City Council
MEETING DATE: 1/28/2015
TITLE:
Title
Approval of Grant SLESA FY 14/15
End
FROM:
George Crum, Chief of Police
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the Expenditure Plan Appropriating Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Account (SLESA) for FY 2014-2015 allocation.
Body
BACKGROUND:
A Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Account (SLESA) has been established in each county of the state, for the purpose of overseeing and allocating funding being provided by the State of California's Citizens Options for Public Safety (Cal-COPS) Program, for the purpose of funding "frontline law enforcement services." The total state funding from the program allots a certain percentage for "city funding." City funding allocations are distributed based on population estimates provided by Chapter 353 of the Budget Act for the particular year funding.
In accordance with Government Code Section 30061 and 30063, the City Council shall approve the appropriation of the anticipated funding by approving a written request in the form of an "Expenditure Plan." The County of Riverside Sheriff's Department is designated as the Supplemental Law Enforcement Oversight Committee and must certify receipts and approval of the City's "Expenditure Plan" prior to submitting it to the County Board of Supervisors for review and approval, who will subsequently authorize the County Auditor/Controller to release the funding.
DISCUSSION:
The Expenditure Plan requirement requests the identification of the category (or categories) for which the Police department plans to expend current funding. It has been determined through management and staff decision, the best and most useful use of the funding will entirely be designated under the category of personnel, and be utilized towards the salary and equipment costs of starting a Police Cadet program for the Department.
The Cathedral City Police Department has two very successful volunteer programs that have been in existence well over twenty years. The programs are the Reserve Police Officer and Explorer Scout programs. The Department is looking to bridge the gap between Explorer Scouts and Reserve Police Officers by creating a Police Cadet program for adults ranging in age from 18-23 years old. This program will naturally attract Police Explorers and other young adults interested in a law enforcement career. This program will allow the Police Department to recruit and hire future potential police officers for Cathedral City Police Department. Once these Police Cadets gain the needed experience as cadets they would be highly considered for recruit officer positions, Dispatchers, Records Clerks, Police Service Aides and Community Service Officers. This program is designed to home grow our own for careers in law enforcement for the future by cultivating the personnel from the Explorer Scout program and Community College. Police Cadet programs have been highly successful across the United States for developing young adults for law enforcement careers.
The Police Cadets under the direct supervision of police personnel, will perform a variety of routine non-sworn tasks in an apprenticeship program framework, in preparation for a career in law enforcement. The Police Cadet will rotate through various divisions of the Police Department and perform work as required. Some of the duties will be clerical, recordkeeping, answering telephones, data processing and filing. Police Cadets will fingerprint individuals and process crime scenes, complete reports, conduct traffic control, vehicle transportation and document delivery as well as assist in Dispatch, Records and the Detective Bureau.
Police Cadets will have to pass a physical agility test, physical exam and background to be selected for the Police Cadet program.
Police Cadets will work 16 hours a week at the Police Department and must be enrolled in 12 units per semester in Police Science, Criminal Justice, Administration of Justice or a related field until obtaining an Associate's Degree at an accredited college or university during the regular school year. All course work accomplished must be completed with an overall grade point average of 2.0 or better. Police Cadets will only receive an hourly wage of $15 an hour and no benefits will be received for this at will position.
Therefore, the Cathedral City Police Department is requesting the Cathedral City Council's approval to submit the current $100,000 allocation FY 2014-2015 Expenditure Plan under the category of Personnel.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Approving the Expenditure Plan will provide a revenue source to pay the Police Cadets and provide them valuable training to advance to a police academy in the future. Six Police Cadets starting May 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016 will work a total of 944 hours each for a cost of $91,459.44 to include payments of Medicare and SSI. Uniforms and equipment will be issued to each Police Cadet for a total cost of $8,540.56. The combined costs for starting the Police Cadet program will be $100,000 with the grant proceeds covering the program in its entirety.
The hours worked by the Police Cadets will be closely monitored by the Police Cadet advisor, Police Supervisors and payroll to account for all hours worked in order to stay in compliance and adhere to the maximum cap with the PERS guidelines for part time employees.
ATTACHMENTS:
Supplemental Law Enforcement Standardized Expenditure Plan FY 2014-2015