HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOPCAB 2021-05-13 Agenda PacketT"Up I �' �E DE PA, �TM j
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Allan Ekberg, Mayor
Eric Dre ver, Chief of Police
COPCAB Agenda
May 13, 2021
6:30pm — 8:00pm
Virtual Meeting Via Microsoft Teams
253-292-9750
Conference ID: 526157821#
1. Approval of 3/11/21 & 4/8/21 minutes
2. Chief's updates
3. Community survey
4. Ride -along
5. Good of the order
15005 Tukwila International Blvd. Tukwila, WA 98188 • Phone (206) 433-1808 • Records Fax (206) 244-6181 Invest. Fax (206) 431-3688
COPCAB Minutes
March 11, 2021
6:30pm — 8:00pm
Virtual Meeting Via Microsoft Teams
253-292-9750
Conference ID: 526157821#
Members present: Jan Boler ack, Roger Arnold, John Lindsey, Tosh Sharp, Katrina Dohn, Jun Castillo, Jay
Stark
Staff present: Interim Chief Eric Drever, Acting Deputy Chief Eric Lund
Guest:
Interim Chief Drever called the meeting to order.
The 2/11/21 minutes were approved after a correction of title from Crime Prevention Team to Community
Policing Team.
Chief's update:
o Staffing roster: 77 positions, 62 available for full duty
o -7 frozen
o -2 light duty
o -1 administrative leave
o -2 awaiting background check
o -2 in FTO Phase 2
o -1 pending
o The prosecutor declined to file charges on the officer who has been on administrative leave, so she
should be back next week.
o The mayor has appointed Eric Drever as the new police chief effective April 1, 2021. This will be
confirmed at the 3/15/21 City Council meeting. This opens one slot for backfill.
Department Update
o Most has been status quo since the last meeting.
o There has been an emphasis on engaging with the community and responding, showing that changes
are being made and people are being listened to.
o Recent legislative session will bring changes. The force will comply and communicate with the
community regarding these changes.
Community survey:
o Interim Chief Drever worked with Phi to work out some of the kinks in the survey. It may be able to
go live in April.
o How long? Open-ended
o How to draw information? 2 methods
0 1. Raw Data — spreadsheet with responses by question, sort data as needed
0 2. Organized report — Can show data with bar graphs
o Continued need to be able to respond in real time. The site can be checked anytime, daily if needed,
to look for actionable entries.
15005 Tukwila International Blvd, Tukwila, WA 98188 • Phone 206-433-1808 • Records Fax 206-244-6181 • Investigation Fax 206-
431-3688
o Chief's recommendation:
1. Pull it monthly and send it to COPCAB before meetings.
2. Every 6 months, compile and analyze data. Have Crime Analyst put together analysis. The
mayor's assistant can also provide data to COPCAB, unedited for sake of transparency.
3. Monday — Friday — Phi will monitor it daily for anything needing an immediate response.
o Publicity — can print business cards with survey link to give to people, possibly a QR link
o Translations?
Not translated yet. Chief is finishing the survey first.
Use Survey Hero translations, but vet with native language speakers.
Use Language Line, community liaisons, court interpreters for other languages
o The new Emergency Manager is working on a King County grant for dispensing emergency
management information to the county
COPCAB Structure, Focus, and Procedures
o COPCAB minutes — Should minutes be published somewhere on social media so folks can see
them? Can answers to questions be posted? Chief Drever would prefer to send answers to the group
first, and then post.
o Goal of COPCAB — The goal is to represent the community, look at department processes, actions,
and words, to bring a community lens and advice the Chief as to what the community wants. We
are to challenge the department so they can better meet needs. We can talk to neighbors and convey
their needs.
o COPCAB roles — Tosh will continue as chair.
o Chief Drever recommended making the secretary/recorder role a specific designated role. Katrina
will take on this role.
o Who will facilitate the meetings if Tosh isn't available? Someone needs to step up and volunteer.
School Resource Officer Discussion
o Chief Drever meets monthly with Tukwila School District Superintendent Flip Herndon. A question
was asked about what he is hearing regarding SROs from other schools. Youth Justice group has
asked for their removal. Superintendent Herndon hasn't heard anything, but has been asked to put
together forums to hear from kids, family and staff. There is a question about if there is a biased
narrative being conveyed.
o Chief Drever reported that in an informal survey with students, no concerns about SROs were
expressed, but concerns about things such as teachers giving extra credit to students who go out and
protest against the police were expressed.
o Youth Voices For Justice won't engage with the police. Are the students in this group from
Tukwila? They won't identify themselves. No conversation has happened yet, even on Zoom.
They repeat their demands, but will not engage in dialogue. They want the police defunded and that
money put into programs for youth. Chief Drever offered to work with them on programs, but they
refused. They may need mediators to engage and start a conversation.
o Chief Drever has been trying to talk with faculty and families.
o Primary role of SRO is safety in the event of an active shooter. It has been proven for faster
response time and active engagement. Initially, SROs were asked to come to schools. The job has
morphed into a liaison position to engage together in a safe environment. Now, primary contacts are
out in the community during a negative incident. SROs are city -funded by the police department.
Tukwila has two positions, which have been frozen during COVID. They are now in patrol.
o Deputy Chief Lund shared that this time has been hard on SROs because of how much they care.
o There is a question of if the fear of SROs is really true. Wondering how many are truly afraid. The
narrative doesn't seem to fit the observation.
o SRO is a four-year assignment with the potential of extension. The job is to build relationships with
students. During class, the SROs engage with administration around needs. They deal with calls for
service at schools.
o Question: Can they work on speeding in school zones? Answer: That is already happening at all
schools. SROs are on the main corner by Foster. Other officers visit other schools around arrival
and dismissal times.
o Question: Dress code for SROs? This is usually operationally driven, dressing for what is needed on
any given day. Sometimes they will also be filling in for a shift, so may be in uniform. Usually they
dress down with a duty belt — more casual uniform, not full gear. Are parents worried about the
image of uniformed police? DARE is usually taught in full uniform. They deal with fears of
students and demystify what they wear.
o Question: Might parents be less comfortable with uniformed police because they don't see them as
frequently as the kids do?
o Question: Why are people feeling threatened now when this was not an issue for the last 20 years?
Thought that possibly the narrative is current, but may not be prevalent. Is there a vocal 2% that is
vocalizing a narrative?
Good of the order
o Guy in the river two weeks ago — The police are assuming the worst in terms of outcome. The boats
were out quickly and tried to track him. They think that they have an ID, and that he is not a
Tukwila resident. Officers are having a hard time dealing with this, as they responded quickly and
made every effort to rescue him.
o Graffiti — There was a meeting last Monday with Parks and Rec and Public Works. There is a task
force that is prioritizing graffiti, trash, and dumping. Some ideas that have been shared include
community education and staff education. City policy is that graffiti removal within 48 hours is the
target. Hate graffiti has recently occurred, and was removed in less than 24 hours. The city's hands
are tied when the graffiti is done on private property. Owners need to be asked, and it often takes
time to do that and for them to respond. Need to find creative ways to educate the public.
o Smell of pot — Can anything be done if it is bothering neighbors? It is legal now, so no recourse.
There may be some recourse in multi -family housing under a code of conduct, though.
o General question — Criteria for when to call 911 — If you are asking about whether or not to call 911,
the answer is YES!
o Can we get Tukwila statistics by ethnicity to compare to demographic data? Do we buck the trends?
Maybe we can paint a different picture in Tukwila? Answer: Haven't looked at the statistics that
way. Would need some way to get that data. Because of the swell in daytime population, the data
isn't pure Tukwila, and can't be compared to residents.
Tosh Sharp asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. It was moved and seconded, and the meeting adjourned
at 8:17 pm.
T"Up I �' �E DE PA, �TM j
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Allan Ekberg, Mayor
Eric Drever, Chief of Police
COPCAB Minutes
April 8, 2021
6:30pm — 8:00pm
Virtual Meeting Via Microsoft Teams
253-292-9750
Conference ID: 526157821#
Members present: Jan Bolerjack, Katrina Dohn, Jay Stark, John Lindsey
Staff present: Chief Eric Drever
Guest: Christine Neuffer
• Chief Drever called the meeting to order.
• Approval of minutes: Minute were not approved due to a lack of quorum at this point in the meeting. They will be
approved at the next meeting.
• Chief Update:
o Staffing:
✓ One vacancy— held off on filling until chief was hired, now in a position to backfill. Chief wants a
community member to sit in on the process. Tosh Sharp will be that community representative.
There will also be a community roster to sit in on various aspects of hiring.
✓ Sergeant promotion —This is moving forward. A community member will be apart of the process
and will be an assessor for the sergeant applicants.
✓ Next week will be the oral panels for Victim Advocate position. The name of this position was
changed from DV Victim Advocate to Victim Advocate. This was done to acknowledge that this
person will be an advocate for any victim of a violent crime, not only situations of domestic violence.
Schedule will allow this person to deploy to the field to get resources to the victims immediately.
✓ Transport officer position is still in background.
✓ New records specialist is still in background. The person given the last offer declined the job at the
last minute.
✓ Training Officer Lisa Harrison will be retiring in May and they are in the process of replacing her. The
job has been fairly clerical but will shift to being more hands-on, cross -training (de-escalation
strategies, firearms, scenarios, etc.)
o Other department focus
✓ Preparations for the Chavin trial —The department and region are anticipating the potential of civil
unrest when the Chauvin trial verdict is announced. TPD is working with regional agencies. The Civil
Disturbance Unit is on call and ready to deploy if needed.
✓ 90 -Day Community Engagement Plan — This will be going to the mayor next week and will be shared
with COPCAB next month. The community survey will be part of this plan.
o Questions? Victim Advocate — more description of the position requested.
✓ This person helps victims with court dates, getting to safe environments, managing safety plans,
navigating court proceedings, etc.
15005 Tukwila International Blvd. Tukwila, WA 98188 • Phone (206) 433-1808 • Records Fax (206) 244-6181 Invest. Fax (206) 431-3688
TUU K`W ! LA, P0,11 I� CE, DQE P 'A Ri T'Mr, E NST
Allan Ekberg, Mayor
Eric Drever, Chief of Police
✓ The title has been broadened to include any victim of a violent crime.
✓ Domestic violence may still be the most common situation, but the department wanted to broaden
the advocacy.
✓ This is a full time, non-commissioned position.
✓ Interviews are next week. There were 130 applicants. Many were students fresh out of college, but
the department prefers someone with experience. Of the ten finalists, one is an internal candidate,
one is a Tukwila resident, and the other 8 have backgrounds in advocacy — human trafficking, etc.
The top 10 will be narrowed to top 5 and those will interview with Chief Drever and Tosh Sharp.
✓ Ideally, this person will work swing shift, but also needs to provide day assistance in court. Flexibility
will be needed. This person will also be available for callouts.
✓ They will have a regular partnership with crisis intervention as well.
• Community Survey
o Phi made business cards with the QR code.
o Phi also made the changes we requested — added a disclaimer that the site it not maintained on a regular
basis, but that if a person wants contact to fill out the fields to request that and give contact information
o It is ready to go live!
✓ Marketing — A piece will be written about it and shared on social media, websites, city publications,
etc.
✓ Officers will get cards to give out.
✓ A new idea was to print weatherproof stickers to put on the squad cars.
o While waiting for the cards and stickers, Phi will work with Survey Heroes on translating, and then running
that by community connectors to check translations.
• Good of the Order
o Any word from former Chief Linton? He is doing well and loves working for King County Veteran's Program.
o Graffiti —The city put together a task force and they are putting together an education campaign. They are
also working on dumping and trash issues. Officers are trying to ID who is doing the graffiti. They have not
been able to identify anyone yet. Parks department works for a 72 -hour response time in removing graffiti
and are trying for 48 hours. Hate and racial graffiti is removed within 24 hours.
o Chief Drever met with the Neuffers and neighborhood about speeding and property crimes. Officers in that
area make sure to go down every street in their district during their shift. Ms. Neuffer reported that police
have been slowing down their own vehicles on the main road. They would like to start a Blockwatch
program. The Community Policing Team will reach out in the coming week. Katrina Dohn offered to talk
with the group, as she formed and has led a Blockwatch program for many years.
o Youth Voice for Justice — No new contact with them. They held an awareness sit-in in CV park. It was a
peaceful recognition. TPD had people ready, but they weren't needed. The group was very positive and
cleaned up after themselves.
o Tukwila Works app — Neighbors expressing a desire to have this back. Public Works is discussing this with
the mayor's office and at the next staff meeting. The issue is managing it and responding to issues with the
reduced staffing. The city is looking for a way to bring it back online, but there is no timeline.
o Dumping on S. 112th — Problem with dumping and troublesome people by Moses Park and on the trail there.
People camping there are making pedestrians uncomfortable. Chief Drever said there is working going on
with the encampments. Resources are being provided and they are working to clean up affected areas.
o Intersection of TIB and E. Marginal Way—There is a lot of vagrancy and people walking in the intersection.
Could it be patrolled more? The answer is that standing is okay, but not jaywalking or blocking traffic.
15005 Tukwila Intemationa/ Blvd. Tukwila, WA 98188 • Phone (206) 433-1808 • Records Fax (206) 244-6181 Invest. Fax (206)
431-3688
TUUK` LA POtLI�C„E DQE PAR TME NST`
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Allan Ekberg, Mayor
Eric Dre ver, Chief of Police
o Any general issues or crime patterns in the city? Last month was mostly status quo. There is one individual
who is consistently on or selling narcotics. CPT worked with the Regional Drug Task Force and did drug buys
from the target. After a report of gunshots, the target individual ran out the wood and straight into the
arms of the police! Police did not find any evidence of actual gunshots. The police are also working on a
target individual in the Cascade View neighborhood.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:18 pm.
15005 Tukwila Intemationa/ Blvd. Tukwila, WA 98188 • Phone (206) 433-1808 • Records Fax (206) 244-6181 Invest. Fax (206)
431-3688