Redding can do a better job with the cops and firefighters it has and it could do a really bang-up job if it had another $20 million to spend.
Those were some of the findings revealed earlier this month in the long-awaited Blueprint for Public Safety. The report, prepared by the Matrix Consulting Group in Mountain View, was commissioned by the Redding City Council in April and had its first airing Tuesday by both the council and the Shasta County Board of Supervisors.
Richard Brady, right, presents findings from the Blueprint for Public Safety.
Richard Brady, Matrix’s president, presented the 346-page report to both groups in separate meetings. Shasta County paid a third of the $155,000 contract cost and Redding paid the remaining balance.
The report is a response to the public’s growing sense of fear and frustration over crime rates, an overcrowded county jail and issues like vagrancy, vandalism and theft associated with a more visible homeless population.
Redding City Council members learn more about the long-awaited report.
The report’s findings and recommendations were broken down into short-range measures based on available resources and longer-range steps various agencies can consider if additional money (presumably through a sales tax measure) becomes available.
Some key findings:
–Redding’s crime rate is a thing: for cities in the 80,000 to 120,000 population range, Redding is in the top 10 percent for violent and property crimes.
–Policing efforts are largely reactive and seldom proactive.
–There is a need for Redding and Shasta County to plan, evaluate and coordinate services.
–New ways need to be found for dealing with “displaced individuals” (primarily the homeless and those suffering from mental health issues) that rely less on general enforcement and focus instead on support and programs.
–Public safety efforts can be improved, without any additional funding, through more efficient scheduling, prioritizing workloads, improving work practices and making greater use of technology.
“However, in the final analysis, the improvements needed to be more proactive toward problem solving will require additional resources,” the report says.
That conclusion was important to Councilman Brent Weaver, who complained that earlier press reports gave the impression that Matrix felt Redding’s police staffing levels are adequate. “We demonstrated a lot of need” for more police and community service officers, Brady said.
Concerning the homeless, the consultants recommended the city and county join forces and develop a master plan to coordinate services ranging from health and human services and code enforcement to nonprofit stakeholders like the Good News Rescue Mission and People of Progress.
Specific recommendations, as finances allow, include public restrooms in the downtown area, a reconsideration of the sit-lie ordinance, the creation of displaced individual outreach teams, a day center for the homeless and a permanent encampment or “tent city.”
Council members have only had a week to consider the blueprint, but they expressed their appreciation for the effort and voted unanimously to have City Manager Kurt Starman work with his Shasta County counterpart, Larry Lees, to form a committee that will consider ways to implement some of the report’s recommendations. Weaver will be the council’s representative on that committee.
The blueprint will again be before the council within 60 days.
“This is a great starting point,” Councilwoman Francie Sullivan said, adding that she now regrets casting a no vote when the council voted 4-1 in April to award the contract to Matrix.
Weaver said it’s important, moving forward, that the city strike a balance between efforts to aid the homeless and efforts to protect and support Redding business owners who have been impacted.
The full report can be seen here: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2643902/Public-Safety-Blueprint-Study.pdf
