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City Council Study Session Meeting Minutes <br /> Apri 1 10, 2001 <br /> Page 5 <br /> 1 Councilmember Sparks noted the calls for service from 1999 to 2000 went down 800 calls but <br /> 2 Lauderdale and Falcon Heights went up in the number of calls. Police Captain Ohl explained <br /> 3 that those calls have increased because of the type of law enforcement that St. Anthony provides <br /> 4 which increases the propensity for people to contact their Police Department since they believe <br /> 5 they are more reactive, responsive, and appreciates the call. <br /> 6 Councilmember Sparks noted the investigation report and asked if they are more comfortable <br /> 7 with the service or if more crime is occurring. She noted that Lauderdale and Falcon Heights <br /> 8 were to be a smaller percentage of the budget but had 500 investigations compared to 600 in St. <br /> 9 Anthony so she questions whether the budget should be considered differently. <br /> 10 Police Captain Ohl noted there is a monetary profit to providing law enforcement to contract <br /> 11 cities. Also, there are other intangibles such as having more officers available should the need <br /> 12 arise. <br /> 13 Councilmember Sparks asked about the ratio of staff between the communities. Police Captain <br /> 14 Ohl stated there are 14 officers in St. Anthony and 6 officers are assigned to Falcon Heights and <br /> 15 Lauderdale. He explained how criminal investigations are conducted by the officers which <br /> i6 results in a high percentage of cleared cases. <br /> 17 Councilmember Spark stated it appears there is a disproportionate number of cases coming from <br /> 18 Lauderdale and Falcon Heights and she wants to assure that St. Anthony residents are not <br /> 19 covering their costs. Police Captain Ohl stated that is not occurring and the information is <br /> 20 readily available. <br /> 21 Mayor Cavanaugh stated these issues can be discussed during the budget hearings, noting there is <br /> 22 a capital gain from contract services. However, a professional cost study has not been <br /> 23 conducted. <br /> 24 Councilmember Sparks asked if there is no concern about the number of cases coming from <br /> 25 Lauderdale and Falcon Heights. Police Captain Ohl stated it does not and he believes there are <br /> 26 benefits for all three cities in providing contract services. He stated they contract for a certain <br /> 27 amount of time to have a patrol officer in their city and investigations come back to the central <br /> 28 office unless it is conducted by the officer that is there on contract time. <br /> 29 City Manager Mornson advised that historically the City has made about $50,000 annually plus <br /> 30 with contract police services the contract city pays for police vehicles for their city as well as for <br /> 31 St. Anthony. <br /> 32 Mayor Cavanaugh stated the violent crime rate looks like it is about 100. Police Captain Ohl <br /> stated that number is attached to the population versus number of offenses. He stated it is not <br /> 0 reflective of the number of offenses. Mayor Cavanaugh noted St. Anthony is at the low end of a <br />