OLD BUSINESS  2.

COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM

HISTORY:

This memorandum is provided as a follow up to the July 18, 2018 NCAC Committee discussion and pursuant to the Committee’s request to present study options, including a preliminary cost estimate, of crime trends and crime-perception issues regarding the Entertainment District.

As requested by the Committee, the Police Department reached out to several law enforcement experts to present the below questions as exemplars of what might form the scope of such a study and to get reactions and some sense of potential cost. At the Committee’s instructions, the preliminary scope for the study was as follows:

1. An evaluation of data and crime trends over time – starting with perhaps a minimum of the past 10 years.
2.  An evaluation of the Police Department’s staffing and resources provided over time, including an analysis of how these resources and expenditures relate to the economic benefits the City derives from the Entertainment District.
3. An evaluation of the impact of social media and mainstream media on perceptions of crime in the Entertainment District and whether/how these perceptions extend to an impression of overall crime in the city.
4. An evaluation of the criminal justice system’s effectiveness at handling arrests made in the Entertainment District, including an in-depth analysis of arrests for quality-of-life offenses and lower-level property crimes such as beach thefts.
5. An evaluation of the homeless situation in the Entertainment District and its impact on crime and perception of crime, including an evaluation of whether current city-driven methods to deal with homelessness are effective or can be improved. Included in this analysis should be an evaluation of the impact of package store liquor sales in the Entertainment District on homelessness and related quality-of-life and disorder issues.
6.  An evaluation of the impact of noise, traffic and congestion on behavior, crime and perceptions of disorder in the Entertainment District. This should include whether traffic pattern changes on Ocean Drive (e.g., one-way only, elimination of parking, café/sidewalk expansion, pedestrian mall/street closure, etc.) would impact these issues.
7. An evaluation of the history, deployment, challenges and effectiveness of the off-duty police program on Ocean Drive and in the larger Entertainment District.

ANALYSIS:

The Police Department reached out to four leading organizations/professionals that it deemed capable of providing quality input on this proposal. These four were a sampling of the market of professional law enforcement researchers that might bid for such a project. The process was informal, conducted via email and phone, and only reflects preliminary thoughts offered in response to our inquiries and very preliminary cost range estimates. It is the Police Department’s judgment that to get more detailed responses would require the City to engage in a formal bid process, for which there would likely be other professional competitors taking interest as well. The entities contacted and responses provided are summarized below.

CONCLUSION:

In response to the request of the Committee, the Police Department contacted four reputable entities that expressed interest and provided early but incomplete suggestions about how the City might proceed with an analysis of the complex and layered issues of policing and providing quality of life within the Entertainment District. The organizations contacted are a sampling of what would like be a larger pool of professional law enforcement analysts who might bid on such a project. The organizations evaluated the seven elements that might make up the City’s more refined and formal RFP scope of services. Based on their preliminary evaluations, each organization provided an approach and broad estimate of potential costs for such a study, ranging from $140,000 to up to $500,000. Each organization emphasized that any final estimate of costs would be dependent upon a formal RFP process and consideration of the entirely of City’s formal solicitation.

City Management awaits further direction from the NCAC and the full Commission on next steps on this project.