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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-05-20 PSCC MinutesPUBLIC SAFETY COORDINATING A meeting of the Public Safety Coordinating Council was held at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 via Zoom Conference call. Council Members Present: Tony DeBone, County Commissioner Phil Henderson, County Commissioner Tom Anderson, County Administrator Ken Hales, Community Corrections Sara Crosswhite, 9-1-1 Operations Aaron Brenneman, Defense Attorney Jeff Hall, Court Administrator Melanie Kebler, Citizen Appointee John Hummel, District Attorney Shane Nelson, Deschutes County Sheriff Gil Levy, KIDS Center Dave Tarbet, Redmond Police Chief Justin Livingston, Bend City Council Keith Witcosky, Redmond City Manger Also present were Commissioner Patti Adair, Mary Anderson, Bridget Budbill, Deputy JD Combs, Emily Conlee, George Conway, Lt. Michael Gill, Holly Harris, Deevy Holcomb, Kathleen Meehan Coop, Captain Michael Shults, Shelly Smith, Trevor Stevens, and Deschutes County Administrative Assistant Elyse West. Minutes of PSCC Meeting Tuesday, May 5, 2020 Page 1 of 5 1. CALL TO ORDER & INTRODUCTIONS: Tom Anderson called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. and introductions were made of committee members and of members on the call. 2. APPROVE PSCC MEETING MINUTES: The minutes of April 7, 2020 were approved unanimously. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT: None presented 4. Oregon Pretrial Release Initiatives Bridget Budbill, Criminal Justice Commission, presented an update of the Oregon Public Safety Task Force (PSTF). The PSTF is tasked by Oregon legislature to study security release in Oregon, focused on reducing racial and ethnic disparity in pretrial incarceration. Their first report from May 2018 is available for review. Assessment has been challenging without adequate jail and court data. The State requested the PSTF to create recommendations to inform a pretrial reform bill for the 2021 session. The Coronavirus pandemic could cause a change in the scale, due to State focus adjustments. Ms. Budbill reviewed bail history and provisions, elaborated on in the presentation slides. The Oregon Constitution mandates two routes for detention, and PSTF is working to determine if the current focus needs broadening or narrowing. Release decisions must be made by the judicial branch, but may be carried out by judicial or executive branches. Oregon does not have a statewide model, so counties are currently determining their own programs. Deschutes County operates under a hybrid approach. PSTF has focused on two recent legal developments in Oregon; firstly, court case State v. Slight (2019). This case discussed clear and convincing evidentiary standard during pretrial release hearings where a defendant was charged with a violent felony and the state requested no bail be set due to risk of danger to victim. Secondly, court case Franklin v. Oregon (2020). This case questioned whether the trial court violated the state or federal constitutions when it lowered defendant's security amount to $100,000 but declined to reduce it further, thus potentially violating due process rights. Ms. Budbill provided an overview of Oregon pretrial operations. There are 11 county programs employing 52 staff. 5 judicial districts are operating with 13 release assistance officers. Over half of the counties in the State do not have a pretrial programs. If Oregon wishes to expand these programs to cover the entire state, staffing and regional resource needs must be considered. Justice Reinvestment grand funds can assist with staffing. The State budget is unknown due to other pressing issues, including Coronavirus response. An additional pretrial challenge is inconsistency across counties, in regards to executive and judicial roles clarity, costs and timeframes, implementation of Minutes of PSCC Meeting Tuesday, May 5, 2020 Page 2 of 5 relevant programs to specific regions, and litigation risks of wealth -based detention. The PSTF has gathered jail data from across the State; and analyze it to answer questions on jail population, demographics, timeframe of stay, and defendant appearance to court. Jail tracking software results differ, as shown in presentation slide #21. The PSTF's next steps is to create general and specific recommendations for the pretrial reform bill. They will meet after the May budget forecast to review the first draft of recommendations, and determine what State funding is available. Their goal is to offer preliminary recommendations by May/June 2020, and substantive recommendations by July/August 2020. Ms. Budbill shared that subcommittees are open to the public to join, and include the topics of statutory, data/ evaluation, and domestic violence 8v victim's rights. Those interested in joining can contact her. Melanie Kebler asked if the PSTF plans to collect data regarding recidivism of people on pretrial release. Ms. Budbill said that specific data is not collected. It is best practice for local programs to adjust accordingly to those trends. The PSTF does look to assess risk of the pretrial release population, and will share the NIC tracking elements. Ken Hales asked how the jail data was collected and if it was available for review. Ms. Budbill answered that the data was collected from all jail commanders in the State according to a list of data points, and sent to the Criminal Justice Commission. The data exhibited different features from each source and needed extensive sorting. She will check into the possibility of sharing the data. A preview of the data is being prepared for the next subcommittee meeting and can possibly be shared at that point. 5. Deschutes County Pretrial Release Project Mary Anderson, Deschutes County District Attorney's Office, shared an update of the Deschutes County pretrial program, which started from the 2016 Justice Reinvestment Program (JRP) . The Sheriff's Office, Parole & Probation, Circuit Court, and Defense Bar are all reviewing ways to improve the program. This analyzes drug and property offenders, to determine if they could not be released from custody for pretrial, but still have community safety be ensured. The Sheriff's Office agreed to assign a deputy be a Pretrial Release Officer. This effort aims to reduce recidivism upon release, ensure defendants show up for hearings, and encourage prior defendants to stay out of custody. Collaboration with Parole & Probation will assess people and reduce time on pretrial release. This is being focused on by Emily Conlee, Deschutes County District Attorney's Office. She shared that an Oregon State University team will be evaluating the program, and a validating tool will be used to track usefulness and relevance to Minutes of PSCC Meeting Tuesday, May 5, 2020 Page 3 of 5 Deschutes County. Captain Michael Shults introduced Deputy JD Combs as the selection for Pretrial Release Officer. He has recently worked in Deschutes County court services transport, and worked within the court system for 4-5 years. He is familiar with the Judges and DA procedures. Deputy Combs will also screen candidates for release, and work to encourage positive changes in offender behavior. Captain Shults agreed the goal is to reduce recidivism and cultivate a better relationship with members of the population who do not have the funds to leave custody. 6. Coronavirus Updates Tom Anderson shared that many Coronavirus updates have happened since the last meeting. He invited the County Commissioners to give perspective on Deschutes County's current response. Commissioner Phil Henderson said that Friday brought a shift from a county reopening plan to a regional plan, with many requirements for reopening businesses and activities. Jefferson and Crook County have submitted their reopening plans, and Deschutes County is working to submit ours soon. Only a few Coronavirus cases are active at this point. Citizens are becoming more active and concern is growing about the potential consequences of a lockdown. Commissioner Patti Adair shared that she recently talked with Sheriff Nelson and expressed concern of clinical depression in our community due to unemployment, fear, and lack of personal funds. Distancing and precautions are important, but fear needs to be addressed in the population. Law enforcement must deal with the increased risk from alcoholism and domestic violence. She hopes to drive the completed Deschutes County reopening plan to the Governor's office in Salem tomorrow. Commissioner Tony DeBone confirmed that tomorrow's Board meeting will outline the reopening plan. Dr. George Conway, Deschutes County Health Services Director, has been providing understanding about testing capacity and hospital activity and capacity. Dr. George Conway acknowledged that social distancing measures conducted in Oregon have prevented many infections and deaths. He recommended to regard reopening as provisional and to stay attentive. Other states are accumulating data from various levels of reopening, and we will analyze that data as we move closer to reopening. Reopening recommendations from St. Charles Medical Center are due tonight. Mr. Anderson confirmed that draft is in the Commissioners' inboxes, and he invited comment on the topic from others on the call. Minutes of PSCC Meeting Tuesday, May 5, 2020 Page 4 of 5 Mr. Hales shared an update about the Parole & Probation offices. The offices have reopened to the public and staff scheduling is being limited due to social distancing, with 40% working in the office at one time. Jeff Hall shared that the Circuit Court has a restructured docket based on judges and staff availability to run court rooms. They are looking forward long term in remodeling a courtroom to allow for socially distant trials, with a possibility of a second similar courtroom remodel. Constitutional timeouts will give pressure to hold jury trials. 7. OTHER BUSINESS: Justin Livingston gave an update about the Juniper Ridge notices for the City of Bend water project. They have postponed the 30 -day notices to the homeless camps in the area. The Council will talk tomorrow about how to re-engage and balance the population's needs as well as the new infrastructure. 20 camps remain in the construction zone out of the 33 original camps. Construction is slated to begin in June. Mr. Anderson asked if the stabilization center is making progress toward opening. Holly Harris answered that it is. Well-qualified staff are being hired after twenty virtual interviews. The opening is scheduled for June 1, with the construction completed by May 15. A meeting will be held Thursday to discuss staff's social distancing efforts, and to clarify the services that specific number of staff can accommodate. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 4:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Elyse West, Deschutes County Administrative Assistant Minutes of PSCC Meeting Tuesday, May 5, 2020 Page 5 of 5