[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] I am honored and proud to serve as a police chief for the city of Mesa and lead the men and women of the Mesa Police Department and i' like to present our 2018 annual report each day our police officers carry out their duties to protect and serve the residents of Mesa with the highest level of professionalism and integrity and we do it with your support and the unwavering support from our mayor and city council as a result of several years of incredible work Mesa today is recognized as one of the safest large cities in America additionally as indicated by the most significant measures of community safety Mesa is a safer place to live than it was 10 years ago according to the FBI part one crimes have dropped almost 35% in this time let me share with you the amazing work this team of sworn officers professional staff and generous volunteers has accomplished in 2018 these individuals are from diverse backgrounds of experience ethnicity race and gender and they have joined together with a common goal to Serve and Protect the citizens of Mesa this combination of folks allow the Mesa Police Department to serve its core function of answering a basic 911 call provide the training equipment and vehicles for our officers to arrive at a location to conduct an investigation collect evidence make an arrest and ensure there is a successful prosecution through first class forensic work and other key but behindth scenes aspects which makes the Mesa Police Department successful in 2018 our homicide unit had a clearance rate of over 76% well over the national clearance rate I want to thank the community as well because we could not do this without you for example it was the public that helped us identify the suspect of a high-profile murder at an East Mesa nail salon your tips and the Relentless work by our investigators quickly brought that case to a close keeping you safe on our roads has been a priority for every officer in Mesa whether it has been educating or enforcing traffic laws or getting impaired drivers off the streets in 2018 the Mesa Police Department arrested over 2,700 impaired drivers which was the second leading number in the state of Arizona sex trafficking has been a widely recognized topic Across the Nation and has no borders Mesa PD has been a leader in keeping our community safe with our human exploitation and trafficking Squad in 2018 we increased our partnership with other local law enforcement using undercover officers to proactively identify perpetrators and keep the child Predators from our community at the same time Wellness of victims is an equal focus of the department a very Progressive program was added in 2018 to help victims of child abuse or sexual assault let me introduce Macy a therapy dog who has been in training to help victims feel more at ease while they are telling and reliving traumatic events Macy even brings her calming influence to our very own staff in 2018 our Mesa Community voted yes on two key initiatives first the public safety tax which will ensure that we have a permanent funding stream for new officers second voters approved a bond election they will enable us to build a much needed fifth police station on the northeast portion of the city in addition the bond will allow us to build our first Standalone evidence facility keeping our community safe means stopping crime before it occurs through crime prevention each of the four Patrol divisions have a crime prevention officer assigned to them each are highly experienced well-trained law enforcement professionals responsible for the development implementation and maintenance of custom design programs for each of their unique communities that are focusing on reducing criminal activities at businesses neighborhoods communities and multi- housing facilities these professionals are available to speak with constituents one-on-one or in a group or I invite you to stop by one of our many community events such as coffee custard or pizza with a cop partnering closely with these professionals are Community Action officers who address neighborhood issues they facilitate problemsolving techniques and work with the city Mesa prosecutor's office through Community prosecution this important partnership positively impacts and influences the quality of life for those living in working in and visiting Mesa our community action officers are also working diligently to reduce homelessness in Mesa by partnering with our city Navigators and other resources such as our cross jurisdictional Partnership of city of Mesa Department including Mesa fire the courts our Parks the library and housing inclusive we work with other municipalities and form public private agreements with nonprofits and faith-based groups the police department has a full-time police officer devoted to this initiative named Aaron rain his outstanding work led me to honor him as the Arizona Chiefs of Police Association officer of the year part of his work was a program called Community Court which which converts the judicial system into a conduit for services to connect recidivist offenders and homeless and substance addicted persons with resources to keep them out of the justice system once people have been cited in the community Court they have been rearrested at a much lower rate as they work on improving their circumstances since July 2018 575 people entered Community Court based on our initial data after the first 6 months of the program 65 graduated before the program those 65 indiv idual accounted for over 200 arrests in 2018 alone since graduating those same 65 have only accounted for three arrests this collaboration has led to thousands less case assignments at the public defender office and prosecutors are getting more serious cases adjudicated much faster now that these lower level cases are not clogging up the judicial system often our men and women are the First on scene to call for service and their heroic actions have saved lives in our community last year 15 members were awarded life-saving Awards in 2018 our Patrol officers were trained and began to carry Noone to combat the opioid epidemic in our society since the implementation of the program our officers had deployed their issued Noone to 78 individuals to reverse the effects of opioid overdose these are just some of the countless contacts our officers have every day with our community members and are having positive impacts on lives not all of our work was so so serious many of our staff had some fun with their jobs to raise money for charity and bring awareness to important causes in October $4,500 was raised by approximately 140 members growing beards the funds were used to host community events like an Easter egg hunt at Reed Park and the other was a Halloween party at Desert Ridge High School hosted by council member Thompson in November we raised $455 during No Shave November the money went directly to fight prostate cancer after such success I couldn't turn down one of my commanders requests to double down on December which resulted in an additional $6,100 to support and celebrate the courage of special Olympic athletes by going over the edge in 2018 the Mesa Police Department increased its Community engagement and Youth Development more than ever before to promote and strengthen relationships in our community it's vital for the community to see our officers not only as police officers but also as individuals the young people of Mesa are the most impactful members of our community and we want to connect with them here are a few of the programs that give our officers opportunities to interact with mesa's youth the Aspire program a week-long teenage Camp Just For Girls the Mesa program which stands for making every student accountable and Early Intervention Program to keep children in school our youth leadership academy developing interpersonal skills for high school aged boys and girls to succeed in the workforce the Mesa program and the youth leadership academy teamed together for a massive yard cleanup for an army veteran Widow their selfless service brought this Widow to tears the Mesa Police Department could not do this alone with the support of 150 volunteers from police Cadets Volunteers in Police Service and the Mesa citizens police Alumni Association these unselfish members in our community have provided over 22,000 hours of the time along with their talent to the Mesa Police Department Mesa PD is constantly looking at new technology and programs to improve the safety in our community as well as convenience to our community members in 2018 text to 911 was added to contact police and fire when calling was Impractical a mobile forensic lab was added to improve the efficiency of investigators while allowing them to do more from the field in October of 2018 president Donald Trump made a visit to Mesa which as days to prepare for a presidential visit our team planned coordinated and executed a safe event for our president our officers and our commun we hope to promote Community Trust through transparency of Mesa PD on our Mesa PD website our policy and procedures are now posted for the public to view the proper procedures for our Department's day-to-day functions our imprint on social media has increased more than ever before Facebook nextto Twitter and Instagram has allowed us to share important safety information to our residents but we also want you to see the great things our officers are doing every day a very popular addition on our social media platforms has been training Tuesday a weekly video inside our very own Police Academy as class 41 and 42 transformed from ordinary citizens to mesa's finest Mesa PD was the first Valley police agency to partner with a national program called found drop which has improved our service to the community to return lost items turned into the police department each day the Mesa Police Department continues its commitment to improving the safety and service we provide to our residents through advanced training in 2018 every member of the department went through Hands-On training for a response to an active shooter our supervisors trained jointly with supervisors from the Mesa fire department to understand and better interact with each other during a mass casualty event all our officers in Patrol received additional training and decision-making crisis recognition and response tactical Communications negotiations and operational safety tactics our sworn supervisors attended Advanced risk management to learn from leading trainers from across the country to be the very best we can possibly be over the past year I have met with city leaders Business Leaders faith-based leaders my officers staff and community members to find out what's important for us as a police organization and for our community as a whole where do we want to be in 5 years through those open and relational conversations our strategic team was able to develop a plan to help us grow our new strategic plan was derived from the many discussions I had with you and our department our plan Focus focuses on excellent customer service strengthening Community relationships utilizing new technology to better help us keep our city safe and expanding our social media outreach to better connect with you and hear your concerns as well as highlight the amazing stories that are happening each day and every day inside the Mesa Police Department and our city our goals include focusing on community and our employees both officers and professional staff we're adding more employee Wellness programs focusing on preventing injuries and fatal accidents as well as providing better communication within our department through a well-rounded and healthy Workforce I believe we will deliver even better service thank you for your input for your continued support and helping us to keep Mesa Safe and a great place to live