Current POP staffing consists of 4 officers for the entire city. Retaining only 4 officers limits the availability to dedicate time to the numerous services provided by the Unit. Current POP Officers manage and staff no less than 28 special events annually; manage open POP cases that are lengthy, time-consuming, and unique community- focused/harm-based issues; and handle loss-prevention and Intelligence Led Policing. Adding POP personnel will allow the City to have two teams to serve Elk Grove; one will focus on the East and the other on the West. The teams will focus on the specific issues in their area related to quality of life, long-term problems, homelessness, and youth services. 

• Youth Services: 
  • Explorer program 
  • Volunteer program for youths ages 14-18; 
  • serves as an introduction to a public safety career/recruiting pipeline) 
  • engages youth in after-school and community-based activities. 
• Juvenile Diversion 
• ABC and Tobacco Grant management (reducing/impacting the illegal sales of tobacco and alcohol to minors) Investing in programs that build connections and support systems for at-risk youth is the greatest long-term positive impact on their success in life. 
• Homelessness- POP officers work with the Homeless Outreach Team, Homeless Navigator, Mobile Crisis Support Team, and Code Enforcement to provide resources to address mental health, substance abuse, community safety, and blight associated with homelessness.  

2022 saw a 200% increase in fatal collisions (9) over 2021 (3) and 2022 (3) and a 350% increase over the low of 2 fatal crashes in 2017. The City contracted with Citygate Associates, LLC for a police staffing and efficiency study, completed in February 2022. Part of those findings included a recommendation for the traffic unit to include four additional motor officers to increase coverage to include weekends and evenings. This increased coverage would allow for traffic enforcement in high-collision areas, increased special enforcement activities in and around schools, and addressing speed and other traffic complaints. In addition, it would help to reduce the increased number of fatal pedestrian collisions and fatal collisions overall. Two additional officers are planned to be added in future years.

The video wall is integral to operating the Real-Time Information Center (RTIC). This wall has ingested video and static intelligence displayed from multiple client inputs during all operational hours. When RTIC staff assist with routine calls for service, critical events, or disasters, the wall is utilized as a primary intelligence viewing platform for RTIC staff, Watch Commanders, and executive staff. The existing wall is made of Mitsubishi monitors, which are no longer supported. The monitors need to be replaced with a product that will be supported, given the critical nature of the system.

Increasing the number of dispatchers (from 19 to 22) would allow the dispatch center to modify the current shift schedule and increase the number of dispatchers working on each shift. By increasing shift staffing, the dispatch center would likely reduce 911 answer times leading to more efficient dispatching of 911 events and meeting the national response time standards. In addition, this would allow for quicker patrol response times and a reduction in crime. Improved employee wellness would be an additional benefit to increasing the number of dispatchers because working as a police dispatcher can be one of the most stressful positions in the department. The need to address dispatcher wellness is essential now due to the extreme difficulty in recruiting and retaining police dispatchers.

The City's current patrol allocation for police officers is 59 (with 4-5 vacancies). This number for patrol staffing is inadequate, given Elk Grove’s population and expected growth. Calls for service have increased dramatically over the last two years. With significant entertainment-related infrastructure being built and planned in the City, i.e., Sky River Casino, Zoo, Project Elevate, etc., the City will see increased crime and need law enforcement dedicated to these areas to ensure a safe environment for patrons. With additional resources, the response time for patrol will likely decrease, allowing our officers to serve the community proactively.

The new Special Operations Lieutenant would oversee the Crisis Response Unit (CRU), which encompasses the Special Weapons and Tactics Team, the Hostage Negotiations Team, Tactical Dispatcher Team, and the Unmanned Aerial Surveillance Team. In 2022, the CRU was called to approximately 30 preplanned or call-out events. Currently, the CRU is overseen but a combination of Sergeants, Managers, and Lieutenants, many of whom are tasked with being the Tactical Commander or an Incident Commander simply due to their availability. The Lieutenant would be the designated Incident Commander for all CRU-related events and take the initiative in the operational planning, be present for all CRU-related events, and facilitate debriefs and training exercises.

Calls for service often involve a mental health component. Police officers have been increasingly tasked with responding to crises involving individuals with behavioral health conditions or intellectual and developmental disabilities. These situations are often complex and present significant challenges which require a high level of training and expertise to serve these populations effectively. The Police Department currently has one Mobile Crisis Support Team (MCST) that consists of a police officer partnered with a Mental Health Counselor. The MCST co-responds to calls involving mental health crises. The current Mental Health Counselor is a Sacramento County employee placed with the Police Department through an agreement. The Police Department is allocated two Counselors; however, the County has been unable to provide a second Counselor for more than two years due to staffing issues and may no longer be able to give the City even one Counselor at the end of the current agreement's term. Hiring two City Mental Health Clinicians would ensure the Police Department could operate two MCST units, allowing the unit to expand the days/hours the MCST is available.

The Drone as a First Responder (DFR) Program is designed to augment police field response to calls for service with real-time actionable video intelligence. The DFR program includes pre-positioned unmanned aerial system (drone) assets and is ready to launch and fly to locations of calls for service. The pilot will be remotely positioned and control flight with a visual observer. By leveraging technology already existing in the Real-Time Information Center, DFR drones can launch and be on station overhead of a call for service, typically before ground resources arrive in vehicles. The DFR program will provide real-time video intelligence overhead calls for service, typically before ground resources arrive on the scene. It can locate, report, and follow suspects and suspected vehicles involved in crimes that have just occurred while ground resources respond to the location. In addition, DFR drone missions can check the validity of certain calls and can mitigate those calls in place of having police officers on the ground to respond. The funding would cover the cost of 4 Unmanned Aerial Systems, docking stations, and the associated software.

A Police Department recruitment team will help with crime reduction efforts by allowing the department to have adequate staff dedicated to recruiting viable candidates to fill vacancies, which in return allows the department to allocate more resources to proactive policing, community policing, and better investigatory follow-up and case closures. The recruitment team will aid in improving response times as this team’s primary responsibility would be to recruit personnel to fill current and future vacancies to ensure positions in operations are adequately staffed to respond to calls for service without delay. The recruitment team’s efforts in reducing organizational vacancies will allow the department to create programs such as youth and gang services that are more difficult to fill with inadequate staffing.

The Police Department’s training team would alleviate the current responsibilities shared by many staff members throughout the organization. A dedicated training team responsible for all department training would allow the current large pool of employees who handle training as an ancillary assignment to be more present in their patrol duties, community policing duties, and investigations duties and would assist with reducing crime by allowing officers to focus on their primary responsibilities. This would also allow for a potential decrease in response times to calls for service by having more resources in the field focused solely on their primary duty, which is responding to calls.

No staff is currently dedicated to addressing complaints regarding abandoned or illegally parked vehicles. The Traffic Unit receives approximately 150 traffic complaints a month involving abandoned and illegally parked vehicles. Because the Traffic Unit doesn’t have anyone dedicated to these complaints, these calls are routed to dispatch, and calls for service are created. These calls are shared by patrol officers, Patrol Community Service Officers (CSOs), Traffic Officers, and POP Officers. While abandoned or illegally parked vehicles don’t require a sworn officer response, Patrol CSOs also respond to traffic collisions and missing person reports and obtain cold (not in progress) crime reports. Therefore, they cannot handle all abandoned or illegally parked vehicle calls. On average, the Police Department takes approximately 300+ abandoned or illegally parked vehicle calls monthly. In 2021 the Traffic Unit had a CSO temporarily assigned to handle abandoned or illegally parked vehicle complaints for eight months. This was a temporary and unique assignment due to an administrative staffing assignment involving another employee. However, this temporary position was very beneficial in handling the massive call and complaint load. Currently, the Traffic Unit has one full-time CSO assigned to Red Light Camera Program. This CSO is also responsible for the weekly Preliminary Alcohol Screening Device (PAS) calibrations. When the Traffic Unit CSO is sick, or on vacation, sworn traffic officers are pulled from their primary duties to complete the PAS calibrations and work on the Red Light Camera program. With a second CSO in the traffic unit, they would assist the current Traffic Unit CSO and act as a “backup” for PAS calibrations and the Red Light Camera program, preventing a sworn traffic officer from being pulled from their primary duties. Assigning a full-time CSO dedicated to abandoned or illegally parked vehicle calls would significantly free up patrol officers, patrol CSOs, traffic enforcement officers, and POP officers to focus on their primary duties.

Purchase a deep search intelligence platform to perform public internet and dark web searches, linking people, property, and data together. The software will assist with criminal investigations and human trafficking.

Purchase 10 additional Flock Safety License Plate Readers. These devices alert the Real-Time Information Center whenever a wanted vehicle enters an area where a camera is installed. These cameras assist with crimes in progress, investigating crimes, and locating missing persons and vehicles. An additional ten cameras will allow for further coverage throughout Elk Grove.

The creation of a Youth Services Team would serve to meet the needs of the community to target issues with youth in Elk Grove. The Youth Services Unit would organize, coordinate, collaborate, and assist with developing and running various youth programs to build positive relationships with youth in our community. Some of the programs will include sports, education, and gang/crime prevention. The position will also pursue opportunities to partner with the Cosumnes CSD and the Elk Grove Unified School District.

Joint venture with Public Works and Public Affairs to implement the Keep Elk Grove Clean and Safe Campaign. Ongoing campaigns will include education and promotion, and increased native tree planting, trash receptacles, and mutt mitt stations along trails/creeks/channels/roadsides. This would consist of servicing the trash receptacles, mutt mitt stations, and additional litter pickup. The project also includes funding for an expected increase in homeless camp cleanup demands. The project aligns with the beautification efforts from the Elk Grove Anti-Trash group and a request from the City Council for an anti-litter campaign.

Contract with a professional graffiti removal company to quickly remove graffiti on private property visible to the public, keeping the community beautiful and deterring additional graffiti and other criminal activity.