City of Fort Bragg Public Safety Police and Fire Protection Police and fire protection services in Fort Bragg have not

For several months now PD has been operating under the supervision of an interim chief since the permanent chief left on medical leave. There has been no resolution of the existing permanent chief causing a lack of continuity, poor morale, and excessive costs. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): The Fort Bragg Police Department is operating under the direction of an interim Police Chief. The permanent Chief is on leave which is available to him as a statutory right. The Grand Jury should be well aware that this is a confidential personnel matter and cannot be the subject of public discussion. Therefore, the City finds that the Grand Jury inquiry, findings and recommendations regarding “resolution” are fully inappropriate and the City cannot respond. What is important is that the City has, and will continue to provide appropriate, continuous, competent and effective leadership to the Police Department. The City Council and City Manager believe that the availability of the qualified and effective departmental leadership is essential to the operation of the department and the delivery of public safety services to residents of the City of Fort Bragg. The City Council further finds that the costs for this service are fully necessary and therefore disagrees that the City has incurred “excessive costs”.

The City does not have a local jail facility. The City therefore contracts with the County for the use of a holding cell located in the County court building in Fort Bragg and County Jail use in Ukiah. The following procedures constrain the PD in the performance of patrol duties: a. Holding cell: Once an arrest is made the prisoner is placed in the holding cell and guarded by the arresting officer until the prisoner can be transported to the County Jail in Ukiah. The following procedures constrain the PD in the performance of patrol duties: Any subsequent arrests that are made require that the arrestee remain with the arresting officer in his/her vehicle until the holding cell has been emptied. Situations have occurred where officers were not available to do patrol because they were acting as jailers. Furthermore, because crime can occur at any time it is not unusual for officers to be called in on overtime to patrol while others are required to act as jailers. The Sheriff also has a County holding facility in close proximity to the holding cell leased by the City. b. Prisoner transport: Because of time, space, and personnel limitations, prisoners must be transported to Ukiah as soon as possible after booking. The PD currently uses special community service officers when available to do this, but there is a high turnover rate and it is not unusual for regular officers to serve as transporters. Here again, because crime can occur at any time overtime becomes inevitable. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): The City Council agrees with the basic findings that the City uses a holding cell and the need for transport of prisoners to Ukiah. The City has used hourly part time Transport Officers to transport prisoners to Ukiah as needed. The City has experienced difficulty in maintaining adequate availability of Transport Officers. This situation has resulted in situations where officers are called in on overtime to transport prisoners. This situation is in the process of being resolved as discussed below in response to Recommendation B. The City Council does not agree with the implication of this finding that adequate public safety patrol services are jeopardized by this situation. While there have been unusual, infrequent instances where an officer is requested to respond to a call while maintaining custody of an arrestee, the department’s staffing of a Sergeant and two officers or two officers per shift is adequate for the community’s typical patrol requirements. The primary issue of concern to the City Council, City Manager and Police Chief is officer fatigue and low morale due to lack of adequate Transport Officer services. This situation is being resolved as discussed below.

The PD does not dispatch, but contracts with the County for dispatch services. The PD station has a fully functional dispatching terminal. The PD staff includes trained dispatch operators. Witnesses reported problems with dispatching because County dispatchers in Ukiah did not have accurate information about Fort Bragg streets. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): The findings that the City contracts for dispatch services, that the City has a dispatch terminal and that certain City staff have previous training as dispatchers are correct. Contracting for dispatch services is a common, routine, efficient and cost and service effective method employed by small Police agencies throughout the State. The City maintains regular communication with the County Sheriff‘s Office as the contract provider of dispatch services. Any communication, coordination or other service issues which may arise are dealt with promptly and efficiently. Information about City streets is a routine matter which can be, and is, handled as a training issue for dispatchers providing service to the Fort Bragg Police Department.

The PD station is closed on weekends. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): This finding is correct; the Fort Bragg Police Station, like all other City business offices, is not open on weekends. All regular, routine, special event and emergency public safety services provided through the Fort Bragg Police Department are fully available 24 hours per day, 7 day per week, 365 days per year.

According to testimony, a potential for PD officer turnover exists because of poor morale, mandatory officer overtime caused by holding cell duty and transport of prisoners to Ukiah, a lack of adequate affordable housing, and a lack of living wage jobs available to officer spouses. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): Based upon the City’s own review through the Police Chief’s observations and interviews with Department staff, Police Officers experience fatigue and the potential of low morale due primarily to the need for overtime to cover operations in the absence of adequate transport staff and vacancies in Police Officer positions. Police Departments throughout the State are also experiencing a shortage of qualified applicants for Police Officer positions. The City is addressing these items through the Department’s aggressive Police Officer recruitment efforts and the hire of Community Service Officers to provide transport services on a regular basis. The need for affordable housing and living wage jobs are issues of significant concern for the City Council and the community as a whole and are not unique to the Police Department. These items are not specifically relevant to the community’s public safety environment or services.

The City does not have a PD public review procedure or citizen review board, which could provide oversight of PD operations. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): The Fort Bragg City Council maintains a standing Public Safety Committee which conducts regular, noticed public meetings. Two members of the City Council are appointed to the Public Safety Committee. Members of the public participate in the committee meetings. This committee provides an effective opportunity for oversight and accountability of Police Department operations.

The PD does not have an organized citizens outreach program which could foster a better understanding of PD operations. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): The Police Department operates regular citizen involvement and outreach programs which are providing effective service to the Fort Bragg community. Police Officers regularly participate in elementary school classrooms, reading to students. The Department provides a very active Police Activity League (PAL) program which sponsors several annual community activities. The Police Department sponsors the highly successful “Every 15 Minutes” High School drug and alcohol awareness and education program and participates in a wide variety of other school programs. The Department benefits from the service of a dedicated cadre of citizen volunteers who provide support in the Police Department offices. The Fort Bragg City Council, City Manager and Police Chief are confident that these activities offer adequate and effective opportunity to foster understanding of Police Department operations.

Based on expert testimony, the City downtown business district is a fire hazard. Only buildings that have been recently constructed or remodeled have had Fire Department inspections. Many do not have interior sprinklers and those located on Main, Franklin, Laurel, and Redwood Streets are impossible for fire fighters and fire equipment to reach on all sides of the building. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): The Fort Bragg City Council is interested and concerned with the overall fire safety of the community and the downtown business district in particular. The Council agrees with the Grand Jury finding that the historic downtown construction pattern and materials creates the need for special attention to fire safety needs and issues. The City initiated and participated in a community committee process to develop fire safety standards and an ordinance requiring the installation of fire sprinklers in newly constructed and remodeled buildings in the City. It should be noted that no similar requirements exist in the unincorporated County business areas. The committee analyzed many alternative requirements and determined that the cost considerations would make it impossible for most downtown businesses to install fire sprinklers. The existing new construction and renovation sprinkler requirement is a workable alternative and sprinklers have been installed in downtown buildings as a result of this ordinance. In addition, the Fort Bragg Fire Department is knowledgeable about the specific conditions and requirements of fire response in the downtown district.

At present there is no comprehensive system that identifies or corrects violations of fire regulations. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): The Fort Bragg Fire Department is responsible for monitoring and regulating fire safety within the City as well as within the unincorporated areas served by the Fort Bragg Rural Fire District. The JPA Board established a full time Fire Inspector position last year to improve the Department’s ability to provide ongoing fire inspection and fire regulation enforcement services.

Fire inspection within the incorporated area of the City is grossly inadequate because of the lack of department personnel. One officer is assigned to inspect all the buildings in the City. The inspector mainly inspects newly constructed buildings or those that require plan check for construction and does not have time to do needed inspections of existing structures. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): The Fort Bragg City Council agrees with the Grand Jury findings that emphasize the importance of a regular and proactive fire safety inspection program. The City Council has implemented a surcharge on the business license tax collected within the City to assist in funding fire inspections and to highlight the need for regular fire inspections. The City Council has also approved a budget recommended by the Fire Department staff and the JPA Board to provide for full time fire inspection services. The City Council expects that the Fire Department is implementing the fire inspection program in a responsible and aggressive manner.

The Fire Department does not do its own dispatching. Dispatching is contracted out to the California Department of Forestry in Willits. The Fire Department has qualified dispatchers on staff. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): The City Council is aware that the Fire Department dispatch service is provided through a contract with the California Department of Forestry, Howard Forest. The City Council is not informed regarding the availability of qualified dispatchers on the staff of the Fort Bragg Fire Department.

Pending construction of a new Noyo Harbor bridge will severely handicap fire and emergency equipment access to south Fort Bragg in respect to the following: a. Cal Trans, bridge project manager, forecasts traffic backup during lane construction. b. A recently released proposal by Cal Trans to use Harbor Drive, the only access road to the harbor, as a construction access road will hinder fire fighting equipment access to the harbor. Response (Fort Bragg City Council): The Fort Bragg City Council is aware of the potential for traffic congestion and delay during the Noyo Bridge construction. The City Council has, on numerous occasions, expressed its concern about this issue to Cal-Trans officials responsible for introducing, planning and managing the construction project. The need to maintain adequate public safety circulation and access to all areas of the community are priority concerns for the Fort Bragg City Council in all communications with Cal-Trans regarding this project. Most recently, the City Council directed City staff to work closely with Cal- Trans staff to develop an alternative access route to the construction staging area at the northern foot of the bridge which will alleviate the potential for congestion on North Harbor Drive. The City has received assurances from Cal- Trans that they will evaluate the use of an access road behind the North Cliff Motel directly to the construction staging area for ingress of construction vehicles so that North Harbor Drive is used only for vehicles leaving the construction site and exiting the harbor. This work is in progress.