05-28-2024 WS City Council Agenda WORK SESSION
RICHFIELD MUNICIPAL CENTER, BARTHOLOMEW ROOM
MAY 28, 2024
5:15 PM
Call to order
1.The Alternative Response Team will be presenting on the infrastructure of the program with information
regarding anticipated response criteria, referrals, and follow-up.
2.Review of the organization and staffing study by the Axtell Group.
Adjournment
Auxiliary aids for individuals with disabilities are available upon request. Requests must be made at
least 96 hours in advance to the City Clerk at 612-861-97 11.
AGENDA SECTION:Work Session Items
AGENDA ITEM #1.
STAFF RE P ORT NO. 14
WORK SESSION
5/28/2024
RE P O RT P RE PA RE D B Y: Jay Henthorne, D irector of P ublic S afety/C hief of P olice
D E PA RTME NT D IRE C TO R RE V IE W: Jay Henthorne, D irector of P ublic S afety/C hief of P olice
5/21/2024
O THE R D E PA RTM E NT RE V IE W:
C ITY MA NA G E R RE V IE W: K atie Rodriguez, C ity Manager
5/22/2024
I T E M F O R WO RK S E S S IO N:
The Alternative Response Team will be presenting on the infrastructure of the program with
information regarding anticipated response criteria, referrals, and follow-up.
E X E C UT IV E S UM M ARY:
B AC K G RO UND INF O RM AT I O N:
A .H IS TOR IC AL C ON T E X T
The Richfield D epartment of P ublic S afety has had two embedded S ocial Workers for the past year and is
moving to an alternative response model.
B .E QU ITAB L E OR S T R AT E GIC C ON S ID E R AT ION S OR IMPAC T S
C .P OL IC IE S (resolutions, ordinances, regulations, statutes, exc):
D .C R IT IC AL T IMIN G IS S U E S:
E .F IN AN C IAL IMPAC T:
F.L E GAL C ON S ID E R AT ION:
ALTE R N AT IV E(S):
P R IN C IPAL PAR TIE S E X P E C TE D AT ME E TIN G:
Cassy J errett, Hennepin County Social W orker J ohn Brooks, Edina Paramedic
AT TAC H ME N T S:
D escription Type
P resentation P resentation
Edina/Richfield Alternative Response Team
Agenda• Board Chosen• Staff Roles and Responsibilities• Operations• Further Exploration Needed
Staffing• Board consists of – Richfield Police Chief- Board Chair– Edina Fire Chief- Board Vice Chair– Edina Police Chief– Richfield Fire Chief
Service Level Staffing• Onsite Supervisor/ Day to Day Management • Mental Health Detective• Paramedic• Social Worker• Back Up Process for Social Workers
Current ProcessProposed Process for Referrals• Call to 911, Officers indicate follow up needed post interaction• Email sent to “Hub” and triaged by ART team and ESW’s to decide who would be best fit for follow-upProposed Process for Self Assignment• ART team monitors CAD/Radio to determine if call would be appropriate to respond to• ART Team collaborates with Dispatchers to aid in determining whether assigning ART response is appropriate
Follow-Up Needed• Ongoing Assessment of Appropriate Call Types for ART• Assessing data collection – Ongoing conversation around where data will be collected and stored– Ongoing conversation around what data needs to be collected• Creation of Email ‘HUB’ and how that will be accessed• Examination of Legal statutes affection Paramedic side of ART• Hard Launch Date TBD
QUESTIONS
AGENDA SECTION:Work Session Items
AGENDA ITEM #2.
STAFF RE P ORT NO. 15
WORK SESSION
5/28/2024
RE P O RT P RE PA RE D B Y: Jay Henthorne, D irector of P ublic S afety/C hief of P olice
D E PA RTME NT D IRE C TO R RE V IE W: Jay Henthorne, D irector of P ublic S afety/C hief of P olice
5/6/2024
O THE R D E PA RTM E NT RE V IE W:
C ITY MA NA G E R RE V IE W: K atie Rodriguez, C ity Manager
5/22/2024
I T E M F O R WO RK S E S S IO N:
Review of the organization and staffing study by the Axtell Group.
E X E C UT IV E S UM M ARY:
Richfield's population peaked in the 1970s before airport and highway expansions, decreasing household
sizes, and other factors resulted in the population settling around its current number for the past two decades.
The city's culture is that of an urban hometown - close to large amenities with small-town character.
The city receives policing services from the Richfield Police Department (RP D), a 57-person agency
focused on safeguarding lives and property, reducing the incidence of fear and crime, and enhancing public
safety while working with the community to improve the quality of life in the city. I n 2021, the RP D published
an updated "Five-Year Strategic Plan" focused on the following priorities:
Reducing, solving, and preventing crime
I mproving quality of life issues
I ntegrating technology into the agency
Strengthening communications
Developing and retaining a quality workforce
The plan provides guidance, focus, and structure to the agency as it addresses Richfield's evolving public
safety needs, which include additional resources for people experiencing mental health crises, enhanced
oversight and training requirements for officers, and the capacity to handle increasingly complex
investigations.
Understanding that the only true authority granted to a police department comes from the community it serves,
TA G took a community-centered approach to this project. A diverse group of residents, civic leaders, city
employees, and Richfield Department of Public Safety staff shared their experiences with the RP D and their
ideas about public safety with TA G's assessment team. These observations provided valuable context to the
information TA G gathered through other quantitative and qualitative research techniques.
The following methods were used to collect, review, and understand the Richfield Department of Public Safety
and its police department:
Community meeting with a diverse group of Richfield residents.
One-on-one interviews with community members, Richfield Department of Public Safety staff,
and city employees
Employee survey
Review of previously published materials related to R PD's organization and staffing
Data analysis
Richfield City Council Strategic Plan
B AC K G RO UND INF O RM AT I O N:
A .H IS TOR IC AL C ON T E X T
A professional organizational and staffing study has not been performed for several decades.
B .E QU ITAB L E OR S T R AT E GIC C ON S ID E R AT ION S OR IMPAC T S
C .P OL IC IE S (resolutions, ordinances, regulations, statutes, exc):
D .C R IT IC AL T IMIN G IS S U E S:
The study was performed to look at current and future deployment and organizational changes that can be
made over the next three years to enhance the performance and operation of the D epartment of P ublic S afety.
E .F IN AN C IAL IMPAC T:
D etermining what the amount of additional staff both sworn and non-sworn will need to be calculated to
determine the impact to the D epartment of P ublic S afety budget over the next several years.
F.L E GAL C ON S ID E R AT ION:
None at this time
ALTE R N AT IV E(S):
P R IN C IPAL PAR TIE S E X P E C TE D AT ME E TIN G:
Representatives from the Axtell Group will be presenting the study