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2026 01 27 BPAC Meeting
• MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BAYTOWN POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN January 27, 2026 The Baytown Police Advisory Committee(BPAC)met in a Meeting on January 27, 2026, at 6:00 P.M. in the Conference Room, Public Safety Building 3200 North Main Street, Baytown, Texas 77520 with the following in attendance: Kirk Russell Vice Chairperson Andrea Rice Committee Member Marga Matthews Committee Member Natalie Robinson Committee Member Rex Elliott Committee Member Sgt. Steve Jones Committee Member Michael Springer Chairperson Gabriella Gonzales Assistant Secretary John Stringer Police Chief Chairperson Michael Springer convened the January 27, 2026, Baytown Police Advisory Committee (BPAC) Meeting with a quorum present at 6:03 P.M. All members were present with the exception of Committee Member Jose Ortega. 1. CITIZEN COMMENTS Chairperson Michael Springer announced no citizens signed up to speak. 2. MINUTES a. Consider approving the minutes of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting held on November 18,2025. A motion was made by Committee Member Rex Elliott and seconded by Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell to approve the BPAC minutes from the month of November 18, 2025. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Chairperson Michael Springer, Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell, Committee Member Andrea Rice, Committee Member Marga Matthews Committee Member Natalie Robinson, Committee Member Rex Elliot and Committee Member Sgt. Steve Jones Nays: None Other: Committee Member Jose Ortega(Absent) Approved Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes January 27,2026 Page 2 of 3 3. CITIZEN INPUT a. Receive citizen input concerning police outreach, community policing, officer train- ing, as well as policies and procedures. Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell requested clarification regarding the policy on the police depart- ment using lights and speed limits when in route to specific types of calls. Committee Member Marga Matthews expressed concern for fireworks used in city limits. Ms. Matthews informed the committee the Blue Santa event was successful. Lieutenant Aaron Crowell, provided more details regarding the Blue Santa program and proce- dures. 4. COMMUNITY INPUT a. Receive and discuss community input obtained by the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Members. Committee Member Andrea Rice discussed options for receiving notifications of upcoming events the BPAC Committee can attend or assist with. 5. BUSINESS ITEMS a. Discuss upcoming goals and consider setting any tasks and processes for future meet- ings. Sergeant Steve Jones, raised concerns on how the committee can reach residents and get them to participate by attending meetings. Assistant Secretary Gabriella Gonzales elaborated on the rules regarding the types of BPAC meet- ings that may be held. Chief Stringer provided a few ideas to encourage residents to attend the BPAC meetings and events held. 6. REPORTS a. Receive a report and discuss the status of police outreach, community policing,of- ficer training and policies and procedures. Police Chief John Stringer provided an overview regarding police outreach, community policing, officer training and policies and procedures. (Exhibit A) 7. NEXT MEETING Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes January 27,2026 Page 3 of 3 a. The next Baytown Police Advisory Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday,Feb- ruary 24, 2026, at 6:00 P.M., in the Conference Room located at the Public Safety Building, 3200 North Main Street, Baytown,Texas 77521. Chairperson Michael Springer announced the next meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 6:00 P.M.,in the Conference Room located at the Public Safety Building. 8. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Chairperson Michael Springer adjourned the Jan- uary 27, 2026, Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting at 6:53 P.M. 0 Angela Ja kson, Sedra': City of Baytown y *\ 1 EXHIBIT "A" QO Li c s BAYTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT January 27, 2026 BAYTOWN JOHN D. STRINGER Chief of Police Recruitment and Retention 1. Staffing levels are currently 96% 2. Recruitment efforts produced best results on record since 2013 a. There were 316 applications submitted and 281 eligible.Today 138 applicants sat for the test. These are the highest numbers on record going back to 2013! Administration 1. We are currently reviewing goals and objectives as we begin the process of preparing of the next fiscal year's budget. 2. Collaboration and Outreach-BPD continues collaboration and outreach.Our most significant area of activity has been with Homeless Interventions.Officer Tommy King leads this effort across Uniform Services Bureau. a. Recently he coordinated with shift units, Health Department Clean Team, and state agencies to clean up a homeless encampment on private property in the area of Middleton Street,as well as to reduce trespassing on the canal. Units located a structure that had been built in the woods,as well as a "make-shift"firing range. Policy • Continue preparing for Re-Accreditation with the Texas Police Chief's Association • Policies up for annual review include Emergency Vehicle Operations,Command and Control,and Training Training Officer Training: Quarterly Update The BPD remains committed to the education and training of personnel.The BPD Academy serves the training needs of our department as well as departments across the region, providing quality training that meets TCOLE standards.The information below reflects Q1 of FY26. • Total number of training hours provided by the Academy:4,158(training hours provided onsite by BPD Academy) • Total number of students: 272 • Total course hours provided: 496 • Total number of training hours received by BPD Officers: 4,537 (in some cases these training hours were received through courses offered through providers beyond the BPD Academy) • Total number of TCOLE Certificates earned by BPD Officers: o Intermediate Police Officer - 17 o Advanced Police Officer - 29 o Master Police Officer- 103 Other: Quarterly Update date The department continues to note an observable decline in violent crime with capacity to continue driving violent crime down. • In January 2026,YTD data showed violent crime down 9%at the end of calendar year 25, which includes the documented downward trend in Q1 of FY 26.This downward trend is a further decline since calendar year 25,which was 8%. • These trends are consistent with a general downward trend for Harris County area. What this means is that we have not reached a point where a continued downward trend is no longer realistic or has plateaued. Based on long-term structural characteristics and short-term regional trends we are experiencing lower violent crime alongside an environment is the favorable to lowering violent crime. There is still room for a further decline in violent crime,by at least 3%. o Next Steps • Moving into the Second Quarter: • Continuation and/or expansion of current strategies that have been identified as effective in efforts to reduce violent crime. • Exploration of new strategies to impact violent crime in areas identified by data analysis to have the higher incidents of crime and violent crime. • Some strategies include:continued focused patrols and criminal interdiction enforcement, increased visibility in areas with both higher incidents of crime and environments emerging that could foster criminal activity, increased community engagement and partnership building,continued interventions for the homeless population,and continued Crisis Intervention and Mental Health Officer responses • This data,along with next steps in strategies will also be used in developing goals and objectives that will be used for developing the FY27 budget and tied to reported performance measures. Violent Crime 50 i5 ♦Vie mt Crimes Violent Crime Violent Crime Year-to-Date Percent Change: Projected Average Annual Compounding Change since 2022: ©9% ©4% Target:Continuous Downward 'Geometric Mean:accounts for Trend compounding when calculating the overage annual rate of change by spreading the total growth or reduction evenly across years.2025 is projected on current YTD rate. • Traffic Crashes were up 2%for CY 2025,which is lower than the trend of 4%increase reported in November. Traht Crashes , Traffic Crashes m va m Year-to-Date Percent Change: f' Ni IN to 111 1p IN 1G to IN 11! 111 1a inI 11a 1p 1S1 151 111 1n to 1N 1A c. r 1a to 1q 11a 1n1Si 1a1n1x u t t [ iiiiii[illiiiiiiiiiii[Iiiiiiiii[[[17.1, . 1 ©2% ,,1M1, ,,,,i y,°tip ",,�' , ' ' ' ' �' ',il �R���'� i�F��i:� h l il",1 :°�' Target:Continuous Downward >+1 '40 i 40 �0 'd'>'F� ti aa', 5 #e c,i'if, ,{ ' of ,,c �� '1 ii'ao vst I I' ct c 1 Trend Itotsrccrashes IeaOM%IaaaaArnsa • Community Engagements, a new metric introduced in September of 2025,continues to record data with a significant increase in December which documented 60 community engagements.The total number for Q1 of FY26 was 106. Community Engagement 75 u 50 0 Sept2025 Oct2025 Nov2025 Dec'2025 Date I Nwnbor of Calls • Mental Health Calls o Mental Health Calls increased in October of 2025 and began to show a decline in November and December,with consistent responses to the BPD Jail for persons in mental health crises. BPD noted an 8%referral rate to Harris Health for follow up mental health care in calendar 2025, ensuring citizens received additional resources. o Recurring Mental Health calls are down to 2 in the 4th quarter of 2025 compared to 24 in the same time period last year.Overall, Recurring Mental Health calls for CY 25 (99 recurring calls) compared to CY 24(20). Mental Nealt Calls 60 40 s � 24 20 n i i 10 11 U I I .i I . III I ,■ Ii.3 ILL Na224 Detit24 z2025 FeD'6C T6 Cads Cal I Rai Hel h Rehm) • Homeless Interventions, also a new metric being recorded since October of 2025, reports that personnel made a total of 89 interventions in Q1 of this fiscal year. Homeless Intervention • 50 aC 2C, Oa2025 Nov/2025 Dec'2025 Date Number of Calls • Coplogic,an online offense reporting system that assists citizens file police reports online continues to provide a convenient method of reporting"minor"crimes for citizens,while allowing officers to remain available for proactive patrol, response to calls for service, and community engagement cp LOSC vcr;mv 9a±a 1*Mr doroeeRepas