Approximately 10 days ago, the City of Brea posted a response to the recent actions the Yorba Linda City Council regarding the Police Contract. This was subsequently removed by the City of Brea after apparent complaints from the City Council majority members. I personally feel the residents need to hear the information from all sources in a transparent and open forum.
The following had been posted on the City of Brea’s web site:
Q. How did the Brea Police Department’s relationship with Yorba Linda begin?
A. The City of Yorba Linda, which incorporated in 1967, was initially receiving police services from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. After about three years, city officials became interested in a more local approach and looked to Brea, its neighboring city. On October 1, 1970 the Brea Police Department began patrolling the City of Yorba Linda and have been doing so ever since.
Members of the Brea Police Department are part of every facet of community life—both professionally and personally. In fact, 21% of police department employees live in Yorba Linda. A generation of police families has grown up in Yorba Linda during the past 41-years of the Agreement. Consequently, Brea Police have a vested interest in the community and are grateful for the support they receive from the Yorba Linda community.
Q. In simple terms, how does the contract work?
A. Both cities have long recognized the mutual benefits created when critical services are shared between cities. The Law Enforcement Services Agreement, cost-sharing formula and contract timeline are developed jointly by Brea and Yorba Linda. Using the expertise of the Brea Police Department, and its 41-years of experience patrolling the community, Yorba Linda officials decide on the service levels for their community.
Q. How are the costs calculated?
Direct costs: Yorba Linda pays 100% of the direct costs for personnel assigned to the City of Yorba Linda. (Detectives, Patrol/Traffic Officers, School Resource Officers and Police Services Officers are assigned to Yorba Linda.)
Indirect costs: Yorba Linda pays a mutually agreed upon percentage, as contained in the Agreement, of the costs for services required to support field personnel, such as Police Records, Dispatch, CSI and Police supervision. The formula is based on the direct field support needs for Yorba Linda officers.
Q. Every contract must be monitored. What “checks and balances” are in place?
A. Part of fulfilling the police services contract is to be good managers and stewards of the agreement. The contract is managed by the Yorba Linda Police Services Commander and is one of his top priorities in that assignment.
Contract negotiations between Brea and Yorba Linda result in a complete review of service levels and cost-sharing formulas. Over the years, the agreement has been modified to adapt to the changing needs of the Yorba Linda community and the priorities of the City Council.
Yorba Linda service hours are tracked daily and compiled at least monthly. A full report is submitted annually to the Yorba Linda City Manager, and data can be retrieved at any time upon request.
Q. How do City officials ensure one City isn’t subsidizing the other?
A. Neither city is subsidizing the other. We have a serious obligation to the residents of Brea to make sure that their tax dollars are not being used to subsidize police services in Yorba Linda. And we have the same obligation to the citizens of Yorba Linda. As previously, mentioned, there are many checks and balances in place and the contract is closely monitored. The law enforcement agreement only makes sense if it is of mutual benefit to both cities, so consequently ensuring that it is fairly implemented is a top priority.
Yorba Linda pays for, and is directly assigned its own detectives, patrol/traffic officers, SRO and PSO personnel as determined through open discussions between Yorba Linda and Brea (direct costs).
Yorba Linda also pays their share of indirect services based upon the mutually agreed-upon formula contained in the Law Enforcement Agreement. Indirect services include administrative supervision, police records, dispatch, CSI, and other technical support.
Patrol officers, detectives and other police services employees assigned directly to Yorba Linda are not “reassigned, or diverted” to Brea because of any potential extra daily Brea activity. A major incident in either city, such as a large brush fire, or multiple homicides, could result in redeployment for that specific incident. But, those occurrences are fortunately very rare in both cities and units would be called in to backfill any extended vacancies.
In addition, should any question arise, many lines of communication are always open between Brea PD and Yorba Linda City officials and their constituents. At least one member of the Police Command staff attends every Yorba Linda City Council meeting. Council Members and City staff communicate regularly with Brea Police to address issues or concerns.
Q. How does Brea respond to any such issues raised?
A. Brea City officials and Brea Police play close attention to the cares and concerns of the Yorba Linda City Council regarding the Police Services Contract.
For example: Controlling costs of providing quality public services is a mutual concern of both Yorba Linda and Brea (as it is with all public agencies), while also continuing to provide quality, responsive public safety services.
To that end, on July 1, 2011 Brea implemented a significant change to the retirement formula for public safety employees. This demonstrates responsiveness, sound fiscal management and commitment on the part of Brea City Management and the Brea Police Services employees. The City of Brea is one of the first agencies in Orange County to take such action.
New Hires after September 16, 2011 New sworn personnel now pay the full portion of their employee contribution to retirement costs (9%, formerly 0% contribution).
In addition, the formula is now 2% at 50 years of age (formerly 3% at 50 years), with no provision of the “Single Highest Year” retirement formula.
New civilian police employees now pay the full portion of their employee contribution to retirement costs (7%, formerly 0% contribution).
Existing Employees (those hired prior to September 16, 2011) Existing sworn police employees now pay 2.25% (formerly 0% contribution) of the employee contribution to retirement costs in the first year of a two-year contract. This contribution will increase another 2.25% on July 1, 2012.
In addition, sworn personnel (employed as of the 7-1-11) are now paying 1.62% the cost of “Single-Highest Year” retirement formula.
Existing civilian employees now pay 1.125% of the employee contribution to retirement costs in the first year of a two-year contract. The contribution will increase another 1.125% on July 1, 2012.
Another example: At the August 16, 2011 Yorba Linda City Council meeting, the City Council directed staff to open discussions with Brea City Management and the Brea Police Department on various issues. (Potential formation of a Joint Powers Authority (JPA); contract costs; deployment: use of asset seizure funds; vacancies; Yorba Linda representation during collective bargaining negotiations.) Brea City Management and Brea Police agreed to consider every point of direction, and had three productive meetings to that end prior to Yorba Linda’s decision to request proposals from other agencies.
Q. Has the City of Brea ever provided a police services proposal to the City of Yorba Linda?
A. Until Yorba Linda City Council meeting on November 1, the Brea Police Department has never been asked to participate in a formal competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) effort. However, years of negotiating and reexamining the police services contract, has provided opportunities for extensive review of costs, service levels and quality controls.
In addition, while no formal bid process has occurred (or been requested), there have been several (at least three) formal comprehensive efforts over the years by Yorba Linda to review the cost of Brea Police Department services and evaluate the quality of services.
In the most recent effort, in spring, 2008 the Yorba Linda City Council hired a third-party professional consultant to evaluate Brea’s Police Services (quality and cost effectiveness) and develop a comparison with other service provider options (including the Orange County Sherriff Department, City of Placentia, and City of Anaheim) and were also asked to evaluate the feasibility of a Joint Powers Agreement for police services as well as a Yorba Linda Police Department.
The report, prepared by the consultant and delivered to the Yorba Linda City Council in December, 2009, concluded that Yorba Linda continues to be best served by the Brea Police Department vs. other viable options.
The report yielded a number of recommendations designed to further improve police services to Yorba Linda. Brea Police Services responded to those rec-ommendations in writing in May 2010. The Police Department was already performing some of the recommended actions, and has since implemented, or has begun implementation of other recommendations.
Q. What is the issue regarding Asset Seizure Funds mentioned?
A. The Brea Police Department participates in a program called PACNET (Public and Commercial Narcotic Enforcement Team) managed by the Department of Justice. Brea currently assigns and pays 100% of the funding for a K-9 Police Detective to be part of the task force. This is a regionalized task force directed at narcotic enforcement through parcel interdiction.
PACNET members aggressively target and monitor large U.S. postal distribution centers and airports as these parcel systems are extremely popular method of transporting narcotics by drug trafficking organizations. Through the PACNET agreement, a portion of the assets seized is distributed to participating law enforcement agencies. These Asset Seizure Funds are restricted by law to be used only to support law enforcement services in the City.
Currently, Yorba Linda does not fund any portion of the participation in PACNET, nor does PACNET operate in Yorba Linda. Consequently, the City does not receive any of the Asset Seizure Funds earned by the Brea funded PACNET unit.
However, per the Brea Yorba Linda Police Services Agreement, when/if Brea PD seizes assets in Yorba Linda, during the normal course of serving the City, all of the seized and forfeited assets are returned to Yorba Linda. (Subject, of course, to any conditions of the federal/state government.)
In response to Yorba Linda’s interest in PACNET, Brea and Yorba Linda officials have been in discussions to determine if it is feasible for Yorba Linda to share in part of the funding for the PACNET officer and as a result, share in the Asset Seizure Funds.
Q. What about revenue from Commercial Traffic Enforcement fines; does Yorba Linda share in that?
A. Yorba Linda receives 100% of the city revenue from all traffic fines issued in their city limits by police officers, including any fines incurred for truck/commercial traffic violations. Unlike Brea, Yorba Linda has chosen not to contract and pay for a designated Commercial Traffic Enforcement program.
Brea maintains a designated Commercial Traffic Enforcement program for two main reasons: 1.) the volume of truck traffic travelling to the Orange County Landfill through Brea city limits, and 2.) the traffic associated with Brea’s large business sector. Currently, the Brea Police department assigns two, full-time officers solely to Commercial Traffic Enforcement within the City of Brea. Since the enforcement is in Brea, it is 100% funded by the Brea. Therefore, any city revenue from fines is returned to the City of Brea.
Several years ago, Yorba Linda and the City of Brea tried sharing the cost (and revenue) of one full-time Commercial Enforcement officer in order to add the patrol to the City of Yorba Linda. However, the low volume of truck traffic in Yorba Linda did not warrant the dedicated enforcement, and a decision was made jointly to remove the position (and the cost) from the City of Yorba Linda.
Q. Both Brea and Yorba Linda are viewed as safe cities. What are do the crime statistics mean?
A. Being a victim of a violent crime in either Brea or Yorba Linda is rare occurrence. When crime statistics are reported in the media, it leads to a flurry of questions because of its complexity. Analyzing and applying crime statistics in a meaningful manner is complex and difficult. Often the reporting and conclusions drawn are erroneous and misleading.
The most often reported (and consequently misused) crime statistics report is the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) annual report. It is so commonly misused and misunderstood that the FBI itself includes a disclaimer when issuing the report. It cautions readers of the UCR report against using the statistics as the sole measure, or even the leading measure of safety within a community and to avoid ranking cities based on the UCR.
Specifically: Since crime is a sociological phenomenon influenced by a variety of factors, the FBI discourages ranking the agencies and using the data as a measurement of law enforcement effectiveness. The FBI does not provide a ranking of agencies, but merely alphabetical tabulations of states, metropolitan statistical areas, cities, metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties, and colleges and universities. [Source: FBI website].
In Perspective
To put the most recent FBI statistics in perspective, the report, among other things, shows that in 2010 the City of Brea experienced 39.9 “Part 1 Crimes” per 1,000 residents.
Seven crimes make up Part 1 Crimes (homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft (including shoplifting), and stolen vehicles). These can be divided into two additional categories, violent crime (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) and property crime (burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson). It is very important to avoid characterizing all Part 1 Crimes as violent crimes, as is sometimes erroneously portrayed in the media and personal blogs.
Brea continues to be a very safe city in regard to the frequency of violent crime. In 2010, Brea experienced only 71 violent crimes. Aggravated assault accounted for the vast majority of these crimes (39) and consisted primarily of incidents of domestic violence, child abuse and elder abuse where the victim knew the perpetrator. The remaining crime categories and total number of crimes per category are as follows: murder (1), rape (3) and robbery (28).
As you can see from the statistics, the likelihood of being a victim of a violent crime committed by a stranger in the City of Brea is very low.
Conversely, like in other cities, property crime occurs more frequently. In 2010, the City of Brea experienced 1,471 property crimes of which the vast majority was burglaries (197) and other thefts (1200). Of these 1,471 crimes, 525 or 34% occurred at our regional Mall. In addition, of the 525 property crimes which occurred at the mall, 478 of those crimes occurred inside the mall, which are typically handled by their loss prevention personnel and require little police follow-up.
Consequently, these crimes would not overly tax assigned Brea officers and would not require officers and detectives assigned to Yorba Linda to report to the City of Brea, nor would police command staff supervision efforts be disproportionately directed to Brea due to such activities.
The services provided by the Brea Police Department in Yorba Linda are considered excellent by both the community and current and former City Councils. Numerous public verbal and written comments to that effect are on record.
December, 2011
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