CITY OF SUNNYVALE

City Council Study Session Summary

DPS Best Practices

August 9, 2005 – 5:30 p.m.

The City Council met in a study session at City Hall in the West Conference Room, 456 West Olive Avenue, Sunnyvale, California on August 9, 2005 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Dean Chu presiding.

Councilmembers Present:             Mayor Dean Chu

                                                Vice-Mayor Ron Swegles

                                                Councilmember Fred Fowler

                                                Councilmember Melinda Hamilton

                                                Councilmember Julia Miller

                                                Councilmember John Howe

                                                Councilmember Otto Lee

Councilmembers Absent:  None

City Staff Present:                           Amy Chan, City Manager

                                                Robert Walker, Assistant City Manager

                                                Chuck Schwabe, Deputy City Manager

                                                David Kahn, City Attorney

                                                Mary Bradley, Director of Finance

                                                Marvin Rose, Director of Public Works

                                                Erwin Young, Director of Human Resources

                                                Don Johnson, Director of Public Safety

                                                Coryn Campbell, Neighborhood and Community Resources Manager

                                                Romola Georgia, Volunteer Resources Manager

                                                Mark Stivers, Deputy Chief of Patrol Services

                                                Greg Kevin, Deputy Chief of Administration

                                                Tim Johnson, Captain, Special Operations  

                                                Cindy Keehen, Technical Services Manager

                                                Dori Fontaine, Community Services Officer

                                                Rosalie Brooks, Administrative Aide-Confidential

Visitors/Guests Present:               Members of the public were present

Call to Order:                               5:35 p.m.

Study Session Summary

I.       Introductory Remarks

The City Manager introduced the study session.  She informed Council that she will bring to their attention different programs and services provided by the City’s departments that deserve significant recognition for improvements. 

The Director of Public Safety commented that, as changes are made to improve the Department of Public Safety, it takes guidance from Human Resources, the City Attorney’s Office and the Office of the City Manager to help make a program work.  All of this helps in making a World Class Public Safety Department.

II.    Workers’ Compensation

Chief Johnson was asked by the City Manager to look at ways to reduce Public Safety’s Workers’ Compensation costs.  Lt. Kelly Fitzgerald gave an overview and current status of the Workers’ Compensation Program, at Public Safety, which he has been in charge of since April of this year.   Mechanisms of injury are injuries related to combative suspects, lifting and pulling injuries, injuries during training, and fall and misstep-type injuries.   Based on interviews with employees currently out on a work-related injury, five areas of improvement were identified: to reduce injuries through prevention, develop a Workers’ Compensation employee packet, develop an employee wellness policy, streamline the current Workers’ Compensation process, and develop an Employee Wellness Program.  Lt. Fitzgerald described the success gained in the first four areas and described the next steps as continuing to focus on those areas and to develop a Wellness Program for DPS that can also be applied citywide.

III. Question and Answer

     Councilmember Howe asked:

• When an employee goes to modified duty, where is the cost charged to?

The time is tracked on a standard timecard but is charged to Human Resources’ budget.

     Councilmember Lee asked:

• On the lost workday chart, are the numbers listed on the Y axis the workdays per employees?

     Yes.  It is an average of days out per employee on

     Workers’ Comp (April - 168 vs. July - 112).

• Do we have a comparison with departments in other cities?

     We performed a benchmarking with other cities and

     found that we are about average in comparison.

Councilmember Miller asked:

• For the numbers of Officers that are out now, can you project when they will return to work?

     It is very subjective and depends on each individual

     case and on the type of   injury.

• Is this the first time the Department of Public Safety has had a DPS Safety Committee?

          A committee was formed in partnership with Human

         Resources about 12 years ago.   The committee did

         not last long and had since gone away.  The

         Department of Public Safety will establish a Safety

         Committee in an effort to reduce work related             injuries.  The Department will utilize a diverse

         group of members with practical knowledge of

         specific tasks and equipment and a larger overview of

         Department policies, procedure and liability to

         review work related injuries, vehicle accidents and to

        identify and disseminate information on new hazards

        in an effort to reduce injuries.  

• Do all of the City departments come within a safety committee?

   Yes.  Kerry Adamo coordinates the committee.

IV.  Sexual Harassment/Respectful Workplace Environment

Deputy Chief Mark Stivers provided an overview of the harassment training that the Department of Public Safety has received.  Training is a result of a lengthy EEOC Internal Investigation, lawsuit and settlement which had a negative effect on morale at Public Safety and resulted in significant costs to the City.   Public Safety management met with the law firm that handled the lawsuit and discussed several topics including Work Atmosphere, Harassment Training and DPS’ FTO Program.   As a result, changes were made to the FTO program to ensure supervisory oversight during training scenarios and efforts were made to ensure that all employees were trained and aware of reporting criteria.  In January 2004, 295 Public Safety employees went through harassment training.  In March of 2004, 83 Public Safety supervisors attended additional training.  In May of 2005, all City employees went through two hours of harassment training.  The DPS training unit and Human Resources are working to ensure compliance with new Government Code sect. 1290.1 that requires all supervisors receive the state required two hours of training every two years and that all new supervisors are trained within six months. 

All DPS employees will receive a minimum of two hours of Harassment/Hostile Work Environment and Prevention Training every year.  DPS’ morale has improved.  The workplace has become more professional, and every effort is made to prevent workplace harassment and to react immediately when a potential issue arises.   

 V.     Question and Answer

     Councilmember Lee stated and asked:

·         This is very enlightening and is an important goal.    Now that morale is changing (improving), how do you believe it will continue to remain positive?

     There used to be competition between the two  

     patrol teams.  In January, Deputy Chief Stivers

    informed the teams that they were not two teams. 

    Patrol command staff has created interdependency

    between the two teams such that the teams feel

    they are now one department and not two separate 

    departments. Communication needs to continue with

    employees and    managers need to perform

    constant reevaluations.

Councilmember Fowler stated and asked:

·         Sunnyvale’s way is to measure things.  Do you have measurements to see where we are and where we are going?

     We have not developed a measurement system yet.

     It is difficult to measure          this, but it will be

    discussed with the command staff.

Councilmember Howe stated:

·         The number of complaints received can be used as a way to measure.

Councilmember Miller asked:

·         How many female officers do we have?

     There are currently 15 female officers - nine on

     patrol, five in fire and one in Special Operations.

Mayor Chu stated:

·         He met a female Lieutenant at a City function recently and it’s good to see female officers moving up the ranks.

VI. Volunteers in Public Safety

Community Services Officer Dori Fontaine presented an overview of the volunteer program at Public Safety.   The department has expanded its volunteer program.  Volunteers now have identified tasks and there are opportunities for volunteering in most units.   Volunteers include college students, retirees, and people with full-time jobs.   Volunteer Resources Manager Romie Georgia handed out the citywide volunteer handbook, which is given to new volunteers and includes a history of Sunnyvale and a description of each department.   The process for Public Safety has been streamlined with backgrounds reduced from a few months to a few weeks.   Volunteers in Public Safety are promoted with an introductory memo from Chief Johnson and their photograph displayed in a main hallway in Public Safety.  Volunteers wear a uniform and a badge and they receive a tour of headquarters and personal introductions.   The goal is to have 30 volunteers placed in Public Safety by the end of the year and to retain current volunteers while expanding the program.   In order to retain volunteers, supervisors make sure there are training opportunities, that volunteers are doing what they enjoy and that they receive recognition.  Currently, Public Safety has 19 volunteers assigned and three candidates in the process.   From January 2005 to July 2005, volunteers in Public Safety have served over 2200 hours.

VII.           Question and Answer

Councilmember Fowler asked:

·         Are we keeping people?

          Yes.  We’ve had success.

·         Is getting new people taking a lot of effort?

          No.  It’s been fairly easy to get people to apply

         for the volunteer positions. There are listings on

        the City website.

·         Are volunteers from Sunnyvale or other parts of Silicon Valley?

          They come from Sunnyvale and from other cities

          as well.

·         Is there a way to measure strengthening ties between the Department of     

       Public Safety and the community?

          Not at the present time.  It is difficult to measure, but we will look into doing that during the upcoming DPS budget restructure process.

Vice-Mayor Swegles asked:

·                 Are we using volunteers to promote SNAP and 

        Neighborhood Watch? 

        SNAP uses volunteers in their steering committee. 

        We are not currently using volunteers for

        Neighborhood Watch.

        Vice-Mayor Swegles said that maybe a volunteer

        could assist with Operation Identification.  Chief

        Johnson said that Public Safety will look into   that.

Councilmember Miller asked:

·               What are the average hours per volunteer?

       Two to 20 hours per week, with volunteers working

       an average of two days    per week.

Assistant City Manager Robert Walker said:

·             There is an umbrella program through the Office of

       the City Manager.  The primary purpose is to

       promote collaboration between city and community.

Adjournment

The Study Session was adjourned at 6:56 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Rosalie Brooks, Administrative Aide-Confidential