, and how to administer Narcan during a
potential overdose episode.
Recommendation: LASD will plan and execute a drug awareness pop-up at Rosemead High
School. Additional drug awareness information can be provided to community members during
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regularly scheduled crime prevention programs like Neighborhood Watch or Community Area
Watch.
Sidewalk CPR Workshops
The Commission recommended that the City reinstitute Sidewalk CPR workshop trainings for
Rosemead residents and businesses that are interested in learning more about CPR administration.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department has indicated that they can support the City with this
effort and will supply all the necessary training materials and equipment.
Recommendation: The Public Safety Department will coordinate quarterly sidewalk CPR
trainings with LACFD.
Crime Prevention Programs
The Commission expressed interest in better understanding the City’s Crime Prevention Programs.
The City generally offers three programs for City residents and businesses, including:
Neighborhood Watch, Business Watch, and Community Area Watch. Below is a summary of each,
along with the times they are offered:
A. Neighborhood Watch – This program is designed to teach residents techniques to reduce
the risk of becoming victimized at home or in public. It trains residents on the importance
of recognizing suspicious activities in their neighborhoods and how to report them to law
enforcement. Additional guidance is offered on how to secure homes and properties to
reduce instances of crime. And, most importantly, it creates a safe and friendly space for
neighbors to get to know one another.
There are currently 43 established Neighborhood Watch groups in Rosemead; however,
only 16 block captains are currently active and in continuous communication with the
Public Safety Department. For a Neighborhood Watch group to become established, it
requires a group of willing residents to come together and invest their time and energy to
help reduce crime in their neighborhood.
Neighborhood Watch group meetings can be scheduled at virtually any time, with or
without City Public Safety Department staff or law enforcement personnel. When
requested, staff and Sheriff’s deputies can attend these meetings to provide support to the
group to address their concerns.
In addition to formalized Neighborhood Watch group meetings, the Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s Department (LASD) has also offered community-wide Neighborhood Watch
meetings to allow any member of the community a platform to share their public safety
concerns with law enforcement. LASD just recently concluded a series of Neighborhood
Watch meetings over the fall which were not well attended, despite the City’s efforts to
advertise the events.
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Neighborhood Watch is only as effective as the amount of time and energy a group of
neighbors is willing to invest. Formal in-person meetings, while a good platform to share
and exchange ideas, may no longer be the preferred way for neighbors to communicate
with one another. Taking Neighborhood Watch virtually might be a better solution in this
day and age; however, further investigation is required to determine if there is a platform
that is available to residents to share information and alerts on suspicious activities with
their neighbors in real-time.
B. Business Watch – Similar to Neighborhood Watch, Business Watch is designed to address
the unique concerns of business owners in the City to help prevent crime in their
establishments. These meetings are held virtually and scheduled on the second Tuesday of
odd-numbered months at 9:30 a.m. With the amount of commercial burglaries occurring
each month in Rosemead, it is vitally important to the City that Business Watch program
be expanded.
C. Community Area Watch – The purpose of the Community Area Watch meeting is to
educate the community on crime statistics and trends, to share information on personal
safety, securing homes and businesses, becoming a CERT volunteer, and more.
Historically, these meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month but were
transitioned to a virtual recording due to COVID-19. The pre-recorded messages are
created and posted on the City’s YouTube channel.
As discussed with the Commission, attendance at these various meetings has been minimal. The
Commission did share some suggestions about expanding public outreach which is discussed later
in this report; however, the question before the Commission is how to refine and/or enhance the
City’s crime prevention programs.
Recommendation(s): In consultation with the Public Safety Department staff and LASD, the City
is recommending the following programmatic changes:
• The City should be subdivided into six (6) reporting districts that coincide with LASD
reporting districts. An SAO deputy will be assigned to each district as its community
policing liaison.
• Community Area Watch meetings be held twice a year in each reporting district.
• The meetings should be tailored to provide crime trends citywide and specifically to each
reporting district.
• For Business Watch, it is recommended that the Rosemead Special Assignment Team
contact business owners and pass out information about how to participate in the Business
Watch program.
• Business Watch meetings should be held virtually once a month to support the unique
needs of the City’s business community.
• All crime prevention meetings should be attended by the Rosemead Chief of Police or their
designee in their absence.
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Neighborhood Watch meetings will continue as requested by new and/or establish groups.
Public Outreach
The City uses a variety of methods to communicate with the Rosemead community. These include
the City website, social media, press releases, and our new weekly e-digest called Rosemead This
Week. The City is in the process of creating its first ever Communications Plan and has prepared
a survey for the Rosemead community to identify opportunities to expand our outreach. This
survey will be in multiple languages and is designed to find out how and where Rosemead residents
consume information so we can meet them where they are at.
The City has also recently completed a Request For Proposals to update the City’s website. The
current site is limited in terms of organization, search, and functionality. The new site will offer
more robust communication tools, including translation options that will bridge the divide for non-
English speakers. Regarding translation, the City can do more to ensure that critical messaging
around public safety items are more timed out to allow for translation into common languages
spoken in Rosemead.
Recommendation: Conduct citywide Public Information Perception Survey to identify
opportunities for broader engagement with the Rosemead community.
Anti-Camping Ordinance & Jurisdiction
As discussed with the Commission, Code Enforcement staff engage in homeless-related contacts
Monday through Thursday in the early morning hours to remove individuals who are camping in
the public right-of-way, private property via letter of agency, or City facilities. These contacts are
typically supported by LA County Sheriff’s deputies; however, deputy support is not always
available. Further, the City’s municipal code restrictions are general in scope and may not be in
full compliance with recent case law. It is without question that homeless encampments in
Rosemead create unsanitary, unhealthy, disorderly, and dangerous conditions that may affect both
the campers and the general public.
To fully explore additional enforcement options related to homeless encampments, per the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Martin v. Boise, in order for the City to prosecute its anti-
camping laws, a shelter bed must first be offered. If the individual accepts shelter, then no
enforcement is warranted, and placement in a shelter can help remove individuals experiencing
homelessness from City streets. If an individual refuses shelter and continues to camp, then
enforcement can commence, and the individual can be removed by law enforcement.
At the November 28, 2022, PSC Meeting, the Commission recommended that the City of Duarte’s
Anti-Camping Ordinance be reviewed as a potential model for Rosemead. Staff contacted the City
of Duarte for a copy of their ordinance and was advised that no such ordinance exists. The
neighboring City of Arcadia adopted an updated Anti-Camping Ordinance which is included in
this report as Attachment A.
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Furthermore, the Commission also expressed concerns that jurisdictional issues may impede the
City’s ability to address homelessness. This is true to a certain extent as addressing public safety
issues along fault lines of jurisdiction does sometimes create mitigating factors in terms of
response; however, the City does maintain an open dialogue with all stakeholders and we all share
a common goal of abating homeless encampments, specifically, and addressing rising
homelessness, generally.
Recommendation: It is recommended that the Public Safety Commission review the City of
Arcadia’s Anti-Camping Ordinance and provide suggestions for a similar ordinance in Rosemead.
Public Safety Vehicle Street Access, Curb Markings, and Permit Parking
The Commission requested additional information regarding public safety vehicle access and
whether current parking standards and curb markings in the City are sufficient to provide access
to public safety vehicles. The City has consulted with both LAFD and LASD and determined in
most instances, there is sufficient ingress and egress on City streets for vehicles.
Further, the Commission inquired whether recreational vehicles can be parked on City streets.
Staff has reviewed the City’s municipal code and section 17.112.070 (Attachment B) expressly
requires that recreational vehicles be properly stored on side or rear yards and screened from view
of the street. If the Commission or the community is aware of improperly parked recreational
vehicles, they are encouraged to contact the City’s Code Enforcement Division for abatement.
Additionally, the Commission also requested more information about more red curb striping on
City streets. The Public Works Department oversees curb striping in the City. In consultation with
the Public Works Director, it was determined that any requests for additional curb striping be
submitted to the Traffic Commission, which is the advisory board charged with providing
recommendations to the City Council on this topic.
Recommendation: It is recommended that the Public Safety Commission provide a list of the areas
or streets of concern to be transmitted to the Public Works Department for review by the Traffic
Commission.
Finally, the Commission inquired as to whether a permit parking program would help enhance
public safety by clearly identifying which vehicles belong in the permitted parking area and which
vehicles are not permitted. Establishing a permit parking program has been discussed in the past;
however, there are several factors that must be considered, including but not limited to:
• Who defines the parking permit district? Residents or City?
• How many permits per household? Single-family vs. Multi-family?
• How much will permits cost? Yearly? Overnight?
• Do permits cover the cost of enforcement? Cost recovery vs. General Fund subsidy?
• Are there senior and low-income waivers? What is the subsidy?
• How are ADUs factored into number of permits?
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• Will the City require residents to use garages for parking?
• How is permit parking affected on street sweeping days?
Understandably, there are a lot of variables that go into creating a permit parking program. The
costs and benefits of parking demand management are well understood but the impacts are difficult
to determine. Staff did research available sources to see if there is a nexus between permit parking
and crime but could not find any authoritative information to substantiate its effects on crime;
however, a single search return did provide a study that was unattainable
(trid.trb.org/view/576065).
Broken Windows Theory
First proposed by the late criminologist James Q. Wilson in 1982, the broken windows theory of
criminal justice holds that seemingly minor instances of social and physical disorder in urban
spaces can contribute to an atmosphere of lawlessness that encourages more serious crimes. The
question before the Commission is whether this is true for the City and what steps need to be
undertaken in order to prevent the “broken window” from occurring. LASD does not believe that
the City is in a “broken windows” cycle as low-level offenses like graffiti and other forms of
vandalism are quickly addressed by law enforcement and City staff. The increase in property and
other crimes is largely attributed to the state’s efforts at criminal justice reform and the revolving
door of justice being championed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Recommendation: LASD and the City will continue to monitor quality of life crimes and address
them in a timely manner.
Public Safety Budget
The City contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement
services. The current FY 2022-23 contract with LASD is approximately $9.4 million and includes
law enforcement administration, patrol, and Rosemead Special Assignment Team as described
below and on the Service Level Authorization firm (Attachment C). It is important to note that this
staffing model has existed relatively unchanged for approximately 10 years or more.
• 1.0 FTE Lieutenant (Chief of Police)
• 1.0 FTE Sergeant
• 12.0 FTE Patrol Deputies
• 7.0 FTE Special Assignment Deputy
• 1.0 FTE Grant Motor Deputy
Patrol deputies work three shifts (AM, PM, EM) and at any given time there are 3 – 5 patrol
vehicles operating in the City. According to LASD, response times to calls are estimated as
follows:
• Routine Call: 50 minutes
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• Priority Call: 15 minutes
• Emergent Call: 8 minutes
Attached for the Commission’s review is the Contract City Law Enforcement Services and
Equipment Master Rate Sheet (Attachment C) for the current fiscal year. This sheet provides the
additional incremental cost for one unit of service. For example, if the City were to acquire one
more unit of 56-hour deputy patrol, the cost would be $463,979.
Recommendation: Discuss current service model and cost/benefits of adding or removing units of
service to enhance law enforcement response times and reduce crime.
HOST Team
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST) is
responsible for addressing homeless encampments with 10 or more people in Los Angeles County.
HOST will engage with individuals in these encampments to assist with connecting them with
services in the County’s continuum of care. After a required notification period, HOST will assist
with enforcement related to encampment clean-up efforts. Currently, there are no encampments in
Rosemead that meet the 10 or more threshold.
Recommendation: Continue to monitor homeless encampments in Rosemead and engage with the
HOST Team on an as-needed basis.
Flock ALPR Cameras
Over the years, the City has acquired and implemented several automated license plate recognition
(ALPR) cameras at strategic intersections throughout the City. The ALPRs cameras provide law
enforcement the tools to search vehicles by type, make, color, plate, and more. They provide law
enforcement with real-time monitoring and alerts if a suspect vehicle has entered the City. The
City currently has 25 ALPR cameras at major intersections throughout the City.
Due to operational concerns about sharing the location of the ALRPs cameras, no information is
being provided about the location of the cameras; however, staff has mapped the location of the
existing cameras and is working with LASD to identify any gaps in coverage.
Recommendation: Work with LASD to identify opportunities and locations to strengthen ALPRs
camera coverage.
Overnight Crime Suppression Patrol Pilot Program
In response to a series of commercial burglaries along the major commercial corridors in
Rosemead, the City Manager authorized the creation of an Overnight Crime Suppression Patrol
Pilot Program. Beginning in January 2023, the City’s Code Enforcement team volunteered to
adjust their work schedule to begin overnight patrols from 12:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. to assist the