Agenda Packets - 2002/07/01 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY-WIDE March-May 2001 2002 Change Adult Arrests 173 128 -26% Juvenile Arrests 36 18 -50% With the implementation of a School Resource Officer at Edgewood Middle School the expectation on the part of the school and the police department was that there would be a reduction in juvenile problems and arrests. This expectation has been met. We have also been handling less serious juvenile violations with a grant-funded program called Family Group Conferencing. This approach also reduces the number of juveniles being routed through the juvenile court system. A second area requiring further attention was the number of traffic citations being issued. Data comparing the number of citations for every officer on the department has been compiled showing a comparison of March – May of 2002, versus the same period for 2001. In 2001 459 citations were issued, compared to 192 in 2002, a reduction of 58%. The result of this data was eye opening. Of the 12 street officers whose statistics were analyzed, only two of the officers showed an increase in citations issued in 2002 for the same period in 2001. One qualifier affecting the overall number of citations is that one officer who historically has been the leading producer of traffic citations for the police department was moved to an assignment in the schools. Because this officer was no longer on the street, this factor alone resulted in a reduction of 84 citations, and we had one less officer on the street during this most recent quarter. Another factor that should be considered is the AFSCME strike that occurred during this most recent quarter. During the time of the strike, street officers provided assistance and support of office and clerical responsibilities as much as possible. Street officers were also directed to spend as much available time as possible monitoring the strike situation at the Bridges and at City Hall. The overall numbers of citations issued, looking at a longer time period of one year, as opposed to only one quarter, shows that citations issued comparing a one-year period in 2000-2001 versus 2001-2002 are fairly comparable. In fact, if one were to eliminate the most recent quarter, total number of citations issued for the most recent period would show an increase. It should also be noted that the number of citations issued from March-May in 2001 was higher than any other quarter in recent history. Citations June 1- May 31 2001 2002 Change 1192 1029 -13%