Pinellas Police Standards Council
Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
4000 Gateway Centre Boulevard, Suite 100
Pinellas Park, Florida
APPROVED Agenda: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 – 8:30 AM
1. Call to Order – Chairman Tony Holloway
2. Approval of PPSC Minutes –
Motion by Chief Kochen and Chief Rossi – The Council unanimously approved the June 12, 2013 Minutes.
3. Guests –
v Chief Holloway introduced Circuit Judge Kimberly Todd to the Council. Judge Todd provided a brief presentation on the Unified Family Court Delinquency Partnership. Judge Todd advised that one of the initiatives she is currently addressing is trying to create an immediate consequence for technical violations committed by juveniles. She advised the current system can extend out two to three months before the juvenile faces the consequences of his/her actions.
The Council concurred with Judge Todd’s premise and advised that the key to the advancement of immediate consequences has to be probation driven. Judge Todd agreed and passed out a questionnaire created by her office that would assist with this endeavor (see attached).
v Sheriff Gualtieri introduced Steve Collins, Director of Central Florida HIDTA to the Council. Director Collins provided a brief presentation outlining the HIDTA Program. Some of the main points presented were as follows:
· The Event De-confliction program is offered at no cost to participating agencies and the Central FL HIDTA will provide the training.
· Why De-conflict Law Enforcement Events?
• Officer Safety- Prevents Blue on Blue
• Uncovers duplicate investigations resulting in better management of resources and manpower
• Provides for an Information/Intelligence sharing environment
· “Case Explorer.Net”
• Web-based program developed for law enforcement
• Provides basic case management features with functionality focused towards information sharing and Event De-confliction
• The Event module is used to register the location or geographic proximity of an upcoming or ongoing law enforcement Event (Activity) such as a search warrant, arrest warrant, undercover meeting, drug buy, drug buy bust, parcel delivery, knock and talk, surveillance, or any other enforcement activity.
• Once the Event is registered the software will de-conflict with all participating Case Explorer users for any conflicts of other enforcement activities within the specified geographic radius and time frame of the original agency’s activity.
• It will match against historical Event entries (geographic location/address/cross streets) already present somewhere in the Case Explorer database.
· Access to Case Explorer.net
• Via any internet accessible device, Laptop, PC, Smartphone, I Pad
• Login is through a secure VPN to the Washington-Baltimore HIDTA server
• Matches and Conflicts are instantaneous, and requires the conflicting parties to communicate
Council discussion took place with regard to information provided by Director Collins and its implication within the Pinellas County law enforcement community. The Council was highly impressed with the initiative but cautioned that unless the program is mandated for use by all law enforcement agencies working within Pinellas County, it may be counterproductive by providing a false sense of security. The Council firmly asserted that the best way of currently providing safety measures is still by agencies reaching out to one another sharing information.
The Council agreed to take up the discussion again at the PPSC August meeting for the possibility of formulating a MOU.
4. PASS Update – Mike Waters
· Director Waters updated the Council on HB1411:
On June 28, 2013 Governor Rick Scott vetoed HB1411. Governor Scott listed the legislative act would essentially burden people living and traveling through Pinellas County with an increased court cost fee from an additional layer of government and funding that would further exacerbate duplication of services.
The Council respectfully did not concur with Governor Scott’s assessment and could only postulate that the Governor was not fully informed of all the supporting material when he rendered his decision. The Police Applicant Screening Service (PASS) has operated for nearly forty years as a centralized processing facility that reduces redundancies within local government law enforcement hiring practices.
In 2009, the Department of Justice Office of Community Policing Services in cooperation with the International Association of Chiefs of Police highlighted PASS in a study as an example of government collaboration providing a cost effective and streamlined approach to improve quality police recruiting and selection. Since the inception of PASS, twelve other selection centers throughout the state have been developed using PASS as a template.
With recognition of the Governor’s veto, the Council commenced discussion toward providing an immediate funding source/structure that would facilitate the overall fiscal stability of PASS. Sheriff Gualtieri led the discussion by re-emphasizing the historical and present relevance of PASS commissioned through the PPSC. Sheriff Gualtieri offered the proposition that the PCSO is willing to commit yearly funding of $50,000.00 if collectively the other Council agencies are willing to fund an additional $50,000.00.
Note: The total amount proposed by Sheriff Gualtieri of $100,000 directly corresponded to the funding increase projected within the passage of HB1411.
The Council members in attendance overwhelmingly embraced the proposal by Sheriff Gualtieri and agreed to discuss the proposition with the other Chiefs’ not present and also their respective City Leaders for a monetary contribution amount at the next PPSC meeting. In preparation for the next meeting, Provost Brock was asked to provide the trust fund allocation percentages for each agency within Pinellas County.
· Director Waters updated the Council on the replacement programming of GECKO. In coordination with BTS and Program Director Tim Burns, PASS secured a one-time fee assessment of $3,500.00 for SharePoint programming and services that BTS will host onsite to ensure the overall security of PASS files. BTS was provided with a schematic of the web based programming desired by PASS and they are hopeful the programming will be operating by October 1, 2013.
· Director Waters advised the Council that at the May 8, 2013 meeting of the Regional Criminal Justice Selection Directors Association Center held as part of the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission quarterly meetings, discussion took place with regard to the retention period for closed/administratively obsolete applicant files. The standard time announced and agreed upon by the selections center membership that also maintains compliance with Florida Public Records is three years.
Director Waters advised that PASS is performing an annual audit of applicant files to ensure proper retention and disposal periods of applicant records. PASS will be contacting each agency regarding any retained “hired” applicant files to ensure each agency has been provided with all relevant material from the application PASS file.
5. Committee Reports –
v Legislative Committee – Chief Thomas
o No Report this month
v Training – Provost Brock
o Provost Brock introduced Brian Frank and Ilene LaHaie to the Council.
o Provost advised that the college is extremely busy with full academy registration reaching into 2014.
v Standards Review Committee – Chief Vincent
o No Report this month
v Finance – Chief Edwards
o N/A
v LE Radio and User Group – Manager Weinreich
Manager Weinreich advised that the P25 migration for Pinellas Park will begin the week of July 15, 2013. She advised that Director Moeller wished for the following information to be relayed to the Council:
o County staff has recommended funding in the FY 2014 budget for additional upgrades to the 800MHz radio system. The upgrades will include a new master and prime controller at the new PSC currently under construction. After installation of new equipment, the current controllers will be upgraded to the most recent software version and remain as a ‘hot stand-by’. This, and other changes, will increase the system’s robustness. The recommended budget is $9 million in FY 2014.
o County staff has also recommended a radio tower replacement program. Beginning in FY 2014, one tower would be replaced each year over the next six years. The total funding required is $3 million over the six-year timeframe.
o Consolidation of 9-1-1 with the Sheriff’s and Sunstar’s PSAPs continue to progress. Following an earlier meeting with police chiefs and the Sheriff, Dr. Moeller is currently working to schedule a meeting open to all police chiefs to discuss a potential framework for increased participation by other agencies in the new regional communications center. County staff will review various levels of consolidated/cooperative operations; frameworks for funding & costs; discuss oversight and governance; and overall system design and benefits. We are looking to schedule this meeting late July or early August.
v LE Information Systems and Analysis – Tim Burns
o No report this month
v Homeland Security – Corporal Armistead
o No report this month
6. New Business
v Deputy Chief Undestad inquired about the SRO Contract renewals. He advised that although the contract officer fees have remained stagnant for the past six years, the internal costs borne by the law enforcement agencies have steadily increased. Sheriff Gualtieri advised that he was proposing a renewal contract that would slightly increase the fee of the first officer while keeping the second officer fee the same. The Council agreed that all SRO Contracts should remain consistent within the county. Sheriff Gualtieri advised he would share his contract proposal with all affected agencies.
7. Old Business
v Sheriff Gualtieri announced a plan to advance the collection and management of pawn transactions throughout the county by using BWI as the vendor. The BWI system would replace the current Finder data sharing system and also would eliminate detectives having to manually collect pawn slips in your respective jurisdictions as all pawn data would be submitted electronically by the pawn shops and second-hand dealers. It will also eliminate manual data entry of this information by your detectives and/or clerks. Sheriff Gualtieri stated that he is willing to bear the cost of this system for countywide implementation if everyone agrees to its use.
The Council was unanimous in their support and desire to learn more about BWI. Sheriff Gualtieri advised that he would make arrangements for a representative of BWI to attend the next PPSC meeting to provide a brief presentation.
v Chief Kochen advised that upon further review of the Motorola contract for the City of Tarpon Springs, the 25% percent increase denoted at last month’s meeting was determined to be from existing service and was not related to the recent upgrade performed by Motorola.
8. Roundtable
v Chief Vincent informed the Council of the annual “Walk Like MADD” event and provided hand-out material.
9. Adjourn
Deputy Chief Undestad and Chief Rossi
Next Meeting
Wednesday, August 14, 2013 – 8:30 AM
Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
4000 Gateway Centre Boulevard, Suite 100
Pinellas Park, Florida
STANDARDS REVIEW COMMITTEE
Agenda of Next Meeting
Wednesday, August 14th, 2013, 10:00 AM
Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council – Conference Room
4000 Gateway Center Blvd., Pinellas Park
1. Applicant appeals: Approved / Denied
· Daniel Morgan 2013-111 (Felony Asssault) ______
· Eric Grierson 2013-306 (Use of Drugs) ______
· Timothy Denny 2013-250 (Use of Marijuana) ______
· Mariano Cruz-Colon 2013-289 (Use of Marijuana) ______
· Michael Bunjaponte 2013-311 (DL Suspensions) ______
· Dimitrios Hatzileris 2013-320 (Use of Drugs and Rx) ______
· Adam Foulks 2013-332 (Cruelty to Animals) ______
· Derek Hansley 2013-355 (Use of Drugs) ______
· Katherine Nolasco 2013-305 (Use of Rx) ______
Members Present:
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Presented by:
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