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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpecial Council November 19 20021 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL Special County Council November 19, 2002 The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by Council Chair L. Ward Nelson in the Alternative Corrections Conference Room, 401 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. Present: Absent: Laurie Caskey- Schreiber Barbara Brenner Seth Fleetwood Sam Crawford Dan McShane Sharon Roy Also Present: • Ron Peterson, Law and Justice Council Coordinator • Kathy Walker, Law and Justice Council Management Information System (MIS) Committee Chair and Whatcom County Prosecutor's Office Administrative Supervisor • Foster Rose, Law and Justice Council Chair • N.F. Jackson, Law and Justice Council Member and Superior Court Clerk • Dave McEachran, Law and Justice Council Member and Whatcom County Prosecutor • Linda Storck, Law and Justice Council Member and City of Bellingham Judicial and Support Services Department Director • Wendy Jones, Law and Justice Council Management Information System Committee Member and Whatcom County Chief of Corrections • George Reid, Law and Justice Council Management Information System Committee Member and Whatcom County Information Services Division Manager • Dr. Robert Gibb, Law and Justice Council Citizen Representative • Josh Nylander, Law and Justice Council Management Information Systems Committee Member and Whatcom County IS Database Administrator • Terry Stach, Whatcom County Corrections Sergeant • Kathleen Marshall ( ?), Law and Justice Council Treatment Provider Representative 1. PRESENTATION - LAW AND JUSTICE MIS PROJECT (AB2002 -403) Special Whatcom County Council, 11/19/2002, Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 it 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. Foster Rose, Law and Justice Council Chair, welcomed everyone and stated that a summary of Law and Justice Council accomplishments has been distributed in the Council packet binder (on file). Ron Peterson, Law and Justice Coordinator, introduced the Management Information System (MIS) Committee members. The committee meets monthly or more. People have been working on the management information system since the mid- 1980's. The history of the project is very important. Pertinent issues regarding MIS is immediate access to the maximum amount of information, especially during emergencies. Community safety allows police officers to know instantly whether someone is a danger to the community. The most important product is working together efficiently and effectively. He explained the history of the development of case management and tracking systems. The system began in 1983 very slowly. The Prosecutor came online in 1989. CompuTech wrote their programs. For each program that came online, the data structure integrated with the others so everything was standardized. The Public Defender came online in 1992, and the Jail in 1993. During this process, the City of Bellingham came into the County's system. Once the Bellingham Police Department came online, they found that 73 percent of data was made available to law and justice users on the system. The other 27 percent was from the small towns in the county. In 1993, subsystem planning began. They got rid of the turf issues and began sharing information so they could identify common fields of data. It took about a year to do that. The budget for this system was denied from 1993 to 1997. This is not a new project. It's been going on for years. In 1994, an agreement facilitated connectivity to the judicial information system. Agencies from all over the state were interested in Whatcom County's success. In 1998, a request for proposals (RFP) was published for a criminal justice information system, but it was too expensive. In 2000, the Law and Justice Council was established. In 1998, Whatcom County's AS400 system began, and receives data for many law and justice agencies in the county. Since 1998, many more agencies have come on board, and technology has been added to the AS400. They used federal High Intensity Drug Traffic Act ( HIDTA) money to get the small cities, U.S. Customs, the border patrol, the Lummi Nation, and the HIDTA intelligence group online. Since then, the Bellingham Police Department has developed long arm, their own software system. Whatcom County will get a system that interfaces with long arm in the future. The top priority in the Law and Justice strategic plan is this data integration projects. The change in technology solved all the turf issues. This plan is based on the internet, which allows them to also connect to the State system. Special Whatcom County Council, 11/19/2002, Page 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. Walker stated the committee decided the best thing was to develop a strategic plan. Each component of the plan will be an independent project. As resources become available, they can take on a project and then see the end results. The first objective is the Whatcom Exchange Network (WENET). Having everyone on one database is an ancient method. They will be as flexible as possible to bring everyone on board. The strategic plan is a draft. They want to create the ability to capture data from a single point to eliminate redundant data entry, eliminate lag time for defenders in the system, track offenders, and create a composite history to make better decisions about offenders. The plan also includes a vision to access information instantly. There are 14 objectives in the strategic plan. The number one objective is the interagency integration WENET, which is connection with the City of Bellingham and then other agencies in the county. They need to have orders, judgments, and police reports online so they can be used immediately. Once they link the projects together, they can produce reports to analyze what is happening in the system. Support the geographic information system (GIS) Committee and the community's public safety communications community to ensure data sharing compatibility. They decided to define 15 data integration standards as they pursued these projects, including those regarding the Legacy system, timely capture of data, maintaining data quality, integrity and security of the data, and other standards. Use state of the art industry standards for any of these projects. She explained the WENET, which will solve the problem of their first objective. They will tag and identify data, create an interface between differing computing system, create a way to route the information between the systems, and each agency will determine whether or not to import, view, or export information. They are not creating a repository for the data. It is a series of queries, and the agencies will decide what information to use to populate their own databases. The agencies have all agreed to share their data and prioritize their input activities. Peterson stated the first step once there is funding is to hire a data integrator to support the project team. Also, get the sharing process up between the County and the Bellingham Police Department right away. Get the rest of the agencies onto sharing within 12 to 18 months. The outcome of all this includes increased officer safety, real time information on the law and justice system, reduced police response times, improved accuracy of information, a lesser staff load, and other benefits. County Executive Kremen has been able to earmark $500,000 for this year and $500,000 next year for the MIS project. Support for the concept is required. Special Whatcom County Council, 11/19/2002, Page 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. They got a signed letter of support from many individuals in the law and justice system in the county. Caskey- Schreiber asked how the County Council would be involved. Walker stated the County Council would have to appropriate the money for this use once it comes to the county. Nelson asked about accessing the federal information. Nylander stated there would be a browser that allows them to access the information in a way that is just like using the internet. In theory, a lot of the information will be dumped into this system. Peterson stated that, in reality, it would be difficult to download federal information. Walker stated they can potentially save $150,000 in data entry costs. (Clerk's Note: End of tape 1, side A.) Roy asked if that federal money would allow them to buy the systems for the deputies' cars. Walker stated that is a million - dollar project itself. Peterson stated it is difficult to estimate how long it will take to get to that point without having specific funding. Jeff Parks, Chief Civil Deputy, stated most estimates are five to ten years. Nylander stated that timeframe might shrink as technology grows. Rose stated they wouldn't be this far along in the process without the Law and Justice Council format that allows them to communicate and collaborate. Nelson asked if the Law and Justice Council has allowed them to get some of those grants. Jackson stated every grant they've gotten has been because the collaborative effort is documented. McEachran stated the law and justice community is speaking with one voice. Jones stated she wrote at least two grants that looked for collaborative efforts in the community as a criterion. It has been a powerful leverage to bring grant money into the County. (Clerk's Note: Councilmember Roy left the meeting.) Special Whatcom County Council, 11/19/2002, Page 4 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. 1 2. PRESENTATION — JUDICIAL SYSTEMS TASK FORCE FOR 2 COORDINATED JUDICIAL RESPONSE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 3 (A132002 -403) 4 5 Storck played an actual 911 tape of a domestic violence emergency call to 6 exhibit the confusion, emotion, and need that are out there. When an officer 7 arrives on the scene, there could be many things that the officer has to deal with. 8 There hasn't been a clear way for the information to be given to the officers or the 9 judges. The number one charge that resulted from a public meeting was to protect 10 victims and children. 11 12 Jackson stated protection orders may conflict or an officer might not have the 13 current information. Officers on the scene will be confused about which orders take 14 precedence. There may be multiple orders because there are multiple crimes, 15 some from multiple jurisdictions. Orders could conflict due to a separate set of 16 facts, different court jurisdictions, and judges unaware of other orders. 17 18 In 1999, the Domestic Violence Commission determined that a major 19 problem is that there are multiple and conflicting orders. In 2000, the Law and 20 Justice Council recommended that the law and justice community focus on how to 21 deal with domestic violence, including a domestic violence court. The County 22 Council approved a study of the issues in 2001. They began a yearlong compilation 23 of information on how to address domestic violence in the community. In 2001, the 24 Gender and Justice Commission provided availability for grants. Law and Justice 25 Council and Commission Against Domestic Violence applied for the grants to focus 26 on the judicial response and problems such as multiple conflicting orders. The goal 27 of the grant for the past year was to design a judicial response to domestic violence 28 by increasing victim safety and insuring offender accountability. In 2002, a 29 community conference decided to move from awareness to action. A task force and 30 steering group were created to draft a blueprint for a countywide judicial response 31 to domestic violence. The steering group includes many people in the community. 32 It created a manual of judicial guidelines for every judge in the county to use. It is 33 the beginning of a process to change abusive behavior. The flaw is that it touches 34 on the criminal, not civil, abusers. 35 36 Realistically, they can address the problem of multiple and conflicting orders 37 by identifying the causes. One common element was to make law enforcement and 38 the judicial element aware of every order by implementing a readily available tool 39 and training all court staff and judges on how to use this tool. He showed an 40 example of the information that is accessible from this tool. The Bellingham Police 41 Department long arm program has a lot more information, but the County isn't 42 integrated with it. Until then, they have Whatcom County folks write a macro to 43 enter data in the same order and in more detail. County staff has done that. That 44 took care of district and municipal courts, but not Superior Court, which handles all 45 orders regarding minors. 46 Special Whatcom County Council, 11/19/2002, Page 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. The Superior Court system is not free text, and won't work with the others. They can't see the details on the other systems. They have to make the orders detailed for judges and law enforcement. It would be great if they were electronic and available on the internet. Until then, they will san them and email them on demand. The Whatcom County Information Services Division has provided limited storage space. They can use a low -cost scanner until the imaging system is available to the court. Now, there are temporary fixes to make all judges and law enforcement aware of orders out of District, municipal, and Superior courts. The Lummi and Nooksack orders are not included. Another temporary solution for that was for the State to enter into a precedent- setting agreement with the Lummi Nation to make them a judicial information system (JIS) Court. They are going to routinely provide orders for Superior Court to scan and make available to all judges. Right now, there is no compliance monitoring for civil litigants. Now, they need to implement the blueprint by monitoring the effectiveness of the temporary solutions, make sure people in civil cases go to batterer's treatment, and finish the how -to manual and get everyone to use it. They still need to decide whether public safety would be better served with a single court and specially trained judges and advocates in a centralized venue. McShane asked if that includes District and Superior courts. Jackson stated they could get rid of the court levels and may be able to combine the criminal and civil. He would like to combine District, Municipal, and Superior courts on this issue. It is doable. All it would take is to designate a Superior Court family law commissioner. He or she would have a full range of jurisdiction. McShane asked the type of domestic violence cases in municipal courts. Jackson stated they are assault cases. McEachran stated District Court sees cases where orders were violated. If there is an assault in violation of an order, it becomes a felony, which goes to Superior Court. Nelson asked how an officer in the field determines priority of jurisdiction. Jackson stated they had to limit the scope. They focused on judicial response. If coincidentally, they create a process that can be used by law enforcement officers, that's good. If they put this front end on the orders, it will virtually eliminate the officer's dilemma. There might me multiple orders, but they won't be conflicting. Fleetwood asked who would implement the superiority of orders. Jackson stated it would take comprehensive training. In writing an order, a judge can eliminate the confusion. Special Whatcom County Council, 11/19/2002, Page 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. Fleetwood asked if law enforcement is trained to know which orders take precedence. Jackson stated no one knows that yet because all they've done is draft the blueprint. They haven't taught anyone about it yet. There are a number of tasks yet to do, including lobbying for a statewide system. Domestic violence legislation will get funding when other things won't. Therefore, they've pushed this solution. They will continue to do that. The Gender and Justice Commission, this grant's sponsor, is a very powerful commission. They are going to get the tribal courts into the JIS. They need to collect more data about the incidents of domestic violence in Whatcom County. They need to find out how to stop recidivism. They also need to find out how well they are doing with their efforts. The Domestic Violence Steering Group is now an ongoing ad hoc committee of the Law and Justice Council. A coordinated judicial response to domestic violence is the one project they can't do without a facilitator. They need that support to continue this effort. (Clerk's Note: End of tape 1, side B.) Michael Bobbink, Judge, stated he has been impressed with the broad participation of the community on the Law and Justice Council. It's the first time they could come together and talk about the different perspectives of the same problems. It has been an eye- opening experience. As coordinated judicial response from this panel, they come up with a lot of ideas. The more information a judge has during a domestic violence trial, the better. They need to pull together all the information. It will produce useful ways to make better decisions to better protect people. The people on the committee are excited about continuing. How far the committee gets will depend on the resources it receives. They don't want to lose this committee as a resource. Rose stated he was invited to be on the Law and Justice Council, which was assigned $1.8 million. The various committees made recommendations on how to spend the money, and the recommendations totaled much more than $1.8 million. Sheriff Brandland was the first one to sacrifice his recommendation. Each department head tried to figure out what could be sacrificed. In the end, the department heads made cuts to make up the program Sheriff Brandland sacrificed. He is very impressed with the caliber, commitment, intelligence level, and ability to collaborate with the Whatcom County department heads. The Law and Justice Council wants the money back that the County Council did not approve last week. The effort cannot be done any other way. It will hold back progress. The Law and Justice Council provides a format for everyone to come together and find solutions. Restore the funding. It will make a huge difference in every aspect of law and justice in this system. Caskey- Schreiber stated she voted against the funding because the Law and Justice Council was set up to be an advisory council to the County Council, however Special Whatcom County Council, 11/19/2002, Page 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. she has been on the County Council for a year and has not heard anything from the Law and Justice Council. She was also offended when the consultant's information was parceled out to her. The Law and Justice Council's work has impressed her, but the message from the administration has been to cut costs. Rose stated it is unfortunate that the Law and Justice Council calendar is not synchronized with the budget calendar. These things were not ready to go when the County Council entered its budget process. There is no one to blame for that. Dr. Roe's work is a small component of the law and justice view of how things work. Providing that data is easier said than done. They were charged with making the data "apple - izing." Marshall stated the Law and Justice Council budget was in the County Executive's budget in the past. This is the first year it is separate from that. Originally the Law and Justice Council had $50,000 from the County and $40,000 from the City of Bellingham. This year, the Law and Justice Council only requested a total of $38,000. The Law and Justice Council voluntarily reduced its budget. Valum stated the County Council will now hear from the Law and Justice Council monthly. Jones stated the County Council will begin to receive the minutes from the Law and Justice Council meetings. The Law and Justice Council didn't realize there was a communication disconnect with the County Council. McEachran stated one of the biggest planning projects was the jail. They were on target to launch a plan in the spring. The Executive's Office asked them to hold back in favor of other funding priorities. In holding it back, that information didn't get to the County Council. Caskey- Schreiber stated she expressed her concerns about the Law and Justice Council last January, but she didn't hear from anyone about it. McShane stated there was a communication breakdown. A contract came forward, and the County Council paused on it. Gibb asked if the County Council could fund the supplemental request. Nelson stated there were a lot of discrepancies between the administration and the Law and Justice Council. There are a lot of things that are coming down. The Law and Justice Council needs to talk with County councilmembers that voted against the budget request to find out if it is worthwhile to bring forward a supplemental budget request. Rose stated involvement and participation by the citizens on the Council is important. They want to discuss this further with the County Council. The Law and Justice Council feels strongly that it needs to make recommendations to the County Council, just as the Planning Commission or any other body makes Special Whatcom County Council, 11/19/2002, Page 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 it 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. recommendations to the County Council. The Law and Justice Council, as a new body, has struggled to refine the format to make those recommendations. Nelson stated he wanted to see a projected timeframe to solve all the problems. A policy decision is whether or not they want to fund another permanent advisory body. Information on timelines and deliverables should come forward. Caskey- Schreiber stated they are talking about deliverables and accountability. The original intent of the Law and Justice Council was advisory to the County Council. It seems to be something else now. They may need to look at restructuring how the Law and Justice Council funds itself. McEachran stated the Law and Justice Council is set up by statute. It reports to the County Council. Caskey- Schreiber asked why requested data has to be filtered to the Council. McShane stated the issue is that there are structural problems. It's not that he is not supportive. He doesn't know what the Law and Justice Council is doing. The question for him is whether or not he should fund something for which he doesn't know what is happening. Figure out a way to communicate better. Today was helpful, but they went in one direction. The Law and Justice Council, particularly the citizen members, need to listen to the County Council also about budget constraints. Jackson asked how the Law and Justice Council has failed to provide requested information to the County Council. Valum stated the Roe contract was with the County Executive. Caskey- Schreiber stated that is the problem. When she asked to see the results of the raw data, she was denied it. McShane stated the County Council needs to figure out what it needs from the Law and Justice Council in order to support the Law and Justice Council requests. The County Council will probably have a discussion in its Finance Committee. The County Council would like to have a little bit of control over the Law and Justice Council and how it gets information. There is a concern that, given the amount of money spent on law and justice issues in general, the Law and Justice Council is becoming a cheerleading group for spending more money. The way around that is for the County Council to work with the citizens on the Law and Justice Council. Valum stated there are two problems. One problem is about protocol. A communication protocol needs to be established. The Law and Justice Council has done a good job of respecting the role of the County administration and Executive's Office of being an interface with the County Council. If that is not effective, then they need to establish a new and clearer protocol. Special Whatcom County Council, 11/19/2002, Page 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. The Law and Justice Council can ebb and flow. Look at what they need for the next three years, which will be a really tough phase. Right now, they are in a critical phase. OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 4:10 p.m. Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription These minutes were approved by Council on January 14 , 2003. ATTEST: Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON L. Ward Nelson, Council Chair Special Whatcom County Council, 11/19/2002, Page 10