Public Safety & Transportation Committee

Village of Lombard Village Hall 255 East Wilson Ave. Lombard, IL 60148 villageoflombard.org Minutes - Final Wednesday, May 4, 2022 7:00 PM Lorraine G. Gerhardt Community Room Public Safety & Transportation Committee Trustee Brian LaVaque, Chairperson Bob Bachner, Alternate Chairperson Jennifer Perkins, Michael Corso, John Larkin, Robert Corbino, Gary Cation, John Mullins, Rick Miller and Patrick Casey Public Safety & Transportation Minutes - Final May 4, 2022 Committee 1.0 Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance The meeting was called to order by Chairperson LaVaque at 7:00 PM. 2.0 Roll Call 3.0 Public Participation Brian Gorski, 320 W. Ann Street Mr. Gorski addressed the committee regarding parking issues on Ann. He explained that October of last year the building on the corner of Ann and Finley changed ownership. Now cars are parked on the street overnight every night. He lives at the end of the street and cars turn around in his driveway, a car drove through his lawn and there is constantly garbage on the street. Additionally, since it's a dead end street, it's already hard for garbage trucks and plows. He's contacted the Police Department several times and in February the Police Department issued over 100 parking tickets. He added that he is tired of wasting peoples' time, but there is no other way to hit them with fines. If they park in lot overnight and get towed, it costs them $200, a street parking ticket is much cheaper. The building management only gives them one spot. Chief Newton further explained the situation. This is a HUD complex and they are very strict. Only the person on the lease can have a car parked in the lot because that is who the HUD funding is provided for. If someone is staying with them, they can't be on the lease. There are many government restrictions. Some visitors may have criminal records that are prohibited as well. When the complex switched management, the new management is very strict. They immediately kicked the non-lease holders out of the lot without any warning. Police spoke with the manager and asked if they could extend some time, but they refused. This left us at a bit of a stalemate and relatives are trying to make arrangements. Typically, we allow for overnight parking for four nights, however, if a resident calls and requests extra time, we'll approve someone for 10 to 60 days. That started happening here and according to past practice, the PD Administrative Assistant was granting permission and it started to snowball. Winter came and exasperated the situation. We started contacting each resident as their approved time ended and told them it would not be extended. We suggested that they contact the hotel across the street, the adjacent apartment complex, Marianos or Dania to see if they could rent a parking spot. Some chose not to do that and, as Mr. Gorski said, they're taking the gamble of getting a $25 ticket. Some nights the department does not have the manpower or time to enforce. The Police Department did a blitz enforcement and it seemed to work, but there are still cars parking on the street. No matter how much we do, Village of Lombard Page 1 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes - Final May 4, 2022 Committee people are going to park there. Residents are asking for permanent no parking for that stretch of that block, however that will just move the parking further down the street. Chairperson LaVaque asked if the parking is occurring in front of the houses or in the stretch along the complex and the park. Chief Newton replied that it is mostly along the building, however, some are parked further down. Mr. Gorski added that maybe it's half the amount of cars now, but on the weekends there are more. Chairperson LaVaque asked if there is an increase of criminal activity from that property over the last year. Chief Newton replied not over the last year. Chairperson LaVaque asked if the request is for no parking or no parking during certain hours. Mr. Gorski stated that the residents want resident parking only. Chairperson LaVaque explained that it is a public roadway, but staff and the committee will look into it further and it will be revisited at the next meeting. Mike Sturm, 338 W. Ann Street Mr. Sturm stated that the Police Department does patrol the street. He added that one of his neighbors had a patio door broken after an altercation with someone parking on the street, however he did not file a police report. Another neighbor had their mailbox broken and an altercation with someone who was throwing their garbage out and sped off. Mr. Sturm talked to someone parking there and they said that parking used to be included, but the new management was now charging for parking. He said that his concern is emergency services access and snow plowing issues. 4.0 Approval of Minutes The Minutes of the March 2, 2022 meeting will be presented at the next meeting for approval. 5.0 Unfinished Business 6.0 New Business 220140 2021-2024 Strategic Plan The Strategic Plan is being shared with the Committee in order to ensure that the forthcoming discussions on the Village's Capital Improvement Plan are consistent with current Village Board priorities. Chairperson LaVaque explained the Strategic Plan process and how Village policies are based on items that Village leadership and staff want to focus on as a part of the strategic plan, i.e. financial sustainability, economic development, etc. 220170 Fire Department Annual Report 2021 Village of Lombard Page 2 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes - Final May 4, 2022 Committee DC Kickert mentioned that the highlights are in the Chief's letter included in the report. Chairperson LaVaque commented that we already saw the impact of the auto pulse. DC Kickert stated there was one save and it's a it's a good tool. 220168 Police Department Technology Update DC Grage gave a presentation. LICENSE PLATE READER (LPR) PROGRAM The Department looked at Yorktown because of theft issues and smash & grabs. Those cameras have been used to solve a fair number of cases. It's not wired internet, they use cellular technology, and they are solar powered. In 2011 (when the mobile program started) there was a fair degree of error, now the accuracy is very high, in the 90-95% range. Miller asked if the LPR is looking at the owner of the vehicle. DC Grage explained that when an alert is entered by an officer, it only contains the type of car, the plate number, the reason for the alert and the date entered. A text file uploads to the cameras 1 or 2x per day. Lombard shares information with Villa Park since a vehicle headed westbound would be headed into Lombard. An officer can't take a hit on its face value. If a hit comes in, an officer will get on a computer to run the plate and confirm the issue, i.e. stolen car, etc. That is by policy, because we don't want to mistakenly stop vehicles. After 30 days, the alert is auto-deleted. We can use it to ID people that committed theft in Yorktown. We get between 5-10 hits a day. If there is an allegation of misuse, we can investigate very easily and it's taken very seriously; officers not allowed to use the LPR for anything other than law enforcement. Lombard is planning to install a LPR at Roosevelt and Church for eastbound traffic, however, IDOT is not very cooperative in permitting these cameras. Miller asked how long it takes to do the scan, check the list and send an alert. DC Grage answered that it can read up to 1,600 vehicles per minute and it takes about 15-20 seconds. Corbino asked if we own or lease the cameras. DC Grage stated that the City of Elmhurst has a large program that cost about $500k. They own the cameras and pay for internet and electric. Our cameras cost $2,500/year, are solar and all cellular internet. Technology like this has a lifetime of four to seven years. With it costing $2,500/year compared to $30-40k to purchase one camera, it takes a long time to make up if buying. In the meantime we may go through three to four generations of LPR. Additionally, depending on size of the roadway, it may take more than one camera for coverage. The Yorktown entrance has two cameras. Chief Newton added that the Village of Lombard Page 3 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes - Final May 4, 2022 Committee proliferation of cameras throughout the county has prompted the Police Chiefs Association to map all of their cameras, so we can work more efficiently. An example is Glen Ellyn is installing one on eastbound Roosevelt at 355 under the bridge, so we wouldn't put one up on eastbound Roosevelt and Finley. Villa Park put one up westbound on Roosevelt, so we're putting one up for eastbound. Elmhurst and Downers Grove are geofenced and there are approximately 100 cameras in DuPage County. The Sheriff's office just bought 65. Chairperson LaVaque added that the State police also have a program. Cation asked if there is there is a benefit to geofencing. Chief Newton responded that our thoughts are let's work on the highest impact intersections; areas where offenders are getting out of town, such as North Avenue and Route 53. We want to look at locations that are more valuable to us to use. DC Grage added that geofencing is generally only on arterial roadways, not every roadway. We're trying to share resources. It makes us more effective overall and shares the cost while working together. We'll work with other communities and we're all safer when we do that. Miller asked if all cameras, regardless of vendor, share the same list. DC Grage answered that there are actually multiple lists, the FBI has a list for nation-wide alerts and Illinois has a list, so they're not geographically specific. DRONE PROGRAM Training has taken longer than anticipated. The department has 13 team members, two per shift. We can't use drone just to surveil people. It can be used to do accident investigation. It would normally take two to three hours to do a diagram of a scene, but with the drone it will take 20-30 minutes. Cation asked if it can be operated from the Police Department or if the operator has to be on site. DC Grage replied that the operator has to be on site and there has to be a visual observer present. We can't fly it out of line of sight. Perkins asked if, although it can't be flown over private property, could it when being used to look for a missing child? DC Grage explained that it can be flown over private property when looking for a missing person, that's an exemption. He went on to say that the Village will be putting out something on social media if flying the drone. Some circumstances also require staff to notify the State Attorney's office. A dedicated page is on the Village's website about the drone program. It can also be used after extreme weather to survey damage and document which streets are unpassable. Casey asked what the Department's thoughts are on going from gas to electric cars. Chief Newton replied that the infrastructure is years away from being able to use electric cars for law enforcement. We couldn't have officers coming in to plug their car in. He added that the department does have hybrids now, but has had a lot of difficulty with them. Chairperson LaVaque asked if staff has tested the mini drone. DC Grage answered that it has Village of Lombard Page 4 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes - Final May 4, 2022 Committee been flown around the station a number of times. Cation asked if there has been any feedback from residents about drones. DC Grage said there has not been much negative other than a couple comments on social media, but most were neutral or supportive. The best idea was the dedicated page. If people have questions or concerns, they can be answered on that page. 220169 Police Department Annual Report 2021 General discussion ensued regarding the new radar signs at Pleasant Lane and Manor Hill Schools. 7.0 Other Business 8.0 Information Only 150468 Fire Department Reports/Information - April 2022 - May 2022 - June 2022 DC Kickert stated that the department has installed 24 Knox Boxes and 13 smoke detectors. Both programs are working out well. 150469 Police Department Reports/Information 9.0 Adjournment A motion was made by Gary Cation, seconded by John Larkin, Jr., to adjourn the meeting at 8:10 PM. The motion carried unanimously. Village of Lombard Page 5