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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSCC 10282021 - Minutes- DRAFT PUBLIC SAFETY COORDINATING COUNCIL ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA Regular Meeting October 28, 2021 Convened: 3:34 PM Adjourned: 4:20 PM 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 3:34pm by Chair, Commissioner Linda Bartz. Roll call was taken. Members Present Commissioner Linda Bartz, BOCC Thomas Bakkedahl, State Attorney, 19th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Charles Schwab, 19th Judicial Circuit Diamond Litty, Public Defender, 19h Judicial Circuit Major Chris Cicio, SLSO Suzanne Caudell, Director of CORE Program Mike Davis, Circuit Administrator, DOC Major Petri Hayes, SLSO Members Excused William Wim, CEO, New Horizons Timothy Kozlowski, St. Lucie Bail Agents Assoc. Others Present Joseph Cowan, SLC Atty/CJD Alicia Foster SLC Atty/CJD LaSheri Baker SLC Atty/CJD Allison Duffy SLC Atty/CJD Michelle Miller, Clerk & Comptroller, SLC Clerk of Court Lieutenant James Gagliano, FPPD Regular Meeting Thursday, October 28, 2021 3:34PM 2 | Page 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes from July 29, 2021, were unanimously approved. 3. UPDATE by SLC Sheriff’s Office Major Chris Cicio announced the retirement of Chief Garry Wilson after over 40 years of Law Enforcement Service. Major Cicio will now attend the Public Safety Meetings on his behalf. Major Cicio reported the Sheriff’s Office still has several job openings they are actively recruiting for, currently there is a new Lieutenant in the Special Investigations section. Major Cicio discussed the ongoing Fentanyl issue in St Lucie County and State-wide. The new Lieutenant has reached out to the four county Drug Unit Supervisors, who have determined there are shared targets of interest throughout the area. The units are coming up with strategies and reaching out to larger counties for their strategies on combating the ongoing issue. Currently, the St. Lucie Sheriff’s Office is serving a search warrant in the Fort Pierce area and have found a large amount of Fentanyl. Major Cicio advised the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Fort Pierce Police Department are also at the scene. This is the second incident in the last two weeks in which large amounts of Fentanyl have been found. Major Petri Hayes reported the current population at the jail being 1352 inmates. They currently have 2 inmates positive for COVID and 38 inmates in quarantine as a result of the positive cases, their quarantine will end on November 5th. The jail is monitoring cases and conducts symptom checks twice a day. Major Hayes announced they are working on phasing programs back into the facility while remaining cautious of COVID. Major Hayes shared the Recidivism Rate in 2019 at the St Lucie County Jail was, No Programs 33% Journey Forward 15% Spiritual Learning 15% Culinary Programs 10% The Recidivism Rate in 2020, when there were no programs at the facility was 57%. Major Hayes shared; through this data the jail sees the importance of providing these programs to inmates. 4. UPDATE by Criminal Justice Director: Joseph Cowan Joseph Cowan shared the Senior Staff Assistant position has been filled by Laura Mejia and the Program Supervisor position has been filled by LaSheri Baker. He announced the contract with Indian River County is being finalized and the Pretrial Program expects to begin operations there on or before March 1st, 2022. Regular Meeting Thursday, October 28, 2021 3:34PM 3 | Page Joseph discussed Inmate Medical Release Cases, the Criminal Justice Program has created a procedure to determine each case and their eligibility. He advised this process has proven to work well for the Pretrial Program, Sheriff’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, and State Attorney’s Office. Joseph stated due to a discussion from the last Public Safety meeting regarding tours of surrounding jails, he reached out to the Orange County Jail who advised because of COVID they are only available for virtual tours at the moment. 5. JUDICIAL UPDATES: Chief Judge Schwab Chief Judge Schwab advised there has been a fluctuation in COVID since the last meeting, currently Indian River County, St Lucie and Martin Counties are no longer high transmission areas. He also advised Multiple circuits throughout the state are lifting their mask mandates. Tom Bakkedahl advised operations are up and running in the State Attorney’s Office. Mr. Bakkedahl shared in the last two weeks they have tried 3 homicide cases in St Lucie County; also, they have selected a jury for Martin County Jail’s longest inmate of about 8 years. Suzanne Caudell advised the CORE Program is supervising about 820 probation clients in St. Lucie County, 200 being diversion. This month, they have collected about $54,000 in fines and court costs and about $2,500 is victim restitution. She also shared all their DUI programs are operating. Mike Davis shared the Department of Corrections is fully operational. 6. OLD BUSINESS 7. NEW BUSINESS Public Defender Diamond Litty, presented the LifeBuilders Program. A non-profit organization created to assist individuals who experience the 19th Circuit Court System as a consequence of criminal behavior or a dependency action. LifeBuilders seeks to aid individuals be successful through carefully regulated financial assistance even after being involved in the court system. Staff assess applications in depth to affirm applicants have, a desire to improve and the ability to self-sustain moving forward. Participants of the LifeBuilders Program are required to “pay it forward” at some point, whether it be a direct donation or volunteer hours to a community agency. Annually, the LifeBuilders Program hosts their Cocktail Party/ Golf Tournament fundraiser; yet, due to COVID, the fundraiser had to be spilt into two different events this year. Ms. Litty advised the most they have raised in the past was $81,000, this year in the Golf Tournament alone they raised $83,000 and will host their cocktail party on Saturday January 29, 2022. Ms. Litty further shared she has seen firsthand this program be beneficial to its participants and the community. She is grateful for the support the program has received. Regular Meeting Thursday, October 28, 2021 3:34PM 4 | Page 9. PUBLIC COMMENT Lieutenant James Gagliano from the Fort Pierce Police Department reported they have, 123 budgeted positions and 10 grant funded positions. Currently they are staffed with 113 sworn employees. In September, they promoted a lieutenant and 5 sergeants. Clerk Michelle Miller announced her office was a recipient of the 20th Annual Best Places to Work in St. Lucie County award from the St Lucie County Human Resource Association. Commissioner Bartz disclosed they plan on having an Art Exhibit at the Courthouse around January 2022, this exhibit would include work by local artist. They are also working on possibly having murals around the County. Commissioner Bartz also shared they are currently working on bettering the Medical Examiner’s workplace. She is working with fellow counties and Indian River State College. Drug Lab Manager Allison Duffy advised the St Lucie County Drug Lab is busy and operational. Program Manager Alicia Foster advised the Pretrial Program is busy as normal with some adjustments to follow COVID Protocol. Commissioner Bartz thanked everyone for attending. 10. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Linda Bartz adjourned the meeting at 4:20pm. Submitted by, Laura Mejia The next meeting will be held on January 27, 2022.