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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026 03 24 BPAC Meeting MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BAYTOWN POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN March 24, 2026 The Baytown Police Advisory Committee (BPAC) met in a Meeting on March 24, 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 Jose Ortega Committee Member Rex Elliott Committee Member Sgt. Steve Jones Committee Member Miriam Hernandez Acting Assistant Secretary John Stringer Police Chief Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell convened the March 24, 2026, Baytown Police Advisory Committee(BPAC) Meeting with a quorum present at 6:04 P.M. All members were present with the exception of Chairperson Michael Springer, Committee Member Marga Matthews, and Committee Member Natalie Robinson. 1. CITIZEN COMMENTS Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell announced no citizens signed up to speak. 2. MINUTES a. Consider approving the minutes of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting held on February 24,2026. A motion was made by Committee Member Andrea Rice and seconded by Committee Member Rex Elliot to approve the BPAC minutes for the February 24, 2026. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell, Committee Member Andrea Rice, Committee Member Jose Ortega, Committee Member Rex Elliot and Committee Member Sgt. Steve Jones Nays: None Other: Chairperson Michael Springer, Committee Member Natalie Robinson, Committee Member Marga Matthews(Absent) Approved 3. CITIZEN INPUT Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 24,2026 Page 2 of 3 a. Receive citizen input concerning police outreach, community policing, officer train- ing, as well as policies and procedures. Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell announced there was no citizen input. 4. COMMUNITY INPUT a. Receive and discuss community input obtained by the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Members. Committee Members expressed concerns for the intersections near John Martin Rd. and Garth Rd. regarding the traffic. Sgt. Steve Jones, clarified the locations and potentially having officers monitor the area. Police Chief John Stringer, provided a recommendation to bring to the attention of Public Works and Engineering Department regarding installing roadway guidance structures to assist with traf- fic. 5. BUSINESS ITEMS a. Discuss upcoming goals and consider setting any tasks and processes for future meet- ings. Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell announced Items 5.a., and 5.b., will be taken together. b. Discuss and take action changing the meeting occurrences from monthly to quarterly as needed. Committee Members reference to amending the current meeting frequency to reflect quarterly. Acting Assistant Secretary Miriam Hernandez provided clarification to the Committee Members regarding potential meeting frequency changes and location of future meetings. A motion was made by Committee Member Rex Elliot and seconded by Committee Member An- drea Rice to amend the meetings to the fourth Tuesday on a quarterly basis held at the Public Safety Building. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell, Committee Member Andrea Rice, Committee Member Jose Ortega, Committee Member Rex Elliot and Committee Member Sgt. Steve Jones Nays: None Other: Chairperson Michael Springer, Committee Member Natalie Robinson, Committee Member Marga Matthews(Absent) Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 24,2026 Page 3 of 3 Approved 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. Chief Stringer addressed the Drug Abuse Resistance Education(D.A.R.E.)program and possible cuts from local schools. (Exhibit A) 7. NEXT MEETING a. Consider setting the date, time and location for the next Baytown Police Advisory Committee meeting, along with any related tasks and procedures. Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell announced the next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 28, 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, Vice Chairperson Kirk Russell adjourned the March 24, 2026, Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting at 6:42 P.M. per Angela Ja on, Secretary City of B tfb ee • EXHIBIT "A" BAYTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT March 24, 2026 BAYTOWN JOHN D. STRINGER Chief of Police Recruitment and Retention 1. Chief David Alford is retiring after 40 years of service.The retirement ceremony is March 30, 2026 at 2:00 P.m. Administration 1. We are currently preparing FY 27 budget,which will be aligned with our mission and the city's core values. Policy • The policy review team met to discuss updates, revisions, and additions to the following policies: o Pursuit Driving o Emergency Driving o Pursuit Prevention and Intervention These policies are reviewed on annual basis. Training • Data is not available for this report.Staff is still building the data tables and visual graphs in the Envisio Dashboard. Crime Rate • BPD record a decrease in violent crimes reported in February,compare to an increase in January. Staff attributes this to more proactive services at the Patrol level and data-driven resource deployment.January of 2026 recorded 97 violent crimes reported,compared to 79 in February. Violent Crime • ir. im 5 15 � 50 • -F�'1*""M1 'EC* M16P""4,4,tic' P'' A IP*I'' , 't4' i 4'M1 f't-AM1 PM1 M1°M1 M1°M1-PM1 M1°M1 PM1 'M1° •EM1�ti��M10 �-A� -P�M1°M1�fi'�k'� 'CP wA cP ce e�.1 v�ag" r� � a�'�° oe ,a Fe' 40.a y vo' cf' F"40 .d 45'ce v P •wa«n Cm... iolent Crime Violent Crime Year-to-Date Percent Change: Projected Average Annual Compounding Change since 2022: ©2% ©3% Target:Continuous Downward Geometric Mean:accounts for Trend compounding when calculating the average annual rate of change by spreading the total growth or reduction evenly across years. 2025 is projected on current YTD rate. The previously reported year-to-date reflected CY 25 data. Current data shows a 2%decline in the current calendar year, which we expect to continue. Traffic Crashes n,) Ii 0.1sh1,' wo 212 fY I. 201 SOS 1% 112 2fa1 tp t11 is.19 1N 1]t 111 1%11T 1W 113 171 1%123 in Itfl 1]3 17 teI tat 1Y' 110 IN'"1a1 '"ta0 111 151 Ise 1K 1G If 1as 1p 137 1S0 I"15/.7 I"137 1M Itll I1{�, I�1 I�4 H lb 1 1 I1 11 1!I' I. 1 ° 1 1 1. 1 1 I[1 I13 I(1 7 ' s 1 I1 s I[Ip� p1 p:17 a 1 1 ( 1 s 17 : i c a 611 1 i 1 1 I1 II I1 1 I1 It I, 11 11 11 �I �� �1 I. tl 1 F� � �. �. �� �s 1. '{, c_. 13. .;i d'J,�::��•, <i k�•ti' 11 �,��. t ti.. ;.�' �. �i. `�,:�� ,:tit`�t.;:T.' ca>4* 1 NA 41' c¢e "dP yl'iY 'C,10 p9 Y' Sd'`cFI at' SF 4°P.*+° 40 1 rs cP of >}+'a� �'JP� rfr° of oPM1I of 1 OP •1 of bate<crashes •1 of DWI Violations and Arrests Traffic crashes continue a downward trend as well, but are primarily consistent with the same time periods in the previous year. So far in CY 26 data records a 4%decrease (total reduction for CY25 was 13%). This is attributed to data analysis that identifies areas with highest crash numbers for special enforcement details. Traffic Crashes Year-to-Date Percent Change: ©4 % Target:Continuous Downward Trend Community Engagement • Community Engagements are continuing at all levels of the department, but most often from Uniform Services, involving uniformed officers engaging with our citizens for non-enforcement interactions with a slight reduction with 28 in February. Community Engagement .ct 2025 NoW2025 Ueu2025 Dale • Number of Calls Mental Health Calls o Mental Health Calls increased in January of 2026 to levels above those of October of 2025 and along with increased responses to the BPD Jail for persons in mental health crises. BPD noted an 5%referral rate(an increase of 1%)to Harris Health for follow up mental health care so far in 2026. Mental Health Calls iiliilililliilliiliililiuillliililiiiuililiiiilllli II d z ?° ed JP oft 00 00 f y dt 4 s I NA " de �B 3 rP i� r� ,a of #1.e* <fr• rx •Tad Cale Retuning Mental Health Calls • 1. M 4 34 34 31 7 26 V 25 mI1. . 111I16 �� � t 1TadGh 1al 1llirisNtaIhRd Homeless Interventions, • Personnel made a total of 34 interventions in February of 2026. With several encampments removed from private properties. • In some cases persons had warrants of arrest pending that through our agency or another and were arrested. Homeless Intervention • 50 is V O Z Oc12025 No 2025 Dec/2025 JaM1026 Fe62026 Oae •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 with 90 cases entered in February or 2026, while allowing officers to remain available for proactive patrol, response to calls for service,and community engagement. '.G"v lxK Ia01G"Pi DF2 lullililuli