Date: March 8, From: Chief Michael F. Masterson

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1 Date: March 8, 2007 To: Mayor David H. Bieter and Boise City Council From: Chief Michael F. Masterson MEMORANDUM Re: Proposal to integrate Boise Airport Police into the Boise Police Department On February 22, 2007, Assistant to the Mayor Jade Riley and I appeared before the Boise Airport Commission to summarize the findings and recommendations of our report concerning the proposed merger of airport police into the Boise Police Department (see memorandum attached). Although the Commission did not take formal action, commissioners through their comments indicated their unanimous support for the recommendation and offered additional guidance as we move forward. Key discussion points offered by the Commission were as follows: A belief that the pooling of resources (Boise Airport Police and Boise Police Department) has the potential to improve operations for both agencies. Continued quality customer service should remain the central focus driving the decision, with potential cost savings a secondary consideration. Assurances of a parallel reporting relationship of the BPD airport Lieutenant who will eventually be chosen to lead the airport division. Assignments to the Airport for police officer position shall continue to be based on customer service performance expectations and a willingness to perform the specialized nature of work the assignment requires. Consultation with military officials as additional planning occurs to incorporate their input on transitional issues impacting their business plans. Next Steps March 13, 2007 Presentation of Report to City Council with additional input and guidance offered by Council members. March 20, 2007 A detailed financial cost analysis including personnel and operation costs to be completed by a staff team consisting of representatives from Airport, HR, BPD, and Finance and Administration. The financial model will include looking at a variety of assumptions, including one-time costs associated with the merger, plus potential savings or additional operation costs.

2 March 20, 2007 The development of a professional services contract agreement to hire an individual to identify and make recommendations on all transitional planning issues associated with the merger. This task includes personnel and compensation issues, operational procedures, vendor contracts, equipment, policy issues and training. Expected costs are less than $10,000. Early April 2007 Report back to Council. April 9, July 2007 Retain services of a consultant to assist in transitional planning, which will be expected to begin on or about April 9, 2007, and last until completion of work. Ongoing Continued briefings and consultation with the Boise Airport Commission through written correspondence and presentations at future commission meetings. Please let me know if you approve of this plan and if you need additional information from me. Thanks.

3 Date: February 20, 2007 To: Boise Airport Commission From: Police Chief Michael F. Masterson MEMORANDUM RE: Evaluation of Integration of Airport Police into the Boise Police Department OVERVIEW On or about October 2006, at the request of Mayor Bieter, Boise Police Department (BPD) began a dialogue with Airport Police and other parties regarding the possibility of merging Airport police services with BPD. The fundamental question to be answered through this inquiry: Would a Boise Police merger with the Airport Police enhance safety and services to the citizens of Boise? To respond to this inquiry, BPD leadership determined to undertake the following tasks: 1. Initiate informal discussions with the acting Airport Director, Gary Fraise, and determine operational needs during the transition to new Airport leadership. 2. Meet with Airport Police leadership to discuss their immediate needs and how the BPD might assist them in continued high levels of service. 3. Discuss potential merger of operations with Airport Officers, Airport Operations, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), City of Boise Human Resources, and Boise Fire Department. 4. Review existing contracts, personnel structures, schedules, deployment, finances, and specialty teams. 5. If appropriate, determine and propose merger timelines, leadership structure, and reporting responsibilities. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATION Merging Airport Police into the Boise Police Department makes good business sense, would improve effectiveness and efficiency, and would enhance citizen and officer safety. BACKGROUND The Boise Police Department entered into Airport Police services in the 1970s. At that time, the Airport and Campus sections were developed to provide police services to each venue as well as to provide a structure to orient and train incoming BPD officers.

4 Newly hired officers were initially assigned to the Airport, where they would undergo initial training, testing and challenge POST for an Idaho Basic Certificate. During their Airport assignment, officers would work and monitor the X-ray machine and magnetometer; foot patrol the concourse; monitor and enforce taxi rules and parking laws; enforce speeding laws on the Airport loop; and patrol a series of gates around the Airport perimeter. After completing their Airport assignments, officers would be assigned to the Campus section (Boise Junior College, now Boise State University) as the second part of their training program and would move on to non-campus assignments when personnel openings occurred. In 1992, the City Council created a separate Airport Police Department through the passage of Resolution #R The Department was made up of POST-certified officers, fully qualified police officers in the State of Idaho, with jurisdiction powers limited to Airport property unless specifically requested by a Boise Police Department sergeant. ANALYSIS The evaluation of whether integration of Airport Police operations with BPD would be an appropriate addition to BPD s business plan involved four principal assessments: Benchmark comparisons with other airports. Consultation with key stakeholders. Financial analysis. Resource utilization assessment. Benchmark Comparison A sampling of airports across the country [Attachment A] reveals several models of airport policing, dependant largely upon the airport s governance structure. Airport operations selected for review were the current employers of the two Police Chief finalists and the three Airport Executive Director finalists, as well as a sampling of airports that responded to an Internet inquiry. Airports operated by an independent agency or authority typically employ a special police department to police the airport. In part, this may be due to the fact that such airport authorities often operate the largest of our aviation facilities as well as operating sea port facilities. Examples include the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the New York / New Jersey Port Authority. The specialized nature of duties required at both types of facilities probably drives the need for a separate police agency. Other airports, whether county or city owned, generally exist as enterprise operations with policing responsibilities falling to the City police or County sheriff. Consultation with Key Stakeholders We have contacted Renn Ross, Boise Fire Chief; Dave Hanneman, Deputy Fire Chief; and Douglas Melvin, Federal Security Director/Idaho Transportation Security Administration, for their views on current operations and the integration potential of Airport Police operations into the Boise Police Department. 2

5 Mr. Melvin is familiar with the services provided by both the Airport and BPD, and believes the effectiveness and efficiency of the law enforcement activities at the Airport will greatly improve with a merger. I also believe this is an excellent opportunity to reduce law enforcement costs at the Airport, while best supporting and serving current and future officers. Most importantly, by improving the overall effectiveness and efficiency of law enforcement services, this change has the potential to greatly improve security at the Airport. [Attachment B] Discussions with the Boise Fire Department produced similar findings. One of the weaknesses identified of current Airport staff is the absence of incident command system (ICS) training for Airport leaders responsible for making executive decisions in critical incidents. Airport Police have relied on FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) schools largely because this training is provided at little or no cost to participating agencies. Unfortunately, the State of Idaho does not recognize these schools for ICS. Additionally, although airports are generally listed very high as potential terrorist targets, emergency preparedness leaders from Airport, Fire and Police have not frequently met to discuss and strategize incident response to the Airport. This was most evident in the area of emergency management, bomb threats, suspicious devices, active shooters, plane crashes, highjackings, and domestic terrorism events. These deficiencies are restricting our opportunities to train together for routine and critical incidents and leave us less than prepared to handle crisis incidents effectively and safely should they occur. Additionally, the lack of ICS certification for leaders making critical decisions creates a potential liability for the City and the Airport as an enterprise should such an incident occur. Merging Airport Police with BPD would integrate training and standards, thus enhancing public safety and officer safety when preparing for and responding to emergencies on or near the Airport. Financial Analysis Airport police officers are close to current BPD pay scales. In addition, they earn a pay differential of $.35/hour for swing duty and $.50/hour for night duty. Field Training Officers earn a $.50/hour differential while acting as FTOs. First Responder Certification incentives are $.75/hour initially and $1.00/hour once recertified. (There are 13 officers qualified in these First Responder positions, which are just under EMT certification.) On initial examination, the Department of Finance and Administration has advised that the salary adjustments resulting from a merger of Airport Police with BPD would be have little or no substantive impact on personnel costs. Should the merger proposal move forward, a more indepth analysis of compensation issues would be performed. Resource Utilization Assessment As an independent enterprise agency, Boise Airport, including Airport Police, has become an autonomous operation with very little reliance on BPD. While we have an Memorandum of Understanding to guide BPD s supervisory authority over pursuits originated by Airport Police, interaction between the two agencies is limited. Merger of Airport Police with BPD has potential for additional effectiveness and efficiencies by using existing staff from both agencies to support each other when the need arises. In the event an incident occurs at the Airport, officers from patrol or community policing would be available on duty to assist. Likewise, should an incident occur adjacent to the Airport, officers working the 3

6 Airport may be initial first responders to stabilize control of the situation until additional resources arrive to assist. BPD s training team can identify, arrange, and schedule in-house and specialized training opportunities for Airport officers. Airport policing has changed dramatically since late The demands of the position now require specialized training and resources, working knowledge of TSA security requirements, and partnerships with other agencies that provide services to the facility. In addition, the Airport Police Department has been constantly challenged by employee turnover as officers seek other opportunities in policing. Our initial analysis of the current Airport staffing structure indicates a potential for cost savings in administrative and operation positions at the facility. Specifically: 1. One of the possible changes would be to examine current job descriptions and duties to determine whether parking enforcement and crowd observation could be handled by civilians with parking enforcement authority rather than by sworn officers. 2. The Airport Police Department pays approximately $20,000 annually to the Ada County Sheriff s Organization for records management. There may be cost savings in this area should the City decide to consolidate. 3. There is currently no support at Boise Airport for court notification or subpoenas requesting copies of digital records. BPD has agreed (effective January 2007) to provide those services using existing staff at no additional cost. Should the work demand significantly increase in this area, the potential for additional resources should be expected. 4. Opportunities may exist to integrate Airport s six certified bomb dogs into BPD s current EOD Regional Response Team and in our community policing initiatives, such as school presentations, etc. 5. Since Airport police officers are presently considered general employees by the City, discipline is handled differently than with BPD officers. The complaint and disciplinary process would become the same for all officers and would eliminate the need for the separate process now administered by the City of Boise s Human Resources Department. 6. Approximately 90% of the Airport Police policy manual is identical to the BPD manual. The biggest difference involves operations at the Airport, which are specifically covered in Airport Policy #13 and specific general orders. There would be no additional cost associated with this change. Preliminarily, BPD has proposed making Airport Police a specialty position, much like Neighborhood Contact Officers, School Resource Officers, etc. BPD would develop a training program and, as Airport Police positions become vacant, begin to integrate and fill those positions with BPD officers who would apply and compete just as any other BPD specialty. In terms of command structure, the Department proposes assignment of a BPD officer as Airport Lieutenant, with a parallel reporting relationship between the Airport and BPD. The Airport Lieutenant would be physically located at the Airport, with an expectation of being part of the Airport safety team, giving daily operational briefings to the Airport management team or as designated by the Executive Director. BPD anticipates that it would serve a ongoing consultational role with Airport leaders on major operational issues affecting or likely to affect the facility. 4

7 CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS Boise Police Department proposes merging Airport Police operations into BPD, effective at the start of Fiscal Year 2008 (October 1, 2007). While cost savings may not be substantial at first, many opportunities exist to improve the quality of services the Airport currently receives at the same or lower costs. BPD proposes the following transition plan: 1. BPD will work with the Mayor s Office, City Council, Airport leadership (including the new Airport Director), the Airport Commission, and other stakeholders to explain the reasons for the change, explore any outstanding issues, and to outline what quality assurances would be offered under BPD leadership. Under the leadership of Chief Mike Masterson, BPD has transitioned to a customer-service philosophy and has gained a great deal of recent hands-on experience through contract policing at the Boise State University campus. 2. Use the interim period to evaluate operations, transitional planning needs as well as partnering requirements to make recommendations in May 2007 for the Fiscal Year 2008 budget. 3. Retain the services of a consultant, possibly a former Deputy Chief having exceptional facilitative skills, excellent writing ability, historical knowledge of the Boise Police Department and familiarity with Airport history and operations; understating of union and contractual issues; ability to assemble employee transitional teams to help identify and propose solutions to integration issues and challenges that will become evident as two agencies begin to combine services and personnel into one. Thank you for this opportunity to outline these important issues. Boise Police Department and the Office of the Mayor look forward to working with all interested stakeholders in ensuring we deliver the highest quality services for our citizens and Boise Airport customers. 5

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