HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-28-17 City Commission Packet Materials - C7. JAG Grant Application for Diversity in Response Improvements
Commission Memorandum
REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Rich McLane, Deputy Chief of Police
Dennis Taylor, Interim City Manager
SUBJECT: FY 17 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant MEETING DATE: August 28, 2017
AGENDA ITEM TYPE: Consent
RECOMMENDATION: Approve Justice Assistance Grant Application to the Bureau of Justice in the amount of $14,529.
BACKGROUND: On August 9, 2017, the Bureau of Justice Assistance announced the
Bozeman Police Department was eligible for an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance
Grant (JAG) in the amount of $14,529. The use of JAG funds will support a project within the Bozeman Police Department to enhance the safety of our officers and community. A brief project narrative is attached.
FISCAL EFFECTS: Approval of this proposal will have no adverse impacts on the current Police Department budget. Matching funds are not required by the funding agency, but are listed in the budget narrative as some of those purchases would be required regardless of the grant award.
ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Commission.
Attachments: Project Narrative Report compiled: August 15, 2017
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PROJECT TITLE: City of Bozeman – 2017 Diversity in response improvement grant request
PROJECT NARRATIVE: The City of Bozeman is requesting grant funding from the FY 2017 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. The Department of Justice has determined that the City meets the criteria for agency funds in an allocated amount of
$14,529. The City of Bozeman is located in Gallatin County in the State of Montana. These funds fall primarily under the JAG program area of law enforcement and partly under the program area of technology improvement. These funds fall into the following Project Identifiers:
• Equipment – tactical
• Officer Safety
• Violence/violent crime
• Communications
• Less than Lethal
In the past, JAG grant funding requests have been focused on one particular Project
identifier, with an emphasis at times on communication improvements one year and tactical
considerations the next. With this particular proposal, the City of Bozeman (and more particularly the Bozeman Police Department) is asking for funding in several different categories that help improve a variety of areas of need.
There are four (4) primary areas of request addressed in this proposal. These are:
1) Upgrade to two existing mobile radios to 800 MHZ capability; 2) Purchase of 20 additional portable batteries; 3) Purchase of a FIST suit and Defensive tactics mats;
4) Purchase of seven Trijicon rifle sights; and
5) Purchase of an Event Data Recorder reader and related training. Statement of the problem: The City of Bozeman completes a budget request and allocation process each year. The Bozeman Police Department participates in that process,
identifying areas of need that focuses on many areas, including service to the public, using technology to enhance or improve efficiencies, ensuring training of officers is done that improves investigative skills, ability to use appropriate levels of lethal and less-lethal force response and ensures officers have the ability to communicate. As with all budget processes, funding for all areas of concern can be difficult and decisions regarding “must
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have” versus “would help to have” means some items are not funded. Improving and
enhancing officer training in use of force, communication capability and technology tools
have proven to also improve our response to tactical situations and preserve the accuracy and integrity of investigations. Our estimated timelines of this grant include:
• August 26, 2017 – public notice and approval to apply for the grant
• September 5, 2017 – submittal of the grant
• Notice of grant award
• Notice of grant award + 1 month – public notice and approval to accept grant award,
if given
• 2nd month – purchase of items requested
• 3rd month – installation and implementation of rifle sights
• 3rd month – upgrade of mobile radios
• 3rd month - begin use of FIST suit and mats in on-going less-lethal training
• 3rd month – complete in-service training on use of Event Data Recorder
• 6th month - completion of grant and satisfaction of goals and objectives.
Project Design and Implementation: The above listed timelines give a good idea of how the implementation will proceed. The City has already established relationships with Gallatin County 9-1-1 center and Motorola
dealership to ensure the upgrade to the mobile radios is done properly and effectively. The
upgrade of these radios also ensures communication can be done with other agencies across the state. This upgrade will allow two existing APX 8500 radios to operate properly in 800 MHz. The purchase of batteries provides back-up, ready to use batteries for major incidents or long-term use where an officer is unable to charge to portable radio being used.
Staff that are already trained and able to complete this without additional costs will complete the installation of rifle sights. This installation will ensure that all officers (both patrol, detectives and school resource officers) have night sights on their rifles and are trained and practiced in their use. This helps ensure that any lethal response, be it a
response to a burglary at night, or an active shooter situation in the schools will have
optimal officer response. The FIST suit is a comprehensive Defensive Tactics suit that is capable of receiving blows from batons at full power without endangering the user. The FIST is perfect for training
realistic scenarios that will ultimately prevent injuries to both officers and citizens. The
suit is tied together for quick changing time and is color coded in black to differentiate it from other suits for safety purposes. The basic suit weighs approximately 15 lbs. and
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consists of chest and back, shoulder biceps, forearms, groin and butt, thighs, shins, helmet,
and a carry bag. The mats allow for training with the FIST suit or for other scenario based
training that help protect the officer from injury. The Bosch Crash Data Recorder (CDR) retrieval tool is a technology tool, which allows crash investigators to collect information contained in a vehicles CDR. All newer vehicles
are equipped with a CDR which stores approximately 5 seconds of pre-crash data such as
vehicle speed, change in velocity (Delta-v), brake status, throttle position, steering input, seatbelt status and occupant detection. Some vehicles contain sensors for seat position and weight classification to help determine if occupants have switched positions before police arrived on-scene. This data can help answer questions of who hit whom first, or if vehicles
were stopped before in-line crashes. This data can also be used to determine if a vehicle
was really parked and stationary in claims of hit and runs of unattended vehicles. We have needed this technology several times in the last two years but were only able to get the data once because of our dependence on MHP. The last incident involved a driver
who fled a traffic stop and sustained life-threatening injuries after striking a tree. It is a
piece of equipment we would use regularly to answer some of these questions if we had it on-hand. Capabilities and Competencies:
The Bozeman Police Department works constantly with other area agencies, Montana Highway Patrol, Montana Board of Crime Control, amongst others in providing public safety response to our community. This grant helps to enhance our ability to work with these agencies.
Plan for Collecting Data: 1. Communications
a. This is a difficult area to track data with these upgrades only being 2 of
several hundred radios. In the case, a success will be indicated by verifying the radios are upgraded, testing the radios and gathering information directly from the users on the effectiveness of their communications.
2. Use of Force training
a. We will first track the number and amount of training events and persons trained over 6 months. We will also track and review use of force types and related complaints to assess whether our less-lethal capability has improved. The addition of night
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sights will be tracked by verification that install has been completed and a review by our
firearms instructors on improvements in lethal use of force training.
3. Event Data recorder reader a. We will track success of the use of this technology tool by looking at the
type and time we are able to gather critical evidence. We will also review our ability and
improved timing of submittal for related criminal charges or arrests based on evidence gathered by the recorder.
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