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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-06-23 Council Work Session Agenda PacketCouncil Work Session Agenda June 23, 2022 – 5:30 pm 1. Call to Order / Roll Call 2. Police Officer Recruitment and Retention 3. Unscheduled Items 4. Adjournment *Includes Materials - Materials relating to these agenda items can be found in the house agenda packet book located by the Council Chambers entrance, or online at the City’s website at www.corcoranmn.gov. HYBRID MEETING OPTION AVAILABLE The public is invited to attend the regular Council meetings at City Hall. Meeting Via Telephone/Other Electronic Means Call-in Instructions: +1 312 626 6799 US Enter Meeting ID: 885 1944 1256 Press *9 to speak during the Public Comment Sections in the meeting. Video Link and Instructions: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88519441256 visit http://www.zoom.us and enter Meeting ID: 885 1944 1256 Participants can utilize the Raise Hand function to be recognized to speak during the Public Comment sections in the meeting. Participant video feeds will be muted. In-person comments will be received first, with the hybrid electronic means option following. For more information on options to provide public comment visit: www.corcoranmn.gov Item 2. 1 8200 County Road 116  Corcoran, MN 55340 763-420-2288  www.ci.corcoran.mn.us MEMO Meeting Date: June 23, 2022 To: City Council From: Jessica Beise, City Administrator Re: Police Officer Recruitment and Retention ____________________________________________________________________ The Council has had general conversations this year related to Police recruitment and retention. Staff has prepared a list of potential options with recruitment and retention ideas. A poll was conducted of Council but did not narrow the scope of ideas. Attached are a list of recruitment and retention ideas. Staff would like to discuss the ideas and get feedback to proceed with refining the ideas and preparing for the 2023 budget. As the City is looking at it’s overall compensation and benefits program in 2023 some of the programs could be implemented Citywide. Attachment: Recruitment and Retention Ideas Police Officer Recruitment and Retention Ideas Paid Sabbatical: This idea is currently emerging from the employee mental health portion of the profession. It is usually designed as a pre-planned and pre-scheduled leave to allow officers to disconnect from the job and focus on self-care and recovery. It generally takes 8 days away for a person to reach the initial peak recovery period and the remaining time should be focused on self-care, repair and rebuilding of relationships, and resiliency initiatives. The terms are open for consideration, but the typical recommendation is 30 days for every 4 years of service. At first glance this seems to work against our department’s pressing staffing needs but with a year or more to plan for staff coverage and potentially not losing officers in the long term I believe this would translate into a net gain for the city. Under current conditions, with shorter notifications to the department and other employee needs for PTO, extended time away from the job is difficult to accomplish. Vacation Reimbursement: This idea is not related to the actual time off (that’s PTO), it is rooted in encouraging recreation and family connections. Often, especially in law enforcement, PTO is taken to do other work; whether it’s to accomplish tasks at home that are not easily accomplished while working night shift, or to work a supplemental job. This would be structured as a reimbursement for travel or recreation expenses. A model may look like this: An employee is eligible to be reimbursed for up to $1,000 a year in travel/vacation expenses. This reimbursement can be carried over for up to 3 years at which point it is capped. If the City funded the employee portion as it went, the actual budgetary impact would be marginal compared to the rest of the employee benefit expenses. Additional Retirement Health Insurance Contributions: Due to several factors including the physical demands of the job, law enforcement officers typically retire from the profession between the ages of 50-55. A majority of the officers’ knowledge, skills, and abilities that they have accumulated over the prior decades don’t readily translate into other career fields. At the point of retirement, officers are forced to either pay health insurance costs out of pocket from their pension or find an entry level career that will help pay for medical expenses until they reach 65. Historically, many entities, including the City of Corcoran until 2013, paid for post-retirement health insurance for police officers. This became unsustainable for obvious reasons. This idea would be for the city to allocate post-retirement health insurance funds for each police officer that would accumulate throughout the officer’s career, payable only upon retirement in good standing (not separation). The city could also collect interest on these funds while their allocations sat. If an employee does not retire through PERA and leaves for another agency, the City’s employee allocation would revert back to the city’s general fund. An example from the employee’s perspective might look like: Upon notification from PERA of retirement from law enforcement, the City will provide each officer with a lump sum post-retirement health insurance contribution into to the employee’s MSRS account. The contribution will be in the amount of $300 for each month of accrued service after January 1, 2023. If the employer is already obligated to pay for the employee’s health insurance or an employee separates for any reason other than retirement from law enforcement, they shall not be entitled to the contribution. Qualifying Club Membership or Personal Development Lessons Reimbursement: Reimbursing employees up to $100 a month for membership in clubs or organizations that support physical wellness or a job-related skill. Examples may include a health club, gun club, cycling club, or gym membership. Personal development could include a wide range of options like rock climbing, martial arts, or scuba diving. Additional Career Development Opportunities: Officers have requested additional career development opportunities. While these opportunities obviously benefit our community, many are delayed in our staffing plans due to the immediacy of demand for other types of service to the community. Out of necessity, we are currently a very patrol- oriented police department. Career development opportunity examples requested include a Street Crimes or Drug Task Force position, being a contributing member to a regional SWAT team, a Career Enrichment Detective position, or a Financial Crimes Task Force position. Fitness Incentives: Some agencies elect to offer financial incentives for staff members that meet certain physical fitness standards. This can be a little complex to administer as agencies need to ensure that their program does not disproportionately impact people based on things like age or gender. Assigned Take Home Squads: This idea is focused on the officers having a consistent and well maintained “office space” as a take home squad car. It carries an up-front cost of adding to the fleet, but the actual number of patrol miles accumulated on city vehicles wouldn’t change. The city would get longer life, and better care of the vehicles. It would also alleviate some of the squad storage issues we are already facing with our current facility. Most sheriff’s offices throughout the state (along with the State Patrol) provide the deputies/troopers with take-home squads and it is a deciding factor for many job seekers. The cost to the city would be in the initial capital for the fleet additions and the cost of fuel and mileage between the officers’ home and the city. Allowable take home distance varies but is typically limited to 20-30 miles from the jurisdiction. The department would need to add 4 squad cars to accomplish this today. Financial Planning Services: Effective financial planning is an important part of managing life. By providing city sponsored financial advisors for employees it would assist them in managing their personal finances and navigate life changing events like education expenses, retirement planning, or divorce. Education Financial Incentives: The city currently helps pay for college expenses for employees. This alternative would provide an ongoing education incentive as a percentage of an employee’s base wage. This rewards people for the completion of the degree and its application rather than paying towards education that an employee may or may not complete. Compensated Community Service Hours: Officers are reimbursed up to 4 hours of comp time per month for time spent in community service roles in Corcoran or their home community. Examples include coaching youth, scouting, big brother/big sister programs, etc. Hiring and Referral Bonuses: New employees receive a hiring bonus after the successful completion of probation (several metro agencies currently have a $5,000 hiring bonus). and/or Current employees that refer an agency to our department receive a referral bonus after the employee stays for two years. Family Training and Support: The city could develop some form of a family training and support program to assist families in managing the stressors and impacts of the job at home. Retirement Transition Assistance: The city could put in place a well-designed retirement transition assistance program. It would need to be designed robustly enough to act as an incentive to want to retire from the agency. It may include a combination of financial, social, physical, or emotional support.