By Anthony A.Braga, John M.MacDonald,  Stephen Douglas,  Brian Wade,  Benjamin Struh

The evaluation literature suggests that focused deterrence strategies are effective in reducing gun violence. However, focused deterrence is notoriously difficult to implement and sustain. The history of focused deterrence implementation failure raises questions about its viability as a gun violence prevention strategy. Stockton, California, implemented focused deterrence three times during the past 25 years. In its most recent version, Stockton officials explicitly designed the strategy to be a permanent feature of the city’s violence prevention portfolio. Although program caseloads diminished over the course of the COVID-19 pandemicandthestrategyfacedleadershipandresource challenges, Stockton’s efforts prevented the program from being discontinued and, for those gang members who did receive treatment, delivered a robust gun violence prevention strategy. A quasi-experimental evaluation showsthattreated gang members wireless likely to be shot and reduced their violent offending relative to similar untreated gang members. The focused deterrence impacts also appear to spill over to gang members who were socially connected to treated gang members. 

Criminology & Public Policy, 2024. 

By Citygate Associates, LLC

The City of Berkeley (City) retained Citygate Associates, LLC (Citygate) to conduct a Workload Organizational Study of the Police Department (Department). This assessment includes a review of the adequacy of current and future deployment systems, staffing levels throughout the Department, sustainable alternatives, beat structure, overtime, and organizational structure. The methodology utilized in this study can be found in Section 1 of this report. Citygate’s review includes a detailed analysis of the data that drives staffing recommendations including data related to police unit response times, crime, calls for service, and overtime. The review also includes a staffing analysis of supervision, management, and support functions within each division of the Department. Our work was combined with a review of the City’s ongoing efforts related to alternative response methods to non-police or low-level emergencies and other care needs in the City. This transition is already underway to provide appropriate alternative services to the community when a traditional 9-1-1 police patrol response is not necessary. Citygate’s assessment encompasses recommendations to support the Department’s success over the next five to seven years. Overall, this report contains 74 key findings and 54 specific, actionable recommendations. Findings and recommendations are presented in their narrative context in Sections 2 through Section 7. A comprehensive list of all findings and recommendations is presented sequentially in Section 8. Recommendations are also presented in Table 1 of this Executive Summary. POLICY CHOICES FRAMEWORK Currently, there are no mandatory federal or state regulations directing the level of police field service staffing, response times, and necessary outcomes. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) recommend methods for determining appropriate staffing levels based on local priorities. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) provides standards for 9-1-1 call answering, and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) and the International Academies of Emergency Dispatching (IAED) provide best practices that illuminate staffing needs for communications centers providing dispatch services. Using a data-driven framework as advocated in this report—and already embraced and practiced by the Department—the City can continue to engage the community in adapting future public safety services to utilize alternative and community-focused, non-police officer strategies to address community-wide, neighborhood, and social issues. Personnel costs are often the most significant cost center in any department budget. One of the City Council’s greatest challenges is managing scarce fiscal resources and allocating them wisely across the vast needs of municipal government public safety operations. The recommendations in this Workload Organizational Study are made based on best practices, Citygate’s experience, and guidelines established by professional industry organizations. The City’s fiscal capabilities and non-9-1-1 alternative services delivery measures must be considered when weighing these recommendations. GENERAL SUMMARY OF CITYGATE’S ASSESSMENT Citygate commends the Department and the City for its many innovative, forward-looking, and community-focused programs, including its Transparency Hub; the Mental Health Division’s Mobile Crisis Unit; the Specialized Care Unit, which provides crisis service with no police involvement; the prioritization of employee wellness; the Community Services Bureau (CSB) and its community liaisons; and the Bike Team. Residents can call 9-1-1 for life-threatening emergencies and can ask dispatchers for mental health support. All Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) calls may be accompanied by firefighter-paramedics or police officers, who ensure safety at the scene while allowing the MCT to assist. If such calls are made when MCT members are off duty, City police officers have extensive experience helping people through mental health and substance abuse crises, and regularly utilize de-escalation and crisis intervention strategies. Further, the City’s Specialized Care Unit (SCU) is a partnership program with Bonita House, Inc. Staff assigned to the SCU will respond to those undergoing a mental health- or substance-use-related crisis without police involvement. The Chief of Police has also recently created a new Deputy Chief’s position and a new unit: the Office of Strategic Planning and Accountability (OSPA). The Office of Strategic Planning and Accountability will report directly to the Chief and will serve as a pivotal entity in enhancing data driven approaches in policing performance, Departmental accountability, risk management, and oversight—as well as addressing community and external stakeholder needs. Throughout Citygate’s assessment, Citygate found a department with high professionalism at all levels and a staff willing to implement new ideas and technologies to improve policing in the City. The members of the Department are extremely dedicated to the community they serve. No organization is perfect, and many of the findings and recommendations in this report are items the Department is aware of and is already taking steps to implement. Some changes will take time and require resources as part of the Department’s normal budgeting process. All of the City’s work to date and the issues researched for this study present two policy challenges for the Council and community to work together on—not to the exclusion of one or the other. Both challenges require resources because, if one set of services falls short, other services and overall public well-being can be negatively impacted. 

Challenge #1 Maintain Emergency and Needed Police Services Commensurate to Current Demands  Citygate found that many sections of the Department—especially Patrol and the Communications Center (Dispatch)—suffer from a shortage in staffing, which frequently necessitates overtime or diverting staff from other units to fill vacancies in Patrol.  Many sworn members, particularly those with supervisory responsibilities, are responsible for several ancillary duties and often find themselves spending increasingly more time on administrative tasks apart from their primary duties, which include leadership and supervision in the field.  The Department also faces hurdles in recruiting, hiring, and training new staff while keeping pace with attrition as the public perception of the law enforcement profession evolves. To heighten the focus on recruiting, the Chief has recently assigned a full-time Recruitment Officer.  Overall, from 9-1-1 call receipt to the arrival of the right resource in response to a specific incident—whether Patrol, Investigations, Traffic, Mobile Crisis Team, etc.—there are multiple current limitations adversely affecting the Department’s efforts to meet the high volume of calls for assistance received every hour.  Staffing shortages and technical limitations affect morale, overtime, recruitment, and retention. Challenge #2 Grow Non-9-1-1 Services to Support Berkeley’s Compassionate and Caring Human Services The City is actively working on reimagining public safety, a process initiated in 2021. City goals emphasize a more holistic, integrated, and community-centered approach to society’s needs that do not require an emergent police/fire/ambulance response. The City’s goals, and the work the City has already started, aim to address these needs by incorporating a range of professionals and response strategies.  Alternatives to a police patrol response require the programs to be developed and non-sworn personnel to be hired—such as Community Service Officers (CSOs) and specialists for response to people experiencing homelessness-related issues or mental health crisis.  Building the desired enhanced programs requires planning, mid-managers, recruitment, training, and quality of care oversight—all of which the Department is strained to provide currently.  The Specialized Care Unit (SCU) is an innovative partnership program between the City of Berkeley and Bonita House, Inc. The SCU currently operates 24 hours per day Sunday through Wednesday. The SCU also operates from 6:00 am to 4:00 pm Thursday through Saturday. When someone calls 9-1-1, they can ask public safety dispatchers for support related to mental health or substance-use issues, which may also come in the form of the Mental Health Division’s Mobile Crisis Unit. Firefighter-paramedics or police officers may also accompany all Mobile Crisis Unit calls, while an SCU response is one with no police involvement. The SCU can be reached directly if someone is undergoing a mental health- or substance-use-related crisis and needs assistance.  The Vision Zero Action Plan is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy, and equitable mobility for all. It is, first and foremost, an engineering strategy that aims to design and build Berkeley streets to eliminate severe and fatal traffic injuries. Equity-driven Vision Zero traffic enforcement utilizes the best possible data and is focused on areas of the City where engineering and education efforts have already been implemented.  The Berkeley Police Department’s online Transparency Hub shares Police Department policies, actions, and data with City partners and community stakeholders. This data includes police stop data to ensure fair and impartial policing through an analysis of calls for service, use of force, and current trends.  The Department’s four Area Coordinators serve as community liaisons for the Department. They can help with long-term problems such as persistent issues with illegal dumping or abandoned vehicles. CITYGATE’S RECOMMENDATIONS AND GOALS Throughout this assessment, Citygate provides recommendations to serve the Department in its efforts to achieve the following six goals: 1. Increasing staffing in some areas and deploying and redeploying staff where and when they are most needed based on accurate and timely data and analysis. 2. 3. In the context of employee wellness and accountability, carefully evaluating the various collateral duties many employees are assigned, giving particular attention to supervisors who are often being pulled from their supervisory roles. Continuing efforts to track and manage overtime and limiting its use to when it is necessary. 4. 5. 6. Continuing the Department’s strong and creative efforts related to data analysis to drive performance and continuous improvement. Continuing the Department’s strong focus on employee wellness. A focus on wellbeing not only benefits individual employees but also promotes a healthier work environment, reducing the risk of fatigue and enhancing Departmental morale. Improving employee retention and prioritizing employee morale. The benefits of improving police morale are many, including better service for the community, more community trust in the Department, and a motivated, purposeful workforce. Citygate analyzed current capabilities to project future needs for the Department, with actionable recommendations and strategies provided for implementation based on the growth and development of the City. If this study’s recommendations are implemented over several fiscal years:  The Department will be well positioned to deepen its ability to provide proactive policing.  The community will be able to increase interaction with partners in the Department to foster joint crime prevention strategies.  The prevention of crime and disorder and the closure of investigations of serious incidents will increase.  When the public interacts with Berkeley police, they will know them and trust them to be fair—and will not assume they are representative of what is wrong with policing elsewhere in America. SUMMARY OF POLICE SERVICES FINDINGS BY TOPIC Organizational Summary At the time of Citygate’s analysis, the Department was operating with an authorized (budgeted) total staffing level of 313.20 employees, which includes 181 total authorized sworn staff. The Department is currently organized into four major divisions—Operations, Investigations, Professional Standards, and Support Services—each commanded by a Police Captain. The Chief of Police recently informed staff of a planned Departmental reorganization that will result in the creation of a new Deputy Chief’s position and a new Office of Strategic Planning and Accountability (OSPA). The reorganization will also entail a Captain being promoted to Deputy Chief, and units within the current Professional Standards Division being transferred to other Departmental offices or divisions. ....continued....    

Berkeley, CA: Citygate Associates, 2024. 155p.

By The Little Hoover Commission

The state should prioritize data collection and collaboration with research institutions as it seeks to understand and combat retail theft in the long term, the Little Hoover Commission concluded in a new report, Retail Theft: A Data Driven Response for California.

The report was prompted by a request from 66 members of the legislature to study issues surrounding retail theft. The report notes that since the Legislature and the voters are now considering changes to the penal code sections addressing retail theft, the Commission’s recommendations focus on long-term improvements in the way the state reports and assesses retail theft and law enforcement’s response.

In recent years, alarming videos showing brazen thefts of commercial property have circulated on social media, increasing public concern. Some businesses have cited theft as a reason for closing stores. These crimes also burden the criminal justice system, using limited resources that could be redirected toward more severe crimes.

Looking at available data, the Commission found that, despite a recent uptick, reported retail theft remains at roughly the same level as during the 2010s and lower than it was in earlier decades. Like many crimes, retail theft is undoubtedly underreported, but the report notes that by its nature, the level of underreporting is difficult to measure.

The Commission concluded that more detailed crime data is needed for policymakers to craft an evidence-based response. The Commission commended the Department of Justice for its existing data initiatives, and recommend they be expanded in consultation with experts. At a minimum, data should include information on crime statistics, demographics, law enforcement response times, prosecution and adjudication data, and rehabilitation, reentry, and recidivism data. In addition to data collection, the Commission recommended that the state partner with California universities and other nonpartisan research institutions to study preventative measures, rates of underreporting, economic impact, and drivers of public perception.

“Never was the aphorism, ‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure,’ more true than when discussing retail theft. We can’t fully comprehend the effects of retail theft, or address its causes, without detailed data. As it now stands, necessary data is missing,” said Commission Chair Pedro Nava. “There are many potential partners who can collaborate to remedy the information gap. Working with stakeholders, California can fund coordinated studies and data collection efforts to better understand the complexities of these crimes.”

“California has the opportunity to join efforts with some of the best researchers in the nation as it navigates the issue of retail theft,” said Vice Chair Anthony Cannella. “With a more complete picture of how retail theft is impacting the state, the Governor and Legislature can make evidence-based decisions on how to respond effectively.”

Sacramento: Little Hoover Commission, 2023/ 35p.

By Jialu L. Streeter

For decades, California has had one of the country’s largest
populations of unhoused people. In recent years, however,
the challenges have severely worsened for the Golden State.
The homelessness counts in California rose by 42 percent
between 2014 and 2020, while the rest of the country had a
9 percent decrease. On any given night, the state has more
than 160,000 homeless persons.

California’s homeless crisis is associated with high housing
costs, inadequate shelter spaces, deinstitutionalization,
and changes in the criminal justice system.

Stanford, CA: The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), 2022. 13p.