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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12162003 - C87 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra r FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE � Costa DATE: DECEMBER 1, 2003 O u n t SUBJECT: UPDATE ON ACTIVITIES AND SUCCESS TO DATE IN REDUC'IN THE NUMBER OF OUTSTANDING COURT WARRANTS SPECIFIC REQUESTS;OR RECOMMENDATIONS)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. ACCEPT report prepared by the Office of the Sheriff apprising the Board of the activities and success to date in reducing the number of outstanding court warrants under the Warrant Service Unit Pilot Program. 2. ACKNOWLEDGE that using a four-pronged approach including education and training, proactive warrant investigations, public involvement, and partnerships with allied agencies, the Warrant Service Unit has facilitated a reduction in outstanding warrants of 10% (from 32,753 to 29,500) between January and November 2043. 3. RECOGNIZE that 161 felony warrants were cleared between January and November 2003, resulting in multiple arrests including individuals wanted in relation to a string of robberies, and two murders. 4. RECOGNIZE the benefit gained by the addition of the U.S. Marshal to the Warrant Service Unit. 5. RECOGNIZE that programming deficiencies in the Justice Automated Warrant System are impeding the efforts of law enforcement agencies to access the complete list of outstanding warrants. 6. DIRECT the County Administrator to work with the Law and Justice Systems Division to correct the JAWS program deficiencies to enhance the ability of law enforcement agencies to serve and clear warrants, and to report to the Internal(Operations Committee regarding how and when the deficiencies will be remedied. 7. REQUEST the Sheriff to report back to the 2004 Internal Operations Committee in December 2004 with another update. BACKGROUND: On December 17, 2002, the Board of Supervisors requested the Sheriff to make a report in six months to the Internal Operations Committee on the pilot program to reduce the number CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: -RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR _j,-,--'kECOMMEN TCtE BOARD COMMITTEE~ r_.PROVE OTHER N S#GNATUR e .i✓� .L i ..:.fit YLE B KEMA, Chair FEDEkAL D. GLOVPER ACTION OF BOARD ON _D ober 16, 2003 _.. APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN R UNANIMOUS(ABSENT None ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE AYES: NOES: SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTESTED: DECEMBER 16,2003 CONTACT: JULIE ENEA (925)335-1037 JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD S F SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR CC: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE STAFF SHERIFF-CORONER(WARRANT SERVICE U IT) COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR—CRIMINAL JUSTICE BY €r� DI9?6TY DQIT-LAW AND JUSTICE SYSTEMS 't Warrant Service Unit Upstate December 1, 2003' Internal Operations Committee Page 2 of outstanding felony warrants in this county, and directed the IOC to report back to the Board of Supervisors if it believed that program adjustments were warranted. On July 7, 2003, the IOC received the requested status report from the Sheriffs Office outlining activities and success to date, and actions planned for the future. Continuing to conduct coordinated multi-agency sweeps and use improved data contained and distributed in Outstanding Warrant Lists (OWLS) was expected to produce on ongoing positive effect on the number of outstanding warrants. On July 15, 2003, the IOC reported back to the Board of Supervisors and, in addition to the actions recommended by the Sheriff, the IOC recommended more targeted marketing efforts to increase public awareness and education about the outstanding warrant problem, the Warrant Service Unit Pilot Program, and what citizens could do to assist local law enforcement agencies in that regard. On December 1, 2003, the IOC received another status report, attached, which indicates that the program continues to be successful, reducing outstanding warrants by 10% in 2003, including 161 felony warrants. Our Committee is concerned, however, about the number of outstanding warrants that cannot be properly identified and served or cleared due to programming deficiencies in the Justice Automated Warrant System (JAWS). This problem has been known for some time and has not yet been corrected. Our committee recommends that the County Administrator be directed to work with the Law and Justice Systems Division to resolve the JAWS Program issues and report to the Internal Operations Committee regarding how and when the deficiencies will be remedied. Our Committee is in accord with the Sheriffs recommendations for improving the Warrant Service Unit, but sides not recommend augmenting staff at this time due to budgetary concerns. VlCarrant Service Unit Report to the 10C January 2003 November 2003 The Warrant Service Unit has been operational for nearly a year now. Our goal is better management of the outstanding warrants in Contra Costa County. To achieve this we developed a three-pronged plan: 1)the creation of a countywide training protocol 2) dramatically increase the number of sweeps carried out on a monthly basis throughout the county and 3)to provide warrant service support to the law enforcement agencies throughout the county. NORM In May of 2003, the Warrant Service Unit rewrote the current Office of the Sheriff Patrol Division Policy to establish a greater emphasis on the service of outstanding warrants and the use of the Outstanding Warrant List (OWL). As of October 2003, all station houses now have the ability and training to provide their deputies with OWL. In addition, all Sheriffs Deputies have been trained to use the CAD terminals in their vehicles to update warrants and view existing due diligence efforts. The next step was to identify those agencies in the County that were not using the Outstanding Warrant List (OWL). One of our goals was to educate and train those agencies to access and print the Outstanding Warrant List on a weekly basis. The benefits of using the OWL is that agencies have an awareness of the total number of outstanding warrants in their city and are better able to prioritize, manage, and serve their outstanding warrants. On October 15, 2003, the Warrant Service Unit staff were guest speakers at the Contra Costa County Records and Strategic Planning Group meeting. The focus of the planning group is to provide training and updated information on JAWS (Justice Automated Warrant System) and to collaboratively work towards standardizing the processes associated with law enforcement records in Contra Costa County. Our unit was responsible for training Records personnel on the following: how to use their Outstanding Warrants List and Record's role in trackingand Documenting Due Diligence. Attending agencies included the following: California Highway Patrol, East Bay Regional Parks Police, Bart Police, Probation, and--with the exception of the City of Richmond and Kensington--all the law enforcement agencies in Contra Costa County attended the meeting. The Warrant Service Unit has continued to work closely with the United States Marshal's Office. In October of this year, the U.S. Marshal provided our unit with a liaison Deputy U.S. Marshal to assist our unit in serving warrants. The addition of Deputy U.S Marshal Jeff Searls has enabled us to double the number of warrant service sweeps as well as increase our ability to serve warrants on a daily basis. Our unit i continues to provide the Marshal's with high-risk felony warrants and to coordinate the personnel within the Sheriffs Office to assist in the monthly sweeps. Currently, the Warrant Service Unit is assisting Sheriffs Office staff in the annual "Avoid the 25 Campaign. This countywide campaign targets drunk drivers during the holiday period. Two warrant sweeps are scheduled this year on December 3, and December 10th. Deputies Moore and Searls will be serving felony and misdemeanor DUI warrants during the two-day sweep. The Warrant Service Unit is providing support by researching, prioritizing and packaging warrants. The Warrant Service Unit continues to facilitate warrant sweeps on a monthly basis. On an average month, one to three warrants sweeps are carried out. The focus in the past' year has been on West County: to include the cities of Richmond, San Pablo, EI Cerrito, El Sobrante Rodeo, Hercules and Pinole. In the future, we anticipate coordinating sweeps in both East and Central County. To date, the following agencies have agreed to provide officers to assist in sweeps: Antioch Police Department, Martinez Police Department, East Bay Regional Parks Police, State Parole and County Probation. Below is a list of the sweeps this unit participated in this year through November-2003 January The Warrant Service Unit assisted the deputies at Valley Station by preparing 18 warrant packages for a sweep. As a result, 3 warrants were successfully served, 7 attempts were made, and additional address information obtained. The unit participated in the U. S. Marshal's Service Sweep in January of 2003. This three-day sweep resulted in the apprehension of seventy-seven outstanding fugitives, including 18 subjects with felony warrants from Contra Costa County. February The Warrant Service Unit facilitated and participated in a one-day sweep in Bay Point. The sweep included 5 deputies, 1 sergeant, and 2 level-1 reserve deputies. The sweep lasted a total of 6 hours. As a result, 57 warrants were attempted, 8 warrants cleared, 2 pending service and 3 warrants were cite released. In addition, as a result of the attempts made to serve warrants, two subjects contacted the courts to clear their warrants. March The Warrant Service Unit provided the U. S. Marshal's with warrant packages and coordinated sheriffs personnel for the March warrant sweep. The March sweep was cancelled due to the outbreak of war in Iraq. April The Warrant Service Unit participated and facilitated in a one-clay sweep in San Pablo/Richmond. The sweep included seven deputies, one sergeant, and four reserve deputies. As a result, fifty-one warrants were attempted, seven subjects were arrested on warrants and one subject was arrested on an on-view drug 2 _..._ ......... ......... ..............._... ......... ......... ......... .._...... ......... ....._._... _........._. .......... ........ ... ...... ........._.. ......._.... offense. A total of eleven warrants were cleared because of the sweep. Two subjects' with a total of three warrants turned themselves in the following day. May The Warrant Service Unit participated in a three-day warrant sweep with the U. S Marshal's in May 2003. For the first time in several years there were two teams assigned to Contra Costa County. The Warrant Service Unit requested and received additional resources from the Office of the Sheriff for the sweep, which included the J-Team and the "Weed and Seed" grant Deputies. The Sheriffs deputies teamed with officers from the following agencies: Richmond Police Department, San Pablo Police Department, Pinole Police Department, Contra- Costa-County Probation and State Parole. A total of fifty arrests were made during the three-day sweep. The two Contra Costa teams made approximately sixty warrant service attempts and arrested ten subjects. On May 28th the Warrant Service Unit and the Bay Station deputies participated in a one-day sweep. During the sweep, ten warrants were served and fifty attempts were made. June The Warrant Service Unit participated in three-day sweep with the U.S. Marshal's June 18th, 19th, 20th. A total of eleven warrants were served and fifty attempts were made. One subject arrested during the sweep may be responsible for as many as twenty robberies. On June 25tfithe Warrant Service Unit participated in;.a one day Bay Station Sweep designated "Operation Clean sweep." During the sweep, eight warrants were served and forty-five attempts were made. While researching the Outstanding Warrant List, the Warrant Service Unit located an address for a PC 187 (murder)fugitive in the state of Texas that fled Contra Costa twenty-eight years ago. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been working on the case concurrently and the subject was picked;up on June 5th 2003. He is currently in custody in Texas awaiting extradition to California July The Warrant Service Unit participated in two sweeps in the month of July. The first sweep was a one-day sweep held on July 21st. The Civil Unit, the Custody Alternative Facility and the Warrant Service Unit served seven warrants. As a result, two subjects turned themselves in after being notified by deputies that they had outstanding warrants, and a total of ninety-eight attempts were made. The second sweep was a three-day U.S. Marshal Sweep held July 23 d through July 25t". During the three-day sweep a total of eight warrants were served and forty-five attempts were made. August In August, the Warrant Service Unit participated in/or facilitated three sweeps. The first sweep was "Operation Clean Sweep" held August 20th. 'Operation Clean sweep is a monthly sweep carried out in Unincorporated West County: to include' the areas of Richmond, Fl Sobrante, San Pablo. Crockett, Rodeo, and Port Costa. 3 Operation Clean Sweep resulted in seven warrants served and thirty attempts made. The Warrant Service Unit referred forty-one warrant packages to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) for attempt warrant service. The CHP successfully served seven warrents between August 22 and August 23rd' The U.S. Marshal's sweep was held on August 27th and August 28th. Seven warrants were served and thirty-five attempts were made. September The Warrant Service Unit participated in a three-day U.S. Marshalsweep held September 17th, September 18th and September 19th. Eleven warrants were served and forty-five attempts were made over the three-day period. During the sweep, the deputies were also responsible for the capture of a murder suspect wanted in Suisun County. October The Warrant Service Unit participated in the U.S. Marshall sweep held October 29th and October 301h. Eighteen warrants were served and 24 attempts were made. November The Warrant Service Unit participated in three sweeps in November. The first sweep (the Oakland Police Department and Corrections sweep)was held November 11, and November 12th. This sweep provided our unit the opportunity to serve Contra Costa County warrants in which the warrant holder lived in Alameda County. Five warrants were successfully served during the two-day sweep. The U.S. Marshal's sweep was held November 19th and November 20th. Nineteen warrants were cleared and 24 attempts were made. Operation "Clean Sweep" was held on November 25th. Four warrants were served and 20 attempts were made. 4 ------ MONTH CLEARED BY CLEARED '. i``A TOTAL WARRANTS WARRANT SERVICI INVESTIGATION ATTEMPTS CLEARED `D, JANUARY 13 5 32 18 FEBRUARY 11 6 83 17 MARCH 11 18 25 29 APRIL 17 16 84 33 MAY 21 11 110 32 JUNE 20 62 110 82 JULY 24 126 169 150 AUGUST 21 74 106 95 SEPTEMBER 11 132 45 143 OCTOBER 21 22 24 43 NOVEMBER 35 4 55 39 DECEMBER TO lam v a Differences between the number of attempted warrents versus cleared warrents can be affected by many outside factors such as time of day the warrant is served, timeliness of information to the whereabouts of the wanted subject and the age of the warrant. Over 50% of the outstanding warrants held in JAWS appear on the Unknown Precinct list. What this means is that fifty percent of the warrants cannot be accessed by agencies for service, and the fact that these subjects are wanted is unknown to the peace officers in Contra Costa County. This impedes the efforts of peace officers in serving warrants. The Warrant Service Unit continues to research those warrants that appear in the Unknown Precinct of the Outstanding Warrant List (OWL). We are in the process of working more effectively with law enforcement agencies throughout California and on the borders of Contra Costa County. We anticipate that working more effectively with out-of-county law enforcement agencies will result in the service of more warrants for subjects residing outside of Contra Costa County. To date, we have had 5 success with the Vallejo Police Department, Paradise Police Department and the Altures Police Department. With the addition of U.S. Marshal Searls, we now have the authority to serve warrants outside of our jurisdiction. The We Tip Hotline became operational in April. To date we have received seven valid calls. Two of those calls led to the capture of two Parolees at large. Both subjects were located in the San Pablo area. One message was incomplete; the caller started to leave a message prior to the beep. One caller left information on a Parolee at large wanted out of Washington State; however, he did not provide an address for the subject. We received two calls where the subjects had warrants that had already been served. One caller left a message with us and called Pinole Police Department. Pinole Police Department pickedup the subject. We have also received a number of hang-ups on the hotline. So far no crank calls have been received. The continued success of the We Tip Hotline depends upon continued public involvement. Maintaining a high level of public involvement requires media exposure and continuing efforts to inform the community of the We Tip Hotline's availability and function. manowamill iii:lllll::Iii:III Rio The E-mail address became operational in April. To date we have received thirty-three E-mails. Unfortunately, the majority of e-mail tip-forms were not completely filled out. It also appears that individuals may be trying to run their own names to see if they have outstanding warrants. We did receive a valid tip regarding a woman that had moved to West Sacramento and had an outstanding felony hit and run warrant in Contra Costa County. This warrant has been referred to the U.S. Marshal for warrant service. The Warrant Service Unit has been fortunate in receiving a great deal of very positive publicity from the Contra Costa Times over the past year. Four articles have appeared in Knight bidder publications over the course of the last nine-month's. Additionally our unit worked with the Sheriffs Public Information Officer,Jimmy Lee to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA)to run on Contra Costa Television (CCTV). The PSA is scheduled to air on CCTV starting November 26, 2003. The Warrant Service unit also created a flyer to be distributed to residents of Contra Costa County at the Neighborhood Watch meetings. The flyer provides information about the Warrant Service Unit, the Hotline phone number and website address. 11/22/2003 - Contra Costa Times published an article in their East Bay RoundUp section titled "Task Force Arrests 47 Fugitives in Sweep". The article documented the joint efforts of the Sheriffs Department, U.S. Marshal's and local Law Enforcement Agencies in serving warrants in West County. 08/23/2003- Contra Costa Times published an article profiling the Warrant Service Unit' titled "Officers Tackle Unfinished Business" The implementation of the Warrant Tip Page and the Warrant Hotline appeared in the following publications: 6 03/25!2003- San Ramon Valley Herald "Tip Line Targets Warrant Violators" 03/2612003- Contra Costa Times "Hotline Established For Tips On Warrants" 29,507 Outstanding Warrants January 2003-November2003 35000 30000 25000 20000 95000 90000 5000 a 9 Felonies Misd. Infractions Other Total Warrants Warrants By Age 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 Jan-03 10,000 ■Nov-03 5,000 0 to 1 year 1 to 4 year 5 to 9 10 years Total years or older Warrants The age and number of felony and misdemeanor(to include infractions and other)warrants are listed below. Warrant breakdown by age as of 0110812043. Warrant Age Misdemeanor Felony Total 01/08/2003 Infractions/Other Less than one year old 4,860 1,065 5,925 One to four years old 11,300 814 12,114 Five to nine years old 9,146 684 9,830 Ten years or older 4,318 541 4,859 Total Active Warrants 29,624 3,104 32,728 Warrant breakdown by age as of 05128/2403 Warrant Age Misdemeanor Felony Total 11/26/2003 Infractions/Other Less than one year old 4,843 951 5,794 One to four years 9,575 802 10,377 Five to nine years old 7,793 673 8,466 Ten years or older 4,268 595 4,863 Total Active Warrants 26,479 3,021 29,500 8 As of January 8, 2003. there were 32,753 outstanding warrants in Contra Costa County. On November 26, 2003 there were 29,500 outstanding warrants in Contra Costa County. This represents a substantial decrease of 3,253 warrants in an eleven-month period. There are a number of reasons for the decline: sixteen warrant sweeps in a eleven-month period, agencies using their Outstanding Warrant lists, subjects clearing their warrants upon receipt of courtesy notices via mail and Judges recalling warrants. Sheriff's Department personnel, outside law enforcement agencies, and Records personnel throughout the county have all received training how to use their Outstanding Warrant Lists (OWL). Also, our unit has offered to assist agencies with OWL training in the future if needed. The agencies using the OWL lists now have awareness of all warrants outstanding for subjects residing in their jurisdictions and will be able to manage and serve their outstanding warrants more effectively. This;is a milestone! The training provided by this unit, and the unit's participation in warrant sweeps should continue to increase the number of warrants served in Contra-Costa County, reduce the number of felons on the streets, and reduce the number of Sema mations in the courtroom. The Warrant Service Unit will be receiving a TRAX machine in December. The TRAX machine will provide the unit with the ability to send photos and warrant information to law enforcement agencies throughout the country using an encrypted Internet connection. This will greatly improve our unit's ability to serve the warrants in which the subject has relocated to another city or state outside our county. The addition of U.S. Marshal Jeff Searls to the Warrant Service unit has proven to be extremely beneficial. Between January 2003 and November 2003, the Warrant Service Unit in conjunction with the U.S. Marshal's has cleared 161 felony warrants and is working on 253 active investigations. ♦ Continue to work toward resolving programming deficiencies in the Justice Automated Warrant System (JAWS) which have caused problems such as 50% of the outstanding warrants falling into the "Unknown Precinct List". Assistance from the County Administrator's Office may be necessary to make this a priority computer programming assignment to the Law and Justice staff. ♦ The warrants in the JAWS database need to be reviewed for staleness, and warrants that would not survive a Sema motion should be purged. For example, 13,464 of the 29,624 outstanding misdemeanor warrants in Contra Costa County are over 5 years old and possibly subject to dismissal in court via a Sema motion regarding due diligence. The presiding Judge needs to establish and implement a purge protocol to be used by all the Courts in Contra Costa County. ♦ Complete and implement a Due Diligence Protocol to be endorsed and implemented by all law enforcement agencies in Contra Costa County ♦ The Warrant Service Unit needs to continue to coordinate and {participate in warrant sweeps with agencies throughout the county. Warrant sweeps have 9 proven to be an extremely effective means of maximizing existing personnel and resources:. ♦ Increase the staff of the Warrant Service unit by the addition of rine Sheriff's deputy and one clerk for warrant research and service. ♦ Continue to educate police agencies and the public as to the nature and mission of the Warrant Service Unit. In effect, our mission is to make outstanding warrants readily accessible to police agencies within Contra Costa County for timely service as well as provide the public with a confidential source to submit warrant information tips. Upon receipt, Warrant Tips would be researched and distributed to the appropriate law enforcement agency for attempted warrant service. 10