Improved Efficiency for County Animal Control Officers Department of Animal Services Mission Statement: To promote an

Published: June 30, 2018 4 pages

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⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.

Findings and Recommendations 2 findings

The County’s 37 Animal Control Officers (ACOs) are dispatched daily to handle a variety of animal related activities. Section 11 of Riverside County Ordinance No. 630, indicates an ACO may or shall collect fees for the following services: pet surrender (cats $145, dogs $153), return to owner ($40), and in the field euthanasia ($60). The RCDAS currently does not have a written policy regarding how ACOs should handle payments for these services, as the previous policy regarding payment was rescinded in October, 2017. Cumbersome and Unsafe Procedures for Processing Fee Payments

Related Recommendations (1)

The Riverside County Department of Animal Services should have a policy and procedure regarding the acceptance of payments in the field for services by animal control officers. Cumbersome and Unsafe Procedures for Processing Fee Payments

According to the RCDAS Standard Operating Procedure Manual, animal control officers must complete a cumbersome, multiple step process involving both supervisory personnel and a fiscal deposit designee in order to have their daily receipts posted. The RCCGJ concluded from testimony and evidence that officers and management were uncomfortable and apprehensive handling cash in the field due to safety concerns. In addition, Standard Operating Procedure for inputting of Official County Receipts (OCR) into their data base, is time consuming and inefficient. 3

Related Recommendations (1)

County animal control officers should be issued a tablet with a credit card reader to process payments made in the field. Supplying this tool would reduce the County’s legal and safety liability exposure of its field staff. This will be an inexpensive solution that eliminates cash handling and improves the efficiency, convenience and safety of ACO’s. Report Issued: 06/11/2019 Report Public: 06/14/2019 Response Due: 09/16/2019 4

Agency Responses 6

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.

Response to 2018-2019 Grand Jury Report: 2018-2019 Grand Jury Report: Community Facilities District

October 01, 2019 • 16 pages View Details ▾

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Response to 2018-2019 Grand Jury Report: 2018-2019 Grand Jury Report: Community Facilities District

September 19, 2019 • 2 pages View Details ▾

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Response to 2018-2019 Grand Jury Report: 2018-2019 Grand Jury Report: Community Facilities District

September 10, 2019 • 6 pages View Details ▾

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Response to 2018-2019 Grand Jury Report: Riverside County Department of Animal Services Improved Eff

August 27, 2019 • 4 pages • 3 responses • Score: 0 (+0, 2, 0) View Details ▾

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3 responses to findings and recommendations

Response: Disagree Partially Score: 0

Respondent RCDAS partially agrees with this finding. RCDAS is partially in agreement with the finding regarding a lack of policy for handling payments of fees in the field. While we do not have a specific policy for handling payments in the field, we do have Cash Handling Policy 000-22 (Policy 000-22), that was written to include all RCDAS employees. Cash handling has the same requirements regardless of the location and circumstances of receiving the funds. The primary aspects of cash handling are covered in Policy 000-22. Section III of Policy 000-22 covers how to secure funds by placing them...

Response: Disagree Partially Score: 0

Respondent RCDAS partially agrees with this finding. RCDAS is in partial agreement with the finding of cumbersome and unsafe procedures for processing fee payments. All Animal Control Officer and Animal Licensing Offices are currently equipped with tablets. RCDAS uses the Web based Converge credit card system. This has been in place several years but has not been widely used. With the implementation of the credit card-based system, information will still have to be entered into the Chameleon database. RCDAS uses the database to record every activity, receipt, animal ID and owner ID. Without th...

Response: Unknown

Score: 0

RCDAS is in partial agreement with recommendation No. 2. All of our field staff have already been issued a tablet. RCDAS is in the process of developing a training for the use of the WEB based Converge credit card system. The WEB based Converge credit card system will allow the use of a credit card reader to process payments in the field. It is the RCDAS's intent to have the WEB based Converge credit card system and training initiated no later than December 31, 2019. When the Animal Control Officer initiates a violation in the field, all information from the transaction needs to be recorded in...

Response to 2018-2019 Grand Jury Report: Riverside County Unified School District Superintendents St

September 17, 2019 • 1 pages View Details ▾

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Response to 2018-2019 Grand Jury Report: Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (W

September 17, 2019 • 13 pages View Details ▾

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No Responses Found 1

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Riverside County County