mincow 05-10-21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Kepple gave an overview of the communication and reviewed the safety approaches proposed, focusing on the collaboration needed between the safety forces and other relevant departments in the city's government. Mayor George noted she has met with an Everytown Gun Safety group to discuss what Lakewood is doing locally to address gun violence and the US Conference of Mayors to understand national trends as well. Director Gelsomino discussed research her department has been doing on expanding community steward outreach staff. Human Services staff has met with representatives from Cleveland and Lorain who initiated their programs in 2020 to gain an understanding of how their models could be applied to Lakewood. She also highlighted the need for a community health needs assessment, which will provide data to link programming to the community. Communication from President O'Malley,Vice President Litten and Councilmember Rader regarding public safety recommendations. (Referred to COW 4/19/21) Vice President Litten reviewed the seven recommendations listed in the communication in light of the most recent incident at Madison Park. Councilmembers briefly discussed the pros and cons of establishing a safety director, and decided the issue warranted more extended conversation. President O'Malley inquired what sort of flexibility the administration might have under civil service in replacing police officers nearing retirement. Chief Kaucheck noted that the police department can replace folks while they're riding out their vacation time. He added that the staffing problems his department has been experiencing are largely due to a significant amount of unexpected retirements last fall. Succession planning was attempted, but the process was bound by civil service, which requires a competitive examination. He also spoke to the importance of keeping hiring standards high to get the best quality candidates for the job as possible. Mayor George spoke to the difficulty in finding new hires and applicants for police jobs, also adding that it takes 5 months to get through the training academy. Councilmember Bullock questioned why there have been fewer applicants, and whether something can be done to increase the pool of candidates, especially those coming from a diverse background. Chief Kaucheck attributed difficulty in recruiting to bad police publicity occurring nationwide over the last couple years. He stated that LPD feels supported in Lakewood by its elected officials and citizens. He also spoke to some of the difficulties people of color might face in deciding to become a police officer. Councilmember Kepple spoke to the importance of the training of officers, and it being worth the wait to get them into a permanent position. Mayor George provided a reminder to Council that the test to become a police officer is run by civil service and that hiring is bound by the scores that the applicants receive on the test. Her administration has partnered with a national testing system to broaden the scope of applicants.