01-23-2023 CC - Laserfiche WebLink

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MOUNdI& I Item No: 8A Meeting Date:01/23/2023 Type of Business: Council Business Administrator Review: City of Mounds View staff Re art To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Ben Zender, Deputy Chief of Police Item Title/Subject: Resolution 9690 Authorizing the Resolution Adopting the Fencing Consortium Joint Powers Agreement Introduction: Based on the experience with civil unrest in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center, the critical role that anti -scale fencing can serve for de-escalation and establishing a space for lawful protests became apparent. That said, it was also found that obtaining anti - scale fencing is a significant challenge due to a number of factors, as well as being very expensive. To respond to this identified need, a Fence Working Group was established. In the spring of 2021, a significant number of public agency professionals (with police, fire, public works, and emergency management backgrounds) joined together to explore the identified challenges and develop a collective path forward. Discussion: The Fence Working Group's efforts have led to the formation of a Fencing Consortium. The Fencing Consortium is made up of local government agencies (members) that will; jointly contract with a fencing vendor for the availability, storage, maintenance, and transportation of anti -scale fencing (including vehicle gates and pedestrian doors). The Consortium will have, at a minimum, enough fencing for the largest police department building in the Consortium. However, the Consortium has the flexibility to increase the amount of fencing, gates, and doors as additional local governments join the Consortium. The intent of the Fencing Consortium is to provide anti -scale fencing within hours, not days, around potentially impacted government building(s) in response to a critical incident. The goal of the anti -scale fencing is to de-escalate the potential tensions and try to reduce/eliminate the non -tangibles associated with civil unrest such as: 1) Provide physical separation between law enforcement and protestors a. Promotes improved mental health environment for all (reduce PTSD) b. Pre -plan and standardize perimeter layout 2) Reduce the need for crowd control measures to be used a. Improved safety for all b. Minimize potential impact on adjacent properties c. Crowd control measures are seen as escalating d. Another tool for law enforcement facilitating peaceful protests 3) Create a space for protesting a. Not seen as officers vs. protestors, but protestors just protesting (including optics) b. Supports efforts to coordinate/communicate with specific protest groups and organizers ahead of time c. Improved distinction between legal protestors and "violent and destructive