american city & county - april 2017
TRANSCRIPT
TAXATION PLACATIONThe strategies counties use to devise new taxes and get voters on board with them
MAPPING ADDICTIONGIS can be a powerful tool in the � ght against the opioid epidemic
PERIODICAL
April 2017
Serving government leaders since 1909
GPN: Products at Work | 20
TAXATION PLACATIONThe strategies counties use to devise new taxes and get voters on board with them
MAPPING ADDICTIONGIS can be a powerful tool in the � ght against the opioid epidemic
April 2017
Serving government leaders since 1909
GPN: Products at Work
2 6
BETTERBEHAVIORON BOTH SIDES
OF THEBADGEBody-worn cameras are improving transparency, integrity and legitimacy in America’s police departments | 10
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ISSUES & TRENDS 2 Taxation Placation
The strategies counties use to devise new taxes
and get voters on board with them
SMART CITIES 6 Mapping Addiction
GIS can be a powerful tool in the fght
against the opioid epidemic
COMMENTARY 18 Getting the Most Out of Trump’s - Or
Anyone Else’s - Infrastructure Plan
GOVERNMENT PRODUCT NEWS 20 Products at Work
April 2017 volume 132, number 4
In this issue
ISSN: 0149-337X
American City & County, April 2017, Vol. 132, No. 4, (ISSN: 0149-337X) is published monthly by Penton Media, Inc., 9800 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park KS 66212-2216 (penton.com).Periodicals postage paid at Kansas City, MO., and additional mailing offices. Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40612608. Canada return address: IMEX Global Solutions, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to American City & County, P.O. Box 2100, Skokie, IL 60076-7800 USA.
FEATURE
10 Better Behavior on Both Sides of the Badge
Body-worn cameras are improving transparency, integrity
and legitimacy in America’s police departments
2 April 2017 | americancityandcounty.com
Nobody enjoys paying taxes, yet they are a key method counties and cities use to fund civic projects. When local governments decide to
propose new or increased taxes, they often use several strategies to seek public input and outreach public education to win voters over to the idea of them.
Such campaigns can be daunting, especially when projects don’t directly impact most citizens. Wake County, N.C., faced this issue when it sought to pass a half-cent sales tax increase to fund a 10-year plan to triple bus service and add 37 miles of commuter rail throughout the county.
“You’re selling a half-cent sales tax and a $2.3 billion plan for something that 85 percent of people aren’t going to use,” says Wake County Commission Chair Sig Hutchinson. “So you have to talk to them in a language they’re going to understand, which is congestion and choice.”
by Jason Axelrod Increasing Wake County transit had been discussed for about 15 years, and in 2009 the North Carolina state legislature authorized the counties of Wake, Durham and Orange to institute voter-approved sales taxes to help fund regional transit, according to Hutchinson and county data.
County ofcials took about 15 months starting around mid-2014 to revamp its transit plan through a consultant-driven, public process, Hutchinson says. About 80 Wake County citizens representing many interests were brought in to work with consultants to design the plan, while “hundreds” of public meetings and hearings were held about the plan, he says. Te planning committee was made up of professionals in business, environmental matters, unions, the AARP, real estate and the homebuilders association.
“It was an extremely transparent and extensive public process in designing this plan,” Hutchinson says.
Te county used information gained from
INSIGHT INTO THE LATEST SOCIAL, FINANCIAL AND POLITICAL MOVEMENTS SHAPING AMERICA’S COMMUNITIES
Taxation PlacationThe strategies counties use to devise new taxes and get voters on board with them
americancityandcounty.com | April 2017 3
these meetings and hearings in creating the new transit plan. In June 2016 the county approved the plan and put the sales tax on the ballot, according to advocacy group Moving Wake County Forward.
Hutchinson acknowledges that advocacy and education eforts organized largely by the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce — with no input from the county — helped communicate information to the public. However, county employees visited numerous groups to educate citizens about the transit plan. Ten out of Wake County’s 12 municipalities endorsed the tax; while the two others opted not to endorse the tax, they were not opposed to it, Hutchinson says.
While some local taxpayers organized opposition to the tax, it scored a slim victory in November with 53 percent voting yes and 47 percent voting against,
according to Hutchinson. Te tax was set to be implemented on April 1.
“Tis is hard work,” Hutchinson says. “It’s not easy when you consider that 85 percent of people are not going to take [the funded transit]. Ten you’ve got another group of people who don’t want to pay any new taxes. Or people who do take it, they don’t think it’s going to help them.”
Johnson County, Kan., ofcials faced similar issues while seeking funds to build a new courthouse and coroner’s facility in 2016.
“One of the biggest issues we had to face is that 97 percent of our population never see or never visit the courthouse,” says Ed Eilert, chairman of the Board of Johnson County Commissioners. “So in order to educate that 97 percent of our population,
which needed to approve this action… that was our biggest challenge,” he says.
County ofcials had discussed the need for a new courthouse and coroner’s facility since the early 2000s. Te over-60-year-old courthouse had numerous external and internal problems, and the county had also been using a private, outdated coroner’s facility. Public inputs had been taken and several plans proposed during this time.
“I came on the commission, for instance, in 2007,” Eilert says. “I heard a plan, which was in excess of $300 million, with 38 new courtrooms. Te plan that we adopted and put on the ballot was $182 million with [28] courtrooms.”
A 15-member citizens’ advisory committee consisting of professionals and members of the general public was formed for the project in 2014, Eilert says. Tis group
looked at information the county provided and presented several proposal options to the county commission. Te county made the issue a priority to be funded in 2015.
Being part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, 22 percent of Johnson County’s sales taxes are collected from visitors outside the county, Eilert says. Tat fact combined with feedback from six public input sessions held around the county in early 2016 indicated that the public preferred sales tax funding over property tax funding, according to county ofcials. Having previously secured state legislature authorization for a 10-year, voter-approved, quarter-cent sales tax increase for public safety funding, the county approved a measure for using the tax to build a new courthouse and coroner’s facility to appear
A sales tax increase
in Johnson County,
Kan., will help fund
a new courthouse to
replace the defcient
facility pictured here.
4 April 2017 | americancityandcounty.com
issues trends
on the November ballot in May 2016.Between May and November, county
ofcials like Eilert and Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe met with over 75 civic groups in the county to present information about the tax and its project, Howe says. Howe and Eilert spoke about the measure to the city councils and chambers of commerce in all 20 of Johnson County’s cities, as well as civic clubs, senior groups and “basically everybody who would let us in the door,” Eilert recalls. “It was a busy summer.”
At these gatherings, ofcials presented measure-related documents and a 10-minute county-produced video that highlighted issues with the courthouse and private coroner’s facility, Eilert says.
“People had no idea how those [coroner-related] activities work, and when they understood the type of facility that we had to operate in, they were ready to support the coroner’s facility,” Eilert says.
Utilizing the courthouse itself proved key in the measure’s victory, according to Eilert and county data. In addition to the video, county employees gave several tours of the current courthouse and held courthouse open houses and public hearings that all showed the building’s issues. County ofcials relied on a website and social media to spread information, too.
“What we tried to do is put [the campaign] in terms of, we’re trying to serve the public and the needs of the public, and that was the reason for this campaign,” Howe says.
Ultimately, the November vote was a close victory — 53 percent voted yes, while 47 percent voted against it, Eilert says. Te tax was implemented on April 1, and construction of both buildings is anticipated to begin in 2018.
Even when a tax is proposed to fund an item used by most residents, public input and education campaigns sometimes aren’t enough to infuence taxpayers’ votes in favor of new taxes. Such was the case when, in November, Clackamas County, Ore., voters shot down a seven-year, 6-cents per-gallon fuel tax to fund maintenance for Clackamas County’s nearly 1,400 miles of county roads.
Clackamas County has no independent means of road maintenance funding, and Oregon law forbids counties from
using property tax revenues to fund road maintenance, according to Clackamas County Public Afairs Manager Tim Heider. Moreover, the county faced defcits as large as $17 million per year and had unsuccessfully tried to pass road maintenance taxes in the past.
“Tese bills are always difcult to pass, it’s always a heavy lift,” Heider says. “And we knew that this was a heavy lift based on what we were facing.”
Starting in early 2016, Clackamas County ofcials crafted the fuel tax package in a transparent public process, with the board of county commissioners discussing and listening to public testimony about the tax in several town halls and public hearings, Heider says.
Public turnout at the hearings and town halls varied, but Clackamas County also sought feedback and raised awareness of the tax through city partners, community planning organizations and a city-county summit on transportation.
Results from a May 2016 county ballot item showed that 68 percent of voters thought the fuel tax would be an appropriate November ballot measure, Heider says.
County commissioners also presented the tax issue to local chambers of commerce, community groups and “pretty much anybody that wanted to speak to them about this issue,” Heider says. People and organizations supported the tax, and Heider couldn’t name any organized opposition to the tax.
Nevertheless, the tax measure failed in November, with 63 percent voting against and 37 percent voting in favor, per Heider and county data. Road funding continues to be a priority for Clackamas County, and Heider expects the issue to be addressed again within the year.
Eilert, Hutchinson and Heider all admit that educating voters on the merits of a tax increase is difcult. But comprehensive education and citizen involvement can be invaluable to such a campaign.
“In a campaign like this, it’s basic campaign activities– educate, educate, educate,” Eilert refects. “And if you can have enough opportunities to share information with the taxpayers, those who have to make the vote, then success is possible.”
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Drug overdose has become the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, opioid addiction is driving
this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015. With 78 Americans dying every day from an opioid overdose, drug-related deaths in the U.S. have become a national epidemic. Te number of prescription opioids sold in the U.S. and the number of prescription opioid deaths have both quadrupled since 1999. Since then, over 165,000 people have died from prescription opioid overdoses. Tis trend has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to call prescription drug overdose deaths one of the four most serious epidemics facing the nation.
Recognizing the challenge this epidemic presents for cities and counties across the nation, the National
League of Cities and the National Association of Counties have launched a joint task force – the National City-County Task Force on the Opioid Epidemic. Te task force seeks to explore how cities and counties can collaborate to address the opioid epidemic and increase awareness, elevate proven solutions, provide policy recommendations to local, state and federal governments and disseminate guidance and solutions to city and county ofcials.
LOCATION MATTERS
One powerful tool which cities and counties have been using to address this epidemic is Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Te intelligence that GIS brings to their understanding plays an integral role in helping communities meet the challenges of opioid addiction and overdose deaths. Integrating health data with geographic information gives health service managers an understanding of how, where, when, and why the epidemic is occurring and who it is impacting.
Mapping AddictionHow GIS Can Be a Powerful Tool in the Fight Against the Opioid Epidemic
by Richard Leadbeater
PROFILING PROJECTS THAT USE TECHNOLOGY AND DATA TO MORE EFFICIENTLY MANAGE SERVICES.
americancityandcounty.com | April 2017 7
A geographic view of opioid prescriptions is helpful to understanding the location of the crisis and the communities ef ected which allows communities to start to build the understanding required to know where to act. Cities and counties are coordinating with their state of cials to share police and EMT data connected to this heroin crisis within a GIS platform. T e High Intensity Drug Traf cking Area Program (HIDTA) uses an open GIS platform to communicate and coordinate their drug f ghting ef orts. T is platform is the infrastructure for the free f ow of data between local law enforcement, health agencies, and communities. Now, organizations can analyze these large amounts of data collected by agencies around their communities.
Geospatial analytics takes data to the next level by correlating proximities of high numbers of overdose incidents with areas with inappropriate prescribing rates. Spatial analysis tools are a means to analyze data streaming from the f eld, see trends over space and time and model complex point data to analyze and identify at-risk areas.
By mapping local opioid data, communities can better understand their own vulnerability to the crisis. Geospatial intelligence gives health administrators a greater understanding of overdose issues at the neighborhood scale. T ey
can better formulate very strategic, targeted and tailored ef orts that are more ef ective.
GIS IN ACTION
Many cities and counties across the country are engaged in meaningful work with GIS around the opioid crisis. Actions that communities can take to address the opioid crisis are to:• Create public-facing maps that help citizens
locate prescription drug drop boxes; • Map Naloxone locations; treatment facilities; • Show lives saved through the use of Narcan; • Analyze mortality data; and • Understand hospitalizations and prescriptions trends.
Maps like these provide clues to help decision- and policy-makers target their epidemic intervention activities.
Here are some examples of how communities are using GIS to address each of these specif c areas:
Prescription Drug Drop Boxes: Many people who become addicted to opiates f nd that they can easily access these from neighbors, friends and family, often through stealing them from their loved ones. It is important to educate people to safely dispose of these drugs. GIS site analysis tools assist health departments in selecting medication drop-of sites based on variables
A GIS hotspot map of opioid-related incidents
8 April 2017 | americancityandcounty.com
such as neighborhood demographics, site safety and accessibility. Maps are an efective, easy-to-understand method to start this conversation with citizens.
For example, the Tri-County Health Department in Colorado has created a prescription drop box map that allows them to dig deeper into their data and provide further analysis. Tey examine the amount of prescription drugs (measured in pounds) being dropped of at these locations, and that metric helps determine if their eforts in increasing awareness of this service are working. Also, by overlaying U.S. Census data onto the drop box map, they can determine where additional drop boxes may be needed.
Naloxone Locations: Naloxone is a drug that when administered in an overdose situation can block the efects of or reverse an overdose. Making the public aware of where they can access this drug to save family members and friends is an important resource for any community. Northern Kentucky has created a map of their Naloxone locations which they update every six months to ensure the resources and information are relevant and up-to-date.
Treatment Facilities: Oftentimes, when a family has a loved one that needs help and is seeking treatment, they don’t know where to turn. While cities and counties may not want to advocate for a specifc center, sharing treatment center locations is a necessary citizen service. Many communities also struggle with their treatment centers being flled to capacity with no beds available. GIS maps and dashboards can be used to show bed availability to communicate that information to the public. GIS analytics are also useful for determining the best locations to place treatment centers. Moreover, web apps help health service administrators monitor activities at these treatment centers by mapping clients served, case success rates and staf resources.
King County, Wash., has created a map which shows treatment locations and options such as needle exchange sites, mental health treatment agencies, opiate addiction treatment programs, public health clinics, emergency rooms and hospitals - all resources for families and individuals seeking treatment help.
Lives Saved with Narcan: Narcan/Naloxone is a drug being used by frst responder and EMT teams. Dupage County, Ill., has created a public awareness map that helps their frst responder teams understand what is happening in the feld to better equip their personnel and enhance their readiness. Making this map public also helps educate the community of the scope of the opioid epidemic by displaying data related to fatal and non-fatal incidents.
Mortality Maps: An opioid mortality map is a tool for realizing and communicating drug-related problems as well as a baseline to show changes in deaths over time. Often one of the most meaningful ways to communicate the impact of opioid addiction on a community is by displaying mortality data. Maps like these help educate citizens, enabling them to see the scope of the epidemic. To study cause and efect, a health analyst can combine the mortality layer with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) prescription claims data, Census demographic data and so forth. Tis insight can go a long way in securing needed project funding and evaluating intervention eforts. Data for opioid mortality maps may be obtained from vital records departments within public health agencies and the coroner’s ofce.
Utilizing county data on mortality, Lancaster County, Pa., has created an accidental drug overdose incident map to demonstrate the reach of the epidemic in their own community.
Hospitalizations and Prescriptions; At least half of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid. According to the CDC, prescription opioid pain relievers are a driving factor in the 15-year increase in opioid overdose deaths. Mapping the number of prescriptions made per provider helps give insight into locations of possible over-prescription. Maps show the location and number of patients’ prescription claims, prescriptions by provider and opioid drug poisonings.
Orange County, Calif., has created maps which display data on opioid prescriptions, hospitalizations and deaths to provide a more comprehensive picture of the issues their community is facing due to over-prescription.
Location matters when it comes to helping communities handle the health epidemic of opioid addiction. Mapping data and available resources helps cities and counties plan for the most efective ways to service their citizens. It provides a visual measurement of the success of such eforts. Te opioid epidemic is a cross-cutting problem facing many aspects of government – health, police, fre, medical examiners, city and county management and others are all feeling the strain on resources that need to work together. GIS provides communities with a powerful ally in the efort to provide a comprehensive approach to combating the plague of opioid addiction.
Richard Leadbeater is the state government industry
manager for Esri. For more information on GIS
tools, visit www.esri.com/industries/government.
10 April 2017 | americancityandcounty.com
BETTER ON BOTH SIDES
Photos provided by TASER
americancityandcounty.com | April 2017 11
An officer gets into a confrontation with a suspect. The incident turns violent. A crowd gathers, and several onlookers pull out their cellphones and start recording. Clips of the ugly exchange go viral. The local media picks up the story, then national news. Scores of people take to the streets shouting about police brutality,
demanding accountability and justice. Regardless of the legality and appropriateness of the initial incident, the context has been lost and the divide between police and their communities widens.
It’s a story that’s played out time and time again in recent years. Ferguson. Baltimore. Long Island. Deadly police encounters under questionable circumstances. Uncertainty abounds and speculation swirls. Guilt and innocence become muddled, and mistrust breeds protest and violence. But new technologies are looking to assuage these issues.
Across the country, police departments of all sizes are utilizing body-worn cameras to protect their officers and the citizens they serve. While there are still policy and technical issues to work out with these programs, it seems clear the objective context body-worn cameras provide is improving behavior on both sides of the badge.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF EQUIPPING BODY-WORN CAMERAS?
Rialto, Calif., was one of the f rst police departments in the country to take a scientif c, data-driven approach to explore the ef cacy of body-worn cameras. In 2013, then-Police Chief Tony Farrar partnered with researchers from the University of Cambridge to explore if body-worn cameras would indeed reduce the prevalence of use-of-force and citizen’s complaints against the police.
T e answer to both questions was a resounding “yes.” T e often-cited study, published in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, revealed that over a 12-month period, use-of-force by of cers wearing cameras fell by 59 percent while complaints against of cers dropped by 87 percent compared to the previous year.
T e study marked a pivot point in American policing, and even caught the attention of then-President Barack Obama, who, according to Police Foundation materials, urged police departments across the country to consider using the technology, and asked Congress to provide funding for 50,000 body-worn cameras nationwide.
BEHAVIOR OF THE BADGE
Body-worn cameras are improving transparency, integrity and legitimacy in America’s police departments
By Derek Prall
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Current Rialto Police Chief Randy DeAnda says the impetus for implementing body-worn cameras in the city was a drawing a sixth grader handed to Chief Farrar. “It was a police of cer that was tasing a citizen,” DeAnda says. T e child’s misunderstanding of the role of a police of cer was troubling, and Farrar knew he needed to do something to change this perception, DeAnda explains.
T e body-worn camera program provided a much-needed transparency in police actions, DeAnda says. However, more importantly, it bolstered the legitimacy of police work. “Body-worn cameras have legitimized what police of cers do day in and day out,” DeAnda says. “It adds credibility to the of cer, it adds credibility to their police report and it adds credibility to their testimony when they’re in front of a jury.”
T e tangible benef ts have been numerous, as well. “We use [the footage] for evidence, for more accurate report writing. T is means less time spent in court, fewer cases going to trial and most importantly, reducing the amount of money the city pays out in litigation costs,” DeAnda says. “If you look at the amount of money that’s been paid out in litigation costs, it’s enormous.”
Sgt. Peter Ferranti of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department agrees that more often than not, body-worn cameras serve to protect the of cers wearing them from unfounded claims. In the three years the department has been using them, hundreds of cases against of cers have been dismissed, “simply because of the existence of body camera video,” he says.
“If I stop you, have a conversation with you and you sign your ticket and you’re on your way, but then you come in the next day and you report that I called you a bad name and slapped you on the head, now we can have internal af airs play the video from start to f nish and see clearly that never happened,” Ferranti says. “We’ve had over 450 cases where the entire complaint against the of cer is totally exonerated. T at’s a huge selling point.”
Greenville, S.C., Police Chief Ken Miller says this type of protection is why his department will be rolling out their body-worn camera program in the near future. Body-worn camera footage, he says, give interactions context, and this context can serve as a counterpoint to not only of cial complaints f led against an of cer, but as protection in the court of public opinion. “Most people… tend to have smartphones in their possession,” Miller says. “So you have people who are videotaping police encounters, and then posting to social media certain portions of those encounters.” T ese portions are rarely favorable for the police, he says, and often lack what precipitated the encounter. “When you have the resulting outrage around these events, it’s helpful to have your own unedited video footage that helps explain the larger context of the encounter,” he adds.
Although it’s rare, Miller says the footage can also help pinpoint of cer misbehavior, which can be dealt with
swiftly and according to the nature of the infraction. “Sometimes we see examples of of cer misbehavior, and in some cases criminal behavior,” he says. “Obviously, because we are an authority in our communities, we have expectations that our of cers not only follow the law but are examples of the way to behave in public. Cameras not only help us answer questions when our of cers are falsely accused, but they also ensure our of cers are maintaining the values of the police organization. T at goes for any police department.”
GETTING TECHNICAL – WHAT
FEATURES TO LOOK FOR
Steve Tuttle, vice president of strategic communications for TASER, a major manufacturer of body-worn cameras, says some of the most important technical considerations are size and comfort, durability and perspective. If the cameras are cumbersome and constantly malfunction, the department is better of not having a body-worn camera program in the f rst place.
“It’s almost worse to have a camera that’s not working than not have a camera at all,” Tuttle says. “Because the innuendo behind [saying the camera wasn’t functioning at the time of an incident] is so distasteful and powerful… that you’ve got rogue of cers turning their cameras of .”
T is durability vs. cost metric was important to the Philadelphia Police Department, which is currently in the process of rolling out their body-worn camera program. Being the 4th largest police department in the country, Philadelphia was looking to purchase over 4,000 units and needed a solution that was durable, useful and cost-ef ective. “We started of with something like 13 [potential] cameras,” Chief Inspector Michael Cochrane says. “When we took some out of the box, they were already broken. One of them looked like it was put together in someone’s house,” he laughs.
Tuttle recommends taking a hard look at the options available, and making the selection with cost in mind, but not allowing dollar signs to become the determining factor. “I can’t tell you how many times
A mounting station for a body-worn camera. Here the unit
charges and uploads video to cloud-based storage.
americancityandcounty.com | April 2017 15
we’ve gotten business from failed programs,” he says.Te perspective a camera ofers is another important
consideration. What matters in court is what the ofcer saw, not the reality of the situation. Tis is why TASER doesn’t ofer infrared options on their cameras. “We mimic the human eye – we want the camera to see what the ofcer sees in the dark,” Tuttle says. “We’re trying to give juries realistic, contextual information to be the best possible evidence.”
Miller agrees and says Greenville, seemingly counter-intuitively, sought out lower-defnition cameras than the top of the line, ultra hi-def systems available. “High-defnition potentially enables people after the fact to see more than the ofcer could see,” he says. “Tat can set ofcers up for unrealistic expectations, and it’s not fair to them.”
Line-of-sight is an important, related concern. “I want cameras that mount up on collars, on glasses or hats,” Miller says. “Tat line-of-sight is much better than a camera that’s on the middle of your chest. If you draw your weapon, there’s a good chance you’re going to block a good portion of the view… there are a number of videos out there where it’s very difcult to see [an encounter].”
Another technical consideration is how cameras are activated. For the most part, ofcers activate their cameras manually, with a bufer of 15 seconds to a minute of time captured
before the record button is pressed, depending on the camera and its settings, Tuttle says.
However, new cameras are coming out that activate via Bluetooth as the result of certain events such as the unholstering of a weapon, the activation of lights and sirens, and the proximity to other active cameras, Ferranti says. Te only consideration right now is cost. As the technology improves though, he says, these cutting-edge features will become standard.
Beyond the camera itself, Internet infrastructure and storage solutions are both major considerations. Some camera manufacturers ofer cloud-based storage systems for the tremendous amounts of data being held, but many departments will need to update their Internet capabilities to handle such a system.
Greenville, in anticipation of the additional bandwidth necessary to manage the amount of video they will be processing, has put in a 100-gig-capacity network. “Tis is probably 75 gigs more than we’re estimating we’ll need,” Miller says. “But people implementing these programs generally underestimate what they’ll need to transmit the video, and as a result, they get frustrated at their download speeds.”
Tis was a major obstacle for Philadelphia as well. “Some of our buildings were built in the 40s and 50s,” Cochrane says. “Te infrastructure needs have obviously changed, as well as the data lines needed for
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downloading footage. Buying the camera itself was easy. It’s the data and storage that’s a major undertaking.”
POLICY – MAKING THE MOST OF A
BODY-WORN CAMERA PROGRAM
Transparency is one of the most important factors driving the spread of body-worn camera programs throughout the nation; however, there’s a f ne line to be walked. “I see transparency as a balance,” Ferranti says. “It’s a balance between opening up everything to everybody – you have to balance that with the public’s interest and you have to balance that with a citizen’s privacy.”
Ferranti explains that a clear, well-def ned dissemination policy must be in place for the release of footage. T ere are legal implications if of cers record an individual engaging in illegal activity, and while there may be public demand to see the footage of a specif c incident, the department is obligated to keep that footage secure until trial so any potential jury pools aren’t tainted. If there is outcry that the department is being secretive, clear communication about why the footage is being withheld can usually assuage the issue.
Policy regarding when, where and why of cers should be recording is also critically important. When Las Vegas f rst implemented their camera program, they weren’t exactly sure when of cers should be activating them. “In the beginning, we were telling of cers that when they get a call, right before you get there, as you’re arriving, go ahead and turn your camera on,” Ferranti says. “Now that we’ve been in this for a few years… we’ve modif ed the policy to have of cers turn on the camera as soon as they get the call.” T is way the of cer will capture their driving as well as any updates or changes they receive en route.
T is policy helps of cers ensure their cameras capture any important details or context of a situation. “It’s better because it gives them the muscle memory to turn it on immediately,” Ferranti says. “A lot of times you’ll have the case where you’re headed to a call that’s calm, cool and collected, but two minutes into the drive, it gets updated to an emergency situation. We train our of cers to turn it on immediately and forget about it.”
How the cameras and footage are used are important considerations, but it’s equally important to craft policy in such a way that of cers won’t view cameras as punitive tools.
ADDRESSING CONCERNS – CREATING
A CAMERA-FRIENDLY CULTURE
One of the biggest sources of apprehension of cers feel regarding body-worn cameras is that the footage will be used by the brass to punish them for minor infractions. T e 1984-esque fear that “big brother is watching you” is a legitimate concern, and if a camera-friendly culture is to be built, it’s important that of cers know the cameras are for their benef t
and protection, not to condemn and accuse them. Miller says this is the current apprehension in his
department. “Even in [police] departments, labor doesn’t trust management,” he says. “It’s the same old historical issue… there’s always that suspicion that exists between the motives of management and the motives of labor and how they interrelate.”
To mitigate these suspicions, Ferranti says there are two things leadership can focus on regarding footage – content or compliance: Content meaning the quality of the interactions shown on camera, and compliance meaning the rate at which of cers are actually recording every interaction.
“Some departments are focused on content right now,” Ferranti says. “We are not. We’re focusing on compliance.” T e reason for this, he explains, is if you need to be concerned about the content, someone is going to bring it up. A complaint will be made against the of cer, and then you certainly go review the footage. However, Las Vegas’ policy explicitly states that leadership cannot review footage without reason to ensure they won’t go “f shing” for infractions.
“I’m a sergeant,” Ferranti says, “I have eight of cers. I can’t just pull up Jones and go looking through Jones’ video from last week and see how Jones was doing on a call. We feel that if you have an issue with Jones, be out on the road and go to calls with Jones and observe him in the f eld.” Not only is this a more proactive, direct way of dealing with problematic behaviors, it ensures of cers don’t feel micro-managed.
However, even with such policies in place, many departments feel the intense spotlight placed on police behavior is becoming overwhelming. “I think the challenge for police executives and for cities and for counties across the nation is going to be determining at what point is the scrutiny of police so far tilted that you can’t hire police of cers,” Miller says, adding that even without a body-worn camera program in place, Greenville has been carrying 15 vacancies for the past two years. “In some respects, the cameras can be helpful in telling our story and putting controversy to rest,” he says. “At the same time, I think there is anxiety about it.”
DeAnda agrees. “It’s becoming harder to hire police of cers in the state of California because of the scrutiny,” he says. “T e role of the modern day police of cer is multifaceted. T ey are domestic violence counselors, they’re drug addiction counselors, they’re youth counselors, they’re mental health workers, they’re social workers, they’re paramedics. T ey make split-second, life-and-death decisions every day and they do this under immense scrutiny and Monday morning quarterbacking.”
In order to build a camera-friendly culture, of cers must feel appreciated for their hard work and sacrif ce, not chastised for their every misstep.
In addition to overcoming the resistance to scrutiny, the addition of cameras to a department’s practices
americancityandcounty.com | April 2017 17
Some experts feel a camera mounted
on glasses, a helmet or a collar
ofers better line-of-sight, saying
footage won’t become obscured if
an ofcer draws their weapon.
is disruptive. Most people don’t like change, and this is particularly true of police ofcers, Ferranti says. However, he’s noticed that by leveraging the knowledge of younger, digitally native ofcers, he’s able to get the more change-resistant veterans onboard and willing to embrace the new technology.
“In training, you’ll have someone like me – a 50-year-old ofcer – look at it and say “how do you do this or how do you do that,” and then you’ll have the millennials that show up to class having read the manual and uploaded the apps and synced the camera to their phone before they even get to class,” Ferranti says. “I make the joke, ‘Okay millennials, help the older guys,’ but I utilize that resource.”
Cochrane agrees that younger ofcers are more likely to embrace cameras than their more senior counterparts. “I’m 58, but these younger cops, they grew up with an iPhone in their hand. Tey’re used to technology, and this is another tool for them.”
One of the best ways to enact cultural change in a department, Ferranti says, is through demonstrating the value of the change. “You have to show them this is the tool, this is why the tool will help you do your job,” Ferranti says, adding that ultimately, that’s what all ofcers want – the equipment and support to better do their jobs. “[Te attitude is] if it’s something that helps us get there faster, great, give it to us. If it’s something that helps us defuse situations, great, give it to us.”
CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO - WHY
BODY CAMERAS ARE CRITICAL
Use of force is never pretty, but the context provided by body-worn camera footage can be invaluable. In Rialto, an interaction went south – the suspect fought the ofcers, and the suspect’s girlfriend flmed the confrontation. She then uploaded an edited version of the video on several anti-police websites, where it got over a million views and spread virally.
“Te next thing you know, I have every media outlet in front of the police station saying this was the next Rodney King incident,” DeAnda says. Since the video was still considered evidence, DeAnda couldn’t release it, but says, “I invited the news media in, let them review the footage, and they all said, ‘Tere’s nothing to see here. Te ofcers were justifed in their actions.’”
A potential national bombshell was defused by providing the context of body-worn camera footage. “Had we not had body-worn cameras, think about what the public outcry would have been,” DeAnda says.
Tis is why departments are beginning to see these programs as invaluable. Regardless of the upfront costs, the potential savings – both in terms of legal costs and reputation – are immeasurable.
For more information, visit our website to watch an
exclusive interview with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Department spokesperson, ofcer Michael Rodriguez.
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18 April 2017 | americancityandcounty.com
Getting the Most Out of Trump’s – or Anyone Else’s – Infrastructure PlanBy Ananth Prasad
President Trump has vowed to invest as much as $1 trillion to restore our crumbling infrastructure. T is is a promising development, especially since it comes as many states and municipalities have themselves recently committed to
major transportation investments. In the November election, voters in 22 states approved ballot measures that will provide $203 billion in funding extensions and new revenue for state and local transportation projects.
With these and federal funds, America can reposition its transportation infrastructure for the future. And, yet, there is one major challenge: spending money in the right ways.
We must rethink our transportation priorities and approaches so that new spending allows us to leapfrog to a new level of performance.
Here are just a few ideas for ensuring that America achieves the greatest benef t from our transportation spending in the coming years:
PRIORITIZE PROJECTS TRANSPARENTLY When we’re spending large amounts of public
money on transportation, it’s critical that we preserve taxpayers’ trust. One way we do this is by removing politics from the equation when determining which projects to prioritize. Virginia’s “Smart Scale” program is one example of how a data-driven scoring model can serve to standardize and rationalize the decision-making process. T e program scores projects based on how well they ease congestion, improve economic development, provide access to jobs, enhance safety and environmental sustainability, and ef ciently use land.
DELIVER PROJECTS MORE EFFICIENTLYMany states now allow the use of a design-build
method for delivering large, complex transportation projects. Design-build brings together designers and contractors at a project’s beginning, under a single contract, which can spur innovation, gain economies of scale, accelerate the timeline, and seize other opportunities to deliver the project at a signif cantly lower cost than of ered by the traditional design-bid-build method. By adopting design-build for more projects, and even smaller projects, we can get more transportation improvements for the dollars we invest.
INNOVATE BEFORE WE CONSTRUCT Before we take steps to widen highways to deal
with congestion, we should consider other techniques that can be more cost-ef cient. For example, in urban areas where congestion builds quickly due to closely spaced on-ramps, planners can consider a technique called ramp metering, which uses traf c lights to adjust the f ow of vehicles entering the highway. Another approach is to temporarily allow the use of breakdown lanes for travel, using signage to notify drivers when these lanes are open for traf c. T e net ef ect of these techniques is to increase capacity during times of greatest demand, without building new lanes that are costly to construct and maintain – and which are often unnecessary beyond the rush hour.
ADVANCE USER-CENTERED MOBILITY Technology is revolutionizing virtually every
aspect of travel, from digital maps for planning trips, to GPS guidance, to digital tickets for trains and subways, to ride-sharing. We need to invest in strategies and technologies that erase the seams between modes, so travelers can assess and activate their mobility options easily. Ideally, a person should be able to plan a trip, see travel time and costs, purchase relevant fares for public transportation, and hail a ride – all before heading for the shower.
We can expect signif cant debate as our leaders seek agreement on a range of transportation-related policy issues surrounding rural-versus-urban project prioritization, public transit investments, regulatory issues and, of course, the best ways to fund the work at the federal level. Only by making a long-term commitment can we build the infrastructure to compete on the global stage and deliver value every day for everyday Americans.
Ananth Prasad, PE, is senior
vice president and leads the
transportation practice for
HNTB Corp., an infrastructure
solutions f rm serving public and
private owners and contractors.
He has over 24 years in the
industry, including 22 years
with the Florida Department of Transportation.
commentary
20 April 2017 | americancityandcounty.com
products at workGPN:
Washington city installs smart water system that quickly detects leaks
Monroe, Wash., is a small community growing at a rapid pace. And with new growth comes the need for new infrastructure to support it. Tat’s why Monroe’s Public Works Department is using smart water technology to update its infrastructure, reduce leaks and improve customer service.
Te department completed an upgrade of its existing system this past December. Te upgrade has simplifed the tedious process of detecting and resolving water leaks. Using the smart technology, technicians now have access to real-time data that enables them to detect the leak source in seconds.
“We’ve begun using the system’s leak detection capabilities, and the results have been amazing,” says Jakeh Roberts, operations and maintenance manager for Monroe. “Reducing the time it takes for our technicians to identify leaks enables us to apply their time to other important projects. We can see where the water is going in a way that wasn’t available before, with the potential for signifcant cost savings.”
Monroe’s smart water system is comprised of Sensus OMNI and iPERL water meters as well as the FlexNet
communication system and proprietary analytics. Sensus Software as a Service (SaaS) manages the equipment.
“Among other things, the system enables our customer service staf to see real-time usage so they can explain leaks to customers instead of having to guess at the source,” Roberts says. “Functionally, it makes for a completely diferent conversation.”
Monroe’s new system has enhanced the department’s services. In addition, it positions the city’s water infrastructure to support continued growth and future development.
“With the local service and response time provided by the distributor, we deployed a solution that immediately benefted our technicians and our customers,” Roberts says. “Te system now serves as the backbone of our water infrastructure, allowing us to capitalize on our city’s growth and deliver better customer service across the community, both now and in the future.”
Sensus: www.sensus.com
A bridge in Monroe,
Wash.
Main Street in
Monroe, Wash.
By Michael Keating
22 April 2017 | americancityandcounty.com
GPN: products at work
Medical center cuts energy and other costs with new mechanical systems
Te Northport Veterans Afairs Medical Center (NVAMC) in Northport, N.Y., occupies a 277-acre medical campus that consists of a main hospital building and numerous support buildings. Te center provides a full complement of health care services to the area’s community of military veterans.
Te center recently completed the replacement of its cooling towers and related chiller plant systems under a federal contract task order. ConEdison Solutions, a national energy services company, served as prime contractor in completion of the project.
Te NVAMC medical complex expects to reduce its electricity consumption costs by approximately $90,000 per year, while reaping $1 million in annual savings by eliminating rental costs associated with the use of temporary equipment. Te new mechanical systems will also enable the facility to substantially decrease its carbon footprint. Te center incurred no upfront construction expenses as a result of the equipment upgrade.
Te project was completed in November 2016. Upon formal acceptance of the project from NVAMC management, the installed equipment became property of the U.S. government. At that point, the federal government began paying for the construction and all construction-related costs using the annual savings generated by the equipment installations and upgrades. Te savings take into account the money saved by the reduction of energy costs,
In the photo: Helicopters were used to hoist some
of the mechanical systems and other equipment
installed in the NVAMC infrastructure upgrade.
reduction of operations and maintenance costs and the elimination of costs such as rental fees.
Under the terms of the Federal Utility Energy Services Contract, ConEdison Solutions’ duties included design, construction, commissioning and the measurement and verifcation of energy savings associated with replacement of the hospital’s cooling towers. In addition to replacing the rooftop towers, the company also replaced vertical risers, four condenser water pumps, four chilled water pumps and a condenser. In addition, the frm also replaced the chilled water piping that connects the equipment cited above and a chiller plant control system.
“We are grateful to ConEdison Solutions and National Grid for acting swiftly to deliver a long-term, money-saving solution to our center’s cooling and infrastructure needs,” says Phillip Moschitta, NVAMC’s director. National Grid was the winner of the federal contract task order for the project.ConEdison Solutions: www.conedsolutions.com
americancityandcounty.com | April 2017 23
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Utility vehicle performs a variety of tasks in Oregon tourist community
Tourists frequently visit Seaside, Ore., due to its oceanfront location just 80 miles from Portland. Te city’s fre and rescue department, which was created in 1904, is a nearly all-volunteer operation that stays quite active.
Te diverse coastal and wooded terrain of Seaside can be especially challenging as fre and rescue volunteers patrol and respond to emergencies on the beach, unmaintained trails, parks and downtown. So in 2015, Seaside Fire & Rescue reached out directly to Polaris and purchased a RANGER 6x6 utility vehicle to complement their existing feet of lifeguard and rescue vehicles.
“We decided to purchase direct from Polaris because they make the process smooth and easy,” says David Rankin, division chief of operations for Seaside Fire & Rescue. “We told the government sales group what we needed our vehicle to do and they completed the order and upft to our exact specifcations.”
Te utility vehicle has seating for two. It is equipped with two radios and a rear extended rack to hold a variety of rescue equipment, including marine rescue cans, a surf rescue board and essential medical gear. Te extended bed not only allows injured patients to be transported on a full-size spine board, it also allows the frefghters to transport frefghting equipment when needed.
“Te seamless procurement process allowed us to put the vehicle to work immediately. In its frst week of being in service, we used the vehicle to access a remote area to assist a neighboring fre department with a house fre
on a lake that did not have traditional access,” Rankin says. “We were able to cut our way into the original access road used to build the house. Tis allowed the larger trucks to come down and fght the fre.”
Te quick response enabled saving more of the house and prevented the surrounding forest from catching fre.
“We keep fnding new uses for the vehicle — we also use it on the beach. It has been used to
transport injured people to the waiting ambulances,” Rankin adds. “It’s been so capable and useful that we’re planning to purchase additional vehicles as replacements for our older lifeguard trucks.”
Polaris Government & Defense sales team member Tony Stanley hears similar feedback from customers. “Once a crew buys one, we often have follow-on orders for several more. As their truck feets age, they buy these instead because they are lighter, more maneuverable, versatile and easier to use. Plus they are easier and cheaper to maintain.”
Seaside hosts several community events and uses the vehicle to help with each one, including festivals, races and parades. “In the city during our busy weekends, it has worked nicely to get around when our other rigs were tied up in trafc,” Rankin says.
Te vehicles may soon get a workout during snow season. “We’re looking at collaborating with our public works department by adding the Glacier Pro Plow system to use them in the winter, since it is much more cost-efective than a regular vehicle,” Rankin says. By making any additional accessories purchases directly through Polaris government sales, Seaside Fire & Rescue will receive the same discount and free, direct shipping as they did with the original vehicle purchase.
Polaris Government & Defense: military.polaris.com
In the photo: The Polaris RANGER 6x6 utility vehicle on beach
patrol for Seaside, Ore.’s fre and rescue department.
24 April 2017 | americancityandcounty.com
GPN: products at work
Park paths are paved with material made of recycled tires
Visitors walk and bike through Cypress Preserve and Oak Hammock parks in Sunrise, Fla., on sturdy 8-foot-wide paths. Te paths were installed with Porous Pave XL, a pour-in-place permeable paving material from Porous Pave of Grant, Mich. Te project was completed September 2015. Eco Engineering Service, a contractor based in Hillsboro, Fla., poured 2 inches of the material atop a 2-inch base of washed #57 limestone.
Sunrise is located between Fort Lauderdale on the east and the Everglades Wildlife Management Area to the west. Onsite stormwater retention to decrease water pollution was one of the reasons why the city’s Public Works Division chose the paving material. Made from 50 percent recycled rubber chips and 50 percent kiln-dried aggregate with a moisture-cured liquid binder, the material can infltrate up to 6,300 gallons of water per hour per square foot. Te paving material is resilient and slip-resistant.
“Retaining stormwater supports the goal of preserving green space in the ecologically sensitive areas set aside for the parks,” says Dave
Abderhalden, the city’s capital projects coordinator. “Te minimally intrusive, low-impact installation process without big trucks and heavy equipment was also essential to protect the landscape.”
Porous Pave is a highly porous, durable and fexible surfacing material, says Dave Ouwinga, president of Porous Pave. “We engineered the material with up to 29 percent void space, so water passes right through its entire surface. It reduces stormwater runof and leaves no puddles of rainwater on the pathways.”
Ouwinga adds that the product is good for the environment. “Te recycled rubber chips in our paving material are processed from scrap tires. By using Porous Pave, the city of Sunrise helped recycle about 13,000 old tires.”
Te Sunrise parks have parking, paved paths, picnic pavilions and playgrounds. Cypress Preserve Park (8 acres) ofers a 9-hole disc golf course and a spray-ground with a splash pad. Its permeable paved path is one long loop around the park with a central connection. At Oak Hammock Park (12 acres), the paved path leads to a nature observation boardwalk over a canal. Monies from a People for Parks grant from Broward County, Fla., fund operations of the parks.Porous Pave: www.porouspaveinc.com
The photos show the Sunrise, Fla., park paths before
and after the Porous Pave XL paving material was
installed. The fexible surfacing material enables water
pass-through and reduces stormwater runof.
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