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Minutes 02-12-97 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1997, AT 7:30 P.M. PRESENT Ron Washam, Chairman Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant to the Elizabeth Jenkins, Vice Chairperson City Manager Ronald Bair Belky Cruz Joy Currier Blanche Girtman Jill Verderosa Dee Zibelli Arthur Berman, Alternate ABSENT Brenda Lee Williams I. OPENING, PLEDGE, PRAYER Chairman Washam called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was led by Ms. Girtman. A moment of silent prayer was observed. II. ROLL CALL The Recording Secretary called the roll. III. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS None. IV. AGENDA APPROVAL Ms. Zibelli added Item IX.B (Multi-Cultural Festival). Motion Ms. Zibelli moved to approve the agenda as amended. Mr. Bair seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 12, 1997 V. MINUTES APPROVAL No additions, deletions, or corrections were made to the minutes of the last meeting. Motion Ms. Girtman moved to approve the minutes of the January 8, 1997 meeting. Ms. Currier seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. VI. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Black History Month Chairman Washam announced that Black History Month is being celebrated throughout the country, and encouraged the Community Relations Board to do everything it can to promote this throughout the month of February. Ms. Currier advised that there was a wonderful turnout at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration Breakfast. Ms. Girtman added that the coronation on Sunday was beautiful and commended Carolyn Sims of the Recreation Department for doing a good job. Ms. Girtman invited everyone to Hester Center this Saturday for the Annual Black Awareness Celebration. Mr. Hawkins advised this event has been upgraded this year. There will be entertainment, food booths, activities for children, and ethnic crafts. B. City Manager Interviews Mr. Hawkins announced that this Thursday, the City Commission will be interviewing three candidates for the position of City Manager. Each Commissioner will interview each candidate one-on-one between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. These interviews are not open to the public. However, each candidate will be interviewed in front of the entire Commission beginning at 2:00 p.m. in Commission Chambers. This will be open to the public. There will be a reception at Lucille & Otley’s beginning at 6:00 p.m. to see how the candidates function in a social setting. The chairpersons of all the City boards and all the department heads have been invited to this reception. C. Retirement of Bob Eichorst Mr. Hawkins announced that Bob Eichorst, the Public Works Director, is retiring, and there will be a retirement dinner for him on February 28. If anyone is interested in attending, they should call Chris Roberts at the Public Works Department. The cost is $20.00 per person. 2 MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 12, 1997 D. Department Head Vacancies Mr. Hawkins advised that there are five department head vacancies in the City that the new City Manager will have to select. They include the Public works Director, the Fire Chief, the Department of Development Director, City Engineer, and ITS Director. VII. PUBLIC AUDIENCE None. Since Chief Gage was not yet present, New Business was discussed next. IX. NEW BUSINESS B. Multi-Cultural Festival Ms. Zibelli suggested that the board start making preparations for the next Annual Multi-Cultural Festival. She referred to an article from the Palm Beach Post which states that the Palm Beach County Cultural Council gives out grants to groups that promote and develop cultural activities. She advised that Todd Kotas, the Economic Development Coordinator, will help the board apply for grants. However, we have to apply for this grant soon. Mr. Bair volunteered to contact Mr. Kotas. A. Update on two sessions of Community Forum on Multi-Cultural Diversity conducted by Dr. Samuel Betances on Thursday, January 30, 1997 at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church The members of the board thanked the City for this seminar and expressed a desire to have more of them. Chairman Washam declared a recess at 7:55 p.m. The meeting resumed at 8:03 p.m. VIII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Chief Marshall Gage - Update on Community Policing and other Department Activities Chief Gage apologized for not arriving sooner; however, he was speaking before the new Citizens Police Academy. He asked the board if there are specific issues they would like him to address. Ms. Cruz has noticed a lot of prostitution on Federal Highway and Gateway Boulevard. st Also, she has not seen enough patrol units in her area (the 2100 block of NE 1 Court) 3 MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 12, 1997 and there has been a lot of vandalism. She attended a meeting last week and spoke to her Community Relations Officer, Bruce Brueggeman. She had met with him previously; however, the situation still exists. Squatters live in this area, and people are dealing there. Chief Gage asked her if she formally told the officers who work in this area or if she informally told them this when she saw them in passing. Ms. Cruz said an officer met her at her house and she gave him all the information. He made the proper referrals to Code Enforcement, etc., but the situation still exists. Chief Gage advised her to call him if nothing is being done about specific circumstances like this. With regard to the prostitution, he advised that it is occurring throughout the City. In August we started a zero tolerance program regarding prostitution, drug dealing, and general problems that were bringing down the quality of life in the City. We made a lot of arrests for about a four month period but discovered that before the officers finish the paperwork, the subjects are back on the street again. One prostitute has been arrested 36 times in the last five years in Dade and Palm Beach Counties for prostitution and drug related felony charges. She goes to her first appearance the next day and pleads no contest. They withhold adjudication, sentence her to time served (even on the felonies) and put her back on the street again. After the first of the year, we redirected half of our Community Patrol Officers and our Directed Patrol Unit to go after the prostitutes and drug dealers who will not leave the City voluntarily. These officers are now going to first appearance with a thick file on the defendants and telling the State Attorney that we do not want these individuals back on our streets and that we want a high bond. This has caught the State Attorney’s Office and some of the judges off guard. They are not used to the community or the officers making a stink. In most cases, particularly the cases where we have a thick file on the perpetrators, they are cooperating by bringing them to trial and requesting a higher bond. Slowly but surely, we are finding that a lot of the perpetrators are starting to move on. Ms. Cruz stated that there was already a fire on her block. There are vacant houses and she is afraid someone will do drugs in them and set them on fire. Chief Gage stated that several arrests were made at the house at 118 MLK Boulevard 11 months ago. It was closed down in October and foreclosed on. The owners plan on demolishing this house next week and will probably turn it over to the City so that we can do something constructive with it. This was a result of the drug arrest activity and the Code Enforcement efforts. Ms. Zibelli stated that she does not know the Community Police Officers in her neighborhood anymore. Everybody was used to them, including the children. She said the people would feel more comfortable if they knew the officers who patrol their area. Chief Gage explained that since January, he diverted half of the Community Patrol 4 MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 12, 1997 Officers and the Directed Patrol Unit to get rid of the drug dealers and prostitutes because if we do not deal with them, they will destroy the entire City. We have to make an impact on them if we are going to make any progress in the City with anything else that we are trying to work on. Ms. Zibelli advised that they are doing a lot of dealing around Rolling Green Elementary School. Chief Gage was aware of this. He advised that Officers Vargas, Peters, and Ritacco are watching some of the guys on the north end who were “displaced” from other areas that we have put pressure on. These guys were supposed to go further into another City, but they did not get the word. Therefore, we are trying to give them the word now. Ms. Cruz advised that they are dealing across the street from the Crossings on Gateway Boulevard and using the phone to do their transactions on Saturday mornings and afternoons. Chief Gage was aware of this and promised to deal with them. Ms. Currier asked what happened in her neighborhood (Sierra Heights) last week. She noticed many police officers there. Chief Gage advised that they were after a bank robber. There were three robberies in the County that day, and we were the only ones who caught our robber. Ms. Girtman commended Chief Gage on the cleanup that is occurring on Martin Luther King Boulevard. It is a lot better and much quieter, and she likes to see the officers parked at Robinson’s. She felt more comfortable going out into her neighborhood. Chief Gage thanked her and explained that he encourages the officers to park in places that have been a problem. Ms. Girtman noticed problems at the EZ Mart. Chief Gage advised her that if she sees what seems to be drug transactions going on in that area, it might be our guys. He wants the buyers and sellers nervous so that they do not know whether they are buying or selling from a police officer or not. He wants them all nervous about what they are doing so he can convince them to go someplace else. Chairman Washam asked Chief Gage about the hiring of minority officers and the probationary period. Chief Gage advised that 13 percent of the Department is minority. The Department has 126 officers, with an authorized strength of 133. Three or four months ago, we were as high as 18 or 19 percent minority officers. Many factors affected this percentage, some of which he has little control over. He pointed out that our agency is not the only agency in this area trying to recruit minority officers. We are competing just like any other business would compete for new recruits, whether they are minorities or not. Every agency needs to match the makeup of the community they serve. Many agencies are striving for accreditation, and if they want to be accredited, they need to match the community makeup or be making strong efforts to do so. 5 MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 12, 1997 We are hampered by bad press. Some of the other agencies are offering better benefits. The City Manager’s Office is addressing the issue of benefits. Our starting pay is great; however, our benefits and step increases are not. An officer who has been here five years makes the same as an officer who has been here only one year. Most of the other agencies in the area have gradual step increases. In police work across the nation, in the first two to three years, a lot of officers will jump ship. If they have not made a specialty or have not been promoted by that time, they go to other agencies because they may have nicer cars, better pay, better uniforms, and perhaps they are not getting the negative press that we are getting. It is easy for them to go to another agency at this time because they do not have much vested and have enough experience to sell themselves to another department. It takes about 8 to 10 years for most individuals to get promoted. The really sharp ones get promoted in 4 to 6 years. Therefore, after 7 to 10 years, they think twice about jumping ship. We are losing most of our officers in the first two to three years. Most of the ones who are jumping ship within that period are the sharp ones because they are being recruited by other agencies. The pay plan and benefits issues will be brought to the Commission for resolution. If we do not do something to stop this kind of turnover, we will be nothing more than a training ground for other police departments and will lose too much of our talent in the first two or three years. With regard to the probationary period, newly hired officers are put through a 14 week Field Training Program. This program was revamped the first of this year in accordance with a program that Chief Gage wrote years ago for North Miami Beach. It was modified by Sgt. Wendy Danysh to match our needs, improve our training, and identify early on problems with recruits that can be remediated by sending them for additional training. Some recruits are good enough to get through the program, but are weak in some areas. We will send them to some courses and encourage them to take other courses on their own to help strengthen them. If they pass the Field Training Program but have a weakness, we tell them to work on that weakness. They are on probation for one year, and we evaluate them every month. If we do not see improvement before the end of the probationary period, we need to make a decision to retain them or not. We had to let one recruit go a few weeks ago because he was doing less than satisfactory in 26 out of the 28 criteria that we evaluate the trainees on. The decision to let him go was for the benefit of the City and the Department. If you have an individual failing at 26 of the 28 criteria, you have a lot of liability working on the street carrying a gun. This is not done in a vacuum. The recruits’ deficiencies are pointed out to them every month on their evaluation, which they have to sign. In most cases, we identify 6 MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 12, 1997 programs for them to help them improve. There are individuals in the Department who will spend extra time mentoring them and helping them to get through the probationary period. Across the country, between 17 and 22 percent are washed out during the first year. Not all of them are fired. Some walk out on their own; however, it is still a loss to the organization. We have to go back to the drawing board and recruit and train. The person who does the backgrounds and recruiting has to dig that much harder to find another viable candidate to bring on board. The training officer has to spend another 14 weeks in the car training another recruit. It is very frustrating and they are subject to burnout. In response to Ms. Girtman’s inquiries, Chief Gage advised that all the Field Training Officers (FTOs) go through a training program, and the better part of them have been through advanced training programs as trainers. Initially, each recruit has a primary FTO. The recruit will usually bond with that officer more than anybody else. The recruit goes with that officer for the first month; the second month with another FTO; and the third month with still another FTO. Then he or she goes back to his or her primary FTO for the last two weeks of evaluation. That FTO is probably the most important resource to the recruit during the first year. However, every FTO that the recruit has gone with is also a resource. In addition, we have officers who have volunteered to be mentors and have sought out some of these recruits and asked them to come to them if they have a problem. When we lose an officer, every FTO considers it a personal failure. With the new program that we have, the FTOs have a group meeting every month to discuss the problems that the recruit is experiencing and they decide which FTO would best be suited to deal with this particular recruit to make him successful. There is a desire to help them; however, not all of them are going to make it. As long as we are hiring people, we are going to lose people. Chief Gage’s goal is to cut this percentage to the minimum because we have too much of an investment in recruits. Ms. Girtman asked how much money it costs to recruit an officer. Chief Gage explained that there is a lieutenant in Professional Standards who does this almost full time. A couple of officers assist him. Also, we have a half dozen investigators who do background checks. On the average, if we have 100 applicants, we will be lucky to hire two or three of them. A good percentage of them will have serious deficiencies in their background. We have had applicants with extensive drug backgrounds. During the background process, some will flunk the polygraph or psychological. Some will have an arrest history, such as a sexual battery on a juvenile. We do not want these individuals policing our community and our children. In addition, we will lose some applicants to other agencies. 7 MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 12, 1997 Ms. Girtman asked how many officers are currently being trained. Chief Gage advised that five recruits are presently in the Field Training Program. Ms. Girtman asked about minorities. Chief Gage advised that one female and one Hispanic are in the Field Training Program, and two African-Americans are in the Academy. We plan to hire four minorities in the next week or two. Three of them are African-American and one is Vietnamese. We are also looking for some individuals who are already certified. Ms. Cruz said she heard that one of the African-American officers who was let go did not get re-enforcement from the Department. Whenever he needed help, it was not available to him. Chief Gage was aware of who she was referring to and advised her that this person was the one who was failing in 26 out of the 28 criteria. He invited her to look at his file. Every week a Captain went over his evaluation with him and pointed out his deficiencies, and every week this officer would claim that nobody had told him about them. Chief Gage stated that he can hire two or three minorities and boost the minority percentage in a week or two; however, he does not want to rely on statistics and disregard the quality of the applicants. He cares about the quality of the applicants and the service that we are providing. We are actively recruiting good quality applicants of every background. He has a strong commitment to match the makeup of the community. However, when he matches the makeup of the community, he does not intend to stop recruiting minority candidates because he wants good quality candidates. There are a number of factors that affect whether we can get there quickly or not. One of them is the issue of the benefits and pay plan. If this is not addressed, we will continue to have a high turnover rate. Chief Gage pointed out that we are not just having a turnout rate that is unacceptable with regard to minorities. We are having a turnover rate that is unacceptable, period. In response to a question posed by Chairman Washam, Chief Gage advised that we are down six officers right now. Mr. Bair asked if the officers are resisting Chief Gage’s efforts to recruit minorities. Chief Gage stated that not one person has resisted him, and if someone did, he will not tolerate it and will deal with it. Ms. Girtman asked what kind of use has the City made of President Clinton’s funds for more police officers. Chief Gage advised that through this program, a couple of officers have been brought on the COPSMORE Program, and we have purchased some computers. We have applied for a grant that will be used to put computers in the cars sometime this year. We also applied for a matching HUD grant for an officer for the Cherry Hill neighborhood. Chairman Washam thanked Chief Gage for addressing the board and applauded his efforts. He offered the board’s assistance if needed. 8 MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 12, 1997 IX. NEW BUSINESS A. Update on two sessions of Community Forum on Multi-Cultural Diversity conducted by Dr. Samuel Betances on Thursday, January 30, 1997 at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church This item was addressed earlier in the meeting. B. Multi-Cultural Festival This item was addressed earlier in the meeting. X. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:58 p.m. Eve Eubanks Recording Secretary (Two Tapes) 9