2 28 11 Work Session_SCTF Recommendations Slide PresentationSafe Community Task Force
CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION
FEBRUARY28, 2011
SCTF Members
Roy BuolSteve Hodge
Claudette Carter-ThomasPat Kelly
Jonathan CheathamJerry Maro
Joyce ConnorsMichelle Mihalakis
Janice CraddiethAdam Moore
Rachel DaackTerry Mozena
Mark DalsingJoe Noll
Gabby DeVegaRalph Potter
Rick DickinsonDoug Stillings
LarieGodinezLynn Sutton
John GronenMichael Van Milligen
Molly GroverDirk Voetberg
Mike Hodge
SCTF Goals
To identify and act upon things that most
effectively reduce crime and that most
effectively reduce the perception of crime.
Recognize people want to feel safe and
identify ways to provide that feeling of safety.
http://www.cityofdubuque.org/safecommunity
SCTF HISTORY
History
September 2009: 130 people to public forum
October 2009: 25 appointees to SCTF
November 2009 –January 2010:
Dialogue and deliberation
Monthly meetings
History
City Council assigned SCTF to:
Gather facts on the scope of crime and safety
issues in the community;
Identify efforts currently underway to improve
and prevent future problems;
Review and analyze how other communities have
addressed crime and safety
issues; and,
Recommend goals and objectives for the
leadership of Dubuque.
History
The Task Force recruited 50
residents to serve on the following sub-
committees:
Neighborhood Engagement/ Social Capital
Enforcement
Management of Physical Environment
Research and Facts
History
February 2010: First set of recommendations
to City Council
February 2010-June 2010:
Continued dialogue and deliberation with Urban
Strategies as facilitator
RFP and selection of NIU to perform research
History
July 2010: Second set of recommendations to
City Council
May 2010 –January 2011: NIU research
January 2011 –February 2011: Review of NIU
results and final set of recommendations
Meetings
Over the course of 17 months the Task Force and Sub-committees met 35 times
February 2, 2011 February 18, 2010 November 20, 2009
January 25, 2011February 17, 2010 November 19, 2009
August 10, 2010February 15, 2010 November 18, 2009
August 5, 2010 February 13, 2010 November 17, 2009
June 12, 2010 February 3, 2010 November 9, 2009
May 13, 2010 January 20, 2010 October 15, 2009
April 17, 2010 January 14, 2010
April 16, 2010 January 9, 2010
April 15, 2010 January 6, 2010
March 12, 2010 January 5, 2010
March 11, 2010 December 28, 2009
March 5, 2010 December 12, 2009
March 3, 2010 December 9, 2009
February 25, 2010 November 30, 2009
Resources & Research
February 2010 –Neighborhood
Engagement/Social Capital sub-committee
conducted a Neighborhood Survey
March 2010 -Urban Strategies out of St.
Louis, MO began to facilitate Task Force
meetings ($45,000)
March 2010 –SCTF Speaker’s Bureau created
April 2010 Northern Illinois University
contracted to conduct perception, crime &
poverty study ($68,000)
SCTF RECOMMENDATIONS TO
CITY COUNCIL -2010
February 2010 Recommendations
Reduce the time between rental inspections for
problem properties
Restrict funding assistance to property owners
whose buildings are non-compliant unless the
owner is actively working towards compliance
Allow the Task Force to act as conduit for
accurate information to the public
February 2010 Recommendations
Conduct an expanded crime study
Create ways to encourage people to “light up”
their own property and surrounding public
property
Install surveillance cameras in high crime areas in
public places
February 2010 Recommendations
Install additional 911 emergency kiosks
Reduce the time allotted for correcting
property violations from the current two
years
Encourage development of planned
communities through mixed-use zoning
July 2010 Recommendations -
Enforcement
Develop a juvenile curfew ordinance
Provide additional resources for Community
Oriented Policing
Direct Police Department to enforce noise
ordinances more aggressively.
July 2010 Recommendations -
Enforcement
Direct Police Department to enforce traffic
ordinances more aggressively.
Give the SCTF and Police Department the
opportunity to respond to the crime study.
Continue the SCTF in order to monitor the
implementation and progress of
recommendations, and consider creation of a
Safe Community Commission.
July 2010 Recommendations –
Housing Code Enforcement
Support landlords in evicting problem tenants
for cause.
Mandate that landlords conduct renter
background checks, using the City’s free service.
Establish a threshold number of complaint calls
that will place a problem property in priority
category.
July 2010 Recommendations –
Housing Code Enforcement
Tie the frequency of property inspections to
landlord’s history of cooperation with code
compliance.
Intensity exterior code enforcement efforts
and encourage City employees across
departments to identify and report property
code enforcement problems.
July 2010 Recommendations –
Housing Code Enforcement
Create a data clearinghouse limited to
verifiable and factual information that
landlords and tenants can share and
reference when making rental decisions.
Develop and offer frequently a training
program on code enforcement and property
management for all landlords and require
attendance.
July 2010 Recommendations –
Section 8
Increase public understanding of the Section 8
program.
Increase participation of Section 8 residents in
effective self-sufficiency programs.
Provide training to housing commissioners to
increase leadership, public relations, and community
building skills.
Implement an exception rent program to avoid
concentrated pockets of poverty.
July 2010 Recommendations –
Section 8
Develop a strong role for the Resident Advisory
Board to encourage feedback and cultivate
leadership within low income residential
community.
Provide community service credits for
participation in effective programs that foster
self-sufficiency.
Continue to provide resources to the Family Self-
Sufficiency program based upon evidence of
success.
July 2010 Recommendations –
Neighborhood Engagement
Create a major, city-wide human relations
effort with the following objectives:
Increase tolerance and mutual understanding
among diverse segments of the population.
Implement appropriate measures to safeguard the
rights and opportunities of all.
July 2010 Recommendations-
Neighborhood Engagement
Develop a Neighborhood Watch program.
Increase resident participation using such
vehicles as clean-up campaigns,
neighborhood picnics, new neighbor
welcome events, and other strategies
developed by residents.
July 2010 Recommendations-
Neighborhood Engagement
Offer cultural competence training
periodically to businesses and the community
at large; mandatory for City staff and Board
and Commission members.
Continue to support the Human Rights
Department and devote resources to a
human relations initiative to promote respect
and understanding among residents.
July 2010 Recommendations-
Neighborhood Engagement
Support a welcoming program for all new
renters through community based
organizations .
July 2010 Recommendations-
Physical Environment
Install street lights in the middle of the block to
brighten up the streets and night and increase
visibility for residents.
Create an ordinance prohibiting the boarding of
windows and doors facing the streets.
Develop and enforce policies consistent with the
“preservation briefs” to maintain historic
properties.
July 2010 Recommendations-
Physical Environment
Improve Dubuque neighborhoods by:
Encouraging home ownership;
Encouraging a mixed income approach to
neighborhood development;
Creating (or re-creating) a sense of place through
good design. All buildings using government
funds should meet these objectives and
sustainability goals.
July 2010 Recommendations-
Physical Environment
Increase the number of trash receptacles on
the street.
Increase the number of neighborhood clean-
ups and educate the community on city
waste disposal policies to clarify the purpose
of neighborhood clean-up programs.
IMPLEMENTATION STATUS
Implementation –February
Recommendations
Inspection cycle reduced from seven to five
years
Annual inspections on Section 8 units
Code compliance required for funding:
Downtown Housing Incentive Program,
Housing & Community Development Rehab and
Purchase loans
Section 8 rental assistance
Implementation –February
Recommendations
Northern Illinois University Research Study on
Crime and Poverty completed
Full study and video of presentation available
online at:
www.cityofdubuque.org/safecommunity
Implementation –February
Recommendations
Washington Neighborhood Yard Lighting
Initiative expanded:
areas east of the bluffs
low/moderate income neighborhoods
Rebates for installing energy-efficient lighting
front and/or backyards that light portions of the
sidewalk or alley
Implementation –February
Recommendations
38 alley-street lights in the Washington
Neighborhood
Research on mid-block lighting costs
Early estimate average cost per light, per year,
$168.90
Upgraded lighting in parking ramps
Implementation –February
Recommendations
Potential areas for security cameras and 911
kiosks identified
Cameras installed:
Construction sites
Riverwalk
Port of Dubuque Parking Ramp
Comiskey
Parking lot near Library
Implementation –February
Recommendations
Traffic cameras, parking ramp cameras, bus
cameras
Cameras and 911 kiosks planned:
Bee Branch trail
New 10Street Parking ramp
th
Port of Dubuque Marina
Millwork District (under evaluation)
Implementation –February
Recommendations
Housing Code amended to reduce time for
compliance to 9 months
Uniform Development Code and Building
Code promote mixed-use and mixed income
approach to development
Implementation –July
Recommendations
Criminal Background Checks
Ordinance
Forms
Contract
Part-time employee
Tenant Database
Form
Legal Research
Implementation –July
Recommendations
Curfew
Research
Juvenile Crime Breakdown For Community
Parental Responsibility
Implementation –July
Recommendations
Housing & Community Development:
Priority Category Designation
Property Acquisition Policy
Boarded Up Windows & Doors Ordinance
Implementation –July
Recommendations
Rental License Ordinance
Crime Free Multi Housing Program
1.
Requirement
Criminal Background Check
2.
Requirement
Waiver Amendments
3.
Implementation –July
Recommendations
Property In Need of Assistance
On-going meeting with a sub-group of
landlords to develop an effective tool for
use by both the City and landlords
Comparison to Forcible Entry & Detainer
Standard (Eviction Action)
Implementation –July
Recommendations
Landlord notification on police calls for
service
Safe Community Advisory Committee begins
work March 2, 2011
Nuisance ordinance recommendation
forthcoming
Implementation –July
Recommendations
800 inspections in Washington
Neighborhood, resulting in 760 units brought
int0 compliance
Advisory inspections of owner-occupied
homes in Washington Neighborhood –90%
of 200 homes inspected
Implementation –July
Recommendations
Exterior-only code enforcement
inspections of rental buildings downtown
neighborhoods instituted
Increased enforcement in vacant and
abandon buildings (VAB) = removal of 29
long-term chronic properties.
Implementation –July
Recommendations
Expanded public education efforts
Second Family Self-Sufficiency Program
coordinator
Getting Ahead in a Just Getting-by World
two trainings per year
112 graduates as of December 2010.
Circles Coach hired and five circles formed
Implementation –July
Recommendations
Reorganization of the Human Rights
Department
Increased prevention, outreach, mediation,
intercultural competence
Mandatory intercultural training for City Staff
Board & Commission intercultural training
begins in April
Implementation –July
Recommendations
The Multicultural Family Center has the
following programs in place:
Welcoming Program
English Language Learner Classes (NICC)
Minimum of one cultural program per month
Implementation –July
Recommendations
Police Department gauging resident interest
in neighborhood watch
City Channel 8 program on proper solid waste
and recycling methods
Several neighborhood beautification efforts
initiated by neighborhood groups
NIU CRIME AND POVERTY STUDY
FINAL SCTFRECOMMENDATIONS
TO CITY COUNCIL
Final Recommendations -
Juveniles
Modify the recommendation for a juvenile
curfew ordinance and focus instead on
creating a parental responsibility ordinance
that is modeled after successful programs
that includes engaging in parents and teens
in prevention efforts.
Final Recommendations -
Juveniles
Encourage and engage parents and youth in
out-of-school-time programs and parenting
classes by ensuring the programs are
designed to matter to the participants.
Encourage the Dubuque Community School
District to develop a meaningful intercultural
competence program for students at all
levels.
Final Recommendations –
Community Education
Create a conduit, such as a speakers’ bureau,
to continue conveying accurate information
to the public on crime and the perception of
crime in the community. Include a broad
group of informed residents on the panel and
focus on reaching a broad cross-section of the
community with the information.
Final Recommendations –
Community Education
Use the information from the Crime &
Poverty Study to create a formal way to
continue tracking data for the community in
an ongoing manner, and investigate the
potential for using crime mapping software.
Encourage the TH to run a series entitled
“I’m a Dubuquer.”
Final Recommendations –
Community Education
Raise awareness amongst the general public
and develop individual ambassadors through
intercultural competence training, the
Bridges Initiative, and similar programs, who
can then relay to others what they have
learned.
Final Recommendations –
Social Capital/Volunteerism
Expand the recommendation for a
neighborhood watch program to include
efforts to build relationships amongst
residents within the neighborhood.
Final Recommendations –
Social Capital/Volunteerism
Expand the emphasis on Community
Oriented Policing (COP) and consider
expanding the number of non-sworn
employees, including interns and volunteers,
in the Police Department in an effort to assist
with COP efforts and to coordinate with other
departments and organizations in the COP
effort.
Final Recommendations –
Social Capital/Volunteerism
Engage community volunteers of various
races and income levels in a monthly “Days of
Caring” initiative by encouraging businesses
to allow volunteers to participate on work
time.
Final Recommendations –
Social Capital/Volunteerism
As exterior code violations are identified in
neighborhoods, identity volunteers who are
willing to assist with helping property owners
remedy those violations, which will address
the property conditions while also building
relationships and a sense of community.
Final Recommendations –
Social Capital/Volunteerism
Encourage community-wide support of
initiatives that support self-sufficiency
(beyond government and public schools),
with a particular focus on existing programs:
Circles, Project H.O.P.E., Intercultural
Competence Training, Every Child/Every
Promise, and the work that the Colts are
doing with community outreach. Engage
colleges, churches and businesses.
Final Recommendations –
Social Capital/Volunteerism
Support economic development efforts to
create opportunities.
Connect new residents, particularly those
who may not be referred by an employer,
to the welcoming program at the Greater
Dubuque Development Corporation.
Final Recommendations –
Section 8
Challenge all departments within the City
to develop and maintain a model Section 8
program for a city of this size, meeting the
needs of the elderly and disabled and also
developing self-sufficiency for families.
Final Recommendations –
Enforcement
Expand the lighting recommendation to
“Brighten up the streets and alleys at night
and increase visibility for residents
wherever lights are needed.”
Final Recommendations –
Enforcement
Emphasize hot-spot policing and focus on
problem solving within those crime hot-
spots.
Publicize the owners, numbers and types
of complaints/violations in the top
problem properties.
DISCUSSION