FIN 2021-04-26 Item 1C - Discussion - Prioritizing Service Level Increases

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INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 11 visits/inspections. The abatement fund has been cut in half so there is less capacity to pursue abatements through 2022. Without a full-time dedicated Administrative Support Technician, Officers will also be taking on additional support functions which will further impact the performance bandwidth of the team and reduce the overall time available to Officers for active enforcement activities such as field work. Municipal Court: The Court currently has two frozen positions; one full-time and one 3/ time. While the Court has been closed to the general public due to the pandemic, service levels have been maintained. However, service levels will be impacted when the Court reopens to the public. At this time there is a projected slow reopening scheduled to begin the first week of May 2021. When the Court welcomes the public back into the facility, security will need to be restored. It will be difficult to maintain the current level of service once the Court fully reopens to the public without filling the frozen positions. The Court also anticipates an increase in filings once the school zone photo enforcement is implemented. It is our intent to hire staff to support this new program. We will need to hire new staff in August to allow efficient time for training and preparation for this increased service. Police: The Police Department's budget reductions come primarily from five areas/programs: 1. Refugee/Homeless outreach: the freezing of one Community Liaison Officer position cuts that team in half. The primary function of this two -person unit is to engage with the City's refugee and homeless community members and to provide them with necessary services. This includes building relationships with Houses of Worship, the Refugee Center, Homeless Camp Leaders, and disadvantaged community members requiring assistance. 2. Human and Drug Trafficking Investigations: our budget reduction includes the freezing of two Tukwila Anti -Crime (TAC) team FTEs. This will result in drug and human trafficking investigations progressing more slowly and cases being filed at a reduced rate. For undercover operations, the TAC team will need to rely on the CPT units to back -fill for security and observational duties. 3. Felony and Juvenile Case Investigations: the budget reduction plan includes the freezing of one Sergeant and one Detective FTEs within our Major Crimes Division. This will result in decreased oversight/leadership (Sergeant) as well as a higher threshold for case filings and investigations into property crimes. We will not allow this to impact any investigation involving physical force or crimes against persons but felony crimes against property may take longer to investigate/file and will not receive as much attention as they would if the team were fully staffed. 4. Tracking K9 Program: the elimination/freezing of this program means that we will have to continue to rely on other jurisdictions to provide a K9 to track felony/Domestic Violence suspects. This also means that our units will have to wait while the OSA unit responds, giving the suspect more time to flee or gain access to a vehicle or other victims. 5. School Resource Officer Program: while budget reduction requires the temporary re- assignment of our School Resource Officers, the Tukwila Police Department will continue work cooperatively with our schools to provide security to Tukwila's students, faculty, and administrators while also maintaining relationships with students and their organizations. 57