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NHPD 2023 Year End Report 2023 Annual Report New Hope Police Department Lorilee Stafford City of New Hope 2023 Annual Report 1 Letter from the Chief Tim Hoyt, Chief of Police As the old saying goes, “what a difference a year makes.” While we as people naturally change with the time, this was never truer for me, personally, over the past couple of years. My time as acting City Manager was a professional journey that I will look back upon fondly and I’m so proud of how our entire city staff handled themselves during the hiring transition of our new City Manager. I can say with great confidence that City Hall is in great hands – as always – as I get back to having a single title: Chief of Police. This past year our police department maintained full staffing, both sworn and non-sworn, which enabled us to remain steadfast in our commitment and service to New Hope without the burden of staffing shortages that we are seeing all around us. I truly believe that our dedication and professionalism is second-to-none as we endeavor to keep our community safe and be a police department that our residents can be proud of. I look forward to continuing to join with our community as we work toward the common goal of learning from the past to better the future. Trust is the key to positive change, and the New Hope Police Department will lead by example in earning that trust. Sincerely, Chief Tim Hoyt 2 Mission Statement It is the mission of the New Hope Police Department to protect the lives and property of our residents and visitors, to reduce fear and enhance safety, and to work side by side with our diverse community. We are bound to do so with honor and integrity while holding each other to the highest of standards in order to earn public trust. Vision Statement To professionally serve – as well as represent – our diverse community as we strive for togetherness through accountability and transparency, all while ensuring New Hope continues to be a safe place to live, work and visit. Mission and Vision Statements 3 New Hope Police Department Organizational Chart 4 Department Divisions -Patrol- Captain Dave Johnson Captain Dave Johnson has been the head of the patrol division since he was appointed in 2021. He is responsible for all duties related to the patrol division. The patrol division currently is comprised of 24 officers. Including six sergeants, sixteen patrol officers, one K9 team, and one dedicated traffic officer. The patrol division is responsible for many duties including but not limited to, field training program, firearms program, defense and arrest tactics program, SWAT, mobile field force operations, predatory offender registration, citizens’ police academy, police reserves, and police explorers. Also under the supervision of Captain Johnson are four full time community service officers and one animal control officer. Patrol Captain Internal AffairsMobile Field ForcePatrol Patrol Sergeants Patrol Officers K9 OfficersReservesCommunity Service OfficersTraffic OfficerExplorers SWATAnimal Control Captain Johnson oversees the Explorer’s program which continued to be on hold in 2023 while staff from New Hope, Crystal and Robbinsdale developed a plan to go forward with a Tri-City Explorer Post. The post will consist of participants from the Cities of New Hope, Crystal and Robbinsdale and will start in the fall of 2024. Exploring provides training and skill development related to a career in law enforcement and allows a close-up view of what police officers do on a daily basis. The Explorer group generally meets September through April each year, closing out with a conference for posts throughout the state to show off their newly learned skills. The Explorer program is an excellent opportunity to improve personal communication skills, build confidence, become more comfortable speaking in public and other skills required for a future career in any field. 5 Department Divisions -Administrative Division- Captain Scott Slawson Captain Scott Slawson heads the administrative division of the department. This division includes investigations, Clerical Office Supervisor, office support staff, embedded social worker and the Joint Community Police Partnership liasion. In 2023 there was a total of 539 cases assigned to four investigators within the department. Cases also come to this division by way of Hennepin County Child Protection and Hennepin County Adult Protection. This is in addition to the traditional 911 calls and information that investigators obtain from citizens and confidential informants. In addition to investigations, Captain Slawson supervises an investigator who is assigned to the Hennepin County Violent Offender Task Force, and two school resource officers at Cooper High School (note that SRO’s are on hold as of fall 2023. Administrative Captain Investigations Investigators Property/Evidence Technician Drug Task Force School Resource Officers Clerical/Office Supervisor Clerical Staff Embedded Social Worker Joint Community Police Partnership 2023 saw another change in the embedded social worker assigned to the department by Hennepin County as we welcomed Thomas Ford into the role. The department also added a Hennepin County Joint Community Police Partnership liaison to the team, Christina Gillespie. Another addition to the Investigations Division was a new position of Property and Evidence Technician. Melissa DeLeeuw is responsible for maintaining the department’s evidence room and making sure property is returned or properly disposed of when a case comes to conclusion. 6 Department Divisions -Support Staff/Clerical- The Support Service Division is divided into two areas: Clerical and Police Administrative Support. Jeana Allen-Hatcher and her full-time staff (Rhonda Peske, Riley McIlrath and Magaly Velasquez), along with one part-time clerk (Miranda Reed), provide a variety of technical, clerical and information technology services. Other duties of this division include customer service, records management, retention, processing and dissemination of police reports, processing of employee and volunteer background checks, submitting cases to the city and county attorneys, data practices, state compliance requirements and entering/auditing information into the National Crime Information Center system. The clerical staff are responsible for all of the crime reporting to the national database for the Uniformed Crime Report (UCR). All crimes are coded under a system of 64 codes which are sent to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI for the purpose of maintaining and releasing statistical data on crime rates. The police department continues to utilize LETG (Law Enforcement Technology Group) for records management. This program is reaching end of life so the department will be transitioning in the future to a new record management system. The consortium comprised of New Hope, Hopkins, and Plymouth, continued to attend product demonstrations in 2023. Proposals have been received and the consortium is going to be deciding on which product will be the best fit. Jeana Allen-Hatcher Office/Clerical Supervisor Rhonda Peske Full Time Clerk Riley McIlrath Full Time Clerk Magaly Velasquez Full Time Clerk 7 Department Divisions -Investigations- Investigator Galli Investigator Fritzke Investigator Bardon Investigator Keithahn The New Hope Investigations team consists of four detectives, one investigator that is assigned to the Hennepin County Violent Offender Task Force, as well as two full-time school resource officers. Investigations is under the Administration Division. Investigators handle cases generated by the patrol division that require additional follow -up, which includes obtaining search warrants to gather evidence, interviewing subjects, and submitting cases to prosecution for criminal charges. The team has many partnerships and resources that help to bring all the parts of a case together. These include CLEAR, Hennepin County CISA, Hennepin County Crime Lab and The BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension). Once all pieces of the case have been put together investigators then work closely with both the New Hope City Attorney’s Office, as well as the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, to pursue the best possible case outcomes. Investigators also conduct background checks for various city permits such as, massage practice licenses, liquor licenses, and more as of August 1st TCH licenses. They also facilitate intelligence sharing with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. In 2023, the investigations team worked on 539 cases. 8 Department Divisions -K9- 2023 was a transitional year for our K-9 division. Officer Fitzmaurice partnered with K-9 Nyx mid-way through the year. They started doing basic training with Sgt. Robles until August when the 12-week certification course began for the team. Officer Fitzmaurice and K-9 Nyx completed their training on November 10th with Nyx receiving his patrol certification through United States Police Canine Association (USPCA) and National Police Canine Association (NPCA), and his narcotics certification through USPCA. At the end of September Sergeant Robles traveled to Foley Alabama where he was awarded the 2022 (USPCA) National Patrol Case of the Year Award. In February 2022, while an officer, Sgt. Robles and K-9 partner Drago responded to a call about a pursuit ending in a crash with the passenger fleeing and firing shots at the responding officer on the scene. Upon arrival, Officer Robles and Drago set up a perimeter and started a track, which led to the safe apprehension of the suspect. Robles and Drago were also instrumental in recovering the firearm used through their work directing a second K-9 team. Although Sgt. Robles no longer has a K-9 partner he is currently in charge of the department’s K-9 division. Officer Fitzmaurice and K9 Nyx Sergeant Robles and K9 Drago 9 Department Divisions -New Hope SWAT Team- The SWAT team uses Camp Ripley as the site for their weeklong training and mini training sessions. Camp Ripley Training Center is a 53,000-acre facility located near Little Falls, MN. It features numerous ranges and state-of-the- art facilities to support military and civilian agency training requirements. SWAT members utilize the outdoor rifle and handgun ranges, performed force-on-force scenarios using paint marking rounds, and trained in one of the camp’s scenario-based locations. The training center offers unique opportunities for officers to train more freely using flash-bangs and blank ammunition; activities that are not allowed in civilian facilities because they would cause too much disruption and space is limited. New Hope had 11 officers on the SWAT team in 2023. This included one officer acting as a negotiator and one as a driver of the MRAP. Aside from the normal training that is done annually at Camp Ripley the team trained in Forest Lake, Flint Hills, and the Scale Regional Training Facility. 10 Department Divisions -Mobile Field Force (MFF)- The New Hope Police Department is part of the West Command Mobile Field Force (WCMFF). Law enforcement officers from the following agencies are also participating in WCMFF: Airport, Bloomington, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Champlin, Corcoran, Crystal, Deephaven, Eden Prairie, Edina, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Hennepin County Sheriff’s, Maple Grove, Medina, Minnetrista, Minnetonka, New Hope, Orono, Osseo, Plymouth, Richfield, Robbinsdale, Rogers, St. Louis Park, South Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, West Hennepin Public Safety and University of Minnesota. Participating personnel in 2023 with the New Hope Police Department’s Contingent were Sergeant Josh Eernisse, Officer Tony Gust, Officer Mike Keithahn, Officer Brad Kallio, Officer Corey Cracknell, Officer Rajaneé Michael, Officer William Leon- Aguilar, Officer Josh Arthur, Officer Matt Collier, and Officer Lee Larson. The WCMFF provides quarterly training to all members with the different platoons being responsible for hosting a training session. These trainings have included basic movements, legal updates, live scenarios involving over 50 civilian role players. 11 Department Divisions -Animal Control- Animal Control Officer (ACO) Tom Mahan works for both the New Hope and Crystal Police Departments. He has been serving these cities for the past 26 years. ACO Mahan encountered or responded to 209 animal-related incidents during the period of January 1 to December 31, 2023. The number of citizen complaints was 186 or 89% and the number of officer-initiated complaints was 23 or 11%. Of the 186 citizen complaints, 54 (29%) concerned dogs at large, resulting in two (4%) citations, 11 (20%) written warnings and seven (13%) impounds. Overall, citizen complaints included 100 (54%) concerning dogs, resulting in three (3%) citations, 14 (14%) written warnings and 16 (16%) impounds. There were nine dog bites, eight passed through PUPS quarantine without signs of illness and one was reported after the quarantine period. Four of the dogs were labeled Potentially Dangerous. There were four reports of dogs being aggressive: two were dog to dog aggression, one owner received a citation, one was a verbal warning. There were 32 (17%) citizen complaints concerning cats, 30 or 94% were cats at large. These calls resulted in one (3%) citation, two (6%) written warnings and 11 (34%) impounds. There was one reported cat bite which passed through a home quarantine with no signs of illness. Live traps were used at two properties to catch stray cats. There were 54 (29%) citizen complaints concerning other animals with no enforcement actions taken. There was one report of a bat exposure. The bat tested negative for rabies. The 23 officer-initiated incidents included 22 (96%) involving dogs (21 involved dog licenses and one dog at large), resulting in four (18%) citations and 17 (77%) written warnings. There was one (4%) officer-initiated incident involving an injured stray cat taken to a veterinarian. There were no officer-initiated incidents involving other animals. ACO Mahan was also involved in non-animal related calls for service, including: document deliveries, traffic control at accidents and fire calls; motorist assists; medical assists; utility checks; found bicycles; assists at warrant and crime scenes; and vehicle and residential lock outs. He was able to complete three of four inspections of homes with permits-to-exceed the number of pets. When stats for both cities are combined, He encountered or responded to 447 animal-involved incidents during 2023: 209 (47%) in New Hope and 238 (53%) in Crystal. The combined number of citizen complaints was 416 (93%) and the number of officer-initiated complaints was 31 (7%). ACO Mahan also continued the efforts to decrease or maintain a low the number of Canada geese (and thereby decrease the number of complaints about goose feces) in both cities’ parks by addling goose eggs. He obtained the necessary permits from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Minnesota DNR. He spent over five hours, but only located one nest containing 5 eggs in and around Northwood Park in New Hope and Bassett Creek Park in Crystal. Tom Mahan Animal control Officer 12 Department Divisions -Reserves- The New Hope Police Reserve Unit is a volunteer organization of the New Hope Police Department. The Reserve “mission statement” reads: To provide services for the New Hope Police Department that are compatible with the charter and bylaws of the Reserve Unit. In addition, provide services to the City of New Hope, School District 281 and other community organizations… when the requests do not conflict with the commitments to the Police Department. During 2023, the number of reserve patrol officers remained the same, with only five reserve officers. We had one reserve cadet (Alex Peters) who withdrew from the cadet program before completion. Alex Trdan was promoted to Senior Patrol Officer at the end of the year. For 2023, reserve officer activity hours (1201) decreased by 26% when compared to 2022 (1623 hours), and 46% lower than the average of the prior decade (2238 hours). When the hours are normalized by the number of reserve officers on the unit, then our per-officer hours (240) is 3% lower than that of 2022 (258) and 5% above the prior decade (219). Due to the willingness of reserve members to participate in various festivals and local activities, the reserve unit assisted nearby cities for six city festivals and eight other community events in 2023, including Crystal Frolics. They spent 113 hours assisting other cities, compared to 114 hours on average over the last ten years. Without a New Hope city festival in 2023, the police reserves still assisted with several other city-related events, for 61 hours. The unit spent 5 hours on one emergency call-out in 2023, compared with 7 hours on one call-out event in 2022. The only call-out was a traffic incident resulting in a pedestrian fatality. The reserve unit maintained Friday and Saturday patrol activity (7 PM – 2AM) during 2023, although our patrol schedule has been curtailed to mostly just Fridays due to our membership decline. Our patrol hours (512) were down 32% from last year (757 hours). Our 2023 patrol hours were 51% lower than our ten-year average (1056). If patrol hours are normalized by the number of available reserve officers, the per-officer patrol hours in 2023 (102) is just 4% lower than the average (106) over the past decade The New Hope Police Reserves continued their ongoing security detail at New Hope Church on Sunday mornings. These duties consist primarily of a parking lot presence, although we perform security walk-throughs of the church as well. In 2023, the reserve unit provided 194 hours of security detail for New Hope Church. Training consumes a significant amount of time for each Reserve officer. The Reserve unit received 276 hours of training, including cadet training, First Responder (medical assistance for the “first on the scene”), tasers, and driving safety. Unit meetings are conducted on the second Tuesday of each month and in addition to customary business activities, “refresher” training sessions are held covering a variety of topics. In addition, senior reserve officers are involved in providing instruction to junior officers. In 2023, we resumed some training that had been deferred because of availability: We had firearms training for the first time in four years, and the Hennepin County Reserve School was offered again. In 2023, the unit spent 168 hours in training, compared to 276 hours in 2022. Our last-decade average for training is 289 hours, so 2023 saw a reduction of total training hours from our average. 2023 New Hope Reserve Officer of the Year: John Monson - for consistently exceeding performance expectations and in recognition of his dedication/commitment to Reserve initiatives and overall service to the City of New Hope and the New Hope Police Department. Reserve Officer Monson volunteered 281 hours during 2023. 2023 Honorable Mention Plaque: Alex Trdan - volunteered 243 hours during 2023. 13 Department Divisions -Crime Prevention/Community Relations- In 2023 Officer Kallio planned and hosted a multitude of community engagement activities. For the first time this year on Night to Unite a neighborhood was selected randomly from all registrations for a department hosted Ultimate Experience with food provided and grilled by Officer Kallio and City Council Member Isenberg. The Blue Santa event for 2023 once again was well attended and guests did not have to travel in a blizzard this time! The New Hope Police Department hosted 11 families with 26 children who participated in crafts and games, ate pizza and treats, and went home with gifts for all to put under the tree. 2024 promises to be another year of great community events. Officer Brad Kallio Crime Prevention and Community Relations The New Hope Police Department continues to offer a variety of programs to encourage New Hope residents to become involved with crime prevention and community service, including: • National Night out and New Hope’s Night to Unite(NNO/NTU) • Neighborhood Watch Program • Citizen’s Police Academy • New Hope Crime Prevention Fund Board • Crime Free Multi-Housing(CFMH) • Annual Bicycle Rodeo and Bicycle Theft Prevention • Coffee with a Cop • Copsicles • Meals on Wheels • Safety Camp • Blue Santa • Car Seat Checks and Clinics Above: Winning neighborhood of the Ultimate Picnic Below: Staff at Blue Santa event with the man himself. 14 Officer Wellness and Peer Support Team Officer wellness and mental health is a major focus for our department. During their careers, each police officer is likely to encounter between 400 to 600 traumatic events. Most citizens will experience between three or four in their lifetime. With that statistic in mind our department is taking continual steps to ensure the mental well being of our staff. We currently have five members of our department, three sworn and two civilian, that are a part of a Tri- City Peer Support team. This team is comprised of members from New Hope, Crystal and Robbinsdale. These individuals have gone through 30 hours of initial training which included information on mental health, how to recognize someone in crisis, various scenarios, etc. They have also recently finished a two-day 16-hour refresher course. The peer support team is available to staff 24/7 for one on one, group, or critical incident response. Along with our peer support team our department contracts with LE-AST Services for required yearly mental health checks for all sworn staff. Officer Britni Austin Officer Tony Gust Officer William Leon-Aguilar Administrative Specialist Lorilee Stafford Office Supervisor Jeana Allen-Hatcher 15 2023 Department Training In 2023, all sworn police personnel completed POST mandated use of force training and firearm training. Use of force training consisted of the following: • MN POST Board Learning objectives • MN State Statutes pertaining to use of force and deadly force • New Hope Police Department Policies pertaining to use of force and deadly force • Proficiency in unarmed control measures. Skills were taught, and practiced, by all sworn officers in a controlled environment. Firearms Training consisted of the following: • New Equipment familiarization, training and qualifications. • Pistol optics rolled out to entire department • New 40 mm less lethal systems deployed in all police vehicles • MN POST Board approved course of fire for handguns and department issued rifles • Additional drills and training with assigned firearms 2024 Training Goals • Continue our joint-training with neighboring police departments for purposes of strengthening our skills and response to mass casualty and critical incident type situations. • Continue scenario-based training for officers, to strengthen decision making skills in stressful and rapidly evolving situations. • As part of the department’s ongoing succession planning, officers selected for new positions within the department including SWAT, Mobile Field Force, and Investigations will receive additional training and attend courses in preparation for their new assignments. • Supervisory and Command Staff will receive additional training sponsored by FEMA to advance their skills in emergency management. All sworn officers utilize Patrol Online for a wide range of training courses. Patrol Online is self-paced and officers can complete trainings on shift throughout the year. The topics range from mandatory OSHA classes to legal seminars to mental health response and awareness. Minnesota Legislature approved a Public Safety Aid fund package in 2023 providing funds to public safety agencies across the state. These funds are dedicated to public safety related needs. In 2024 the department will be adding new technology with some of the funds provided. Training will be scheduled and implemented as these different things arrive and are put into use. 16 Selected Crime Stats -Special Enforcement- TZD (Towards Zero Deaths) - Traffic and DWI Enforcement The New Hope Police Department participated in the Towards Zero Deaths (TZD) grant again in 2023, funded by the State of Minnesota. TZD is the state’s cornerstone traffic safety program utilizing an enforcement and educational approach to lowering the number of traffic crashes, injuries and deaths in Minnesota. The city also utilizes a speed trailer, which not only deters drivers, but acts as a data collection device, monitoring traffic volume and vehicle speeds. The data derived allows the department to more effectively place a patrol officer for enforcement and education. Citizens can also request that the speed trailer be placed in “problem areas.” TZD (Towards Zero Deaths) New Hope only Stats: • New Hope Officers Participating: 11 • Hours Worked: 337 • Total Traffic stops: 571 • Total arrests: 32 • DWI: 17 • Not a drop/under 21: 0 • Speed Citations: 91 • Speed Warnings: 4 • Unlicensed (DAS/DAR/DAC) Citations: 82 • Move Over Citations: 1 • Use of Cell Phone Citations: 16 • Use of Cell Phone Warnings: 23 • Seatbelt Citations: 4 • Seatbelt Warnings: 4 • Child Restraint Citations: 0 • Equipment Citations: 36 • Equipment Warnings: 105 • Other Moving Violation Citations: 2 17 January 104 February 99 March 74 April 74 May 106 June 72 July 80 August 104 September 73 October 110 November 89 December 67 Selected Crime Stats NIBRS NIBRS GROUP A CATEGORIES • Arson • Animal Cruelty • Assault • Bribery • Burglary/Breaking and Entering • Counterfeiting/Forgery • Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property • Drug/Narcotic Offenses • Embezzlement • Extortion/Blackmail • Fraud • Gambling • Homicide • Human Trafficking • Kidnapping/Abduction • Larceny/Theft • Motor Vehicle Theft • Pornography/Obscene Material • Prostitution • Robbery • Sex Offenses • Stolen Property • Weapon Law Violations Crimes are added to the FBI crime statistics report through the National Incident-Based Reporting System or NIBRS. NIBRS has a coding system consisting of 62 codes related to Part A and Part B crimes. Below is 2023 Part A crime information totals reported for the City of New Hope. 18 Offense Total Arrests Bad Checks (Decommissioned January 2022) 0 Curfew/Loitering/Vagrancy Violations 0 Disorderly Conduct 5 Driving Under the Influence 51 Drunkenness (Decommissioned January 2022) 0 Family Offenses, Nonviolent 0 Liquor Law Violations 2 Peeping Tom (Decommissioned January 2022) 0 Runaway 0 Trespass of Real Property 8 All Other Offenses 35 Grand Total 101 Selected Crime Stats NIBRS GROUP B CATEGORIES • Bad Checks • Curfew/Loitering/Vagrancy • Disorderly Conduct • Driving Under the Influence • Drunkenness • Family Offenses, Nonviolent • Liquor Law Violations • Peeping Tom • Runaway • Trespass of Real Property • All Other Offenses (i.e. unlawful assembly, boating law violations, conditional release violations, etc.) NIBRS Listed below are the Group B crime statistics reported by the City of New Hope in 2023 19 2023 Selected Traffic Stats Breakdown Citations Issued Warnings Issued Total Speed 241 178 419 No MN Driver’s License 67 1 68 DAS, DAR, Canc-IPS 149 7 156 Stop Sign Violations 72 47 119 Inattentive Driving 5 3 8 Equipment Violations 2 38 40 Insurance Violations 44 3 47 Cellphone Violations 68 78 146 Total 648 355 1003 Selected Crime Stats -Traffic Unit- After being suspended for two years 2023 saw the return of a dedicated traffic officer. The traffic unit is responsible for increased traffic contacts, investigating traffic related complaints, enforcing commercial vehicle laws and drug interdiction. The traffic officer is also a certified cars seat installation technician and teaches defensive driving courses in the city. The goal of the traffic unit is to provide education to the public, while reducing the number of crashes within the city’s limits. This high visibility enforcement has proven to be one of the most effective tools in reducing property damage, injuries, and death from traffic-related crashes. In 2023 our traffic officer was the initiating officer of 1260 vehicle stops. Of those stops there were 1274 offenses reported through citations, written warnings, and verbal warnings. Ten of the stops resulted in DWI arrests and seven resulted in arrests for narcotics offenses. Ben Rouse Traffic Officer