HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncilmember Item - Councilmember Posey - Test Claim Regard a"
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File #: 19-947 MEETING DATE: 9/16/2019
Submitted by Councilmember Posey - Test Claim regarding Prison/Jail realignment and local
Public Safety costs
Direct the City Manager and Police Chief to perform a sample-based analysis of a criminal arrest
histories going back to 2012 to understand the financial impact on the City. A representative sample
is one technique that can be used for obtaining insights and observations about a targeted population
group. For example, this analysis should look at the correlation between those with criminal records
that have come into contact with our Police Department (e.g. arrests) who are homeless and who
would have been in prison had it not been for the realignment. I believe that the City has a duty to
understand the financial impacts of AB 109 and to bring forth a Test Claim stating the impacts to the
community.
City of Huntington Beach Page 1 of 1 Printed on 9/11/2019
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CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
a., City Council Interoffice Communication
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
From: Mike Posey, City Council Member '
Date: September 10, 2019
Subject: CITY COUNCIL MEMBER ITEM FOR THE SEPTEMBER 16, 2019,
CITY COUNCIL MEETING — TEST CLAIM REGARDING
PRISON/JAIL REALIGNMENT AND LOCAL PUBLIC SAFETY
COSTS
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
On October 15, 2018 1 brought forth an agenda item directing the City Manager and the
Police Chief to conduct an analysis of the existence of financial distress placed upon the
City due to the implementation of Assembly Bill 109 and report back to the City Council
within 90 days. The item further directed the City Manager, that if such financial
distress exised, the City should investigate whether this would qualify as a Test Claim
with the California Commission on State Mandates.
As you know, the Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011 (AB 109) transferred the
responsibility for supervising specific low-level inmates and parolees from the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabiliation to counties. This Act tasked local
government at the county level with developing a new approach to reducing recidivism
among its population. When it took effect on October 1, 2011, the Bill realigned three
major areas of the criminal justice system:
1. Transferred the location of incarceration for individuals convicted of lower level
specified non-violent, non-serious, non-sex offenders from state prison to local
county jails;
2. Transferred the responsibility from the State to the county for post-release
supervision of those released from prison after having served a sentence for non-
violent, non-serious, non-sex offense by creating a new category of supervision
called Post-Release Community Supervision; and
3. Transferred the housing responsibility for parole and PRCS revocations to local
jail custody.
Other later voter-approved ballot measures (including Proposition 47 in November
2014) reduced penalties and sentences for specific crimes, causing the state's
prison population to decline further. The following chart, from the named sources
and the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), shows the reductions in
incarceration:
Figure 4. Realignment and Proposition 47 significantly reduced
incarceration in California
240,000
235.000 Realignmen!
230D00
S 225.000
2
M" Proposition 47
-2 220.000
215,000
210.000
201,000
z
200000
M M M M M M
5L R7., M .0 6- C 0 -6 U jo Z, C cir, U
ILL 0 3 :1 0 T 4, ', Z 30 4� Ci < D Z 0 W
0 U. n 4 0 LL -n 4 a LL --I < 0
SOURCE:Board of State and Community Corrections,Jail Profile Survey and California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation,Monthly Population Report,December 2010-December 2014.
What seems to be concurrent with that change was and is a change in certain types of
crime statewide. PPIC, in its September 2015 report entitled "Public Safety
Realignment: Impacts So Far" says:
"The only crime increase attributable to realignment (in California) is a
modest rise in property crime, driven entirely by auto theft."
In addition to PPIC's analysis, it appears that Orange County's homeless population
started to increase at the same time, as shown in the below chart from Orange County's
Point-in-Time (PIT) counts. For Huntington Beach, our 2019 PIT Count number was
349 persons, including 289 unsheltered and 60 sheltered.
Homelessness in Orange County, CA
Year Sheltered Unsheltered Total
2013 2,573 1,678 4,251
2017 2,208 2,584 4,792
2019 2,899 3,961 6,860
The item approved by City Council was followed up by a memo dated January 2019.
The memo stated that City staff from the Police Department, City Manager's Office, and
Finance met with a consulting firm via both telephone and in-person to discuss the
merits of a possible test claim with a California Commission on State Mandates.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Direct the City Manager and Police Chief to perform a sample-based analysis of a
criminal arrest histories going back to 2012 to understand the financial impact on the
City. A representative sample is one technique that can be used for obtaining insights
and observations about a targeted population group. For example, this analysis should
look at the correlation between those with criminal records that have come into contact
with our Police Department (e.g. arrests) who are homeless and who would have been
in prison had it not been for the realignment. I believe that the City has a duty to
understand the financial impacts of AB 109 and to bring forth a Test Claim stating the
impacts to the community.
xC: Dave Kiff, Interim City Manager
Travis Hopkins,Acting Assistant City Manager
Rob Handy, Police Chief
Robin Estanislau, City Clerk
Michael Gates, City Attorney
City Council/ AGENDA September 16, 2019
Public Financing Authority
COUNCILMEMBER ITEMS
24. 1 -947 Item submitted by Councilmember Posey approved as amended - Test
Claim regarding Prison/Jail realignment and local Public Safety costs
Recommended Action:
aFFe6t histerie6 gGiRg back to 2012 to W RdeF6taR 1 the fiRaRGi p I 'm Gt nn the Gity. A
FepFesentative sample *6 one teGhRiqUe that Gan be used for ebta'RiRg insights and ebseFvatieRs
about a taFgeted pepulation gFeup. FeF example, this analyr,66 should leek at the GeFr8latiep
Ibetwe8R these With GFIMiRal FeGGFd6 that have GE)Me iRtG GE)RtaGt with eur PG"Ge DepaFtMeRt
Direct the Police Chief to
j at his discretion, work with staff and consultants to establish parameters necessary to
perform a sample-based analysis to understand the financial impact on the City, and
provide a memo with findings to Council by mid-November.
Approved as amended 7-0
25. 19-948 Item submitted by Councilmember Posey approved as amended -
California Public Employee Retirement System (Cal-PERS) and
Environmental, Social, or Governance (ESG) plans
Recommended Action:
Direct the Finance Commission to study the impact of Cal-PERS' ESG policy on Huntington
Beach's unfunded pension liability, then to report back to the Council with an estimate of
what amount of the City's unfunded liability is due to or was increased by Cal-PERS' ESG
policies.
Approved as amended 7-0
26. 19-949 Item submitted by Mayor Peterson and Councilmember Brenden
approved - Sober Living Homes
Recommended Action:
Direct the City Attorney to return to City Council by October 21, 2019 with one or more
draft Ordinance(s) that strike an appropriate balance between the interests of the City and
its residents to preserve residential neighborhood character and the need to provide
reasonable accommodation for the disabled to reside in normalized residential
environments that promote effective recovery.
Approved 7-0
COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS (Not Agendized)
Comments provided by Posey, Hardy, Semeta, Carr, Brenden, Delgleize, Peterson