Title
Staff Report for Resolution Accepting the Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program (CHP) Grant to Fund Four (4) School Resource Officers and Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into an Agreement with the San Leandro Unified School District to Fund the Costs not Covered by the Grant
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution to:
1. Accept the three year grant award totaling $500,000 from the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program (CHP) to fund four (4) School Resource Officers (SRO's); and
2. Authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with the San Leandro Unified School District for four years to cover the additional cost of the four SRO positions not covered by the grant.
BACKGROUND/ DISCUSSION
On June 20, 2014 the police department submitted a COPS Grant Application to secure a $500,000 grant to hire four School Resource Officers. The decision to file this application was brought before the City Council on May 6, 2013 and approved by Minute Order No. 2013-026 for submission. As part of the decision making process to file for the application a meeting took place with the San Leandro Unified School District (SLUSD). During those discussions a partnership was developed and the San Leandro Unified School District agreed to fund any balance that was not covered by the COPS Grant.
The COPS Hiring Program provides funding directly to law enforcement agencies to hire and/or rehire career law enforcement officers. This is done in an effort to create and preserve jobs, and to increase their community policing capacity and crime-prevention efforts. Typically, CHP grants cover a maximum federal share of $125,000 per officer position during a three year period (36 months). Subsequently, a fourth year of funding needs to be guaranteed by the awardee and the officers who are hired cannot be laid off. The CHP issued a letter in April 2014, inviting the nation's law enforcement community to apply with a deadline of June 24, 2014. A total of 1,296 agencies applied for approximately $121 million; only 215 received awards. In California, there were 104 applications; only 28 received a grant. Fortunately, the CHP issued an award notice in the amount of $500,000 to the City of San Leandro on September 24, 2014.
The City requested 4 officers, the maximum allowed per the capping methodology used by the CHP. The formula is 5% of actual sworn strength. In the case of San Leandro, 5% of 90 sworn is 4.5 officers or 4 for reporting purposes. Because of the relatively limited funding available compared to the amount requested, and the desire to distribute officers to a larger number of agencies, the COPS Office imposed caps on the total number of officers that were awarded to any individual agency.
The COPS Hiring Grant will cover $125,000 for each officer during a three-year period, which amounts to approximately 23% of the officers' salary and benefits. Therefore, the San Leandro Unified School District will provide the matching funds of 77% as agreed to during the grant application discussions earlier this year. Below is the breakdown in total cost, SLUSD match and the COPS grant funds:
YEAR TOTAL SLUSD MATCH COPS GRANT
1 $520,045 $345,045 $175,000
2 $542,035 $369,035 $173,000
3 $565,130 $413,130 $152,000
4 $565,130 (est) $565,130 (est) $0
% 100% 77% 23%
Some highlights regarding the conditions of acceptance include:
· Presenting a positive image of the law enforcement profession to local youth
· Nurturing one-on-one relationships with at-risk youth
· Deterring criminal activity and disruptive behavior during school and after-school sponsored activities
· Revitalizing science-based drug, gang, and bullying awareness programs
· Hosting assemblies and various other group-based activities for students
· Facilitating Season of Service non-violent/peace-oriented service projects
· Facilitating lunch time & after-school activities for students
· Participating in student counseling sessions and parent conferences, when requested
· Serving as a liaison between the Police Department and local school district staff
· Hosting various community, parent & youth Town Hall meetings
· Establishing service clubs and other opportunities for volunteerism
FISCAL IMPACT
The approval of this grant will not impact the General Fund. If approved, the City will receive $500,000 towards the hiring of four (4) sworn School Resource Officers and work in partnership with the San Leandro Unified School District to coordinate payment of the matching funds by the School District. The City accepts this COPS grant under the condition that SLUSD funds 77% of the costs over the four year term. Therefore, there is no fiscal impact to the City's budget for the four School Resource Officers for four years. The SLUSD Superintendent has confirmed the financial commitment on behalf of the District and will budget accordingly in the future.
PREPARED BY: Greg Lemmon, Police Captain, Police Department