[1:48] You can leave right there.

[2:22] This doesn't have to be in your face. Pretty good. But like right there once

[2:26] they move up.

[3:40] All right. Good evening, everybody. Uh, welcome to the meeting of the City of

[3:44] Desert Hot Springs Public Safety Commission. It's Thursday, September

[3:47] 10th at 6 PM. Uh, we're going to call the meeting to order. Uh, Gerald, can we

[3:53] please get a roll call? >> Commissioner Flores,

[3:56] » here. >> Commissioner Lance,

[3:57] » present. >> Commissioner Sanchez,

[3:59] » here. >> Vice Chair Lozono

[4:01] » here. and chairman Meyer >> here.

[4:04] » Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Gerald. Uh we'll

[4:06] move on to the pledge of allegiance. Uh Donna, you want to lead us in that?

[4:11] » I sure do. >> Thank you.

[4:14] » Hand over heart. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

[4:20] and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with

[4:26] liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you everybody.

[4:30] » Thank you, Don. Okay.

[4:32] » All right.

[4:36] We need approval of the agenda. >> I make a motion to approve the agenda.

[4:42] » I'll second that. >> Okay. You got those, Gerald? Do you want

[4:47] us to vote? Uh, you want to do a roll call or you want us to hit the button?

[4:50] » Um, on the screen. >> It's on. You hit the button. Okay.

[4:54] » It's way up there. >> Oh, there it is.

[4:56] » Where is it? >> I can't.

[4:59] » You got it. It's kind of light. It's right there.

[5:02] » There you go. >> Motion passes unanimously.

[5:06] » Okay. Motion passes uh unanimously. Uh I noticed there's no approval of minutes.

[5:10] We're all caught up there, right, Gerald?

[5:11] » Um I wasn't able to get this last set in time for this agenda, but it'll be on

[5:16] the next uh we'll catch them upg

[5:21] uh public comments. Uh at this time pursuant to the Brown Act, any person

[5:24] may comment on matters of general interest within the subject matter

[5:28] jurisdiction of the public safety commission not listed on the agenda.

[5:34] Okay. Uh under the Brown Act, the public safety commission should not take action

[5:38] on or discuss matters raised during public comment portion of the agenda.

[5:44] And I'm going to put my glasses on because I am having a hard time reading

[5:46] that. You >> got older.

[5:48] » Thank you, Donnie. Yes, I did get older. So uh it was only two months. Speakers

[5:52] may not yield their time to others without consent of the chair. All

[5:56] comments are to be directed to the public safety commission and shall be

[5:59] devoid of any personal attacks. Members of the public are expected to maintain a

[6:03] professional courteous decorum during public comments. Please complete and

[6:06] submit a speaker card and we have one uh to the city clerk. You will be asked to

[6:11] state your name and city of residence for the record. And we do have one

[6:15] speaker card. And is it Mr. Leco? >> Emory. Yeah. Just

[6:19] » Yes. please step up. Thank you, sir. >> Uh, dear commission members, um, and our

[6:26] chief, I just wanted to say that, you know, you guys are doing a great job out

[6:31] there. You've helped us immensely at Miracle Springs and at the spa, and I

[6:36] can't even thank you guys enough for what you do. And, um, I just had, um,

[6:42] you know, the interactions with our business. we probably are your most

[6:47] called places because of, you know, we're a we're the lower price leader

[6:51] kind of in the area. And I just want to say thank you. That's first. Secondly,

[6:56] um I did want to ask one question. Does the city of Desert Hot Springs have the

[7:02] lowest crime rate in Coachella Valley? Can you speak to that and let me know

[7:06] kind of where we're at in the pecking order? Um cuz I'd heard we had the

[7:11] lowest rate and I'm like, "Oh, wow. Is that true?

[7:16] » You you uh we'll let uh Lieutenant Kuranza handle that when he does his

[7:20] report on the administrative reports if that's okay with you cuz we we can't

[7:24] answer you right here right now. >> Oh, no. I And I understand that. It was

[7:28] just I was like, "Okay, wow. That's great." If that's that's where we're at

[7:32] and then how do we help, right? Anyway, thank you very much.

[7:37] » All right. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Okay. And yeah, I got a feeling,

[7:40] Lieutenant, you'll be able to handle that that inquiry. Yeah, I knew it.

[7:44] Somehow I knew it. So, all right, let's go to the uh animal control monthly

[7:48] report. Tyler, are we ready? Or are you going to have somebody else do it?

[7:52] » So, I'm actually going to have our lead animal control officer be uh stepping

[7:55] into this position for me on the commission so he can review the reports

[7:58] for you guys so you get it straight straight from him.

[8:04] That >> better. There you go.

[8:10] whenever you're ready. >> Okay. Good evening, commissioners. Our

[8:13] animal con care and control month re report for August 2026,

[8:19] we had a total of 124 service requests completed,

[8:25] seven administrative citations issued, 14 animal licenses issued, nine license

[8:32] renewal reminders sent.

[8:37] 61 animals received into care, 23 veterary visits provided, 43

[8:44] vaccinations administered, 14 microchips provided,

[8:50] 18 returned to owners, six adopted into new homes and 11 transferred to rescue

[8:58] partners. We had a total of 16 animals dead on

[9:04] arrival. one animal that passed away while in our

[9:08] care and two humane euthanasia for severe medical conditions.

[9:15] After hours on August 13th at approximately 3:45 p.m. 10 puppies were

[9:21] discovered at one of our facilities by our lead kennel Joe who contract

[9:28] contacted our officers and Tyler and two of our officers that were on that day um

[9:35] arrived at the facility helped Joe capture all the puppies. Two of them

[9:39] were hiding under vehicles. Um, everybody was as dirty as can be,

[9:45] dehydrated. Um, they gathered them all up,

[9:48] vaccinated them, fed fed them, gave them water. Um,

[9:54] and we reached out to several rescue organizations. Um, eventually getting

[10:00] them into, um,

[10:03] the Helen Woodward Animal Center on August 19th where they took over their

[10:09] care. and uh eventually got him into homes.

[10:19] » All right. >> Is that it?

[10:20] » Any that's it? >> Is that it? Yep. Thank you. Is there any

[10:23] questions? >> And what's your name again, sir?

[10:26] » Uh Jonathan Nitz. >> Jonathan. Okay. All right.

[10:29] » It's right. It's right there on your thing there.

[10:35] » Please, Donna, go ahead. >> Um the puppies were they of all one

[10:41] Yeah, as far as they can tell based on their the looks and the teeth and the

[10:45] age. Yeah, I would say so. >> What were they like?

[10:49] » They were like little shepherd Australian cattle dog.

[10:54] » They were fluffy. They were fluffy fluffy

[10:55] » mix. >> They're definitely a fluffy large breed

[10:58] when they entered our care. >> Where did you find them?

[11:01] » Uh they were found at our facility on Indian Canyon. Some We believe somebody

[11:05] dropped them over the fence. Um, yeah, >> that's a lot of puppies.

[11:10] » Yes, it is. >> Great job. Thank you.

[11:13] » Oh, thank you. >> Yeah, we're just we're thankful that we

[11:15] had somebody on staff still at the facility that was able to uh witness

[11:18] them on the ground. So, we're able to round them up and take care of them,

[11:21] give them baths, give them vaccinations, make sure they had food and water, they

[11:23] weren't dehydrated, no serious medical concerns that would require us taking

[11:27] them over to urgent care or a vet that night. Um, it what the good news that

[11:31] came out of it was we were able to build that partnership with the Helen Woodward

[11:34] Animal Center. So, we um that that's a big partnership for us. We're really

[11:40] glad to have that one. They they're they're a really great organization who

[11:43] does thousands of adoptions every year. So, we're hoping to continue our

[11:46] partnership and that this outcome has brought us that partnership.

[11:51] » Great. Good news. Thank you very much. >> Thank you.

[11:55] » Other questions for Jonathan? I remembered his name. That's a good

[11:59] thing. >> Thank you.

[12:01] » No, you're good. >> I got one. Just one, please. Right.

[12:03] » Yeah. The citations issued were those mainly for just like violations or no

[12:07] licenses or things like that or >> Yeah. So most of them are for

[12:12] violations. Um our most common one is licensing.

[12:20] » Okay. And I have two questions. First question is is uh where is this Helen

[12:24] Woodward facility at? So, if people want to go there and they want to look and

[12:29] see maybe adopt a puppy from or a dog that's come from Desert Hot Springs and

[12:33] they've been gracious enough to take from, where can people find them?

[12:36] » Oh, absolutely. So, I had the pleasure of actually doing a tour of that

[12:39] facility and and meeting their staff and their management and kind of picking

[12:42] their brain a little bit on how we can up our adoptions. They're actually

[12:45] located out in San Diego, >> but um I would encourage anybody to go

[12:49] down there. They have a whole education center down there. So, if anybody just

[12:52] wants to go down there for that trip, it's a beautiful facility. I strongly

[12:55] encourage it. I do think they still have a handful of our puppies left.

[12:58] » Okay. All right. And the second question, and please don't take this as

[13:03] a complaint, okay? It's going to sound like one, but

[13:06] it's not. Trust me, it's not. Uh my my wife had to call the other day, uh

[13:11] animal control. We had a a coyote who's injured, sick, mangy. It wasn't afraid

[13:17] of humans for the most part, which she called me and said, "It's not like

[13:20] taking off." And I'm like, "That's not a good sign." Uh because usually coyotes

[13:25] see a human, they take. And I said, "Go ahead and call animal control. See if

[13:29] they can do something because it's sick and it's and it's acting aggressive." Uh

[13:33] she did. Your team was on the spot like super quick. And uh the dog the coyote

[13:39] ran off uh and you know uh she was told that there's nothing really we can do as

[13:45] a city. Okay. And then she was uh given a number to call for the county.

[13:54] there wasn't anything there. They just said call the city. Uh and then, you

[13:59] know, and then she tried to call the a wildlife number and all she got was like

[14:03] a pre-recorded thing. Uh you know, my question is is and I get it. If we're

[14:08] not allowed to handle those, we're not allowed to handle them as a city. I get

[14:10] that. I think you I think the control officer mentioned there was some code or

[14:14] section that prevents us from doing that. But I'm just wondering how do we I

[14:19] mean is there a way to deal with a problem like that? I mean, you know, I

[14:24] you know, I just I went out I cen peppered where the dog the coyote was

[14:28] hanging out and figured out he's drinking water out of Mono. I busted

[14:31] water lines. I'm the bad guy. So, I'm getting that fixed. uh but and and that

[14:36] we haven't had it back. But I'm just wondering, you know, someone who doesn't

[14:39] have that ability to do that or that knowledge, how do we is there a better

[14:42] way for us to do it or is there maybe you could explain the process when

[14:46] dealing with wildlife like that? I mean, >> obviously there's some rules with that.

[14:51] » Yeah. So, the Riverside County will come out if they're actually injured and

[14:56] they're not mobile. So if a your typical I think I remember this call but the the

[15:03] coyote was limping but it's still running off 100 miles an hour over

[15:07] exaggerating a little bit. Um so they're not going to come out and chase it

[15:11] around the net. However, if it were injured and just laying there where they

[15:16] knew they can catch it, they will come out. Um as far as

[15:21] we go, I think we would have to go through

[15:24] schooling and get certified for that. >> Yeah. So coyotes uh they carry rabies a

[15:29] lot of times coyotes, bats, stuff like that. So anytime it comes to a wildlife

[15:33] in particular like that, unless it's deceased, we're going to partner with

[15:36] the county on that one just so they can they can help us assist us taking care

[15:39] of that one. >> Okay. So the key for the county to come

[15:43] out is and and there's a reason you guys exist that started years ago and the

[15:49] county is not here anymore. So So the key to them is that it has to be

[15:53] immobile. >> Yeah. Correct. Okay. If it's not

[15:55] immobile, they're probably not going to come out for something like that unless

[15:58] it's a danger to like let's say if it's hopping in your backyard and attacking

[16:01] your dogs or something like that, then absolutely call us. We'll come out there

[16:04] for something like that, too. But we're going to partner with the county at the

[16:06] same time. So >> Okay. All right. All right. You guys

[16:10] know that? >> I do now.

[16:12] » I do now. Yeah. So, all right. Cool. >> Thank you.

[16:15] » Any Did that spur any other questions? You guys got any other questions? No.

[16:18] Okay, we're good. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. All right. Let's move on

[16:23] to uh the code compliance monthly report. Tyler,

[16:28] » so for this month with code compliance, I'm actually going to allow Linda Hume,

[16:32] one of my code officers. She's a code officer too, one of our senior code

[16:34] officers. She's going to deliver the report this week.

[16:38] » Uh good evening. Um code compliance um public safety commission um report for

[16:45] the month of August 2026. Um we had 188 service calls. We completed 188

[16:53] inspections. Um, notices of violations was 124.

[17:00] Um, we had 29 citations issued. Um, we've opened 117 cases

[17:08] and the total amount of dollars for the month of August was 191

[17:14] $100. Sorry. Um you'll see down here that we do have

[17:19] some um cases that we're pretty proud of of um Lonnie Brock. Um she had this

[17:25] rental property that um had extreme um dead vegetation and very bad overgrowth.

[17:32] Um it did take her a little while, but the property owner did finally come in

[17:36] compliance and um is now um one of one of the nice properties on the street.

[17:43] Um there's another one here for the U-Hauls. Um that was my case. Um we had

[17:48] a business that um started having U-Hauls as a business that wasn't

[17:53] licensed and it's not zoned for the area. So

[17:56] » we were able to make contact with them and uh actually with that U-Haul company

[18:00] and they were more than willing to come get all those U-Hauls. So we we handled

[18:03] that one pretty quickly. Um then we have the community response team enforcement.

[18:09] Of course, they are doing uh a lot of work out there. Um lots of work. Um

[18:15] you'll see some of our um recent ones and there's a lot more than this, but um

[18:21] we have the one here on 5th uh 15th Avenue which was quite a big um lot

[18:27] cleanup, um getting rid of the trash and debris. Um we have the one on Verbina

[18:33] that was quite big, you know, closer to where you kind of see it from the

[18:37] street. they were able to take care of that. And then we had a few um on on

[18:42] Pearson Boulevard. It's just a few that we gave you, but um they're out there

[18:46] doing a lot of cleanup throughout the whole city. So, and I would say that's

[18:51] um my report if you have any questions. >> All right. Questions?

[18:57] » No, I just want to say thank you. You guys have been doing a good job. So,

[19:01] » I know you did a couple of things down our street. So, thank you.

[19:04] » Yeah, I'll let everybody know. Thank you. Those are uh big improvements. It's

[19:10] beautiful. Very nice. Yeah, I'm impressed. And um does that have

[19:15] anything to do with streets? I mean like potholes.

[19:21] » That would be engineering. Engineering handles um any potholes. So, if we get

[19:25] any complaints, uh, we we we redirect it over to engineering and they're pretty

[19:29] good about response and getting it on their list to make

[19:32] » because I've there's a lot of them on Pearson

[19:36] towards Indian Avenue. Yeah, >> I'll I'll I'll I'll let them know that

[19:41] that's >> I appreciate it. Thank you. Other than

[19:44] that, I'm impressed. I think it's beautiful all the work that you do and

[19:48] I, as MNA says, thank you very much. No problem.

[19:53] » Actually, I just wanted to address what Donna was saying. Uh on the Desert Hot

[19:56] Springs website, there is a place where residents can report potholes and the

[20:01] engineering department is pretty quick in responding and come out there and

[20:04] » uh they just ask the location and send pictures if you got them and I reported

[20:09] a couple and like a day or two they're they're taken care of. So,

[20:12] » wow. >> Oh, I'll do that. Thank you very much,

[20:16] » Ray. You're good. Okay. All right. >> Thank you. See, you both survived the

[20:21] first time. It was It's a good thing. >> Yeah. Even Even your boss is smiling,

[20:26] which is an even better thing, right?

[20:31] » It's all good. Okay. I noticed that Chief White's not here tonight, so we'll

[20:35] skip the fire department monthly report and we'll go to Lieutenant Kuransza for

[20:40] the police department monthly report. Good evening, uh, commission members

[20:46] and, uh, individuals in the crowd over here. Um, I'm Corey Kronz, Lieutenant

[20:50] with the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. So, a couple things I want

[20:53] to go over first. Um, first thing I'm going to go over is our group A offense

[20:56] report for the month of August. Um, overall, we see there's a downhill trend

[21:01] um, in comparison to last year in 2025. For crimes against uh, persons, total

[21:07] crimes, we're down about 30%, just a little bit over that. For total property

[21:11] crimes, we're down 27 and a.5% or correction 27 and a quarter percent. And

[21:16] then crimes against society as a total is down 28% for an overall total group a

[21:21] offense um reduction in 28.26%.

[21:28] As far as our monthly, excuse me, as far as our monthly statistics go, our total

[21:32] calls for service for the month of August were 1,862.

[21:36] Out of those 1,862, 1,251 were officer initiated, so self-initiated activity.

[21:44] Traffic stops, uh, we had 402 traffic stops, 568 bus and buildings checks, 91

[21:52] vehicle checks, and 190 pedestrian checks. As far as arrest goes, we had 18

[21:57] drug arrests, seven DUIs, uh 20 or excuse me, 35 felony arrests, 26

[22:04] misdemeanor arrests, and 47 warranted arrest for a total of 133 arrests for

[22:09] the month of August. As far as citations go, we had 26 misdemeanor citations, 115

[22:16] moving citations. So, those are as a result, obviously, those traffic stops.

[22:20] and 50 municipal code citations for a total of 191 citations for the month of

[22:26] August.

[22:29] » Yeah, very busy. Uh and that that concludes um the offense and our um our

[22:35] stat stats for the month of August if anybody has any questions.

[22:38] » So, >> I was before we get to questions, I was

[22:42] going to ask you if you could please address the question that was brought up

[22:46] during the the public comments thing. So I don't want to uh I don't want to say I

[22:50] don't want to speak from like hard facts in front of me. I don't have everything

[22:54] directly in front of me but anybody can get onto a cell phone and and go through

[22:59] any sort of um you know Google search or AI generated um search but I do know

[23:04] that um so our reporting system uh federally is through um a system we call

[23:10] neighbors which is the national incident based reporting system. So basically if

[23:14] we take a report for like a burglary then um it goes into the system and

[23:18] that's reported at the end of every month. So based off of those statistics

[23:22] and just in any sort of any sort of internet search it does show the city

[23:26] deser hot springs you know having the lowest crime rate within Coachella

[23:28] Valley. Now, um, we get into other, you know, minutia as far as like per capita

[23:34] and this, that, and the other, but I mean, overall, as an individual who's

[23:37] been a police officer for the city for well over a decade, um, I can attest to

[23:42] significant reduction in, you know, violent crime and overall crime as it

[23:45] goes. Um, and that's not just me tooting the horn of the police department and

[23:48] the chief of police and the officers that are working. That's me looking at

[23:52] it from as objective as a perspective as a police officer can be, especially in

[23:56] an administrative role where I look at these things a lot more frequent. So

[23:59] hopefully that answers your question a little bit.

[24:03] » Yeah. And I I think you explained it great, L, Lieutenant. I mean, you know,

[24:06] some of the minutia you have to look at is you it's kind of hard because all the

[24:09] reporting is voluntary. So you and some cities report crimes differently. Sure.

[24:15] » On that report than others do. So it's not always

[24:18] » it's it's a better system to compare Desert Hot Springs to Desert Hot Springs

[24:22] a year or two years or three years ago rather than to compare it city to city.

[24:27] But if you ask me, I would say all the cities are doing a really good job. I

[24:31] mean, the whole valley is, you know, I I've been to some other

[24:36] places and lately and it's Yeah. Yeah. It's a It's a It's a different world.

[24:41] So, but I would say they're all doing a really good job, but

[24:44] » you know, those numbers are better compared to the city itself. It's hard

[24:47] to compare them city to another city. And I will say to kind of piggyback off

[24:52] of what Linda was saying, so our community response team, which isn't

[24:55] just um the police department, but it's also code enforcement as well as our um

[25:00] social workers um group, they're out there working every day and they are if

[25:05] anybody's driven around the city and again compared from one year to the next

[25:09] or even 10 years ago, um the amount of um criminal activity just blatantly um

[25:16] taking place on the streets is significantly reduced. And I can I can

[25:20] say that from my own perspective of my own city. Um just in comparison, it's

[25:24] night and day. And they're really out there, you know, um working for the for

[25:30] the citizens, not just at Desert Hot Springs, just in general. Anybody coming

[25:33] up to visit the spas or anybody going to do any shopping in any sort of area, I

[25:37] mean, it's it is night and day. So, I will say that they're doing a heck of a

[25:41] job out there. >> Yeah. Yeah. All right. Questions from

[25:44] commission members? >> I do. No, just thank you for all your

[25:48] hard work. >> You're very welcome and thank you for

[25:50] your support. >> Okay, Donna.

[25:52] » Yeah. What city are you from? >> I'd rather not say because I don't want

[25:56] to throw anybody under the bus out there, but it's a it's a city outside

[25:59] the Coachella Valley, not too far away. >> Okay. I was wondering

[26:03] um I noticed that we're going to get 35 more officers. Am I right? Or

[26:08] » it's not so the the total number um is going to be 45. That's been set. Oh. Um

[26:13] yeah, that was set the other day at the city council meeting. Um and what Chief

[26:17] Shaw has done u just through our recent um uh post audit through um you know

[26:24] obviously through the state and everything they gave a number and it was

[26:27] recently uh you know accepted by the city council and stuff to to add up to

[26:31] 40 45 officers over the next several years and stuff. So basically an initial

[26:35] two officers a year for the next for the next uh for the next 5 years. So we're

[26:39] in the process of doing that right now. Do we have enough cars and equipment and

[26:44] things? Do we >> We could always use more.

[26:46] » Yeah, it's I was wondering. Yeah. >> So, I mean, from the perspective again,

[26:51] uh we could always use more and just because like we and we'll and we'll

[26:55] bring up vehicles for, you know, from what you just said is those are things

[26:58] that we use every single day and we use them whether it's cold outside or 120°

[27:03] outside, we're going through the desert, we're driving through the streets and

[27:06] all that kind of stuff. And although our fleet services manager is does awesome

[27:10] at his job, um when we're out there running and gunning every single day, um

[27:14] those cars do take a lot of wear and tear and everything. So, we could always

[27:18] use more vehicles. I will say that. >> So, we don't use motorcycles anymore or

[27:24] is there any like in the winter it would be easier for them to ride around?

[27:30] » So, as of right now, as far as like a like a a dedicated motor officer, we

[27:35] don't have anybody. We do have three motorcycles that are up and running. The

[27:39] only uh certified law enforcement motor officer that we do have is Chief Shaw.

[27:44] So, and I don't think Chief Shaw wants to go out in 120 degrees and write

[27:47] tickets. However, not that he wouldn't though, but one of the things that

[27:51] » I thought he would. >> I'm sure uh one of the things that uh

[27:54] that he has said is he does want to staff that motor officer position. um he

[27:59] hasn't given a number but I know that uh like the number that I've had in my mind

[28:04] um just from my perspective is and as the patrol lieutenant and also as

[28:10] someone who supervised the um traffic unit before in the past is two one for

[28:14] the front half of the week and one for the back end of the week. So that is

[28:17] something that we do want to that we do want to fill sooner rather than later.

[28:22] » Thank you. I think since I've been here, I always say since 6 1962,

[28:28] there's been a lot of improvement, you know, and when my son was murdered, I

[28:33] think there were only like 10 cops or something or another. So, and I still

[28:38] thank Rod Pacheco for doing all that he did with the crime sweeps and stuff like

[28:44] that. And everything started rolling after that. But I'm very proud of what

[28:50] we have now in Desert Hot Springs. I could tell people I live in Desert Hot

[28:54] Springs and they say, "Oh." >> All right.

[29:00] » Thank you very much. >> You're very welcome.

[29:02] » Do you have anything? >> Uh, just quick with the increase in in

[29:04] staffing. Is that because we need to just add more people on staff during

[29:08] every shift or is that just to cover like schedules and things like that?

[29:12] » It's going to be a combination of the two. ultimately ultimately there is a uh

[29:16] like an algorithm of some sort that post uses in order to ga gather um you know

[29:20] hey this department needs this amount of people and stuff so I can't I can't

[29:24] speak exactly to what that looks like however I will say that it's a

[29:27] combination of staffing patrol which is the most important thing to get out

[29:30] there make sure that we have enough people um working patrol uh to go out

[29:35] there respond to calls for service and also um conduct selfinitiated activity

[29:39] but it's also to make sure that we can staff additional uh additional teams

[29:45] like motor officers, different task force, um the CRT team, the detective

[29:50] bureau. Also, with the increase in staffing, uh it allows the officers to

[29:55] grow so that way they're not just running from one call to the next. They

[29:58] can take their investigations further so that way they can take that step further

[30:00] into an investigative role later on. Um and you know, as far as monetarily, it

[30:05] does cut down in overtime, uh mandated overtime and stuff because obviously if

[30:08] there we don't have enough people, then someone has to get ordered into work and

[30:11] that comes at a higher cost and everything. So, it is a combination of

[30:14] things. >> Thank you,

[30:16] » Charles. >> No, I'm good.

[30:17] » No, you're good. Uh, you know, I'm I'm going to tell you that we've had the

[30:21] last two months off and I was sitting over the last two months and I'm like,

[30:24] we need a goal for this year and I'm like, my goal, we've staffed up the fire

[30:29] department, we've staffed up animal control, we've staffed up code

[30:32] enforcement, right? You know, we've done all these great things. We haven't

[30:36] really talked about the police department. And I know we talked about

[30:38] it like in 2022 when I was still on the commission and uh I said, you know what,

[30:44] it's let's let's bring that I was going to throw that out tonight and say that's

[30:48] we need to talk about staffing the police department and

[30:52] » you know, you know, the city staff and the city council have have stolen my

[30:57] thunder, but for the best of reasons and they did an awesome job and I love the

[31:01] idea of phasing in over five years. It helps make the cost uh the city adjust

[31:06] to the cost easier. Uh sorely needed. A proactive department does better than a

[31:11] reactive department. Absolutely. >> And I I couldn't be more proud of the

[31:14] city staff and and the city council for doing it before we even had a chance to

[31:19] look at it. >> And I'm not saying anything negative

[31:22] about the us not getting to look at it. It's just it's great that we don't have

[31:25] to look at it because it's already been handled, which is a terrific thing to

[31:29] have happen. So, so now I'm going to go home and

[31:34] think of something else. Unless somebody wants to tell me what our project should

[31:38] be. I would love to hear some ideas on projects like anything from animal

[31:41] control to code enforcement to the fire department. If they've got something

[31:45] they want us to look at or if there's some issue that, you know, maybe we need

[31:49] to beat up a little bit, you know, especially when it comes to money. I

[31:52] mean, you know, that's that's our primary thing is look at budgets. But,

[31:56] but uh but yeah, I'm really happy that they did that for you. Uh, you know, we

[32:01] had talked about it and 1986 when I started here, there were two two

[32:05] officers per shift. We had 18 people total,

[32:07] » including the chief. We had four cars. >> So when your people are all complaining,

[32:11] they don't have enough cars, you just tell them, "Come see me." We had

[32:14] » four cars and two of them only worked half the time. So So they literally

[32:19] drove 24/7. They you would literally your partner would pull up who you were

[32:23] leaving and they would take your stuff out. They wouldn't even turn it off. So

[32:26] it's it's really great to see you guys advancing. Uh it's uh like I said, every

[32:31] time I've seen the the troops out there, they're doing a great job. And uh I know

[32:35] we're looking at the College of the Desert to try to help you guys out and

[32:39] support your support your uh staffing and stuff like that in a, you know, more

[32:43] effective way. So uh I think you guys are doing a great I'm not just saying

[32:48] that because I'm up here. It's when I got nothing to talk about, that means

[32:51] you're doing pretty good. So So So thank you. Thank you.

[32:54] » I just have one more thing. >> Please, Donna. I just want to say in

[32:57] partnership with everything is our 911 staff is they do a phenomenal job as

[33:04] well and I just want to give them a plug of all working together. I mean you call

[33:09] them and they're right there. They're right on it and saved my life five years

[33:14] ago. So I think they're great. So >> I'll make sure I get that information

[33:18] over to them. But yeah, they do an excellent job and uh the ladies the the

[33:21] men the men and women that work there are are are definitely topn to say the

[33:25] least. And it's great having them in house now as opposed to, you know,

[33:28] several years ago we were using Cathedral City and stuff. And although

[33:31] those ladies and gentlemen did a great job over there, it's nice to have it in

[33:34] house. You get to put a face with the voice and everything like that and

[33:37] becomes more of a team effort. So >> very good. Thank you. I appreciate that

[33:41] you do that. >> Thank you.

[33:42] » Thank you. >> All right. And that's going to take us

[33:45] to commissioner reports. I know somebody has to go watch a football game.

[33:50] » What's the score? Go >> first then. So M is going to go first.

[33:55] And we're losing. So >> Oh, they're playing tonight.

[33:58] » Yes. >> So, I just wanted to invite everybody to

[34:01] the uh Hispanic Heritage Festival that the Glube de Muer Latinas is having on

[34:08] October 3rd from 12 to 7:00 p.m. And it's going to be at the Living Word in

[34:14] the Desert Church on West. So, so if anybody you guys are invited to show up,

[34:22] okay, to support Thank you.

[34:25] » All right, Charles.

[34:29] » Yeah, just a couple things. I see a little flyer here for the pet adoption

[34:32] event on Thursday, September 24th. So, just going to make sure that gets out

[34:37] there for anybody who may be watching live stream to come and get yourself a a

[34:41] good quality animal. They do know they've been given a second chance and

[34:45] they appreciate it. Uh secondly, I I did attend the city council meeting last

[34:50] week and I think we benefit a lot from this committee because everybody that

[34:55] sits up here on the board has been a resident of Desert Hot Springs for quite

[34:58] a while. Uh and we've we know what it used to be and we've seen what it's

[35:02] become. And so when people in the city like this gentleman here wants to know

[35:08] where we stand with the crime rate and we can go back oh had you been here 10

[35:13] years ago or 15 years ago it was it was a bad no to go to Stater Brothers after

[35:18] dark. Uh now you can go anywhere in the city after dark and feel safe. I mean

[35:23] there are still always going to be areas in any city to where after hours is off

[35:28] limits. Uh, but it's an honor and a privilege not only to represent this

[35:32] city up here on the board, but also with these gentlemen and the police

[35:36] department, code enforcement, everybody else of just seeing where this city has

[35:40] gone and where it's going to go in the future. So, hats off to all of you.

[35:44] » Thank you, Charles. And I appreciate you not saying comparing it to 1986 when I

[35:49] was here cuz that was a long time ago. >> I graduated in ' 86, so you were

[35:54] probably one of those guys I didn't care for.

[36:00] See any all of us can change >> anything. Thank you guys for everything.

[36:05] Thank you. >> Okay,

[36:07] » Donna. >> I just want to say thank you for

[36:09] everything as well. And I when I talk about how long I've been here, I I was

[36:14] just envisioning my grandmother um who's gone um driving in her little what do

[36:21] you call it? A golf cart on Palm Drive. And she thought she was so cool. And

[36:26] there were no lights. There were there weren't even barely any stop signs, but

[36:30] it was a a wonderful time then. So, but then things changed and they've changed

[36:36] bad. They now they're very good and I appreciate everything that everyone

[36:40] does. Thank you. >> You want to go? Yeah. Go ahead, Mara.

[36:45] » I just wanted to welcome you guys and thank you for your reports.

[36:48] » Yeah, >> perfectly said. So, hey, um my final

[36:52] thing is is once again if somebody has an idea for a goal for the commission

[36:57] this year, I'd love to hear it and put it out to the rest of the commission and

[37:00] see if uh that's something we want to we want to track down and work on or

[37:04] something. I I would love to do it. We we've had we've done that in the past

[37:08] and we've come up with some really great things like a new animal control

[37:10] department one year. Uh there's a whole big fire truck up on the east end of the

[37:16] city now that kind of evolved out of one of those projects and things. there's a

[37:20] paramedic unit that evolved out of that project, those kind of projects. So, uh,

[37:24] it doesn't mean that if we take on a project, something's going to happen

[37:27] because of it. It just means we do some kind of leg work or we do some

[37:31] examination and we provide the city council and city staff with some ideas

[37:35] or some concepts or some plans or, you know, if you uh there's nothing worse

[37:40] than having some extra funding pop up all of a sudden and nothing to spend it

[37:44] on, right? That's that's a benefit. So, so it's kind of good to help put those

[37:49] ideas and those files into the hands and pockets of the people who make the

[37:53] actual decisions and give them options. So, um I would love to hear something

[37:57] because like I said, mine got stolen away from me for all the right reasons.

[38:01] So, secondly, I I just wanted to say uh uh we had a pretty good fire over there

[38:06] at Iron What is it? What's is it Sil Country Country Village Apartments or

[38:10] whatever? Country Hills. >> Country Hills Apartments. Yes.

[38:13] » Yeah. And uh you know I was my wife sent me to the store for something. Of course

[38:16] I got in the middle of 50 fire trucks and everybody driving crazy but it was

[38:21] uh uh you know we don't we didn't get to talk about the fire department today but

[38:25] it was really heartening to see the incredible response of Cal Fire to uh

[38:30] that episode. Uh you know when you're when you're driving along and you see

[38:34] the the I don't know how big that ladder truck is that comes out of Palm Desert.

[38:38] I think it's ladder 33 coming out and coming into coming into our town. You

[38:43] know, that's uh you know, you're you've got something bad going on. But they had

[38:47] that thing knocked down pretty darn quick and they did a great job. I'm sure

[38:50] your people were there, Lieutenant, you know, protecting the hose is what we

[38:55] always called it. Uh yeah, don't run over those hoses, man. I guess that's

[38:59] like a that's bad. So that's bad. No, no. So, but I just wanted to say the

[39:03] fire department did a great job. I They had a very busy day because they had

[39:06] that fire. I think they had a second fire that day and then you had a major I

[39:11] think you had a major TC out at 62 in Pearson. We were watching you all night

[39:15] driving all over the place all crazy from our backyard. So, but uh very busy

[39:19] day but very hot day, a difficult day, but it seemed like you guys all handled

[39:24] it. So, the I just wanted to give a shout out to the fire department because

[39:27] because they they need a little love too. So,

[39:30] » anything else for the good of the order? >> Just good to see Gerald again. Thank

[39:36] you. So sweet and quiet all the time.

[39:40] » Yes. Thank goodness for Gerald. >> Yeah. Amen.

[39:43] » All right. Well, if there's nothing else, um we'll go ahead and adjourn the

[39:47] meeting for tonight. We'll see you all next month. Thank you everybody.

[39:49] » Thank you. >> Have a good night.

Public Safety Commission - September 10, 2026

Transcript