 Hello and thank you for being here today to watch the Crime Control and Prevention District 2020 Continuation Election Q&A presentation. I am Chief of Police Ed Krauss. We're here to provide information about the Crime Control and Prevention District or CCPD for short, why it was created, the programs it funds, the continuation election on July 14th, and most importantly to answer your questions about CCPD programs and the election. Thank you for submitting questions about the CCPD election. We appreciate your interest in learning about the CCPD and taking the time to submit questions. We received more than 30 questions from the community. The questions are separated into six categories, CCPD meetings and contact information, CCPD length and term, CCPD board structure, CCPD budget and purchasing, CCPD sales tax, CCPD programs. We will answer your questions throughout the presentation. This presentation will be provided on city's cable channel, the city's website, and the Fort Worth Police Department website. We hope this presentation provides additional information about the CCPD and that it helps answer your questions. If you'd like additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us at CCPD at Fort Worth Texas dot gov or 817-392-4040. The first category of questions we received are about CCPD meetings and contact information. In response to questions about meetings and contact information due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person informational meetings about the CCPD continuation election were canceled. Since the in-person meetings were canceled, we have worked to provide information about the election on the city's and Fort Worth PD's website in city news articles on social media, as well as an information flyer and water bills. Each year as part of the annual CCPD budget process, public hearings are held by both the CCPD board and the city council that provide opportunities for the public to comment about how funding is proposed to be spent. If you have questions or want more information on the continuation election or the CCPD in general, you can email CCPD at Fort Worth Texas dot gov or call 817-392-4040. Let's discuss the crime control and prevention district. The crime control and prevention district provides a revenue from a half-cent sales tax dedicated to funding programs aimed at reducing and preventing crime in Fort Worth. The district was established in 1995 following high crime rates that occurred in the late 1980s. The crime rate has dropped 63% since 1995 when the CCPD was established, while population continues to increase. The black line on this chart is the crime rate, and the blue area is the population. As you can see, the crime rate continues to decrease while the population continues to increase. Election day is Tuesday, July 14th, to consider continuing the CCPD, and early voting begins Monday, June 29th through Friday, July 10th. The next category of questions are about the crime control and prevention district length and term. State law allows the district to be continued for 5, 10, 15, or 20 years. Staff looked at other CCPDs in the north Texas area and found that most have terms that are 10 years or longer. Having a 10-year term will allow for longer term strategic and capital planning and save the costs of holding another election in 5 years. State law requires one specific duration be proposed on the ballot and does not allow selecting among multiple different term lengths in one election. When the CCPD board originally voted to call the continuation election in November 2019, it voted in favor of asking voters to continue the district for a 10-year period. The CCPD budget is reviewed and adjusted every year. Under state law, CCPD revenues must be used for crime control and prevention purposes, but that does not mean all the funds get used by the police department. In order to be funded out of this revenue source, a program must have an identified and articulated crime control or prevention purpose to be legally eligible for receipt of CCPD funding. So, for example, the city's graffiti abatement program that is administered by the park and recreation department and removes graffiti from both public and private property on request is funded out of CCPD. More information about the CCPD budget is provided later in this presentation. The CCPD is a dedicated half-cent sales tax that is projected to provide more than $80 million in revenue this fiscal year. If continuation of the CCPD is not approved, the sales tax rate within the city would be decreased by half-cent and the total amount of revenue available to the program for use in meeting needs within the city would be decreased. If that occurs, the city manager and city council would have to evaluate the budgets of the police department and the city overall to determine how to reallocate resources and expenses and offset the reduction in revenue. The next category of questions is about the CCPD board structure. In response to questions about the structure of the CCPD board, the CCPD is managed by a nine-member board of directors that establishes the annual budget and policies, oversees expenditures, and evaluates programs funded by the district. Day-to-day administration of the district funded programs is primarily handed by the Fort Worth Police Department with some programs managed by the park and recreation and neighborhood services departments. State law allows for the appointment of either a citizen board or for the city council members to serve. Because the board has power to decide whether or not certain commodities are subject to the CCPD sales tax, it was determined that individuals who are directly elected by and answerable to the public should serve in that role. Also, individuals serving on the city council have a broad perspective on interdepartmental programs and processes related to the overall budget. Based on survey of other crime districts in our area, more than two-thirds have boards that consist of the same individuals who serve on the city council. Someone asked about the possibility of eliminating the clause that allows the members of council to serve as the board. That provision is part of state law and can only be changed by the state legislature in Austin. As for the CCPD funding and budget review process, there are several opportunities for the public to provide feedback and input. More information about those opportunities are discussed in the next section of the presentation related to the CCPD budget and purchasing. This slide shows the breakdown of sales tax in Fort Worth. The total sales tax collected is 8.25 cents of every dollar spent. 6.25 cents goes to the state. One cent is for the city's general fund, half cent is for Trinity Metro or transit, and a half cent is for the CCPD. This chart shows the CCPD sales tax each year since 2011. Sales tax revenues have generally increased year over year. This chart shows how funding is spent. There are five funding categories, enhanced enforcement, neighborhood crime prevention, partners with a shared mission, equipment, technology, and infrastructure, and recruitment and training. In fiscal year 2020, equipment, technology, and infrastructure received 38 percent of the funding, followed by enhanced enforcement at 29 percent, neighborhood crime prevention at 19 percent, recruitment and training at 8 percent, and partners with a shared mission at 6 percent. I will go into greater detail of each category in the coming slides. The next category of questions are about the CCPD budget and purchasing. In response to questions regarding how the CCPD budget is determined each year, the city council members serve as the CCPD board members and provide input into the budget. There are opportunities to increase or revise the budget for all programs each year. The CCPD program scope and adopted budget are located on the Fort Worth Police Department website. Information on the breakdown of funding each year for each program, including all community-based programs, is also provided on the CCPD website. The CCPD's annual budget process is set out in state law, and there are multiple opportunities for the public to provide feedback and input, including the community's perspectives on budget allocations to all programs. To ensure tax dollars are spent appropriately, the yearly budget process begins with staff analyzing crime trends and other data and building a proposed budget that is intended to address existing and anticipated crime control and prevention needs in the city of Fort Worth during that coming year. The proposal is then vetted by management and presented to the city council, which considers and can modify that proposal and submits a formal funding application to the board around mid-August. At this initial stage, the council review includes public meetings at which the public has the opportunity to sign up and speak. The funding application is then considered by the Crime Control and Prevention District Board, which holds at least one public hearing in the August-September timeframe. The purpose of the public hearing is specifically to receive feedback about the district's proposed budget. After the board takes action, the budget is required by law to go back to the city council, which also holds a public hearing for the specific purpose of getting input from the public. In addition to the officially designated public hearings, both the board and city council allow the public to sign up and speak at every meeting on whatever topic they choose, meaning the public can express its opinion regarding the CCPD budget at any meeting, regardless of whether that specific topic is listed on the agenda. Regarding the allocation of funds, the budget is built first to fund prior year commitments such as debt or contractual raises, as well as salaries and benefits for personnel assigned to CCPD programs. Operating and maintenance is budgeted based on the needs of the program and changed from year to year like one-time equipment, one-time events, and recruit training levels. As for which programs are included or excluded from the budget, state law limits use of CCPD revenues to crime control and prevention purposes. In order to be funded out of this revenue source, a program must have an identified and articulated crime control or prevention purpose to be legally eligible for receipt of CCPD funding. Additionally, as stewards of tax dollars, staff is always looking for opportunities to reduce expenses and or maximize budgets while still delivering quality services. Recruitment and training is no different. We have developed a recruitment plan over the years to reach out to groups in and around Texas that will help our department grow and diversify. Our recruitment plan includes focus on historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, local military bases and job fairs. In addition, we are developing a targeted social media campaign and other efforts to reduce our need to travel long distances. Finally, we are streamlining our background processes to make it easier for out-of-town applicants to apply without facing the burden of continuous travel. We strive to be efficient in the manner in which we train our officers. When feasible, we leverage better pricing by bringing in outside trainers rather than traveling to other locations. We also routinely develop our own subject matter experts through train the trainer programs and leadership development courses. Although our training is primarily driven by state requirements, we do have a training advisory board that provides guidance on the type of training we provide. These commitments and the requirements to report to the CCPD board give the CCPD board and the community assurances that tax dollars are being spent appropriately. In response to how the department informs local service providers about CCPD funds, the CCPD partners with non-profit agencies that meet the crime control and prevention mission to bring services to a wider range of the population that the police department might not reach on its own. Staff administers an annual competitive process that allows local agencies to seek CCPD funding for community-based programs. The process involves receiving and scoring proposals from interested agencies and making recommendations to the board, which makes the final decision on the award. The annual process begins in January and is promoted via the City of Fort Worth and Fort Worth PD websites, email notifications, social media, community engagement bulletins, next door, and the Star Telegram. Details and information about how to apply for funding each year is provided to the CCPD board and can also be found on the CCPD webpage regarding vehicle and motorcycle replacement. The police department formulated a vehicle replacement plan that allows the modernization of the fleet with the goal of having no assigned patrol cars with more than 100,000 miles. To maintain this plan, it is necessary to consistently purchase replacement vehicles and move higher mileage cars to units that have less demanding operational needs. The replacement plan focuses on the frontline patrol vehicles as these are operated around the clock with very little downtime. The motorcycle replacement program allows for proper motorcycle rotations which should not exceed six years or 60,000 miles. Additionally, this program allows the retention of motorcycles that have exceeded the mileage and are deemed the most reliable. These motorcycles are then retained for use as spares in training and normal operations when a motorcycle is wrecked or in the shop for scheduled maintenance. The next category of questions is about sales tax. One person asked about using a more stable funding source than sales tax to fund CCPD. The state law that allows for the creation of a crime control district specifically authorizes a dedicated sales tax as the revenue source. Revenue from the half-scent sales tax is dedicated to funding crime reduction and prevention programs. These strategies may include deploying officers on an enhanced basis to respond to emerging crime trends, funding citizen participation in crime prevention programs, replacing vehicles, providing recruit training, and funding facility improvements. Non-renewal of the CCPD sales tax would not mean that those revenues would become available for some other use such as transit or social services. Instead, the sales tax rate in the city would go down, which would result in a net reduction of revenue that is available to the program for use in meeting needs within the city of Fort Worth. This slide shows the number of positions currently funded by the CCPD. The district funds 294 total positions including 251 sworn officer positions and 43 civilian positions. The city's general fund pays for the remaining sworn and civilian positions. In addition to sales tax, revenue is received from other sources including reimbursement revenue from partner organizations, sale of capital assets, and miscellaneous revenue. Now for more details about each of the five funding categories. First is neighborhood crime prevention. CCPD provides funding for these programs. Code blue volunteer programs such as Citizens on Patrol, the clergy and police alliance, ministers against crime, and CERT, the community emergency response team. For those of you who are not familiar with the COP program, it is a program in which citizens patrol their neighborhoods, serving as the eyes and ears of the neighborhood, and work with officers to solve and prevent neighborhood crime. The crime prevention unit coordinates community events to educate on various safety programs including personal safety, identity theft, workplace violence, and others. The crime prevention unit leads the city's national night out every year. Fort Worth PD has partnered with the parks and recs department to implement the graffiti abatement program which removes graffiti from hundreds of properties each year. Neighborhood police officers or NPO's. NPO's are assigned to specific geographic areas throughout the city to serve as a designated resource for residents and businesses in that area. The next funding category is enhanced enforcement. CCPD funding provides additional officers to specialized units and patrol divisions to respond to emerging crime trends, target violent crime, and work on getting the most active offenders off the streets. This includes an expansion of the city's general fund SWAT team and special response team officers. CCPD has partnered with six independent school districts to split the cost of providing officers in middle and high schools throughout Fort Worth. 79 school resource officers are funded through a partnership between the CCPD and the ISDs. School resource officers are in schools within the Fort Worth, Crowley, Eel Mountain Saginaw, Keller, Lake Worth, and Northwest ISDs and the Lena Pope Home. CCPD provides funding for parks community policing at facilities for residents participating in various park and recreation department and neighborhood services department programs and events, enhanced enforcement through details at designated special events to assist with traffic management and details in the stockyards every Saturday night. The next category is partners with a shared mission. CCPD partners with several local agencies and organizations to further extend its crime prevention strategies to portions of the city's population including youth and students, gang members, and victims of domestic violence. These partnerships include after school programs at four ISDs, Fort Worth, Crowley, Keller, and White Settlement, and two safe haven locations, safe city commission, one safe place crime stoppers, coming up gang intervention, youth and young adult athletic leagues, and other community based organizations whose efforts are to prevent crime in the community and to aid victims of crime. The CCPD partners with non-profit agencies that meet the crime control and prevention mission to bring services to a wider range of the population than the Fort Worth Police Department might not reach on its own. The release of CCPD community-based programs request for proposals occurs in January. Each CCPD board member can appoint a representative to the scoring committee and police department provides a representative on the committee as well. Each year the programs and recommendations for funding are presented to the CCPD board and city council who will make the ultimate decision. Next is equipment technology and infrastructure. The CCPD funds specialized equipment, technology, and facilities. The crime control and prevention district pays for jail cost as well as a replacement of high mileage vehicles and motorcycles. Examples of the type of law enforcement equipment supplied by CCPD funds include in-car video systems, mobile data computers, the police radio system, and technology improvements. CCPD helps fund the Fort Worth PD's DNA crime lab. CCPD has funded several facility projects including the new North Patrol Division headquarters on North Riverside Drive, a new heliport at Meacham Airport, and renovations and security improvements at various patrol and administrative facilities. The final funding category is recruitment and training. CCPD funds new officer recruitment in which Fort Worth PD recruits at events, colleges, and career fairs throughout the country. This program also encompasses the Explorer program to raise awareness of law enforcement as a career among youth throughout the city. The CCPD also funds recruit officer training which includes the funding of supplies, equipment, uniforms, instructors, and salaries for recruits while they are attending the police academy. CCPD also funds two training officers to enhance the department's existing training staff. The last category of questions we received are related to CCPD programs. In response to questions about the expanded SWOT and special response teams program, the CCPD maintains current staffing levels for SWOT and special response teams. The expanded SWOT section provides additional resources for two teams of 10 officers. The expansion of the two teams significantly enhances the performance of the SWOT section's core functions including barricaded persons, hostage rescue, and high risk search and arrest warrants. Responding to these types of incidents requires certain equipment to safely resolve situations. The purpose of special response teams is to help successfully identify individuals who are involved in crimes and to provide additional response personnel to patrol division operations. In fiscal year 2020, the teams were restructured based on the matrix staffing study and now consist of one team per patrol division. In response to the Stockyards Detail Program, 29% of the CCPD budget is used for the Enhanced Enforcement Program which provides additional patrols and services in certain large crowd areas and settings such as special events or popular locations in order to enhance public safety. This program includes the Stockyards Overtime Detail which increases the Fort Worth PD's capacity to implement details within the popular Stockyards Entertainment Area to enhance public safety efforts and respond to calls promptly. The program provides officers the opportunity to participate in the Stockyards Detail on an overtime basis and not to interrupt normal patrol operations. The detail concentrates on public intoxication, burglary of motor vehicles, and assaults. In response to questions about body cameras, the department's general orders require officer-worn cameras to be turned on when interacting with the public where law enforcement action will potentially be taken. The department has been increasing the deployment of body-worn cameras since 2012 and by the end of 2020, a total of 1,445 body cameras will be in use with 450 of those having been funded by CCPD. This results in all frontline personnel being outfitted with cameras as well as detectives and other sworn personnel. Since 2012, each new officer employed with the department has been issued a camera and efforts have been ongoing to deploy cameras among officers who started with the department prior to that time. In response to a question about the My Brother's Keeper Initiative, Fort Worth PD is aware that Fort Worth ISD has a specific My Brother's Keeper program. The current fiscal year's budget does not include resources toward the program. However, based on the program's functions and purposes, it would be legally eligible for CCPD funding in a future budget. The current CCPD budget does include funding for similar programs such as the Coming Up Gang Intervention program, which is administered by the Fort Worth Boys and Girls Club as well as Fort Worth at Six and the Fort Worth Police Athletic League that seek to engage youth in the community. Additionally, Fort Worth PD personnel volunteer in a variety of capacities to engage with local youth, including school reading programs. In response to questions about the training program, training is primarily driven by state requirements. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement requires very specific topics to be covered during the Basic Peace Officer course and throughout an officer's career. After graduation, officers are required to take 40 hours of continuing education each year as part of their in-service development. For those officers that still hold a Basic Peace Officer's license, they have specific classes set by the state they have to take during the two-year cycle, and they also have specific classes they must take to achieve their intermediate license. Once an officer completes the 17 mandatory classes to achieve their intermediate license, they are given more latitude to take specialized training. Apart from the volume classes required by the state, the remaining in-service classes are selected by the training division and generally revolve around specialized topics such as interview and interrogations, supervision, and leadership. All changes to curriculum are discussed with the Police Department Executive Staff and the Training Advisory Board. The Training Advisory Board is a state-required board of appointed civilians that give guidance to training topics. Recruit Officer Training provides the necessary training and equipment for new and lateral transfer police officers to work in the field. All costs for personnel training have been funded through the CCPD since fiscal year 1998. The Fort Worth PD Training Academy operates on a 38-week schedule training recruits on best practices and curricula based on the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement or TECOL. This includes legal procedures, federal state and local laws, and physical fitness. Other training includes defensive and control tactics, taser, electronic conducting devices, police driving, and a variety of community service and communication-oriented classes. It also trains recruits on policies and standards specific to the Fort Worth PD. The CCPD funds all costs of recruit training. This includes all equipment for training as well as equipment issued to officers upon graduation. Additionally, CCPD funds two expanded training staff positions. Expanded training consists of the continued basic training for recruits and in-service training for officers. That concludes the Q&A portion of this presentation. The CCPD continuation election will have the following proposition on the ballot. Whether the Fort Worth Crime Control and Prevention District should be continued for 10 years and the Crime Control and Prevention District sales tax should be continued for 10 years. For more information, please visit our website, give us a call, and or email us. We hope this presentation helped answer some of your questions. If you have additional questions, please contact us. Election Day is Tuesday, July 14th, and early voting begins June 29th through July 10th. Thank you.