CSPD Falcon Division Citizens Advisory Committee

Neighborhood Watch Block Captain's meeting

Mar 09, 2000

February 6, 2000



TO: Neighborhood/Apartment/Business Watch Block Captains for Falcon
Division,


The Neighborhood Watch Block Captain's meeting was called to order at
7 PM, February 3, 2000 in the Community Meeting Room, Falcon Division, 7850
Goddard Street, Colorado Springs, CO.

Attendees included Falcon Division Neighborhood Watch Block
Captain's, CSPD Staff, and guests.

1. Colorado Springs Police Department Staff:

Chief Lorne Kramer Chief of Police
Deputy Chief Pat McElderry Deputy Chief of Police
Deputy Chief Luis Velez Deputy Chief of Police
Commander Dave Glenn Falcon Division
Lt. Connie Cornelison Patrol Lieutenant
Sergeant Fletcher Howard Falcon Division Traffic Unit
Sergeant Bob Driscoll Falcon Division Crime Prev/NPU/DARE
Officer Lisa Cintron Crime Prevention

2. Guest Speakers:

Officer Dave Pratt DARE - Falcon Division
Ms Terry Shaver CSPD Grant Program Coordinator

Introduction: Sergeant Bob Driscoll opened the meeting and welcomed
Everyone to the quarterly Neighborhood Watch Block Captain's meeting. He
noted there are more than 300 Neighborhood Watch Groups in the Falcon
Division. Sgt. Driscoll introduced Project Home Safe the purpose of which is to
make guns safe. Smith and Wesson is providing a trigger locking device to
Colorado Springs and 24 other cities on a test basis; Sgt. Driscoll is establishing
a program for distributing the devices and he asked for suggestions from the
attendees - more later.
Presentations: Officer Dave Pratt, made a presentation on the results of
a $2,000 grant which is designed to identify Drug Paraphernalia. Officer Pratt
displayed many different types of Paraphernalia in use in our cities; one of these
is a common highlighter with the original contents removed and drugs inserted.
He plans to brief Neighborhood Watch Groups, Parent-Teacher Associations,
Patrol Officers, and members of the Citizens on Patrol (COP?’s) Program.

1. Terry Shaver made a presentation on the status of the Minor Alcohol
Advisory Committee; the committee was formed with a Grant received
in July 1999. The first action was to hold a two-day retreat in which 42
high school students presented their perspective on Teenage drinking.
Many recommendations were made and the CSPD is focusing on
three right now:

2. Add an alcohol-related session to the Middle School's curriculum
which targets the 7th and 8th graders; with High School students as
mentors. Institute a media-based public education program using TV,
radio, newspapers, and Web Sites.

3. Establish Teen Activities one of which is a Basketball tournament
with students and the CSPD/Fire Department members. Other Minor
Alcohol Advisory Committee activities include: a Sober Walk;
participation in Springspree; and holding a Back-to-school kick off
program.

4. The Falcon Division Commander Dave Glenn expressed his
appreciation for the outstanding attendance at the meeting. He talked
about his goals for the New Year and challenged the attendees be a
part of his plan.

a. The first goal is formation of a Traffic Safety Committee which
will address the intersections with the most red light violations;
he handed out statistics on 36 intersections in the Falcon
Division. The Committee will be made up of representatives
from the CSPD; Citizen's Advisory Committee; City
Engineering; media; and organizations such as the USAA
Insurance Company. The Committee's purpose is to make
recommendations for making our streets safe: this will include
review of traffic enforcement strategy; recommending
engineering and design changes; increased citizen
involvement; establishing incentives for good drivers; and
identifying the accident-prone driver. The Committee will
review statistical data and receive periodic updates, which will
measure the success of their recommendations; i.e., have their
recommendations had a positive impact on traffic safety?

b. The second goal is to continue the Street Reporting
Unit (SRU) with six officers assigned; they handled 700 reports
during the past three months. The purpose is to gather report
data from the crime victims at a time, which meets the person?’s
schedule. i.e., when a crime occurs, the CSPD will respond to
the crime scene however, the victim(s) will be asked for an
appointment so the SRU officers can complete their interviews
at a convenient time; instead of having the victim miss work,
school, etc.

c. The third goal is to complete a Citizen Survey in reference to
the
CSPD mission. Citizen's will be asked to: identify their
concerns; describe what they expect from their police
department; and make recommendations on how the
CSPD can be more responsive to the community.

Commander Glenn addressed a question concerning "red light
enforcement". He said a three-member motor cycle team, representing all three
divisions, was just formed to target specific intersections. Their goal is to reduce
hazards and prevent accidents within the intersection. The team feels they have
been very successful to date based on their interaction with the community; and
based on the number of tickets issued. Statistics are being gathered at each of
those intersections to see if there is a decrease in the number of accidents; this
is the sole measure of success.

The Commander also addressed working with the City Engineers to discuss
Traffic Design Factors and use of technology. One issue is to develop a
fool-proof method of identifying when a driver actually goes through a red light;
so there are no questions when the case goes to court.

The goal for Traffic Enforcement within the Falcon Division is to gain voluntary
compliance from the public. To meet this goal requires education, sound traffic
engineering, and enforcement. Drivers need to know that driving is a privilege.

Chief Lorne Kramer stated how proud he is of the Colorado Springs community
and especially the Neighborhood Watch members. He said the Police
Department relies on citizen involvement to achieve Crime Prevention goals and
to support Public Safety. He is specifically gratified by the students and groups
such as the Citizen's Advisory Committee and Neighborhood Watch that are
committed to supporting Public Safety goals; versus those that are not
committed and those that do not feel any attachment to achieving those goals.
He addressed a question on "Photo Cop" and use of cameras to identify
violators by saying it is very political. Colorado Springs has joined two other
cities in suing the State Legislature for passing laws which hinder this aspect of
Traffic Enforcement. He acknowledged the cost and other "trade-off's" involving
installation of fixed cameras compared to hiring more patrol officers which allows
more flexibility. Meanwhile the City is awaiting results of the law suit.

He reiterated his objective is Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement's goal to
issue "quality" traffic tickets which will lead to and directly relate to a decrease in
accidents. He is very optimistic about his Project 01 and acceptance by the
community. Project 01 was created to address the City's deteriorating
infra-structure and a decrease in the services provided by the police, fire
department and public works.

- Compared to the last few years, 33% of our citizens are new to the
community and we have 186,000 new vehicles on our streets.

- He is concerned for the 12 minute response time to a reported crime and
for the Patrol Officer is not "covered" (there is only one officer instead of
two) when responding to a felony crime.

- His goal is obtain at least 65% support for the ballot item on Public
Safety which comes up for a vote by the community in April 2001; his plan is to
provide the voters with a professional assessment and status report. The report
will address a projected increase in the size of our City by 20 square miles and
the impacts. As a cost effectiveness measure the report will recommend a new
sub-station in the Briargate area which will house Police, Fire and Public Works'
Departments; and it may include building the sub-station on a small portion of a
large area now designated for a park. He was asked about a Project 01 Web
Site; Project 01 will be on the City's Web Site in the near future at:
http://www.colorado-springs.com. He also stated how proud he
is of the CSPD Web Site (http://www.colorado-springs.com/pubsfty/index.htm)
and the men and women who maintain it in such an outstanding up to date
manner.

In response to a question concerning a Collective Bargaining agreement
for the Police Officer's he stated one issue is that we have higher expectations
and higher demands on our police force. We have 1.49 officers per 1000
population, Denver has 3.1 and the average is 3.2 in the country. Because of
this, officer availability for involvement with the community is 18% versus a
desired 33 1/3%; i.e., an officer should be available to interact with the
community in a preventive manner (rather than a reactive manner) at least 1/3rd
of the time on duty. He mentioned the next Police Academy Graduation will
include six more School Resource Officers; then all High Schools will be
covered.

As a special presentation, Awards were presented by The Chief to three
Falcon Division couples for their outstanding support of the Neighborhood
Watch Program. Additionally, Mike Proctor with the Citizen's Advisory
Committee (CAC), presented Gift Certificates to each of the recipients for
dinners at The Outback, The Olive Garden, and The Red Lobster. The CAC will
continue to support the quarterly Awards Program. Chief Kramer was very
appreciative of the work done by these couples: Mr. and Mrs. Brandenburg, Brad
and Christine Phair, Jackie and J.B. Klinitski .

In closing: Sergeant Bob Driscoll closed the meeting at 8:45 PM. The
next meeting is going to be a combined Block Captain meeting, to include all the
Cities Watch Groups, and it will be held on July 25th at 6:30p.m. in the
Community Room at the downtown Police Station on 705 S. Nevada Ave,
Colorado Springs, CO.



Vincent B. Nelson, Citizen Advisory Committee Secretary
Officer Lisa Cintron, Falcon Division Crime Prevention