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Order. Our first item is a briefing on the k9 policy, and mr. Davis is coming up to the

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microphone to take it away. Hi. Good afternoon. I see. Okay again. Good afternoon. I'm

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brandon davis. I have the privilege of leading our office of oversight and public accountability and our office of equity and engagement. And today I'll be giving the

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benchmarking, analysis and review of k9 program policy. 6-8.1. Now, this is a

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benchmarking analysis, and its report compares pd's program and policies to peer

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organizations. And does that type of evaluation. This is not an evaluation of actual

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processes or those types of things. We're looking at the actual language in the policy

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and comparing that as a benchmarking analysis. So the way this will work today is we

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have this agenda. Obviously we'll do the introduction. Then we'll talk about the three part

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framework and benchmarking factors. We'll give a summary of that three part analysis. And then there are some recommendations that will come along with that. Then there'll

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be time for questions as well. So the objective of this was in response to the city

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commission's request, the city demand, the city manager directed opa to engage in this

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benchmarking analysis of pure jurisdictions and national professional associations

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related to pd's k9 policy. So what we did was we evaluated pd's written k9 policy and

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identified areas. It could be clarified or strengthened to better align with pure city

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practices and nationally recognized guidance. The review is based on pd's written policy,

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and I keep stressing that as well as the k-9 handler manual, because that is what we were

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directed to look at, and that was the scope of this. Now, we do note some practices that are

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not reflected in a written policy, and we'll talk about that. But the core of the

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evaluation was based on that written analysis. So when we talk about the scope, it's important that we state that this is not a legal analysis. The goal of this was not to

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give a legal opinion. We don't conclude that k9 deployment or incidents were unreasonable or

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unconstitutional or anything like that. That is not what this process was about. It was

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a benchmarking analysis. This analysis did not evaluate individual incidents or cases

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or anything like that. So after completing this written the review of the written policy,

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we did have conversation with the police department. Interim chief trigg has been amazing to

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work with throughout this process, and we had conversation with him and other leaders in the police department who were also helpful, and we were able to

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identify practices that may not be encapsulated in the policy that are encapsulated in this

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report. In some ways, it's important to note that that the information we have based on

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that is based on what was provided to us by grpd. So we did not independently verify

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practices. So in order to have a good understanding of this report, it's important that we

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have some common language. So definitions. Let's start with canine apprehension. When we

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talk about apprehension in this report we're talking about incident where a suspect

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surrenders or is otherwise brought into custody at the as a result of a canine deployment.

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right. So this may be because the canine was used as trained or because the suspect

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surrendered after becoming aware of a canine being a part of it. Apprehension does not

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necessarily mean that there was a bite or some type of force used by the dog in that way.

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what it does mean, though, is what we've stated here. K-9 handler is a sworn law

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enforcement officer, trained and certified to work with a police canine. And then we talk

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about use of force. And the use of force is the application of physical tactics or tools by

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law enforcement to gain compliance or control. So when we look at the benchmarking

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factors, there's some important considerations that we have to have as we navigate this. The

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first thing that's important for you to know is there is no single universally adopted

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standard for governing police canine programs in the united states. So when you look at

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different jurisdictions across the country, you will see different things. The way in

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which they navigate, what their thresholds are, all of those types of things are different.

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so what we have to do in this case, of course, is then look, of course, across several

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factors and several different sources to try to determine what are those best practices, what are those nationally recommendations that we can look at in order to put

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together a benchmarking analysis. And through that process, ten benchmarking

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factors were used in this study. Again, they were not developed by opa. They were derived from

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the recurring requirements and recommendations found across independent, nationally

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recognized sources such as the international association for the chiefs of police, the

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police executive research forum and the canine policy of peer agencies. And we'll talk more

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about those peer agencies as we go forward. These factors also reflect operational categories

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around which law enforcement agencies routinely structure their canine policies. So our

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three part benchmarking framework included these things across policy analysis a best

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practices from nationally recognized sources, and then selected peer city comparison.

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so when we talk about that across policy analysis, I we'll talk about exactly what

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policies we looked at. And we're talking about grpd policies. We'll also talk about the national recognized sources we got to. And then we'll give you some more information about

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those peer cities that were selected and why they were selected. So from that review,

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ten benchmarking factors rose to the top. The first is force classifications. When you look

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at force classification, the question is does the policy classify canine bites or

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apprehension as a use of force option. When we look at apprehension threshold the

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question is is physical apprehension limited to serious violent felonies, armed

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suspects or high risk situations? Number three looks at supervisor approval. The

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question there is, does the policy require supervisory approval before bite risk

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deployments or situations where a bite could happen? The next one looks at warning

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requirements. What warnings must be given and is documentation required when

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warnings are waived? The bite incident review the question there is who conducts the

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primary review and is it independent of the canine unit? The next one is vulnerable

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population protections. The question is are there restrictions for juveniles,

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elderly persons and mental health crisis or impaired individuals? The next asked

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about transparency and reporting. The question is, is public reporting of deployments,

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bites, demographics or bite ratios required? The training methodology looks at whether

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the policy, the policy, the policies specified, buy and hold, bark and hold, or another

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approach. And we'll talk about this a little more. But bite and hold and bark and hold are the most common types of methodology methodologies used in these type of spaces with

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bite and hold being the most common. Then there's demographic training. Tracking

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is demographic data collected and analyzed for canine deployments. And lastly, we

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have recall and control. It's the handler required to recall the canine. Once the suspect is

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in the custody or the threat has ended. So those are the ten parts. And now we'll talk about

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some of the sources we use to get to that place. So there's the grpd cross policy analysis.

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so let's do an overview of grpd canine program policy for everyone. So there are we talk

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about nine major spaces. So grpd authorizes canine use across a broad operational

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range. It can be used for the following purposes tracking suspects and potential evidence

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during or after criminal offenses. It can also be used for missing incidents where the

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person may be in danger. It could be used for evidence searches for stolen or

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abandoned property. Canines can be used for building searches where burglary or felony

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suspects are believed to be hiding. It can also be used for narcotics searches, and that's

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in a home or a vehicle or open area when legal requirements are met, of course. And then

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there's physical apprehensions based on a totality of circumstances, area searches to

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locate and apprehend hidden felony suspects. It can also be used for off lead apprehensions

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after verbal warnings and a totality of the circumstances. Review and then tactical

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deployments under srt supervisor direction. So the other policies we looked at in

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consideration of this review was the de-escalation response policy. So that mop9 1.1

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de-escalation response to resistance and use of force. We looked at the vehicle pursuit

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policy, the youth interactions policy, the deaf and hard of hearing policy, the custody of

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incapacitated persons policy and responding to persons with mental disorders as well. So

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then we looked at best practices from nationally recognized sources. So we looked at that. We looked at the international association of chiefs of police. We also

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looked at the police executive research forum. We looked at the the national association

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for the civilian oversight of law enforcement and the washington state criminal

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justice training commission model as well. So then for peer cities, we were fortunate to to

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get some peer cities from grpd as well. So what we did was grpd selected a number of these

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peer cities and selected others. So we looked at west covina in california, which many of you

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may have heard, former city attorney hitchcock talk about being a model that should be looked at. We also looked at the city of detroit, madison, wisconsin, worchester,

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massachusetts, fort collins. We looked at the king county sheriff's department, traverse city, salt lake city, utah, and spokane, washington. And we have populations here. So you

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can see some of them were population based because of them being comparative to where we are, and some of them were based on other factors, recommendations from grpd or

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ones that opa was aware of and selected. So as a result of that, we then have the summary

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of this three part benchmarking analysis. So when we look at the summary of part one, that

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is the grpd cross policy analysis, there are a few things that rose to the top

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during that part of the benchmarking analysis. First is under the de-escalation

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response resistance and use of force. So k9 apprehension is not expressly described as a

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use of force option within the mop9 1.1. The force continuum covers compliance controls,

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impact, weapons strikes, and more, but it does not include canine apprehension or bites.

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and again, I want to specify we're talking about the written policy and what's written in

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that policy directly. Later on, you'll hear that a lot of this is happening in practice. But

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again, our analysis was about that written policy. We looked at youth interactions under

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which is manual procedures 8-16. And we learned that these youth interaction policy contains

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protections that are not currently expressly extended to canine encounters in the

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written policy. So grpd requires supervisor notification when a child has

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been handcuffed and restricts firearm display against youth. Yet the canine policy permits

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physical apprehension without that age based restriction. When we look at the deaf and

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hard of hearing policy, k9 warnings are entirely verbal. The deaf and hard of hearing

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policy warns that failure to respond to commands may indicate hearing loss and not

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defiance. That's not expressly written into the canine policy, although it is written

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obviously in this other policy. We also looked at incapacitated persons and mental health.

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these protective frameworks exist for intoxicated, incapacitated and persons with

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mental illness, but they're not explicitly reflected in the canine operation despite these

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being, you know, those type of situations where that would be pretty critical. So when we

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look at the summary of part two, this is best practices from nationally recognized sources.

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so we look at the benchmark. You'll see several columns. You see benchmarking factors. You

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see best practices from nationally recognized sources. And then you'll see pd's

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current status. And we'll go through these. When we look at force classification, the best

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practice is to classify canine apprehensions bites as use of force. The use of force option

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on that force continuum. And we have some sources here where that comes from. Again, in our

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current status, canine is not classified as a use of force in the policy, although you'll see

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later that it is treated that way in practice. When we look at apprehension threshold, the

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best practice is to limit apprehension to serious violent felonies with enumerated

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conditions and to require probable cause as a predicate. When we look at current status,

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it does prohibit apprehension and non-serious offenses when no danger exists. So in some

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ways it is reflected there. When we look at vulnerable population protections, the

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best practices to restrict or prohibit canine deployment against known juveniles,

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elderly persons and mental health crisis and hearing impaired persons. And but when

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we look at current status, there are not these restrictions for juveniles or

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elderly, mentally ill, deaf, intoxicated or pregnant persons during canine encounters. I

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want to be clear, though these protections exist in other policies, but we're talking

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about the written policy as it relates to canine policy, transparency and reporting. The

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best practice is to is to publish annual canine data that would include deployments,

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bites, bite ratios, injuries, demographics, and things of that nature in the handler

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manual deployment reports there. It does require that every use monthly stats, quarterly review

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training logs are reported, but there is not a public reporting portion that's required by

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policy. Grpd does publish annual canine force count on this dashboard. So we look at

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warning requirements. This is standardized warning language. Multiple announcements being

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required, multilingual considerations being a part of that. And when that doesn't happen, there being some type of documented justification and grpd is current status of its

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written policy. There are building search announcements required, and there's verbal

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warnings for when a dog is off leash, but it is currently waivable without documentation.

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we look at supervisor approval. The best practice is to require supervisor authorization before

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any deployment where a bite is foreseeable. Jeopardy's current status we look at section d one

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authorizes most functions without prior supervisory approval. A supervisor is

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required for certain special circumstances. When we look at bite incident review, the best

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practice is to route canine bites into the same review process as other use of force

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incidents that either being internal affairs or external body that conducts that primary

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review and current status is multi-layered. There is a use of force report and canine

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supervisor review and copies to the chief service area commander and ia. So ia is a

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part of all of those parts of that practice. That use of force component is a part of

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what happens here. But that's a practice not written into the actual canine policy. The

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training methodology, specifying the training methodology. That means bite

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and hold versus bark and hold in the policy is what is the best practice in handler manual

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section. The bite methodology is not named specifically in this current policy.

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demographic tracking. The best practice is to require demographic data collection for all canine deployments and analyze that for patterns or disparities. There is no

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tracking of race, age, or gender of canine subjects or individuals who have

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interactions with canines. Under current policy, grpd does already track demographics for

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other use of force categories via its internal affairs annual statistical analysis. We look

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at recall and control the best practices to require immediate recall and restraint. Once a

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suspect is in custody. Current status does require a handler to recall the dog once the

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suspect is in custody, so that aligns directly with the language we see under the best

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practice, which is a very positive thing. Okay, so I've talked a lot about some

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practices that were not in the written policy. So again, I'm I am grateful to be able to

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navigate well with interim chief trigg. And because we're able to do that, we're able to

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have some of these conversations, which I think is helpful to grand rapids. And so I thank you to him for stepping up in this way. And through that conversation, we were able

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to identify some practices that happened that are not a part of the written policy. That

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includes under the force classification. So grpd does report that canine

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apprehensions are treated at the use of force event in practice, and that a use of

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force report is required for those apprehensions. So these are things we see in practice that we don't see in a written policy there. The apprehension threshold. Europe states that

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it adheres there apprehension policy to the us supreme court case of graham v connor, which

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sets the minimum standard for canine apprehension. So when we talk about, again, the

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apprehension, there is a minimum standard in the law for the way things are supposed to work. Nothing in this report is suggesting that grpd is not complying with that minimum

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standard. We're talking about national. Our recommendations are related to national practices of where we think there can be added growth warning requirements. Grpd has

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stated that standardized warnings are taught through their training, and that any omission must be documented in a use of force report. You may have recalled that on earlier

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slides, I talked about the fact that if there was an omission, it needed to be in writing

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somewhere. That was the nationally best standard. And although we don't see that written in grpd policy, they have indicated that it is a part of their practice. A bike

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review independence. Again, grpd has stated that the internal affairs department reviews all use of force reports, including those involving those canine

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apprehensions that result in bias, vulnerable population protections. Grpd reports that

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officers are trained to weigh a person's status as a vulnerable in a vulnerable population. As

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part of that totality of the circumstances review in which they are involved. Training and

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methodology grpd indicates that bite and hold is the default for any canine program, which

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is why it is not documented in their policy. And then demographic tracking jeopardy

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indicates the demographics are documented and use of force reports. However, they don't

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analyze them for patterns and disparities. So here's that summary of part three. And this

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is a comparison between other midsize peer cities. And what you see here is you see two

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columns for grpd. You see a written policy column that looks just at what's written in

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the canine policy. And then you see the practice column, which is the additional information

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we were able to gain from grpd that add some more clarity to what's actually happening at

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the police department that goes beyond what's in that written policy. And I won't go line by

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line based on each of these cities, but you can see the comparison there, where grpd

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stands as it relates to the other cities involved here. Okay, so that brings us to our

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recommendations. And our recommendations essentially are to align with with the language

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that you heard me talk through as we talked about best practices here. And I, because

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I've already stated all of them, I won't go through each one of them and read them again, but I

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will just highlight some of those spaces. One is to classify canine apprehension as a use of force. It's one of the strongest recommendations we're making. Again, that's in the

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written policy. We recognize the practice says some other things. We recommend the narrowing of the canine apprehension threshold, establishing vulnerable

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population protections, expanding transparency and reporting, and standardized warning language, all of that being standardized in the canine use of force policy. We

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recognize that other policies exist and other spaces where that language may be included.

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but it is our position that for the benefit of community and others who may be reading this

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policy, when they go to a policy, they look at that policy and are looking for some

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of that information. Same thing for when we have our other recommendations, which is to

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require supervisor approval before deployment to mandate bite review reporting in ia,

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and that being a part of the actual policy to clarify that training methodology and policy

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and include demographic tracking and reporting align with each of these things, you

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will see the source, right? So what peer cities we saw that had those things and also the

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nationally recognized sources that recommended or supported that type of action. That

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brings us to questions. But before we do that, I do want to recognize all the people who've

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been involved in doing this work. This has been a laborious lift, and it's been some really

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good work done by staff across the city. So I want to thank albert sasaki, who did a big

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part of this lift. I believe he's in here today. I also want to thank nick drake, who was

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very involved in this, and both harrison and nicholas were, you know, we we we say the twins

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often. Right. But they were extremely involved in this space. They did a major lift.

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and I just want to appreciate all of them for all of their work going into this. And with

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that, I'll turn it over to the mayor before we get questions from the committee. I want to

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thank mr. Davis for his work. But just to punctuate the process, so today is his

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findings, and certainly he's available to answer any questions. We have several

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command staff that might be able to answer some preliminary questions today, but I have

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asked the chief to come back at a future meeting in more detail to respond to some of the

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recommendations as to which they believe that they will be able to act on. Great. So, yeah,

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and let me echo the sentiments. So thank you for this work. I think it's, you know, very good

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methodology, certainly thought provoking. And I was really impressed to see, frankly, that

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the strongest column when you did the comparative tick marks, obviously our practices. So

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what what we're actually doing with our canines seems to be maybe the strongest category

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there, even compared to pure cities. So that was great to see. I think that, you know,

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we'll have to have a conversation in the commission will have to have a conversation about, you know, we are, as a city committed to transparency, and we also want

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our citizens to be able to know, know what they can expect and what our and that our, you know,

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our policies reflect our goals. So there's always a, you know, there's always that struggle in

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government. If do you do things. If things happen by practice, then it's tough to have

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accountability. If the answer is, oh, we always we always do that. But but it's not written

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down. You know, if everyone in the city went 25 miles an hour on the highway, and then

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somebody goes 40 and we don't have speed limits, we can't say, well, we always go 25. And

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there's no accountability, accountability for going 40. So I think it's a great

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conversation. I'm glad. I'm I'm certainly glad this is, as you said, city manager, the first

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step here. And, you know, I'm glad that you did a really robust engagement with our

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police department. And I'm looking forward to to the next step, which is conversations

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about what are the what are, what makes sense and, and whether there are opportunities.

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and I think it's clear to me from the presentation that our biggest opportunity is to

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essentially document what we're already doing. And so that's, that's great to hear. So,

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pastor, yes, thank you so much for, for the report. And thank you for the conversations that

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were that were had. I mean, it's good to get all this information, but 62 minutes before our time here to receive it is a little bit unacceptable. However, we understand things

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happen and we're looking forward to the review that will be taking place. Is there a

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timeline associated based upon when we would actually be able to discuss these next, as a

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result of we don't want any other incidences to occur because they've been happening,

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you know, as of late. So just just curious. Well, I, I, I'm not exactly sure what you're

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referring to with the 62 minutes part of it, but as it relates to the timeline, I will

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defer to the manager. I think you're talking about the getting the copy of the

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presentation correct an hour before the meeting. Right. The public safety committee, and I'm a quick read. And I did read and I did and I did study because I could I could tell

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you about the ten benchmarks. I can tell you about the nine cities. I can tell you about

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the seven practices and policies. Thank thank you doctor. So and that's the

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reason why I again, I said we're not expecting to have the entire conversation today. So

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this is an introduction to it. And we will continue it next month at the next public safety

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committee. The chief will be up here next. So I hope to have him have some initial response

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to it. But this will be an ongoing conversation. And in the interim, if you have any

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questions, please feel free to reach out to director davis or the chief myself. Commissioner.

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thank you, mayor and davis, for this presentation. I, I, I too, am excited to hear from interim

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chief trigg on his initial response to these. It looks like we're leading in many

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categories demographic tracking, for example, the comparable cities. That's not happening.

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so I think I am hopeful to see all of these recommendations be adopted. I have had continued

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conversations with constituents all over the third ward, from wealthy street all the way to

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44th on this very topic. And a note for the city manager. And mr. Davis, I'm wondering, since

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this took a good chunk of time, if we could consider also zooming out and looking at the

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foot chase policy period. So this pursuit policies, in addition, is what my

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constituents are communicating about. So of course, this is good. I'm happy to see this.

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I'm hopeful that all of these are adopted. And then in addition, can we have this same

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really comprehensive overview of foot chase itself? Thank you commissioner. We prioritize

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this based on the urgency back in april, I believe, and really moved pretty fast. And we have

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another component I think that we prioritize was a review of our policy that we. So we've

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looked at the. Use of officer involved shootings. We said we would then analyze the canine

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and pursue policy. Then cab. There's one other matter, I think that we had committed to

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prior to this review, and that was the traffic study. So if we want to elevate that over the

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traffic study, then certainly we can do that. But I think that's worth discussing. Wonderful. And city manager with that, can we maybe bring this back for the full

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commission to see where that prioritization is? Yeah, certainly we can schedule a

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more comprehensive briefing for the entire city commission on, on an update on some of the

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reviews that are going on in opa and the police department. I think this was really

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comprehensive. And I think this is a good part of it. But if you if you're following trends,

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some of those challenges that we've seen within community have included a pursuit, a

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chase itself. And so with speaking with hundreds of community members throughout my

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tenure, as I go on my second year on commission, I think it's a call from community. And

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as we did with canine, starting with this, I think it's imperative that we continue to

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listen to community. So I'll raise that with my colleagues going further to see if that

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will also be on the list of of reviews going further. And I really appreciate the work from

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both the grpd and from opa on this. Thank you. And go right ahead. Thank you. I was going

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to indicate that, as the manager indicated, we we do have a current order of prioritization. I want to be clear about. So one was our canine study. The manager

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committed to us doing the cab analysis as well. While we're doing the analysis, we're also

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at the same time working on a traffic stop study simultaneously as relates to a

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foot pursuit based on current direction where we currently stand, that was to occur after

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those things. If we if I receive obviously direction from manager to do something

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different after he hears from you all, we will. But that's the current prioritization and how we're navigating. Gotcha. So it is in the prioritization. It is in the list of things to

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for us to evaluate, but it is not next on the list to invite you. Thank you so much, mr.

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davis. Thanks, thanks, commissioner. Sassy. Thank you. Mayor. Thank you, mr. Davis.

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and thank you, everyone who is a part of this. I agree, this is very comprehensive. I'm this

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is must have been a lot of work. I don't know how many hours. So even just knowing that and the

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amount of resources, I don't think it's just, you know, it's this much and we'll do it or

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not do it. But I think that's also the transparency piece in that as well. Mayor and

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colleagues, just to know how much time this takes because you want to do it right, you

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want to have it. Hopefully the relationships and those pieces that were discussed, because it's not just about the evaluation, but it's how do we collectively, you know,

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recognize how do we, you know, change, change different practices? So I wanted to

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highlight that. So thank you. I want to highlight one thing that you just said,

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commissioner kilgore, and then I have a specific question for either now or as we have the

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further conversation, you know, we're going to have, we just talked at committee of the

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whole about the public public safety trust fund money, and we would be going through a a

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grant process. The timeline is unsure as the money. We're not we're not sure when the money

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will come in, but some of it will go internally to different. We said like programmatic

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pieces, I think, you know, I can't speak for the entire safe task force, but in particular,

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I think I'm very you know, if I were to prioritize the prioritization of what to focus

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on, to me, it'd be like those in the vulnerable populations, particularly young people, and

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how that is applied. And how do we, as you said, mayor, you know, really getting in and

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writing that is where the accountability lies. So I wonder how we might be able to,

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you know, do all the things we said we were going to do for public safety trust fund, but

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also recognize the policy implications. And, you know, what are we doing in the future? So that's in the that's in the future. I would say these are all sort of tied. We talked

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about the traffic stop study, foot pursuit. I would also say just surveillance overall

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continues to be a big, you know, question that I get with a lot of my constituents. I

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appreciate. The department, dc baker, for responding to individuals with not just a

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paragraph, but a very long sentence, recognizing their concerns, talking to them about

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how long, you know, we've been using things like license plate readers. But anyways, I digress.

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my question is. And maybe manager tell me if this is for for for chief trigg. But what

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happens when, like, say, the k-9 makes a mistake, say they don't follow the command or I

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don't know if there is like a certain area where people where they are trained to do the bite

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or the bite and hold, you know, some of this was from quite honestly, I know for me, seeing

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a picture of somebody who had been in impacted by the use of force of a k9. So I'm just

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wondering that question, what is that? What is that follow up look like? And are there

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certain areas where they're not allowed to make contact with someone? That is a question. I

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would defer to the police. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Well, do we want the chief to come in,

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respond to that now or come forward, chief. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Excuse my voice. My my

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voice is gone. A bad timing, right? But this is what you get for now. But yeah, obviously

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our our dogs are trained to impact certain areas, you know, and if, if there's several

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factors that could affect, you know, a dog missing its bite, I think you might be referring to

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the one recently we had of where the gentleman got hit in the face. Obviously, I know

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deputy chief baker was a former k-9 handler for for ten years, and he's our coordinator. He

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supervises the program, but he could speak to another depth. But basically, you know, the

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dogs can you know, they're they're animals. They can miss their spot. But it goes to just

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hours and hours of training. You know, in that specific instance, I know the dog was,

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was trying to target the arm due to the movement and where the gentleman was seated in the

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car and the adjustment that it got to the face. But that's, that's not the target we can I

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know we plan on doing a presentation in here with, for our canine program to show,

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just like director davis explained during his presentation, which was very

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good explanation, by the way, or presentation of all the times we use it and actually

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coming here and actually dissect it, and maybe we can even show video that shows our

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officers training with the canine and the work that they're doing in the bite suits where the face isn't covered because it's not a point of, of contact. So I don't know if

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that answers it to a degree. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think that is. You know, like

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you said, commissioner, and I know, mayor, you've had conversations with constituents as well about, you know, the questions and concerns. And I think, what are those what are

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those pieces and practices? And as you said, it's it's, you know, there's there's

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consequences, say, you know, not following procedures and practices for all of us or, you

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know, those that are in uniform. But what does that look like? Or just to understand the

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psychology, I mean, I, I have I've been bitten by my own dog on the face back in the day.

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and it was, it was a very shocking thing that happened. And it happened and it happens

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really quickly. So there's a lot of different factors, but I appreciate it. And I don't know

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if there's anything else. Yeah. You know, I mean, again, I know this is not the one

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conversation. I think we've said this consistently. I think that's also what we're hearing is how do we regularly have conversations about, you know, these these use of forces? Yeah.

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and our canine handlers trained monthly and they put hours and hours in. And that's something

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we can definitely speak to more depth when we come back with, with our response, I think

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would be appropriate and okay, because I know it's an important topic. Okay. So I

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appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you both. I got some questions. Yeah. And actually,

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before I could for both of you, you didn't actually review standards on training frequency.

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so the chief just brought up an interesting question. Like what is best practices? Are we

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training, you know, at the is there a standard? And I mean, I assume there is an answer to

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that question. But if either one of you want to speak to that, like, is there the fact

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that we train monthly, is that something we just decided to do to ourselves? Or is that a sort

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of standardized, oh, there's a national standard that we follow. And we're always obviously trying to and we can go more than that too. We always want to exceed any type

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of standard we can at grpd, at least through my my history, we're always trying to exceed

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the standards. Mayor, let me follow up on that. So when calea reviews our accreditation is our canine program reviewed by calea. Obviously, I'm very proud that we've got cle

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accreditation. I was trying to think back of how long we've had it now, I think 2018. But

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that that puts us and not not every agency in michigan has it. There's there's not many.

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michigan state police is one of them. But it puts us among the. As far as our policies on the

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elite organizations, not in the country, but in the in the world. Right. So I think that's

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something to, to highlight. We and calea comes in, it's it's like 21 members of it's

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attorneys. It's, it's, it's lawyers, it's prosecutors. It's this full of smart individuals

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that come through our policies with a fine tooth comb and tell us where we're, we're lacking

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if we're lacking, we've had that certification, I think, since 2018, like I said. So I

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feel very confident in our policies that they are strong. But that being said, there's

384
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:40,000
always an opportunity to get stronger, right? With anything in life. I think if you can

385
00:37:45,100 --> 00:37:45,100
continue to build and no one wants to be stagnant, and with our policies, I don't want to

386
00:37:49,566 --> 00:37:49,566
be stagnant either. And I know director davis highlighted a few recommendations that I know

387
00:37:54,100 --> 00:37:54,100
deputy chief baker is very open to, and we're open to as an agency of improving. And I. I

388
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:00,800
appreciate his work on it. Thank you. Yeah. All right. I'll ask mr. Davis to come to

389
00:38:05,966 --> 00:38:05,966
the podium. I really appreciate the thoroughness of the review. I'll just reiterate everyone

390
00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:12,200
else here how you're very thoroughly comparing the best practices with what the

391
00:38:17,533 --> 00:38:17,533
national organizations recommend and other similar departments, and also just

392
00:38:23,966 --> 00:38:23,966
working so closely across different departments within the city. I think that focusing

393
00:38:30,866 --> 00:38:30,866
more on evidence and being able to take insight from different stakeholders and how you've

394
00:38:36,533 --> 00:38:36,533
been able to do that is, is really impressive. And even if things have been a little

395
00:38:41,266 --> 00:38:41,266
rushed in getting out this recommendation to us here, I'm still very grateful that you

396
00:38:48,166 --> 00:38:48,166
were able to do all this work. I think it was fantastic. That being said, I do have two

397
00:38:53,833 --> 00:38:53,833
questions. First is, under the recommendations that you have and forgive me, I might not

398
00:39:00,333 --> 00:39:00,333
understand, like how departments document things, but if there is a canine

399
00:39:06,766 --> 00:39:06,766
apprehension where a suspect surrenders, but there's not a contact where a suspect is

400
00:39:13,933 --> 00:39:13,933
actually contacted by that canine, would the grpd still classify that as a use of force?

401
00:39:22,966 --> 00:39:22,966
tell me a little bit more about like, what we document when it comes to use of force? Our

402
00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:27,200
recommendation is that that in the exact circumstances you describe, it should be

403
00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:32,200
classified under a use of force space. Now that again, that's something that's in practice,

404
00:39:37,100 --> 00:39:37,100
that's not in written policy. So as to what actually occurs, I'll have to defer to the chief

405
00:39:42,366 --> 00:39:42,366
for now. But the recommendation is if a canine is used in the course of apprehension that it

406
00:39:48,466 --> 00:39:48,466
should be, it should fall under the use of force continuum and therefore be documented. Okay.

407
00:39:52,700 --> 00:39:52,700
yeah. So is that similar to, say, where an officer draws a weapon in a situation? Would

408
00:39:58,666 --> 00:39:58,666
would that also be classified as a use of force? That's the way we would describe it. Okay.

409
00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:03,200
interesting. And then second question is how you're considering exigent

410
00:40:09,733 --> 00:40:09,733
circumstances in which the life of a bystander or suspect or an officer is, is at danger. How

411
00:40:17,933 --> 00:40:17,933
would a officer kind of categorize that in terms of making a decision to deploy a

412
00:40:24,833 --> 00:40:24,833
canine on a suspect? And is is there such an exception when it comes to, say, vulnerable

413
00:40:33,100 --> 00:40:33,100
population protections, if there is a exigent circumstance? And what would be the criteria

414
00:40:39,533 --> 00:40:39,533
for that determination? So exigent circumstances is a I'm not a lawyer for the city, but

415
00:40:46,066 --> 00:40:46,066
I am a lawyer. Right. So without going too far, I'll say exigent circumstances is a very

416
00:40:51,066 --> 00:40:51,066
specific has a very specific legal meaning, but I, I think I understand the question you're

417
00:40:55,566 --> 00:40:55,566
asking, which is if something's going on and officers need to move fast, is there something

418
00:41:01,133 --> 00:41:01,133
that would policy allow for nothing? We're recommending is saying if someone's life is in

419
00:41:05,333 --> 00:41:05,333
danger, officers shouldn't take the action necessary to move forward. But we do believe that

420
00:41:10,633 --> 00:41:10,633
all of those things should be in policy, right? So the point is to make sure that policy

421
00:41:14,833 --> 00:41:14,833
clearly defines what those type of things look for. But there's always space, especially in

422
00:41:19,166 --> 00:41:19,166
emergency situations where you might not have every word on the paper. And that's why when

423
00:41:24,266 --> 00:41:24,266
you have good working relationships, like the one I truly believe we're developing

424
00:41:29,266 --> 00:41:32,500
with the police department, we can have those type of conversations and work through those type of scenarios, but that only comes when you have leaders in both departments who

425
00:41:37,033 --> 00:41:37,033
are willing to do it. And the good thing is, I will say, since interim chief trigg has

426
00:41:41,766 --> 00:41:45,766
been in place, there has been a willingness to do that. And because I've said stuff previously, I want to say this now, if I can take a second of privilege to say, and I'm

427
00:41:50,066 --> 00:41:50,066
grateful for the ability to navigate that space in a better way. Great. Thank you, thank

428
00:41:55,100 --> 00:41:55,100
you. Mr. Fine. Thank you. I really appreciate the report and how you before you came to

429
00:42:04,833 --> 00:42:04,833
us, it was really a lot of work done in analyzing organizations. Et-cetera. You know, just based

430
00:42:13,466 --> 00:42:13,466
on some experiences earlier in life. You know, I've seen dogs go at each other pretty. It's

431
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:20,000
almost impossible to call them off once they've engaged the fight. And so I'd like to have

432
00:42:25,733 --> 00:42:25,733
us give us the opportunity at least to go through and see some of the training and going

433
00:42:33,333 --> 00:42:33,333
in a little more depth, because in some ways we have to be defenders of this policy. Once

434
00:42:38,466 --> 00:42:38,466
it becomes, you know, public. And I think it's in the best interest of how do we tell the

435
00:42:44,900 --> 00:42:44,900
story. And I think the public has a right to know how to act. I'm just referencing being a

436
00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:51,600
witness to a situation. What do you do? How do you how do you respond? So I think there's

437
00:42:57,400 --> 00:42:57,400
some depth in this issue, and I wouldn't want to sacrifice the effectiveness that dogs can

438
00:43:02,466 --> 00:43:02,466
have in terms of apprehending people or following the tracks. So appreciate the work that's

439
00:43:09,266 --> 00:43:09,266
been done. I think, you know, we can afford to do just a little more. So yeah, I don't

440
00:43:14,433 --> 00:43:14,433
want to put the chief on the spot, but like, I know there's a standing offer for ride

441
00:43:19,300 --> 00:43:22,366
alongs for anybody on this committee, but if you're training dogs monthly, presumably, and you offer this for use of force stuff and grappling things and all kinds

442
00:43:26,733 --> 00:43:26,733
of things that people on this committee could come observe your your training protocol. So

443
00:43:30,900 --> 00:43:30,900
deputy chief baker, let me know I messed up. It's actually train. We train weekly. Okay.

444
00:43:35,266 --> 00:43:39,000
which I should know, obviously I was a watch commander and, you know, I would help prepare the lineup. And that's something that our men and women do do a lot of training.

445
00:43:43,500 --> 00:43:43,500
and I'm definitely open to ride alongs. I want to see I want to see more because I want to

446
00:43:48,133 --> 00:43:48,133
actually see boots on the ground and see what our men and women are doing, because I

447
00:43:52,966 --> 00:43:56,933
think the narrative is quite different than the work that they're doing out there in the community that appreciates the work they're doing out there. So I'm well open to it. Okay,

448
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:05,666
great. And just say that wasn't a commitment. That was an openness, but logistically it should be possible. But just to clarify, is that an open ride along with a canine officer?

449
00:44:10,866 --> 00:44:10,866
well, absolutely. It's it's it doesn't it's not just restricted to normal patrol,

450
00:44:15,633 --> 00:44:15,633
but potential for canine handler. But if you're doing training, you probably a little

451
00:44:19,966 --> 00:44:19,966
more exciting, like you could ride along with the canine all day and the canine never gets

452
00:44:24,633 --> 00:44:24,633
deployed. So correct. That's why I think it's going to be beneficial to when we do that

453
00:44:28,700 --> 00:44:28,700
presentation of our canine program and maybe some some videos to show some of the work

454
00:44:32,766 --> 00:44:32,766
they do and maybe even organize a, you know, getting some community members to a training

455
00:44:36,866 --> 00:44:36,866
and seeing the work that they do firsthand. And many of us have participated in those,

456
00:44:41,266 --> 00:44:41,266
those endeavors. Also, how frequent is the canine training, though? I know the other

457
00:44:47,566 --> 00:44:47,566
aspects of training is weekly. Weekly? Yes. Canine training is weekly. Yes. Okay. All right,

458
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:52,400
all right. Thank you so much. Great. Okay, chief trigg, you can stay. Stay up, mr. Davis.

459
00:44:59,333 --> 00:44:59,333
you're you're cut loose. Thank you. We're going to talk about crime statistics. For your

460
00:45:08,866 --> 00:45:08,866
first. There it is. Thank you sir. No problem. All right. And just to finish, you know, like

461
00:45:25,933 --> 00:45:25,933
I said, appreciate director davis work that he's done with the canine press presentation.

462
00:45:31,700 --> 00:45:31,700
I really do welcome the oversight. I think it's it's something that is going to help

463
00:45:37,333 --> 00:45:37,333
break down some some trust barriers. I'm open to it. And my passion for this, for this

464
00:45:43,466 --> 00:45:43,466
job, in this career. And I, I've said before, I know. Conversations mr. Davis and I

465
00:45:48,566 --> 00:45:48,566
have had, I'd like to open up everything if I could and let you see what we do, why we do

466
00:45:53,733 --> 00:45:53,733
it, and have those tough conversations to anything. That's whether it's criticism,

467
00:45:58,466 --> 00:45:58,466
constructive criticism or not. So and I believe with our relationship that's formed,

468
00:46:03,066 --> 00:46:03,066
that's something we're going to be able to do. So, all right, let's get started. Here's our

469
00:46:08,633 --> 00:46:08,633
auto theft numbers. As you see, we're still trending down from 2025, which is a good thing.

470
00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:17,600
and the next slide just shows the monthly comparisons as we move forward. And pretty

471
00:46:25,566 --> 00:46:25,566
quickly here the robbery totals again trending down. Not a not a huge jump. But it's it's

472
00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:32,800
going down. I think a lot of this is contributed attributed to our staffing numbers are

473
00:46:37,466 --> 00:46:37,466
getting strong. Again, one of the things I think doesn't get the respect I think that it

474
00:46:44,233 --> 00:46:44,233
deserves is officer presence is huge. Having men and women out there and from the community to

475
00:46:49,833 --> 00:46:49,833
see that the the cars rolling around, the officers are getting out on bike again as we

476
00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:55,400
staff up is important. It it has a sense of safety that comes with it. And for those

477
00:47:00,900 --> 00:47:00,900
that are thinking about doing some things they shouldn't be doing, it also maybe gets them

478
00:47:05,133 --> 00:47:05,133
to reconsider. So seeing the robbery numbers, they're down. Moving on to obviously the

479
00:47:13,700 --> 00:47:13,700
person's shot. You see 11 in 2025. See our numbers there in 2026. Obviously with the amount

480
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:23,800
of guns you'll see, we'll go to to the next slide of a couple of slides from now. But men and

481
00:47:28,866 --> 00:47:28,866
women are continuing to get guns off the street, which is important, trying to get the

482
00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:33,600
the legally possessed guns out of the hands of those that have them. This is just showing

483
00:47:38,433 --> 00:47:38,433
where our the person shot a newer slide that we've had for several months now. But to show,

484
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:43,400
you know, by ward by service area, kind of where these incidents are occurring.

485
00:47:51,566 --> 00:47:51,566
homicides, obviously, we're sitting at nine right now. You see eight on the on the graph

486
00:47:55,833 --> 00:47:55,833
here, just because we had one on june 1st. So that's not reflected in this slide here.

487
00:48:02,433 --> 00:48:02,433
next slide. These are the names you know and and obviously we talk about nine homicides. And

488
00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:08,600
we talk we show these names. These names just aren't a number. And it's just not a

489
00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:13,400
name. Each one of them have a story. I know we have the, the triple homicide that we have

490
00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:17,800
that we all remember from the violent domestic that we had. And when I look at this, these

491
00:48:23,233 --> 00:48:23,233
names, knowing that seven out of the these nine incidents happened just on three days of

492
00:48:29,733 --> 00:48:29,733
violence, which which is sad. You know, like I said, each one of these has a story. And we

493
00:48:36,333 --> 00:48:40,166
have dedicated men and women that, you know, seek accountability and seek justice for the family of these victims. And I'm proud to say that, you know, with this next slide, as

494
00:48:47,700 --> 00:48:47,700
far as our clearance rate, we always seem to be above 20%, above the national average. You

495
00:48:53,933 --> 00:48:53,933
see that we have solved we've cleared seven of the nine homicides in 2026 have been

496
00:49:00,266 --> 00:49:00,266
cleared by arrest. And that that eighth one is forthcoming. I'm pretty confident with that

497
00:49:05,033 --> 00:49:05,033
one. And 6014 recorded overdoses year to date. And as I as I spoke to, 160 illegally

498
00:49:14,333 --> 00:49:14,333
possessed guns recovered through may, this is a slide we. We recently added, obviously

499
00:49:21,600 --> 00:49:21,600
showing our. Our crime is down 8.9% over the last ten years. That's a that's a good thing.

500
00:49:27,800 --> 00:49:27,800
and I want to see that continue to go down. I want to continue to be the place that the best

501
00:49:32,800 --> 00:49:32,800
of the best want to come. We continue to staff up and have men and women that are

502
00:49:38,166 --> 00:49:38,166
committed to this job in this city. We have a beautiful city, wonderful police department.

503
00:49:43,900 --> 00:49:43,900
and, you know, I'm looking forward to being able to provide a service to the the

504
00:49:51,066 --> 00:49:51,066
community of one of the best police departments in the country that's willing to

505
00:49:56,166 --> 00:49:56,166
accountability is key. And what's not on this slide is just kind of an update on the

506
00:50:00,533 --> 00:50:00,533
amphitheater. Obviously, the amphitheater kind of took all the news last month and the

507
00:50:05,100 --> 00:50:05,100
grand opening, and we've had seven events to date. I know we had talked previously about,

508
00:50:11,233 --> 00:50:11,233
you know, the amount of officers that it was going to take, the staffing and how that

509
00:50:15,333 --> 00:50:15,333
was going to draw from our patrol or from our, our, our, our, our staffing in general.

510
00:50:20,666 --> 00:50:20,666
but we thought we would be able to once we got a little history with it, a little reps with it,

511
00:50:25,700 --> 00:50:25,700
that we'd be able to scale it back. And we've already done that. So we started with 22

512
00:50:29,900 --> 00:50:29,900
bodies, 22 officers that were working the the amphitheater now already down to 12. So

513
00:50:35,733 --> 00:50:35,733
everything's working pretty smoothly. The ingress is a little bit better than the, you

514
00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:40,800
know, post incident. But we've learned that unlike the van andel people clear out of the

515
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:45,800
amphitheater pretty quickly so that there's only so many people that could stand on the

516
00:50:50,233 --> 00:50:54,166
sidewalk waiting to cross. But we've got great men and women at the department and they're, they're problem solving that. And that's a smaller problem to, to, to deal with. But so some

517
00:50:59,866 --> 00:50:59,866
vehicle traffic that's maybe getting backed up a little bit, but something we're going to

518
00:51:03,900 --> 00:51:03,900
continue to problem solve and make sure that when people come to visit the city and go to an

519
00:51:08,066 --> 00:51:08,066
event at the amphitheater, that they have a enjoyable experience. So that's my

520
00:51:13,166 --> 00:51:13,166
presentation, quick and simple, and I'll open it up for any questions. Thanks, chief. You

521
00:51:17,966 --> 00:51:17,966
know, I'm always when I'm looking at this, I'm always sort of looking for ways to

522
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:22,000
maybe fine tune the data to tell a story a little better. So we, we, it was asked your

523
00:51:27,633 --> 00:51:27,633
predecessor to start including shootings and homicides, which is, I think, great. One thing I

524
00:51:33,433 --> 00:51:33,433
also think that maybe we could tell the story a little. Your success story a little better

525
00:51:37,633 --> 00:51:37,633
on clearance, you know, and I know and probably a lot of people can figure out that

526
00:51:43,400 --> 00:51:43,400
those numbers, those prior year numbers tick up and they tick up because of what we used to

527
00:51:48,733 --> 00:51:48,733
call cold cases, which is you've got a, you've got a team looking at homicides that are

528
00:51:54,966 --> 00:51:54,966
that have been unsolved. But I know we never give up on them because I remember back at what,

529
00:51:59,400 --> 00:51:59,400
you know, I, I, there have been cases that are decades old that I was involved in, in my other

530
00:52:06,900 --> 00:52:06,900
life that, you know, we're still trying to figure out who did what in 1995 on a, on a

531
00:52:12,133 --> 00:52:12,133
corner or a drive by or whatever. So, so those numbers from 22, 23, 24, and 25 sort of

532
00:52:18,133 --> 00:52:18,133
tick up. But unless you got a photographic memory, you don't see that progress in the way we

533
00:52:22,700 --> 00:52:22,700
present it. Right. So I'm wondering if maybe in the future we could include like,

534
00:52:27,433 --> 00:52:27,433
you know, older cases cleared this year to date. Like that'd be great because you may have

535
00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:31,800
that number in your head. But of those, if we and I know they don't happen like every week or

536
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:36,800
every month, but like there's a non-zero number of older cases that we're clearing this year.

537
00:52:41,733 --> 00:52:41,733
and so when I look at those 7 or 9 homicides, well, if you didn't clear that number eight

538
00:52:46,100 --> 00:52:46,100
with an arrest until january 1st, it wouldn't it wouldn't show up quite we wouldn't quite

539
00:52:52,300 --> 00:52:52,300
be able to see that. We're not we're not letting go of those 2025 on uncleared. We're not

540
00:52:57,000 --> 00:52:57,000
letting go of the 2020 fours 2023. We're also not letting go of like 2001. So, so showing

541
00:53:04,766 --> 00:53:04,766
that that work on this slide might be a way to like show that success a little better.

542
00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:09,200
just a thought, not a mandate, just a thought. Right. And, and like I said, our men and women

543
00:53:14,066 --> 00:53:14,066
take, take pride in the putting in the work for these cases and solving them. I know, you know,

544
00:53:21,300 --> 00:53:21,300
a lot of people saw that the documentary and stuff. And that's a true example, true

545
00:53:25,666 --> 00:53:25,666
display of how our men and women get invested in these cases because they build these

546
00:53:30,333 --> 00:53:30,333
bonds with the victims families and want to bring some type of justice to them. They almost

547
00:53:37,233 --> 00:53:41,233
take it personal. And it's, it's something. So yeah, any case, we I don't care if it's 50 years, right? You know, it's, it's, it's worth our time if we have people to investigate it.

548
00:53:47,300 --> 00:53:47,300
so. Mayor, thank you chief. And I wanted to say this. If you go to the last slide, I

549
00:53:55,000 --> 00:53:55,000
specifically asked the chief to include that because past few weeks there's been a narrative

550
00:54:01,233 --> 00:54:01,233
around the safety of our community. And are we safe? And I would still argue we are, if

551
00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:07,400
not the safest midsize city, one of the safest midsize cities in the country. And part

552
00:54:14,200 --> 00:54:14,200
of that is the fact that we can still talk about unfortunate homicide victims by names, and

553
00:54:22,866 --> 00:54:22,866
remember the names of those who, unfortunately, were lost. There are cities where they can't do

554
00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:28,400
that. They are statistics. There are too many names to number, but we can always get

555
00:54:34,033 --> 00:54:34,033
better. And what I wanted to do is commend our community because it's not just law

556
00:54:40,166 --> 00:54:40,166
enforcement responses. All the things around prevention and design and engagement that I

557
00:54:47,366 --> 00:54:47,366
think helps us with this narrative. The numbers do speak for themselves, and crime has

558
00:54:53,900 --> 00:54:53,900
gone down by 9% over the past ten years. And since 2022, we've had a reduction, as you

559
00:55:04,833 --> 00:55:04,833
can see in that chart. And I think this is a very, very telling. This is not anecdotal.

560
00:55:09,300 --> 00:55:09,300
this is not a skewed narrative. It's the data. And so now we know we can always do better.

561
00:55:16,766 --> 00:55:16,766
and I'm looking forward to to improving that. But I just wanted to, to share that. Yes.

562
00:55:22,033 --> 00:55:22,033
and I think I just want to add, as you stated, city manager, a lot goes into it. It's just not

563
00:55:28,366 --> 00:55:28,366
the police department. It's the accountability piece from, you know, community leaders, city

564
00:55:33,700 --> 00:55:33,700
departments, you name it. It's a collective effort. It's a it's a message citywide that,

565
00:55:41,033 --> 00:55:41,033
you know, if you commit a crime, especially a heinous crime, that you're going to get caught

566
00:55:45,933 --> 00:55:45,933
because it's affects everyone in the community and you're going to have to be accountable

567
00:55:49,966 --> 00:55:49,966
for that, that choice. So yeah, appreciate it. Commissioner kilgore and then commissioner

568
00:55:55,733 --> 00:55:55,733
sassy and then. Mr. Fine. Yeah. Thank you. Mayor, I just want to thank you, interim chief.

569
00:56:03,666 --> 00:56:03,666
the sentiment and the energy of this committee, to me has lightened and changed by you

570
00:56:08,533 --> 00:56:08,533
being here. I think part of that is from you being very receptive and open to just

571
00:56:15,600 --> 00:56:15,600
doing your part. And in saying that, we we aren't perfect. But I think striving for excellence

572
00:56:22,133 --> 00:56:22,133
also means accepting some change. So to hear that from you was very inspiring. And

573
00:56:27,400 --> 00:56:27,400
we'll be communicating that with community. I also think when we think of some of the

574
00:56:31,966 --> 00:56:31,966
violence, I just want to lift up for community. Commissioner perdue and I set aside $250,000

575
00:56:38,133 --> 00:56:38,133
for youth and violence prevention through the third world equity fund. That will

576
00:56:42,933 --> 00:56:42,933
help with some of these challenges. And in addition, a new pilot that we don't have a

577
00:56:47,633 --> 00:56:47,633
timeline for just yet, but it's $150,000 for psychological. So it's like a trauma emergency

578
00:56:54,833 --> 00:56:54,833
response pilot. So commissioner perdue has been studying very hard on this topic, and I'm

579
00:57:00,633 --> 00:57:00,633
excited to work with. I know that you are pd and just community partners on what this

580
00:57:05,233 --> 00:57:05,233
could look like. When we have shootings or domestic violence challenges in our community,

581
00:57:09,866 --> 00:57:09,866
how do we, as city hall respond even further? I know we offer resources currently, but I'm

582
00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:20,000
looking forward to more of these innovative ways and leading on responding to some of the challenges that we've had. And then again, to to say to the public and to you, I am

583
00:57:27,900 --> 00:57:27,900
hopeful to see that all of the recommendations that were given today are accepted. But I do

584
00:57:33,366 --> 00:57:33,366
love to hear your sentiment of, you know, you can go forward, you can add more on to the good

585
00:57:38,733 --> 00:57:38,733
work that you're already doing. So thank you so much. Thank you. And I just want to point out,

586
00:57:43,633 --> 00:57:43,633
since I've got colleagues from the first ward and the second ward up here, the third ward

587
00:57:47,733 --> 00:57:47,733
equity fund actually gets gets decided on by the whole commission. So it's not a it's

588
00:57:51,800 --> 00:57:51,800
not something that one ward decides on. It's it's for focused work. But yes, thank

589
00:57:56,333 --> 00:57:56,333
you for our colleagues. Yes. But commissioner sassy, thank you. Thanks for this overview.

590
00:58:03,500 --> 00:58:03,500
yeah, I do appreciate yeah. Sharing the story because I think it's people can always

591
00:58:08,300 --> 00:58:08,300
pull apart, you know, different narratives and pieces. And I'm glad that we talked quite a bit

592
00:58:12,566 --> 00:58:12,566
about and I hate even saying cold cases because, you know, I, I have a family member that was

593
00:58:18,400 --> 00:58:18,400
murdered here in the city of grand rapids in 2022. And I can tell you the amount of effort

594
00:58:23,433 --> 00:58:23,433
that I know this department has spent in trying to resolve that case, had a lot of different

595
00:58:28,400 --> 00:58:28,400
narratives, you know, was experiencing homelessness. Homelessness. We were unhoused,

596
00:58:35,033 --> 00:58:35,033
but really not. And just kind of the the reality of what that looks like with somebody and I

597
00:58:39,733 --> 00:58:39,733
would say past department officials and current ones knew his name, but it's so important

598
00:58:46,800 --> 00:58:46,800
that those cases get solved. And so when that happens, it's a piece of closure. And so, you

599
00:58:50,833 --> 00:58:54,800
know, my heart goes out to those that are also still waiting for closure on cases. But I, I'm glad that we highlighted it because my family has seen that, you know,

600
00:58:58,733 --> 00:59:02,633
the calls, the connection points, you might not, you know, you're not hearing from them every day, but you know that those things are being worked on. And that's a really

601
00:59:06,666 --> 00:59:06,666
important piece. And as you said, like something's going on every single day. So it doesn't

602
00:59:10,700 --> 00:59:10,700
stop. You know, we don't can't put a little line in the sand and say, oh, we're just have

603
00:59:16,166 --> 00:59:16,166
not been solved. But, you know, I'm glad that it's the the police department is that is

604
00:59:20,233 --> 00:59:20,233
working to solve that case, at least for me and my family. So thank you very much. And I've

605
00:59:25,133 --> 00:59:25,133
said before, I've lost a friend to gun violence in the city. So and I don't want anybody to

606
00:59:29,400 --> 00:59:29,400
forget his name. So I can easily tap into, you know, relating to a family member

607
00:59:33,433 --> 00:59:33,433
that wants either closure or doesn't want their family or whoever their loved one's name

608
00:59:39,033 --> 00:59:39,033
forgotten. So, so that's, that's easy one for me, right? So and I, men and women are

609
00:59:43,466 --> 00:59:43,466
have that same feeling. So it you get tremendous pride from from helping somebody just on

610
00:59:48,400 --> 00:59:48,400
the basic call, let alone, you know, something as huge as, you know, a crime like that that is

611
00:59:53,633 --> 00:59:53,633
forever impactful. Thank you. Mr. Fine. Well, I just want to make a quick comment. Thank you.

612
01:00:02,100 --> 01:00:02,100
about a quick comment about mr. Washington bringing up the names, and we're just talking

613
01:00:07,566 --> 01:00:07,566
about it here. I think that's profound because. You know, knowing some of those stories,

614
01:00:14,666 --> 01:00:14,666
it informs what we should be doing in the future. And I think it's a way of honoring

615
01:00:21,900 --> 01:00:21,900
the things that that happened. So without putting more words on it, I hope we come back to

616
01:00:27,666 --> 01:00:27,666
that and see creative ways that we can have these stories told. Thank you, thank you. Earlier

617
01:00:34,566 --> 01:00:34,566
this month, the mayor and commission issued a proclamation about gun violence

618
01:00:40,733 --> 01:00:40,733
awareness month. We had several community collaborators. I know the safe task force has really

619
01:00:46,033 --> 01:00:46,033
focused on the victims of violent crimes, and we'll have more to report in the future,

620
01:00:51,066 --> 01:00:51,066
hopefully with safe task force help on how we can continue to remember those who were

621
01:00:57,233 --> 01:00:57,233
unfortunately killed. And we look forward to the memorial as well. Okay. Thank you chief. I

622
01:01:06,566 --> 01:01:06,566
see we've got some almost firefighters in the room. So, commissioner kilgore, thank you

623
01:01:10,866 --> 01:01:10,866
for the cough drop. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Chief brown. Well, good afternoon everyone.

624
01:01:28,533 --> 01:01:28,533
I have with me today. Deputy chief borsen in charge of support services and five years

625
01:01:34,600 --> 01:01:34,600
in the making, our first official lieutenant of training and recruitment, lieutenant

626
01:01:42,200 --> 01:01:42,200
heartwell. So progress in city government is a slow march and we're always moving forward. We

627
01:01:54,000 --> 01:01:54,000
recognized about five years ago, under the previous leadership of chief lehman and deputy

628
01:01:58,600 --> 01:01:58,600
chief freeman, we needed to do a better job of getting the right firefighters into our

629
01:02:05,033 --> 01:02:05,033
community. We are a statistical anomaly. We do not have problems recruiting

630
01:02:12,300 --> 01:02:12,300
firefighters. What we have a problem with is recruiting the right firefighters. And what is

631
01:02:18,066 --> 01:02:18,066
the right firefighter. That is someone that will care for this community like it's their own,

632
01:02:23,133 --> 01:02:23,133
that has lived experiences that can relate in every part of of our district and take care of

633
01:02:29,466 --> 01:02:29,466
our community. And that's who we look for. We recruit good people and train them to be

634
01:02:35,366 --> 01:02:35,366
good firefighters. So five years in the making, we now have our first official full

635
01:02:40,733 --> 01:02:40,733
time lieutenant. Of recruitment. Excited chief boersen to walk us through all the programs

636
01:02:47,866 --> 01:02:47,866
that we've been doing. And maybe at the end, if we have time, you can meet our new fire

637
01:02:52,633 --> 01:02:52,633
cadets. Keith. Good afternoon. So working with hr, the fire department engages the

638
01:03:02,200 --> 01:03:02,200
community to share what public service and especially public safety, has to offer the

639
01:03:07,666 --> 01:03:07,666
workforce of grand rapids. So we have three different pathways that we're going to

640
01:03:12,066 --> 01:03:12,066
highlight today. Those pathways are, as chief brown mentioned, the way that we try to engage

641
01:03:19,200 --> 01:03:19,200
the community, ultimately to find firefighters, but also, I guess just. Inform our

642
01:03:27,900 --> 01:03:27,900
community of what we have to offer. Lieutenant heartwell. Good afternoon everybody. So

643
01:03:37,200 --> 01:03:37,200
our summer youth academy is a summer camp environment, kind of to show our community's

644
01:03:41,933 --> 01:03:41,933
youth the core of the fire service. And the whole point to this is an exposure to our

645
01:03:46,900 --> 01:03:46,900
youth so that they don't just see us in responding to emergency scenes, but they can

646
01:03:51,800 --> 01:03:51,800
come down to our training center and kind of get the atmosphere that we are a light

647
01:03:55,866 --> 01:03:55,866
hearted group of individuals and allow them to see the teamwork, the self-efficacy,

648
01:04:00,900 --> 01:04:00,900
and the excellence that it takes to kind of be a part of this department and the hard

649
01:04:06,066 --> 01:04:06,066
work that goes into it, you know, and not just see us in the light of responding to

650
01:04:10,300 --> 01:04:14,133
emergencies and understand that we're only there when things are going wrong. But we can also have a good time when things are just as is. Click here. And our fire cadet

651
01:04:20,700 --> 01:04:20,700
program, as you currently see the individual sitting right here. It's a paid internship.

652
01:04:25,833 --> 01:04:25,833
it's a 16 week program that allows kids that are 18 and older to get a real life

653
01:04:33,000 --> 01:04:33,000
experience of what it's like to be in a fire academy. And as you can see here, we like to

654
01:04:38,433 --> 01:04:42,333
have a community connection with grand rapids. And whether they were born here, still living here, that they have some type of connection to grand rapids. And so they hold

655
01:04:46,333 --> 01:04:46,333
this place close to their heart and their fire service, curious, as if they're not necessarily

656
01:04:52,133 --> 01:04:52,133
sure this is something that they want to do. They understand what the job is, and

657
01:04:56,933 --> 01:04:56,933
they kind of want to take another step forward and toward the fire service and learn a

658
01:05:01,100 --> 01:05:01,100
little more about it and be a part of the grand rapids fire department for 16 weeks. And

659
01:05:06,266 --> 01:05:06,266
the refinement piece is about this is an individual that if they were to enter our hiring

660
01:05:12,333 --> 01:05:12,333
process currently, they probably wouldn't have the best shot at getting hired. But it's

661
01:05:17,066 --> 01:05:17,066
my job to bring them along and kind of introduce them to the hiring process, what it's going

662
01:05:21,700 --> 01:05:21,700
to take to pass the written exam, what it's going to take to get through our physical

663
01:05:25,833 --> 01:05:25,833
agility test, and then kind of practice on some oral interview things and let them know what

664
01:05:30,466 --> 01:05:30,466
they will be expected to give to our interview panels. And what's the best things and

665
01:05:36,366 --> 01:05:36,366
answers to say so to kind of help them along. So those are the programs that we offer. And

666
01:05:41,433 --> 01:05:41,433
I'll get back to you for. And the third and final pathway is hiring firefighters. So when we

667
01:05:48,800 --> 01:05:48,800
hire a firefighter, they become one of our recruits. The rapids fire department recruit recruit

668
01:05:54,766 --> 01:05:54,766
academy is a six month long intensive program where we take great people and we train them

669
01:06:02,166 --> 01:06:02,166
to become great firefighters. I upped the game a little bit. Chief. He referenced good

670
01:06:07,300 --> 01:06:07,300
people. I'm striving for a higher bar even before each academy begins, though, there

671
01:06:14,666 --> 01:06:14,666
is the hiring process that an applicant for a recruit firefighter has to go through.

672
01:06:19,666 --> 01:06:19,666
that process starts in march, with the application opening march through may. Individuals

673
01:06:26,066 --> 01:06:26,066
are able to apply for this firefighter position. During that time, we host open houses.

674
01:06:31,866 --> 01:06:31,866
the goal of these open houses is to show the applicants what the process entails, the

675
01:06:37,900 --> 01:06:37,900
details of that and the expectations of the process, and also of the grand rapids

676
01:06:42,700 --> 01:06:42,700
fire department candidates. Once they. The application period is closed, candidates

677
01:06:49,300 --> 01:06:49,300
take a written test. Then they take a physical agility test. Then they sit for a panel

678
01:06:55,933 --> 01:06:55,933
interview. That panel interview involves community members. Doctor olson is well aware of

679
01:07:01,200 --> 01:07:01,200
that, as he has been one many times. After the panel interview, they sit for a fire

680
01:07:08,333 --> 01:07:08,333
chief interview, and only after passing through all of those steps and all of those lenses,

681
01:07:13,566 --> 01:07:13,566
looking at them, they move on and we basically say, we would like to hire you. And now they

682
01:07:20,666 --> 01:07:20,666
sit for a very intensive medical evaluation. That all happens before the class begins

683
01:07:28,500 --> 01:07:28,500
in january. And as I mentioned at the beginning, the application period opens in

684
01:07:32,666 --> 01:07:32,666
march, and then the next class will start this coming january. The minimum requirements to

685
01:07:40,200 --> 01:07:44,166
become a grand rapids firefighter are pretty simple. You just have to have a high school diploma or a ged, be over 18 years of age and have a valid driver's license. Our

686
01:07:50,300 --> 01:07:50,300
goal is to identify people with strong character, commitment to service, specifically the

687
01:07:56,366 --> 01:07:56,366
citizens of grand rapids, and identify people that are willing to work hard. Again,

688
01:08:03,200 --> 01:08:03,200
we're just looking for a great people and we will train them to become great firefighters.

689
01:08:08,666 --> 01:08:08,666
that is all we have for you today. Any questions? I was a little worried that was going

690
01:08:17,166 --> 01:08:17,166
to be an archive picture of my roof. When you showed them hacking through the roof wasn't

691
01:08:21,300 --> 01:08:21,300
my house. So thanks for the presentation, city manager. If you could either chief brown or

692
01:08:26,600 --> 01:08:26,600
chief morrison. We were talking last week and you were sharing the success of us hiring cadets

693
01:08:34,233 --> 01:08:34,233
into firefighters. Do you remember that stat? I do. So this group here brings us to 41

694
01:08:41,733 --> 01:08:41,733
people that have been hired as a cadet thus far. We have hired five who are currently working

695
01:08:49,000 --> 01:08:49,000
as grand rapids firefighters. That number though. Keep in mind, this group here just

696
01:08:55,066 --> 01:08:55,066
started. We have multiple others that I know of that are applied this year that are in

697
01:09:01,200 --> 01:09:01,200
the process to be hired, so that number of the 41 will continue to increase. But put

698
01:09:07,400 --> 01:09:07,400
it in context, I believe you said this year for, you know, 1314, how many of our

699
01:09:13,400 --> 01:09:13,400
firefighters we were hiring? We have over 700 applicants, applicants thus far. Is that

700
01:09:18,800 --> 01:09:18,800
accurate? Yes. 703 people have applied thus.

701
01:11:49,033 --> 01:11:52,333
say thank you that we have a number. And I'm thinking about the water department and the, you know, programs that they have. And quite honestly, you know, we

702
01:11:56,166 --> 01:11:59,500
know that people are retiring every single day. And, you know, people are deciding different things about how they want to work and live. And so just a reminder to us that, I mean, it

703
01:12:02,833 --> 01:12:06,333
was great to highlight this. The interest I remember at the last, I think it was actually the at the neighborhood summit where there was somebody who was like, I'm here because I want to talk to the fire department about a career. But just a reminder that we're

704
01:12:07,966 --> 01:12:11,733
really doing this across the entire city and other departments and just h police cr outstanding candidates who include our own interim chief. Trigg. And I would invite you to come to city hall at 545. You can interact and ask your questions directly to the

705
01:12:13,466 --> 01:12:15,300
candidates at 545. Then at 7:00, we'll have a more formal, traditional conversation that will be facilitated by the third party consultant that will be streamed live. So 7:00

706
01:12:19,466 --> 01:12:19,466
you can see it online on online at 545. You can interact in person. Great. Okay. Mr. Davis?

707
01:12:26,433 --> 01:12:26,433
yeah. I just wanted to recognize my colleagues. Mr. Fine mentioned earlier that as

708
01:12:31,033 --> 01:12:31,033
a member of this body, you know, to whatever appearances we feel like as citizen members, we are

709
01:12:37,466 --> 01:12:37,466
defending the work of our public safety sector. And it's an honor to be seated here. You

710
01:12:43,266 --> 01:12:43,266
heard pastor gholston mention that some of the content that we are going to see today came

711
01:12:47,300 --> 01:12:47,300
to us in just minutes before this meeting. I know that there's a lot happening at city

712
01:12:51,366 --> 01:12:51,366
hall, but I think I can speak for all of the citizen members that we're grateful to serve in

713
01:12:56,066 --> 01:12:56,066
this capacity, but the more information we have in advance to be able to come to this

714
01:13:00,566 --> 01:13:00,566
table with appropriate questions and feedback would be helpful. And so I just wanted

715
01:13:05,566 --> 01:13:09,333
to reiterate that and lift up both of those comments that were made earlier. Thank you for that. And we'll mr. Cain is here, and I can assure you that the next meeting, he will get

716
01:13:15,633 --> 01:13:15,633
it to you first thing in the morning when he sends the information out to all of the

717
01:13:20,633 --> 01:13:20,633
city commission gets the packet that that day. Do you have anything to add? Just to say

718
01:13:31,466 --> 01:13:31,466
that historically we didn't provide the presentations to the committee at all in advance.

719
01:13:37,400 --> 01:13:37,400
we have done that today. They were out a little bit later. But as you know, as you might

720
01:13:43,833 --> 01:13:43,833
not know, some of these presentations are tweaked to the very end. So I can't

721
01:13:49,466 --> 01:13:49,466
guarantee that you're going to get it first thing at 8 a.m. We got some other people that need

722
01:13:54,600 --> 01:13:54,600
to see it at the before it sent out, even to the city commission, but as soon as

723
01:14:00,366 --> 01:14:04,200
possible, I'll send them out to you. And I know that there's complicated discussions that need to be had, but you'll get the materials as soon as we can release them. I appreciate you

724
01:14:08,566 --> 01:14:08,566
responding to that. I know that we aren't elected officials. I am grateful for the ones who

725
01:14:13,233 --> 01:14:13,233
are here, but our names are on the dais and people do come up to us and an unexpected amount

726
01:14:17,600 --> 01:14:21,566
of time to ask questions about public safety. So the more information we have, the more we can prepare, the more that we can bring back, the better. And I do appreciate you as a

727
01:14:25,833 --> 01:14:29,766
liaison, if you have any questions or some of the opportunities that might be afforded through the police department or the fire department as far as training

728
01:14:33,333 --> 01:14:33,333
opportunities or ride alongs or whatever, just feel free and I can facilitate that when

729
01:14:38,033 --> 01:14:38,033
possible. Thank you. Great. Yeah, let me, let me let me clarify on behalf of the staff,

730
01:14:47,033 --> 01:14:47,033
we will ensure that whatever information we have that morning, you will get it. Now,

731
01:14:53,466 --> 01:14:53,466
there may be some revisions and changes and things that are not available, but whatever we have,

732
01:14:58,166 --> 01:14:58,166
you'll have it when we send it out. Right on. Okay. Thank you everyone. I'll