HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/7/2023 Item 7a, Scott and Amoroso - Staff Agenda CorrespondenceCity of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum
City of San Luis Obispo
Council Agenda Correspondence
DATE: March 6, 2023
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Rick Scott, Chief of Police
Brian Amoroso, Administrative Captain
VIA: Derek Johnson, City Manager
SUBJECT: ITEM 7A - INTRODUCE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTIONS OF
THE MUNICIPAL CODE DESIGNEES OF THE POLICE CHIEF TO ISSUE
CITATIONS FOR ALL INFRACTION AND MISDEMEANOR VIOLATIONS
Staff received the following questions, with staff’s response shown in italics :
1. In the Resolution, starting on page 339, I see what the language will be changed
in the Ordinances, but I don’t see what it was before, anywhere in the staff report
or resolution. Did we just add the title CSO or something like this to each of the
separate codes?
The new Community Service Officer (CSO) program is an expansion and rebranding
of our existing Field Service Technician program. As we grant broader authority to
these civilian staff members, there are a few necessary updates required with this
proposed change to the Municipal Code. We have changed the name of our civilian
field staff from “Field Services Technician” to “Community Service Officer”. This
change aligns the title of our employees to a more recognized standard in Law
Enforcement for civilian field staff and is more reflective of the duties to be
performed. All of the existing Municipal Code language was included as attachments,
which are reflected on pages 353, 355 and 357 of the agenda packet.
2. Why did we say “including but not limited to”? Would you delegate this
authority to other positions?
The City Attorney’s Office provided legal support on this item and created the new
proposed Ordinance language. The Ordinance includes the language “including but
not limited to” in order to provide options in the future should the Chief of Police need
to designate some other civilian the same authority, or there is a name change again
in the future to the CSO designation. Having this language in place would allow these
changes without having to update the Municipal Code each time. This is consistent
with the language already used in the Code to create our existing Parking
Enforcement Officers and Traffic Control Officers.
Item 7a, Introduce an Ordinance (CSO Citation Authority) Page 2
3. So, these officers will generally not be responding to serious or dangerous calls
and only issuing citations for infractions and misdemeanors, correct? Will they
be able to write citations for serious offenses too? Even though that is not what
I am understanding the main role to be?
The Police Department has had CSO’s (formerly FST’s) for many years now and is a
time proven asset for public safety. They have handled a multitude of tasks, both in
the field and administratively, that help free up Police Officer time to focus on higher
priority calls for service. Police Departments nationwide have been challenged to look
for innovative ways to address public safety challenges in the community. In terms of
relationship building and low-level enforcement, CSO’s can be described as more
approachable and focused on quality-of-life type issues by the nature of their roles. In
addition, Law Enforcement is experiencing an unprecedented rate of Officer vacancies
and a lack of qualified candidates. Expanding our CSO program to 6 allows the
Department to respond quicker to low-risk calls, handle on-view violations as they
occur, provide outreach and assistance to the community and act as a force multiplier
to keep police officers available to respond to higher priority calls for service. All of
these factors will improve the quality of life and sense of safety by more quickly
handling these issues at the time they occur.
4. If yes to the last question, how can we ensure there is no “mission creep” and
their role does not inadvertently expand?
The proposed Ordinance change authorizes the CSO’s to issue citations for violation
of the Municipal Code. Expected violations include urination in public, possession of
an open container of alcohol, smoking ordinance violations and other low-level
issues. Serious offenses would fall under penal code violations, and would dictate an
Police Officer response. There is no expectation that CSO’s will respond to a serious
crime, other than as an extra set of eyes to assist responding police officers. By the
very nature, serious calls for service have a high potential for violence and require a
sworn Police Officer response to ensure the safety and security of the community, any
suspected persons, and the officers. CSO’s will not be able to issue citations for
serious offenses as that falls outside of their job description and scope of employment.