06 Desk Item with Attachment
Reviewed by: Assistant Town Manager, Police Chief, Town Attorney, and Finance Director
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 09/15/2020
ITEM NO: 6
DESK ITEM
DATE: September 10, 2020
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Discuss the Police Department Budget and Provide Direction for Potential
Reforms to Practices, Service Delivery, Oversight, and Related Matters
REMARKS:
Below are the responses to the questions received by a Council Member.
1. In future budget charts, can the Town’s property tax amount to the County Fire
Department be included. I knew the amount but without proper context, one does not
understand how significant of an investment we make for fire safety.
Suggestion noted.
2. How much does the Town spend in social services, is it just the $120,000 in community
grants?
The Town of Los Gatos has been awarding community grants for over 25 years. Since 2011
grant funding has been allocated from the General Fund in amounts ranging annually from
$103,000 to $142,000. In 2019, the Council adopted a new approach to the community
grant program which included Human Services Sustainability Grants. These grants are
intended for human service groups that have received grant funding for the same ongoing
project/service continually for the past five or more years. Organizations now apply for a
single grant that would encompass two years of committed funding with an option for
renewal at the end of the two-year period. The programs that qualify for this option are:
Counseling and Support Services for Youth (CASSY), Live Oak Adult Day Services, Live Oak
Senior Nutrition Service, Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, and West Valley
Community Services. For FY 2019/20 CASSY received $10,000, Live Oak Adult Day Services
received $13,000, Live Oak Senior Nutrition Service received $25,000, Next Door Solutions
received $5,000, and West Valley Community Services received $20,000. For 2020/21 and
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SUBJECT: Consider the Police Department Budget and Provide Direction on Potential
Reforms and Related Matters
DATE: September 10, 2020
FY 2021/22, all agencies will receive these same annual amounts with the exception of Live
Oak Nutrition which will receive $22,000 for each of the two years.
In addition, the Town contracts with West Valley Community Services to administer the
Comprehensive Emergency Assistance Program (CEAP). West Valley Community Services
provided services to the community for one-time emergency financial assistance to prevent
individuals and families from becoming homeless, quickly re-house households that have
been un-housed, and prevent a utility shut-off. The Town recently renewed the contract for
$15,000 annually and $75,000 over the five-year term of the Agreement. The Town also
contracts with Project Sentinel to administer its rental dispute resolution program. Project
Sentinel provides services to both tenants and landlords, including information, referral,
conciliation, mediation, and arbitration. The Town recently renewed the contract for
$34,000 annually and $170,000 over the five-year term of the Agreement.
Due to the unprecedented impacts of COVID-19, the Town also provided additional
emergency grants in FY 2019/20 of $10,000 each to West Valley Community Services,
CASSY, Next Door Solutions, and Live Oak Senior Nutrition. The Town Manager as Director
of Emergency Services provided emergency assistance to House of Hope to procure protein
($1,900) and funding for sanitizing the Methodist Church Homeless Shower Program
($4,900).
3. When there is a call for Police assistance, is it known upfront when it involves a mental
health and/or homeless person
Most mental health calls are from family members or friends who are concerned about
behaviors exhibited by the individual. If the situation is not clear, Dispatchers are trained to
ask questions to determine if mental health is an issue. Calls regarding the homeless are
usually identified as such from the outset and often both Dispatchers and Officers can
determine who the homeless individual is by the description given. To assist with potential
calls involving mental health concerns, LGMSPD has implemented the Special Needs
Awareness Program (SNAP) that encourages residents with family members or loved ones
with special needs to sign up. The program is voluntary and confidential and information
regarding the persons’ special needs (dementia, autism, hearing impairment, emotional or
behavioral concerns) is placed into the Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management
System (CAD/RMS) so officers responding to an address of a SNAP participant can be
advised of any special circumstances.
4. Of the 131 mental health reports in the Chief’s presentation, what percentage of the calls
did the police believe could have been handled by a clinician? (I realize some of these
questions may require further study but curious if the Chief could make a good guess.)
PAGE 3 OF 4
SUBJECT: Consider the Police Department Budget and Provide Direction on Potential
Reforms and Related Matters
DATE: September 10, 2020
The 131 number is an annual average based on 5 years of data where 5150 Welfare and
Institutions Code (W&I) was listed as the primary reason for the incident. It does not
include mental health calls that did not generate a report or cases where a 5150 hold was
not the primary issue. As a result, we were not able to provide a complete picture of
mental health calls. Likewise, it would be difficult to assign a percentage for the calls that
could be handled by a clinician, at least until there are parameters identified for what
constitutes a call that would be safe enough for a clinician to respond without Police
presence.
5. How many of the above calls were “dangerous” enough to require police assistance?
Based on the data from FY 2019/2020, out of the 114 reports where 5150 W&I was the
primary concern, 37 involved weapons, violence, threats of suicide or threats against
another person.
6. Is there a noticeable pattern (daytime/nighttime) when mental health calls are made or
would the Town have to have a clinician on call 24/7?
Research would need to be conducted to determine a specific time frame, but anecdotally
there doesn’t appear to be a noticeable pattern to the occurrence of mental health calls in
Los Gatos. Since the Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services (BHS) Mobile Crisis
Response Team (MCRT) is not fully staffed, they are only offering services Monday-Friday
8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. based on their assessment of calls for service County-wide.
7. How does the partnership work with the County when mental health services are
required? How many times have we asked for their assistance and what is their current
response time?
For calls involving adults in mental health crisis, Officers will call the MCRT hotline. The call-
taker will triage the call and send a MCRT if appropriate and the team is available. Based on
our minimal experience utilizing MCRT, their response time averages about an hour.
Typically, if it is longer (one MCRT services the entire County), Officers will resolve the
situation without their assistance.
8. Does Chief Decena know what BHS is projecting for next year? Because of their budget
constraints, I know the juvenile assistance may be limited next year but now aware of
adult services.
The Chief is not privy to BHS projections for the next year. The previous BHS Director was
very committed to the partnering with law enforcement to provide meaningful mental
health response. With her retirement, this commitment has been honored by the Interim
Director; however, it remains to be seen if the new Director will follow the same path.
PAGE 4 OF 4
SUBJECT: Consider the Police Department Budget and Provide Direction on Potential
Reforms and Related Matters
DATE: September 10, 2020
9. Is implicit bias training required of all Officers or is it just encouraged as stated during the
workshop?
State law requires racial profiling and cultural diversity training once every 5 years for all
sworn personnel. LGMSPD provided racial profiling training for all Officers as part of the
annual Advanced Officer Training (AOT) just prior to my arrival in 2018. Last year as part of
AOT, all officers participated in a panel discussion with representatives of the Muslim, Sikh
and Jewish faiths. This year, AOT will include a module on implicit bias. We are hoping to
work with Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt (Stanford University) as recommended by Judge Cordell.
Attachments previously received with the Staff Report:
1. Workshop Slides
2. Workshop Summary
Attachment previously received with the Addendum:
3. Public Comment Received 11:01 a.m. Thursday, September 10 and 11:00 a.m. Monday,
September 14, 2020.
Attachment received with this Addendum:
4. Public Comment Received 11:01 a.m. Monday, September 14 and 11:00 a.m. Tuesday,
September 14, 2020.
1
Subject: Agenda Item 6
Attachments:IMG_0780.PNG
‐‐‐‐‐Original Message‐‐‐‐‐
From: Phil Koen <>
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 9:15 AM
To: Laurel Prevetti <LPrevetti@losgatosca.gov>
Cc: Marico Sayoc <MSayoc@losgatosca.gov>; BSpector <BSpector@losgatosca.gov>; Rob Rennie
<RRennie@losgatosca.gov>; Marcia Jensen <MJensen@losgatosca.gov>; Maria Ristow >;
Matthew Hudes >; Heidi Owens >;
jvannada
Subject: Agenda Item 6
Hello Laurel,
Below is some additional information that was not in the Staff report which the Council might find useful as they discuss
agenda item 6. Please note that the adopted FY 21 budget calls for a 44% increase over actual net police department
expenditures incurred in 2017. The budget also assumes a 6% increase from 2017 actuals for P1 and P2 incidents.
Thank you.
Phil Koen
ATTACHMENT 4