CC PACKET 05142024 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 23, 2024 Page 5 1 community and police department; Phase 3 – Partnership Decision – Decision on whether to 2 move forward is made based on final contract terms and agreed-upon timeframe; and Phase 4 – 3 Implement – Implementation of new agreement if decision is made to renew partnership. 4 5 Mr. Yunker reviewed the Stakeholder input process which consisted of Online Surveys – March 6 1-April 12, 2024 with 233 responses from Falcon Heights and 222 responses from St. Anthony 7 Village. Open House conversations were held on March 12,13, 26 and 27. Door knocking and 8 discussion at community meetings by City Council Members and staff during March. St. 9 Anthony Police Department conversations with Town Halls April 17 and 18. 10 11 Mr. Yunker reviewed in January 2024, officials from the City of Falcon Heights reached out to 12 the City to determine if the St. Anthony Village City Council would be willing to consider 13 renewing a Police Services partnership. Internal conversations took place to seek input from the 14 City Council and the Police Department on the request. The consensus was a willingness to 15 engage in conversations around an exploration process. The process began with a joint meeting 16 of the St. Anthony Village and Falcon Heights City Councils to discuss the possibility of an 17 exploration and the result of that discussion was agreement to begin the process and prioritize 18 engagement of each community to seek input on the concept. 19 20 Mr. Yunker reviewed the timeline of the process to date. Early in the process, both cities 21 engaged Goff Public to assist both cities’ staff in managing external messaging and community 22 engagement. They also assisted in drafting each community’s survey and provide an independent 23 analysis of the results. The objective of the survey was to be a poll of the community to gather 24 broad ideas and questions/concerns to address on the concept of a renewed partnership. It was 25 not intended to be nor cannot be used as a gauge of overall community sentiment. For St. 26 Anthony residents, these primary themes emerged as top priorities for the City to consider: 27 28 Potential Benefits Concerns 29 Financial SAPD staffing levels 30 Increased SAPD capacity Trust (leadership, community and SAPD officers) 31 Proximity Cost 32 33 Many respondents felt more information was needed to fully identify benefits. A number of 34 respondents also noted they see no potential benefits. This response was more common from St. 35 Anthony Village residents. 36 37 Based on survey input the Falcon Heights priorities top themes included community-based 38 policing and increased level of service. Other common themes: increased visibility, cost, racial 39 equity practices and training, transparency and accountability, de-escalation training and 40 alternative methods. Questions and concerns raised from survey input were SAPD staffing levels, 41 Trust (leadership, community and SAPD officers), Cost, Policing style, training and practices, and 42 St. Anthony Village respondents expressed a high level of satisfaction with SAPD and the current 43 level of service they receive from the department. 44 45 The full analysis of all submitted thoughts, questions and concerns was provided for City 46 Council consideration. 15