TEXARKANA ARKANSAS POLICE DEPARMTENT

MONTHLY REPORT

APRIL 2005

ROBERT H. HARRISON

CHIEF OF POLICE

Personnel

We continue this reporting period with three (3) police officer positions frozen and one (1) Docket Coordinator’s position frozen.  The Chief of Police’s administrative secretary is on extended medical leave pending retirement on or about July 1, 2005.

The following personnel actions occurred during this month:

Retirements  None

Resignations None

Hiring None

Promotions None

Terminations None

Training

January          364

February         798

March            550

INDEX CRIME

2004 YTD INDEX CRIME
Offenses	March 2003	March 2004	Crime Trends
Criminal Homicide	0	0	0%
Forcible Rape	2	1	-50%
Robbery	1	13	1200%
Aggravated Assault	23	42	55%
Violent Crime Index	26	56	115%
Burglary	28	25	-11%
Larceny-Theft	95	120	21%
Motor Vehicle Theft	14	4	-71%
Property Crime Index	137	149	9%
Total Crime Index	163	205	26%
Simple Assaults	108	105	-3%

2005 YTD INDEX CRIME
Offenses	2004 YTD	2005 YTD	Crime Trends
Criminal Homicide	1	0	-100%
Forcible Rape	4	2	-50%
Robbery	7	21	200%
Aggravated Assault	48	106	110%
Violent Crime Index	60	129	102%
Burglary	77	66	-14%
Larceny-Theft	272	339	20%
Motor Vehicle Theft	24	24	0%
Property Crime Index	373	429	13%
Total Crime Index	433	653	32%
Simple Assaults	196	210	7%

Narcotics

OPERATIONS

Calls for Service

Grant Status

Expires 12/31/2005 This grant pays one half of purchase cost of bullet proof body armor for police officers.  National Institute of Justice Standards (BJA/NIJ) recommends that body armor be replaced every five years and the agency provides body armor for every officer and replaces according to NIJ replacement recommendations.

Expires 10/28/05 LLEBG block grants have been one of our longest running grants and have been very liberal in the areas grant funds could be spent on.  This grant pays the full salary and fringe for a civilian warrant/complaint officer and the salary for a part-time civilian fleet maintenance technician.  The federal amount is $34,417 and the local match is $3,824.  The funds from this grant have been expended and finance has closed out the grant with BJA.  It currently has a $0.00 fund balance.  This grant will drop off the management report effective July of 2005.

10/28/07 This grant pays the partial salary of our civilian warrant/complaint officer.  This is the last of the BJA/LLEBG grants from the Department of Justice.  Our federal amount is approximately $17,500 and the local match will be about $1,800.  This was a significant reduction from the 2003 LLEBG Block Grant last year.  The LLEBG block grant has been phased out and becomes part of the new Justice Administration Grants (JAG) for FY 2005.

Expires 06/30/05 This grant pays the salaries for TAPD personnel in the Bi-State Narcotics Task Force.  This is a multil-jurisdicitional task force consisting of TAPD, TTPD & MSCO personnel.  This is our longest running grant project. It funds the salaries of five police officers.  The federal amount is $211,648 and local match is $91,232.  Our task force has been one of the more successful in the State of Arkansas.  We have heard some rumors from the Office of Intergovernmental Services there will be a reduction in funding of all Narcotic Task Forces in Arkansas for next year.

Expires 09/30/05 This grant pays the full salary of a police investigator to investigate all cases involving violent crimes committed against women.  This year a police liaison position (case coordinator) was added.  The state amount is $74,814, and the local in-kind match is $24,938.

Expires 09/30/05 This grant pays overtime for DWI, speed, and occupant protection enforcement.  Federal amount is $44,000 with no local match.  We have submitted a request for an increase to $66,000 in FY 2005 starting on 10/01/2004 through 09/30/2005.  Local match is 50% in-kind using a salary off-set from one of the patrol officers assigned to the Special Operations Traffic Section as match.  This program started in 1991 and has been funded for approximately 13 years.  We have submitted a request for an additional $15,000 dollar increase in our FY 2006 funds for next year.  This grant overlaps our budget year due to the State of Arkansas being on a different physical year.

Expires 12/31/05 The THA’s share is $85,000.00 and the city picks up the balance needed for salary and fringe for two officers.  THA officers are primarily responsible for Texarkana Housing Authority property.  The approximate match is 75% federal and 25% local match.  The funds received from THA have been deposited into the regular salary line item to simplify our budget tracking.

Project Completion Date is TBA (Estimated 12/2005) The City of Texarkana Arkansas and County of Miller have received a $3.9 million dollar radio/communications grant to upgrade City/County radio communications equipment and infrastructure as part of the Arkansas Wireless Information Network over the next two years.  This will allow radio communication interoperability between police, fire, emergency medical, sheriff, public works, water department, and other first responders.  This is by far one of the most important grants the city/county has ever received.  The major benefit of this project is it will allow the police department and fire department to purchase some new radio equipment and upgrade our infrastructure saving money that can be used for other capital projects.  Police radios have a service life of about 15 years.  The AWINS radio system infrastructure used by the State of Arkansas will require that we start migrating from analog to digital equipment for interoperability with other state agencies in Arkansas.  Upon completion of the project we do not anticipate needing to upgrade the radio infrastructure until FY 2015.  This project has been an especially difficult to manage as Miller County & the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) are making most of the decisions on infrastructure needs. 

Expires 03/31/2007 This three year grant funds two (2) police officers for assignment to TASD as School Resource Officers.  One SRO will be assigned to Arkansas High School and one at North Heights Junior High School.  The Texarkana Arkansas School District has agreed in principal to continue to fund the positions for an additional two budget cycles after the federal portion expires, which will in reality fund the two officers through 03/31/09.

Expires 08/01/2005 This is a one year grant that is funded by the COPS Office to provide security upgrades to the new Arkansas Senior High School under construction in the amount of $89,206.00 dollars.  The grant was applied for by the Texarkana Police Department on behalf of Texarkana Arkansas School District Number # 7.  This grant is different from other COPS grants we have applied for with a 50%-50% match being provided by the Texarkana Arkansas School District and the DOJ COPS Office.  The grant was applied for in July of 2004 and was to run for 12 months.  We have been notified by the COPS office that we are eligible for an extension on behalf of the school for an additional 12 months due to a delay in the award (March 21, 2005).  Depending on how the construction of the new High School goes, we may have to ask for an extension.  The City should be able to draw down the funds during May of 2005.  We will keep you posted on our progress with TASD #7.