Attachment A - PSJ Nov 1 2023 Draft Minutes.pdf

Phoenix City Council 
Public Safety and Justice (PSJ) Subcommittee 
Summary Minutes 
Wednesday, November 1, 2023 
City Council Chambers 
200 W. Jefferson St. 
Phoenix, Ariz. 
Subcommittee Members Present                    Subcommittee Members Absent         
Councilwoman Ann O’Brien, Chair 
        Councilwoman Betty Guardado 
Councilman Kevin Robinson 
Councilman Jim Waring 
 
CALL TO ORDER 
Chairwoman O’Brien called the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee to order at 
10:01 a.m. with Councilman Kevin Robinson and Councilman Jim Waring present.  
CALL TO THE PUBLIC 
Pablo DeJesus asked a question about off-duty police support for School Resource 
Officers (SROs) regarding requirements for criminal statistics. 
MINUTES OF MEETINGS 
1. Minutes of the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee Meeting 
Councilman Waring made a motion to approve the minutes of the Oct. 4, 2023, Public 
Safety and Justice Subcommittee meeting. Councilman Robinson seconded the motion 
which passed unanimously, 3-0. 
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION (ITEM 2)  
 
2. Judicial Reappointments (E-session Option) 
Chairwoman O’Brien introduced Deputy City Manager John Chan and Chief Presiding 
Judge Don Taylor to present on this item. 
 
Honorable Judge Taylor discussed the possible re-appointments of four of the Municipal 
Court Judges. He stated the Subcommittee members had the recommendations of the 
Judicial Selection Advisory Board and the typical data provided when re-appointments 
are addressed. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien asked if Subcommittee members would like to go into executive 
session and with no request, she asked for a motion on the item. 
 
Attachment A

Councilman Robinson moved to recommend the reappointment of Judge Francisca 
Cota for a four-year term expiring on Dec. 20, 2027, and Councilman Waring seconded 
the motion. 
 
The motion passed unanimously, 3-0. 
 
Councilman Robinson moved to recommend the reappointment of Judge Cynthia 
Gonzalez for a four-year term expiring on Dec. 20, 2027, and Councilman Waring 
seconded the motion.  
 
The motion passed unanimously, 3-0. 
 
Councilman Robinson moved to recommend the reappointment of Judge James 
Hernandez for a four-year term expiring on Dec. 20, 2027, and Councilman Waring 
seconded the motion.  
 
The motion passed unanimously, 3-0. 
 
Councilman Robinson moved to recommend the reappointment of Judge Walter 
Jackson for a four-year term expiring on Dec. 20, 2027, and Councilman Waring 
seconded the motion. 
 
The motion passed unanimously, 3-0. 
 
 
INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION (ITEMS 3-5)  
3. Fire Department Staffing and Response Time Monthly Report and Ambulance 
Service Update 
Chairwoman O’Brien introduced Fire Chief Mike Duran and Executive Assistant Chief 
Scott Walker to present on this item. 
 
Chief Duran summarized the presentation and stated the purpose of the monthly 
update. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker discussed Fire Department recruitment efforts, 
detailed the testing and hiring process, provided data on hiring trends over the last 
seven years, and stated interest in becoming a Firefighter remains high. He detailed 
steps staff is taking to ensure hiring efforts remain successful including analyzing hiring 
trends, moving to an online testing process, and providing more frequent test times. He 
provided data on sworn staffing levels and explained how staff creates a two-year 
forecast to capture attrition and account for vacant positions. He provided staffing level 
data from the past nine months, compared demographic data from Maricopa County to 
the staff of the Fire Department, and explained efforts to hire more female Firefighters. 
He also discussed emergency response times for different vehicles including engines, 
ladders, and rescues, from each month of 2023.

Councilman Waring asked what vehicles go out on a rescue call. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker clarified an ambulance is referred to as a rescue 
within the Fire Department. 
 
Councilman Waring stated he thought rescues would have faster response times 
because it is a smaller and less complicated vehicle. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker explained the Phoenix Fire Department is an all-
hazards department, which means the first response to a medical or fire call is a four-
person crew on an engine or a ladder truck. He stated those Firefighters arrive on scene 
and determine if a person needs to be transported, and if they do they notify a rescue 
vehicle. He explained this longer response time for rescues is due to a capacity issue. 
 
Councilman Waring asked how the Fire Department defines a call for service and if 
there is separate data on which calls only needed an engine or a ladder, and which calls 
only needed an ambulance.  
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker clarified the data presented includes all calls for 
service and the data is not separated based on the vehicles that responded to the calls.  
 
Councilman Waring asked for future briefings to include data on which vehicles were 
dispatched to calls for service, as it will help explain the response times. He expressed 
concern for the 11-minute response time for ambulances. He suggested staging more 
ambulances in strategic spots to serve calls that do not require an engine or ladder 
truck due to the high volume or medical calls they receive. He also asked for a district-
by-district breakdown for response times. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker answered staff could accommodate this data request. 
He explained the department is a full-service department, so a fire truck is sent as an 
initial response on almost every call. He stated ambulances are mainly for transport, but 
since they have a team of one paramedic and one emergency medical technician (EMT) 
the patient is often turned over to the ambulance team as soon as they get there.  
 
Councilman Waring asked for one chart showing each district’s response times so they 
are easily comparable and asked if it would be more efficient to buy more trucks to 
transport people to the hospital faster. 
 
Chief Duran explained the minimum staffing requirements for an all-hazards Fire 
Department. He stated an ambulance is a two-person unit and only having one person 
transporting a patient would be against their policy. He explained this is the most ideal 
model for quality of service.  
 
Councilman Waring clarified his question was regarding why one or two of the trained 
medical professionals on the engines or ladder trucks do not join the ambulance team to

help transport patients to the hospital. He expressed concern these rules and 
regulations might be impeding the response times for ambulances.  
 
Chief Duran stated staff abides by the minimum staffing requirements on all vehicles, so 
they can put the engine or ladder truck back into service immediately once the 
ambulance arrives. 
 
Councilman Waring stated it seems there are a lot of professionals on these calls that 
are not actively participating in the care of these patients. He mentioned he is 
concerned about public opinion regarding the number of staff responding to calls.  
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker provided information on contributing factors for the 
longer response times including the growing population and limited specialized 
resources including ambulances. He provided the current strategies staff is using to 
lower these response times.  
 
Chairwoman O’Brien asked for clarification on standards for medical calls, and if the 
expectation is to respond in five minutes or less. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker confirmed five minutes or less is the expectation. 
  
Chairwoman O’Brien asked if the response expectation for a call when a building is on 
fire is five minutes and 20 seconds. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker explained an engine must arrive within that time 
period, and the rest of the responders must be there within nine minutes and 20 
seconds.  
 
Chairwoman O’Brien stated the current response times are not meeting these standards 
and asked if changing the response model to address the rescue issues would hinder 
the ability of the Department to answer other calls. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker stated changing the model could impact response 
times to other calls. He explained the mesh network model for the Fire Department to 
ensure a timely response to calls.  
 
Chairwoman O’Brien asked why there has been an increase in rescue calls besides the 
fact that Phoenix is growing.  
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker noted there will be slides regarding this question later 
in the presentation. He described calls for service activity levels and the reasons for why 
the number of dispatched calls have increased. He explained the new telehealth 911 
Diversion Program and the Community Assistance Program (CAP) and how they are 
able to eliminate some of the responses from engines and ladder trucks. He discussed 
the patient transport activity levels and the reasons for the significant increase in 
projected transports for 2023. He stated the patient transport program is a revenue

generating program for the City, as required by the Department of Health Services 
(DHS), and that revenue is increasing. He also discussed the contributing factors for the 
number of patient transports and mitigation strategies the Fire Department is pursuing.  
 
Councilman Robinson asked if individuals who need to be transported after an incident 
are counted individually as transports or if the incident is counted as one transport. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker clarified the transports are counted based on the 
individual. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien asked if multiple people are transported if it is still considered one 
call for service. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker answered yes, even if multiple people were 
transported and multiple units were dispatched, it would still be considered one call for 
service. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien thanked staff for the presentation and mentioned she is looking 
forward to seeing the additional data Councilman Waring requested. 
 
Councilman Waring asked if most calls for service do not lead to a patient transport. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker answered staff transport approximately 50 percent of 
patients.  
 
Councilman Waring asked for an example of a call for service where there is an 
ambulance called to the location, but the patient is not transported.  
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker explained the first arriving firefighters assess if there 
is an ambulance required, and the only time an ambulance is automatically dispatched 
is if the call is related to a cardiac event, stroke, drowning or other serious incident.  
 
Councilman Waring clarified ambulances are not going to calls that do not require a 
patient transport. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker answered yes. 
 
Councilman Waring clarified staff will provide data regarding how many vehicles of each 
type were sent out on calls for service. 
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker confirmed the data could be presented based on 
vehicle type. 
 
Councilman Waring expressed concern about the amount of money spent on other 
vehicles when medical calls make up more than 80 percent of the calls for service.

Chairwoman O’Brien mentioned the new State legislation that impacts response times 
and stated other vehicles also carry paramedics and EMTs. She stated she does think 
the lack of rescues is an important issue that needs to be addressed.  
 
Councilman Waring explained he has these concerns because this is an essential City 
service, and it could be important to reevaluate the strategies to make sure the Fire 
Department is as efficient as possible. He noted how different each district is 
geographically and how this might affect strategies moving forward. 
 
Councilman Robinson asked for additional information on how often the Fire 
Department responds at the request of the Police Department. He also asked if the 
rescue response time is started from the original call, or if it is from the dispatch from 
the firefighters who dispatch the rescue once they are on scene.  
 
Executive Assistant Chief Walker clarified the response time is measured from when the 
rescue is dispatched, not from the original call. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien thanked staff for the information.  
 
4. Outside Combustible Storage Program Update 
Chairwoman O’Brien introduced Fire Chief Mike Duran, Deputy Chief Brian Standage, 
and Assistant Fire Marshal Steve Petrie to present on this item. 
 
Chief Brian Standage defined examples of what outside combustible storage facilities 
and explained why these fires have a large impact on the community. He outlined the 
Outside Combustibles Storage (OCS) Program and the priorities and strategies of the 
program. He stated the program’s goal is to prevent serious impacts on the community 
by managing outside combustible storage fires appropriately. He described the 
regulations required for outside combustible storage facilities and the additional support 
provided so firefighters can distinguish these fires before they escalate. He explained 
how to the OCS program has also reduced community risk in situations like this.  
 
Mr. Petrie discussed recent hiring efforts for fire inspectors and data on the number of 
facilities inspected and fire code violations found. He emphasized this was a 
collaborative approach between many different organizations and departments, and he 
provided examples of instances where OCS facilities have been inspected and reduced 
their risk of fire.  
 
Deputy Chief Standage stated there has been a 50 percent reduction in the number of 
OCS fire incidents. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien thanked the presenters for their effort and congratulated them on 
their success.  
 
5. Community Safety Plans (CSP) Update

Chairwoman O’Brien introduced Special Projects Administrator Nick Valenzuela, 
Assistant Police Chief Nick Diponzio, Assistant Community Bureau Chief Nathan Watts, 
Neighborhood Services Director Spencer Self, and Homeless Solutions Director Rachel 
Milne to present on this item. 
 
Mr. Valenzuela provided the background and goals of the Community Safety Plans 
(CSPs). He provided updates on the work of Community Committees including defining 
strategy areas, creating the Bell Road Community Committee, and implementing a 
perceptions of safety survey. He also provided an overview of the strategies for CSPs 
including crime detection and response, education and prevention, safety of public 
spaces, and access to services. 
 
Chief Diponzio discussed the crime detection and response strategy and the creation of 
two real time operations centers at Cactus Park Precinct and Desert Horizon Precinct. 
He stated these centers have gunshot detection systems, cameras, and license plate 
readers, with the goal of helping field operations and criminal investigations. He 
described success stories where these centers have assisted Police in apprehending 
suspects. 
 
Mr. Watts discussed the education and prevention strategies and detailed the role of the 
City Prosecutor’s Office within this program. He stated the Prosecutor’s Office has used 
advanced tools to maximize their impact on crime and has coordinated efforts in 
situations where there are simultaneous enforcements by multiple departments. He 
provided success stories for these approaches and the direct community education they 
are providing to the public. 
 
Mr. Self discussed the Gated Alley Program within the CSP areas and provided data on 
future gated alleys and graffiti cases. 
 
Mr. Valenzuela described the Narcan/Naloxone training the Public Health Office 
provides, and the new street lighting program through the Streets Transportation 
Department that targets areas known to feature human trafficking.   
 
Mr. Self discussed the safety of public spaces strategy and provided data on PHX 
C.A.R.E.S cases, private property and community clean-ups, blight cases, and 
community engagement efforts. 
 
Ms. Milne described the access to services strategy including coordinated outreach 
efforts with behavioral health engagement teams to address those experiencing 
homelessness in the CSP areas, on-going outreach for those being served at the 
Sunnyslope Family Services Center, and planned community agency roundtable 
discussions with care providers in the community. 
 
Mr. Valenzuela stated there will be a Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign that will 
launch this January along 27th Avenue and described the desired outcomes for CSPs 
and how they will be measured.

Councilman Robinson asked for the definition of a nonconsensual crime. 
 
Mr. Valenzuela provided examples of nonconsensual crimes include assault, 
trespassing, and theft. 
 
Councilwoman O’Brien asked if that meant all participants are willing in a consensual 
crime. 
 
Mr. Valenzuela answered yes. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien thanked staff and community members for their efforts and asked 
if Cortez Park was originally included in the Community Safety Plans. 
 
Mr. Valenzuela explained it was not in the original plan, but the plan has been extended 
to that area based on community feedback. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien stated she will keep everyone aware of constituent comments 
regarding Cortez Park and issues going on there. 
INFORMATION ONLY (ITEMS 6-7) 
6. Monthly Police Hiring, Recruitment and Attrition Report 
Councilman Waring restated the previous discussion items from the last report on light 
rail safety regarding the number of security personnel currently filling positions. He 
mentioned light rail riders have a one in three chance of encountering security 
personnel on the train. He stated since the light rail cars are inaccessible while the train 
is moving, security personnel cannot transfer cars until the train comes to a stop. 
 
Light Rail Administrator Markus Coleman answered yes, security personnel cannot 
move between cars while the train is moving.  
 
Councilman Waring stated he is concerned about the statistic that riders have a one in 
three chance of encountering security personnel, because even if there are security 
personnel on the train, they could not transfer cars to assist in an emergency until the 
train stops. He asked how many light rail platforms are in the City. 
 
Mr. Coleman responded there are 28 platforms within the City. 
 
Councilman Waring suggested looking into placing security personnel or police on 
platforms instead, to use the personnel more efficiently. He stated having security 
personnel at the platform could help discourage the people who do not buy tickets for 
their rides. He commented he does not want anyone to refer to individuals who do not 
purchase tickets for light rail rides as customers. He mentioned he saw a possible fight 
between a security personnel and an induvial while visiting San Diego and riding public 
transit, but the security guard was able to deter the incident.

Chairwoman O’Brien asked for Councilman Waring’s concerns to be addressed at the 
December Subcommittee meeting.  
 
Mr. Coleman responded they will be sure to address these concerns at the December 
meeting. He clarified Allied Security personnel is instructed to transfer between each car 
between stops. 
 
Councilman Waring stated he still has concerns that security personnel could not assist 
if an incident occurred in a car they were not in. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien asked if there is an emergency button on the light rail cars. 
 
Mr. Coleman answered yes there is an emergency button as well as a phone number 
posted if the rider would like to discreetly report the emergency. 
 
Councilman Waring stated this emergency button would still not allow security 
personnel to assist immediately in an emergency. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien asked for more information about how the emergency button 
program works at the December meeting. 
 
Councilman Waring asked for response times for incidents that occur on light rail. 
 
Assistant Chief Kennedy stated they could provide this information at the meeting in 
December. 
 
7. Monthly CAP Hiring, Recruitment and Metric Update Report 
Information only. No Councilmember requested additional information. 
 
CALL TO THE PUBLIC  
None. 
 
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 
Councilman Waring asked for an update on light rail safety and information on San 
Diego’s strategies for helping individuals experiencing homelessness. 
 
Chairwoman O’Brien stated the right rail safety update is scheduled for the December 
meeting. 
 
Assistant City Manager Lori Bays stated information on San Diego’s strategies is also 
scheduled for the December meeting.  
 
ADJOURNMENT

Chairwoman O’Brien adjourned the meeting at 11:56 a.m. 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
Chloe Baldwin 
Management Fellow