HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/15/1998, C9 - ESTABLISH THE STUDENT NEIGHBORHOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP) AS A CITY OPERATED PROGRAM council. Mm"D°
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C I T Y OF SAN LUIS OBISPO
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FROM: James M. Gardiner, Chief of Polic A
Prepared By: Captain Cliff Chelquist
SUBJECT: ESTABLISH THE STUDENT NEIG 1HORHOOD ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM(SNAP)AS A CITY OPERATED PROGRAM
CAO RECOM MNDATION
Authorize the establishment of the Student Neighborhood Assistance Program as a city funded
and operated program and appropriate a $2,400 increase to the Police Department budget for
FY98-99 from Police Department general carry-over funds.
DISCUSSION
Background
The Student Neighborhood Assistance Program ("SNAP')was established in 1993 by joint
resolutions of the City Council of San Luis Obispo and the Associated Students, Inc. of
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. It was designed as a collaborative
effort between the two entities to deal with the problem of a steadily increasing number of
student related noise complaints which, at that time,required the commitment of valuable police
resources. It was felt that use of students in a"peer policing"program could be a more efficient
and cost effective way of dealing with these types of calls.
The original agreement called for six student participants. A team of two of the students would
work each Thursday,Friday, and Saturday nights from 9:00 PM to 3:00 AM during the Fall,
Winter, and Spring quarters. The program shut down during the Summer quarter and during
extended school breaks. Responsibility for staffing the program rested with the Associated
Students, Inc. ("ASr). Student participants were recruited, selected, and paid by the ASI, with
the City providing the funding for the salaries and associated costs. Administrative supervision,
including scheduling,was the responsibility of an ASI program coordinator. Responsibility for
functional supervision of the student participants rested with a Police Department program
coordinator and the on-duty Watch Commander.
Since its inception SNAP has provided all of the expected benefits and then some. Its members
have acted as first responders on"routine"noise complaints, determined the validity of the
complaint,made contact with the responsible party(ies), and taken appropriate action. The low-
key,peer approach employed by the SNAP members has proven very effective in negating the
individual noise problems as evidenced by the extremely low number of subsequent responses
back to the same location after the initial SNAP contact. This has freed up police officers to deal
with more serious public safety problems during peak activity hours. Public feedback on the
program has been extremely positive and the students working the program have been excellent
representatives of the City and the program itself.
Council Agenda Report—SNAP
Page 2
Current Situation
In recent years we have experienced difficulty in recruiting SNAP members and resolving other
administrative issues in a timely manner. The start of the last academic year proved to be
particularly difficult and led to a series of meetings between the Police Department, ASI, and
University representatives.
The result of these meetings was the development.of a mutual consensus that SNAP would be
more efficient and effective as a wholly operated City program. Other time demands and the fact
that ASI is only functional during the academic year created a situation where ASI no longer had
the human resources to continue their full support of the program. ASI did agree to continue the
current agreement until a viable alternative could be identified and put in place.
Given the fact that SNAP has proven to be a positive and cost effective program we are fully
committed to continue this service to the community. We also feel that the time is right to
carefully review the program and to make changes that will improve the overall delivery of
services.
In addition to taking over full responsibility for the SNAP program we are requesting that the
program be operated on a year-round basis. This change will allow us to have SNAP employees
recruited and trained prior to the start of the academic year for both Cal Poly and Cuesta College.
This change is being driven by the increase in numbers of noise related calls during the summer
months and the larger number of students who remain in the City year round.
Proposed Program Description
The primary responsibility of the SNAP Program will still be to utilize student resources to
respond to first calls on most noise complaints as specified in the original agreement.
The staffing level will remain unchanged at six members. However, the program will be opened
up to participation by students attending Cuesta College as well as California Polytechnic State
University. This opens up a pool of additional potential members and adds validity to the
program being a true"peer policing"program to the entire college community of San Luis
Obispo.
The hours of operation will remain the same with the exception that the program will become
year-round rather than just the three quarter program it is currently. The rationale for this is based
on noise complaint statistics for the 1997 calendar year. There were 274 noise complaints in
June, 229 in July, and 298 in August--a combined three month total of 801 noise complaints.
These three months accounted for 27%of the noise complaints in 1997 and ranked as the fourth,
fifth, and seventh busiest months of the year in the area of noise complaints. Additionally, in the
past student participation was dependent on California Polytechnic State University's academic
schedule,which does not coincide with Cuesta College's academic schedule. This left gaps in
coverage that can be eliminated by a year-round program.
C9-02-
Couneil Agenda Report—SNAP
Page 3
The recruitment, selection, and training of the SNAP members will become the sole
responsibility of the Police Department. The members will be paid directly by the City as
temporary part-time employees. Discussions have already been held with representatives of the
Personnel and Finance Departments to address the issues involved with this switch-over. This
proposal meets with the full concurrence of those representatives.
Program Benefits
The primary benefit of increased availability of police officers to deal with more serious public
safety problems during peak activity hours will continue. The proposed changes in composition
of the SNAP staffing and the months of operation will only serve to expand and enhance this
benefit. As previously stated,the involvement of Cuesta College students will add additional
validity to the program as one that represents all segments of the San Luis Obispo college
community. By directly employing and paying the SNAP members,there will be greater fiscal
accountability and the overall costs of the program will be reduced while the effectiveness will
be increased.
ProgramSuSupervision
Administrative supervision of the program will be handled by a program coordinator,who will
be a Police Lieutenant appointed by the Police Chief or his representative. Functional
supervision will be handled by the on-duty supervisor during the SNAP members work shift.
FISCAL EMPACT
During the years that SNAP has been operational the cost has ranged from $6,000 to $15,000 per
year depending on the number of people in the program and the hours worked. The City was
billed for actual costs by the ASI. For FY98-99 we have budgeted$9,000. Because we
anticipate greater participation due to the City playing a stronger role in the recruitment and
retention of SNAP members as well as the expanded year round program, the program is
estimated to cost approximately$15,200 annually. Because the program will be operating only 9
months in this initial year,the cost of the program should be approximately$11,400 so an
additional$2,400 is needed.
In projecting the costs of the program, a three-tiered hourly wage was developed which is
consistent with the City's Temporary Employees Hourly Wage Schedule and most closely
approximates the existing pay scale of SNAP members.
Movement from one pay scale to another is based on time in service.As we cannot accurately
predict the time a temporary employee will remain in the program, it is difficult to predict the
costs. However, using this pay scale,the following are the estimated program costs to fully fund
the program:
C/9-3
Council Agenda Report—SNAP
Page 4
Job Title Step A Step B Step C
SNAP I $7.00 $7.50 $8.00
SNAP 11 $8.00 $8.50 $9.00
Projected Annual Costs
* Salaries 13,100
* Benefits
(Workers'Comp,Medicare,Unemployment) 1,600
* Maintenance/Equipment Costs 500
* TOTAL 15,200
* 9 month program(75%) 119400
* Current Funds Budgeted 9,000
* Additional Funds Requested $29400
Funds are available for this appropriation in Police Department general carry-over funds.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Adopt Resolution authorizing the Student Neighborhood Assistance Program to operate only
during the university academic year. This is not recommended because there is a need for
SNAP during the summer months and the proposal would provide the additional coverage
with minimal increases in cost.
2. Discontinue the Student Neighborhood Assistance Program. This is not recommended since
the program has been successful and has achieved the primary objective of increasing the
availability of police officers to deal with more serious public safety problems during peak
activity hours.
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