Agenda Packets - 1994/08/08 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Abuse Resistance Education) is a substance use prevention program designed to equip elementary school children with skills for resisting pressure to experiment with tobacco, drugs and alcohol. This Fall we will have an officer teaching five fifth grade classes for a period of seventeen consecutive weeks. The D.A.R.E. Officer will spend a minimum of two days a week at Pinewood School during this seventeen week period. On the enforcement side, the Police Department will try to assign an officer to the Ramsey County Drug Task Force. This assignment will be for a minimum period of three months. An assignment for a longer period would be of a great benefit for Mounds View, but without hiring additional staff, both the Drug Task Force and Project D.A.R.E. would be in jeopardy. In 1995, all squads will be equipped and utili7ing mobile data terminals. Increased costs will be realized with the use of this equipment. Our current computer system has been in place since 1986. Updates to hardware and software portions of this system should be anticipated. Consideration should be given to upgrading our emergency/weather warning system. The new golf course is not adequately covered at this time. Purchasing a siren either independently or cooperatively with adjacent cities will be studied. With an increase in population and a commercial and business district rapidly growing, police activity is increasing. Cutbacks in police services may be realized if revenues remain constant. Services such as unlocking car doors, property damage accidents, and vacation house checks may be in jeopardy unless additional resources are found. It will be the Police Department's goal to maintain police services within the resources available. Police Departments in Ramsey County are and will continue to discuss and study the possibilities of consolidation of services. Discussions will continue with the school district and New Brighton Police Department about a liaison officer at the high school level. The current proposed plan call for an equal sharing of cost between the three entities. STAFFING LEVEL PROJELHONS In recent years the Police Department has reali7ed a significant increase in "call for service." In the last three years we have averaged over 9,000 calls. Not counted are the many calls that are received during the day when the administrative office is open. Consequently less time is being spent in the enforcement and prevention areas of police work. Another factor to be considered is the longevity of the majority of our police officers. Most of our officers have been with the city in excess of ten years. As time on the department increases so does vacation benefits. Covering for vacations is becoming more difficult. 52