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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBack-Up DocumentsU.S. Department of Justice _ Office of Justice Programs Office of the Assistant Attorney General [Gashington, D.C. 20531 September 9, 2019 Mr. Emilio Gonzalez City of Miami 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 Dear Mr. Gonzalez On behalf of Attorney General William P. Barr, it is my pleasure to inform you that the Office of Justice Programs has approved your application for funding under the FY 19 Strategies for Policing Innovation in the amount of $700,000 for City of Miami. Enclosed you will find the Grant Award and Special Conditions documents. This award is subject to all administrative and financial requirements, including the timely submission of all financial and programmatic reports, resolution of all interim audit findings, and the maintenance of a minimum level of cash -on -hand. Should you not adhere to these requirements, you will be in violation of the terms of this agreement and the award will be subject to termination for cause or other administrative action as appropriate. If you have questions regarding this award, please contact: Program Questions, Geislia Barnes, Program Manager at (202) 514-8516; and - Financial Questions, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Customer Service Center (CSC) at (800) 458-0786, or you may contact the CSC at ask.ocfo@usdoj.gov. Congratulations, and we look forward to working with you. Sincerely, Katharine T. Sullivan Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Enclosures �T U.S. Department of Justice - Office of Justice Programs Office of Civil Rights Washington, DC 20531 September 9, 2019 Mr. Emilio Gonzalez City of Miami 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 Dear Mr. Gonzalez: Congratulations on your recent award! The Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been delegated the responsibility for ensuring that recipients of federal financial assistance from the OJP, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) are not engaged in discrimination prohibited by law- Several federal civil rights laws, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, require recipients of federal financial assistance to give assurances that they will comply with those laws. In addition to those civil rights laws, many grant program statutes contain nondiscrimination provisions that require compliance with them as a condition of receiving federal financial assistance. For a complete review of these civil rights laws and nondiscrimination requirements, in connection with OJP and other DOJ awards, see https://ojp.gov/funding/Explore/LegalOverview/CivilRightsRequirements.htm Under the delegation of authority, the OCR investigates allegations of discrimination against recipients from individuals, entities, or groups. In addition, the OCR conducts limited compliance reviews and audits based on regulatory criteria. These reviews and audits permit the OCR to evaluate whether recipients of financial assistance from the Department are providing services in a non- discriminatory manner to their service population or have employment practices that meet equal -opportunity standards. If you are a recipient of grant awards under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act or the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act and your agency is part of a criminal justice system, there are two additional obligations that may apply in connection with the awards: (1) complying with the regulation relating to Equal Employment Opportunity Programs (ESOPs); and (2) submitting findings of discrimination to OCR For additional information regarding the EEOP requirement, see 28 CFR Part 42, subpart E, and for additional information regarding requirements when there is an adverse finding, see 28 C.F.R. §§ 42.204(c), .205(c)(5). Please submit information about any adverse finding to the OCR at the above address. We at the OCR are available to help you and your organization meet the civil rights requirements that are associated with OJP and other DOJ grant funding. If you would like the OCR to assist you in fulfilling your organization's civil rights or nondiscrimination responsibilities as a recipient of federal financial assistance, please do not hesitate to let us know. . Sincerely, Michael L. Alston Director cc: Grant Manager Financial Analyst Statement of the Problem The focus of the development of Miami's Real Time Crime Center (MRTCC) is to improve the safety of city residents, businesses and visitors by targeting incidents of gun violence. A secondary purpose is to improve understanding on the function and usefulness of the real-time crime center as a means to improve responses to violent crime. The project seeks to do this by: 0 Aligning the MRTCC with the goals of the existing U.S. Department of Justice, Public Safety Partnership which was awarded to Miami in 2018; • Leveraging and continuing the existing academic -police partnership which consists of embedded researchers from Florida International University working within the analysis unit of the Miami Police Department; and • Building upon the foundation of enhanced crime analysis capabilities, data automation and system integration which was achieved in a previous SPI project. City of Miami Gun Violence The City of Miami is a dense urban area of nearly 36 square miles with a population of 470,914. It has a diverse population comprised of people from a multitude of places especially South and Central America and the Caribbean. Miami consists of a 69% Hispanic, 20% African- American/Black, and 11 % White Non -Hispanic. Miami has enjoyed a resurgence in its real estate market and has been growing as a metropolitan hub for business, arts and culture, but the reality is that 32.3% of Miami families with children under the age of 18 were living below the poverty level compared to 16.4% nationwide per the 2010 U.S. Currently, 25.8% of Miami residents live in poverty. Gun violence tends to cluster in Miami's poorest neighborhoods, including Model/Liberty City, Little Haiti, and Overtown - which are also economically distressed communities (QOZs) as shown in Attachment A. 1 While homicide and aggravated assault have continued to decline in recent years, Miami is still ranked 20 among the top violent cities in the US. In 2017, matters were a bit worse with Miami ranking 26th with a murder rate of 15 per l OOK population. On average, 3 out of 4 homicides in Miami are the result of gunfire. Miami also historically struggled with a lower than average case clearance rates of just 40% (2017) vs. the national average of nearly 62%. Miami's homicide clearance rate improved considerably in 2018, but it is uncertain whether that trend will continue. Case clearances of aggravated assaults show a similar trend. In 2017, Miami cleared aggravated assaults at a rate of 46% vs. 53% nationwide. Research on factors contributing to case clearances have long identified the importance of information developed within the first forty-eight hours from when the crime occurs and the ability of officers to access a variety of information from multiple sources during that time window.I The Growth of Real Time Crime Centers Never before has the role of information in the deployment of police services been as critical as it is today. Finding themselves at the nexus of improved technology and data systems, increased external demand for data driven decision making, and community pressure for efficiency and fairness in the delivery of services, police agencies have been continually pressed to improve the way in which they use information. One example of an effort to improve the dissemination of information to police responders and detectives has been the recent growth of "Real Time Crime Centers" (RTCCs) across the country. While variation exists from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in how they operate, they generally serve as a synthesized data platform which can deliver 1 Richardson, D. A., & Kosa, R. (2001). An examination of homicide clearance rates: Foundation for the development of a homicide clearance model. In Mashington, DC. Police Executive Research Forzcm. 2 information to officers in rapid time. Despite their continued and increasing deployment, there exists no understanding of "best practices" in the use of RTCCs. Leveraging Existing Foundations In a previous SPI grant initiative, the City of Miami Police Department ("MPD") engaged in a collaboration with criminologists from Florida International University ("FIU") to improve and develop the analytical capacity of the Police Department's Crime Analysis & Intelligence Unit ("Unit"). Realizing the inability of off the shelf crime analysis software to accomplish that objective, MPD has instead invested in augmenting and enhancing the human capital and reconfiguring the information systems within the unit. This was achieved through the delivery of new in-house training to crime analysts, hiring staff with analytical experience, and revamping internal data systems with the employment of a data architect. Another central component of the initiative was to integrate the external academic researcher capabilities inside MPD. This took the form of two doctoral students from the FIU, International Crime and Justice doctoral program, working embedded within the Unit, with bi-monthly meetings and ongoing oversight by a criminology faculty member. The emphasis was to equip MPD with an improved ability to turn vast troves of data into usable knowledge by police commanders, detectives and officers alike, with the aim of better informing policing operations. The success of the initiative has been tremendous. Crime bulletins have been revamped, the Unit has integrated problem analysis into analyst functions which have directly informed operational decisions, and data systems have been restructured to automate data output tasks which had previously consumed large amounts of analysts' time. Through the embeddedness of academic researchers within the crime analysis unit, a formidable foundation has been created from which to further enhance data driven operations and research capabilities within MPD. 3 Project Design and Implementation The MPD-FIU partnership team would like to capitalize and build upon this collaborative foundation to develop and launch the Miami Real Time Crime Center Violence Response Initiative (MRTCC). The MRTCC will also be integrated into MPD's goals for the Public Safety Partnership to better address gun violence in the community. The objectives of the project are five -fold: ✓ To create a sustainable real time crime center capability within the MPD to better respond to critical gun crime incidents. ✓ To integrate internal and external data systems into a single operational portal to improve the diversity of information delivered to police commanders and detectives. ✓ To establish an innovative system (both procedural and technical) for delivering information from the various databases to police commanders and detectives in a rapid "real-time" format. ✓ To improve the response and outcomes of critical violent crime incidents within the City of Miami. ✓ To disseminate successes and lessons learned from the completion of the project to other policing jurisdictions. Readiness and Implications for Best Practice The vision of the MRTCC is in furtherance of MPD Chief Colina's goal to improve the information systems and analytical capacity of the department to combat violent crime and better serve the community. MPD and the FIU research team are fully committed to work collaboratively to launch this Initiative. Together, the project team has available all of the building blocks to develop the MRTCC: 1) a pre -established collaborative Police -Academic Partnership, 2) a focus on violence reduction as a DOJ Public Safety Partnership site; and 3) an improved data systems platform and analytical capacity achieved through previous BJA support. With additional support from SPI funding, the initiative can bring these foundational units together to establish the MRTCC and further the scientific understanding of the usefulness of real time crime centers as an informational and analytical based tool to improve responses to violent crime. 4 The project will provide a template for other police departments, not only for developing and maintaining a real time crime center but also for integrating embedded academic researchers into this function of an analysis unit. In this way, it will promote collaboration, improved use of data and intelligence, and a platform for advancing science -based policing operations thereby addressing each of the core goals of the SPI program (see Table 1). First, it will establish performance measures and an evaluation plan to determine the impact of the MRTCC on gun crime incidents. Process measures will include the diversity of information delivered to officers and detectives, as well as the time to delivery. Outcome measures will include case clearance rates for incidents of gun violence, the time taken to clear gun crimes, officer use of force, and officer safety. Table 1. Core Goals of SPI Program Areas Addressed Performance Measurement & Research Strategic Targeting Better use of Intelligence & Other Data andlnformation Systems The project will establish process and outcome measures of the MRTCC. Process measures will include i) diversity of information delivered and ii) time to delivery. Outcome measures will include i) case clearance rates and ii) time to clearance. The project will target incidents in high crime areas and times. The project will harness and improve use of a wide array of data systems in real time deployment. Managing and Sustaining The analysis and intelligence unit will be reorganized to Organizational Change `/ administer and maintain the MRTCC to include support from embedded doctoral students. Outreach and The project furthers and enhances collaboration between the Collaboration `/ MPD, FN and other area Criminal Justice (CJ) agencies in data access and use. Second, consistent with the focus of the Miami site DOJ Public Safety Partnership, the MRTCC will strategically target violence in high gun crime areas and will also be focused during high temporal concentrations of gun crime activity. Third, development of the MRTCC will improve the use of data and information systems by serving as a nexus and delivery platform for 5 intelligence and information deployed in a "real time" format. In this way, it seeks to make central to future operating procedures the accessibility and utilization of a complete and diverse array of informational systems to improve how police services are deployed in response to critical violent crime incidents. Fourth, the MRTCC will produce a sustainable organizational change within the MPD. All analytical units will be brought together under "one roof' within the MRTCC: intelligence, statistical and problem -solving. This change will be permanent and lead to new standard operation procedures for the access and dissemination of information to all units within MPD. Finally, MRTCC will further outreach and collaboration by sustaining and leverage the pre -established partnership between MPD and researchers from FRU. The project team is proposing a 3 -year project consisting of four phases (see Timeline). Phase I: Appraisal of existing real time crime centers and development of unit structure and standard operating procedures (6 months). The initial phase of the project will be devoted to taking an appraisal of current real-time crime centers operating across the country. The purpose here is threefold. First, the project team will learn from a selected sample of real-time crime centers in terms of organizational structure and operating procedures. Second, the project team will be able to draw comparisons across these observations to identify strengths in the different sites and how each of the respective models potentially fit within the Miami context. Third, the observations will allow for the identification of potential gaps in the way RTCCs are being used and how they might be improved. The deliverable (1) from the first phase will be a narrative report on the findings from the observations of MPD executives and research findings of the research team. The report will be written by the research partner in a case study format to include a synthesis and implications for the development of a RTCC. C. Phase 2: Development of dashboard portal and integration of internal data systems (12 months). The second phase of the project will be devoted to establishing a unified dashboard portal in the integration MPD internal data systems. The unified dashboard portal will be essential for analysts to efficiently access multiple data sources and effectively deploy the information to officers in the field. The services of a consultant data engineer will be relied on for this development with assistant and input from the embedded researchers and software support services from vendors contracted by MPD. The deliverable (2) for this phase of the project will be the successful launch of an operating informational platform for use by MRTCC analysts which will be the responsibility of MPD and the data engineer consultant. Phase 3: Integration of external data systems & fine tuning (9 months). The third phase of the project will be devoted to the integration of data systems which are external to MPD and fine- tuning of the dashboard portal. The refinement of the portal system, the procedures employed by analysts, and how information is delivered to officers will be assessed through anecdotal feedback and focus groups of officers and analysts which will be performed by the research team. The purpose of this will be to develop an informational deployment system that is easily digestible and useful for officers in real-time environments. The emphasis will be to avoid information overload and irrelevance which could undermine MRTCC effectiveness. The accessibility and compatibility of the exact external data systems that will be integrated is to be determined, however, potential data sources include Miami -Dade Corrections pre-trial GPS monitoring systems, State of Florida Corrections and Probation and Parole data, Federal Department of Corrections data, and payroll processing information, among others. The deliverable (3) of this phase of the project will be the successful integration of external data systems which will be the responsibility of MPD and the data engineer consultant. 7 Phase 4: Evaluation and assessment ofMRTCC on live violent crime incidents (9 months). The Final phase of the project will be devoted to the evaluation and assessment of the MRTCCs impact on gun violence incidents. Two process measures and four outcome measures will be used to determine whether or not the MRTCC improves the diversity of information provided to officers, is delivered quicker, and whether or not that results in improved case clearances, the time required to do so and whether officer use of force is reduced, and officer safety improved. The deliverable (4) from this phase will be a final report of the evaluation fmdings and will be the responsibility of the research partner. The research team will also produce at least one peer- reviewed journal article and will present project findings at the annual American Society of Criminology (ASC) conference. Capabilities and Competencies The City of Miami will serve as the fiscal agency for this project and MPD will function as the implementing department. In 2018, MPD's Administration Division provided administrative and financial oversight for 37 grant -funded programs, totaling $13,507,403. In December 2014, the MPD received re -accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) reinforcing MPD's commitment to quality law enforcement and excellent policies and procedures. MPD is fully committed to enhancing the use of data information systems and to implementing the real time crime center. The development of the MRTCC is a priority project of Chief Colina and will be overseen by Major Jose Rodriguez, Executive Officer to the Chief of Police Eldys Diaz, Lt. Jaime Ramirez, Sgt. Alejandro Gutierrez, and Sgt. Fabio Sanchez. This command structure currently oversees all of MPD's crime analysis and information systems, N including the virtual policing unit. They also are the agency project leaders for the Miami's DOJ Public Safety Partnership. Program Director Major Jose Rodriguez is a 23 -year MPD's veteran with a broad range of executive experience within the agency, having served as the commanding officer of the Internal Affairs and the Support Services Sections prior to his assignment to the Investigative Support Section. As the Major of Support Services, he oversaw a massive expansion of the agency's CCTV and ShotSpotter systems. Executive Officer Diaz has been with MPD for 12 years and spent several years as an investigator in the Homicide Unit prior to receiving an executive staff appointment. He has extensive experience in both project management and information systems development, having overseen several major technological deployments for the agency centered on the optimization and distribution of data. Lt. Ramirez joined MPD 13 years ago and currently manages day-to-day police operations in the RTCC, which is comprised of the Criminal Intelligence Unit and RTCC Support Detail, overseen by Sgt. Gutierrez, and the Crime Analyst Detail, Digital Forensic Recovery Detail, and Crime Gun Intelligence Center Detail overseen by Sgt. Sanchez. The MRTCC Unit Director will be Joelle Lee who will be graduating from FIU's doctoral program in the fall. She is currently embedded within the crime analysis unit and will be retained by MPD to lead the development of the MRTCC in a full-time consulting position. Mr. David Knight is a Data Engineer Consultant with extensive experience in the integration and automation of data networks. He will work with the Unit Director to develop and integrate the information portal within the MRTCC. Mr. Knight served as the consultant in the initial SPI project and was a crucial contributor to the success of the enhancement and automation of the data systems utilized by the crime analysts. 0 The FIU Academic team will be led by Dr. Rob T. Guerette, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice. With over 15 years of experience, he is an expert on crime analysis and prevention; problem -oriented policing and program evaluation and will serve as Principal Investigator for this project. He currently serves as the Senior Researcher for the crime prevention section of NIJ's CrimeSolutions.gov and was the coordinator for the Herman Goldstein Awards for Problem -Oriented Policing for nearly fifteen years. He has published extensively in the areas of crime prevention and policing which have appeared in a variety of peer reviewed outlets. Doctoral student Kimberly Przeszlowski is currently embedded and fully integrated within MPD crime analysis unit. She is developing expertise in crime analysis and crime prevention. She will continue to work embedded as a Research Assistant. Dr. Guerette has a long- standing working relationship with the MPD and other law enforcement agencies. Plan for Collecting and Analyzing the Data The project will establish both process and outcome measures for the MRTCC (Table 2). Process measures will include measurement of the diversity of information delivered to responding officers, and detectives as well as the time to delivery of information. These measures will allow the research team to answer the question, "Does the MRTCC increase the diversity of information utilized in police responses to gun violence and is that information delivered quicker than existing response procedures? " Outcome measures will include case clearance rates for incidents of gun violence, the time taken to clear gun crimes, officer use of force, and officer safety. These measures will allow the research team to answer, "Does the MRTCC increase the overall rate of case clearances for incidents of gun violence and does it shorten the time needed to clear cases? " and "Does the use of the MRTCC reduce officer use offorce when responding to gun violence incidents and does it improve officer safety in those encounters? " 10 A randomized control trial design will be used to determine MRTCC outcomes. Calls for service involving gun crime incidents will be randomly assigned for "treatment" through the MRTCC. Incidents assigned to the MRTCC will receive the real time deployment of information developed and maintained by the MRTCC unit to responding officers. Non -treated calls for service will be dispatched to officers who will respond under current operating procedures. These non- treated calls will make up the control condition for comparison on the process and outcome measures with MRTCC treated incidents. Because incidents will be randomly assigned, equivalency should be established between the two groups allowing for valid comparison. Given the current frequency of roughly seventy-five aggravated assault and homicide incidents occurring on average per week, it is anticipated that this randomization period will extend for approximately seven to eight weeks. Process and outcome measures will be collected through the review of record management systems and reviews of incident case files. Two members from the research team will independently review and extract the data from the gun crime incidents drawn for the MRTCC treatment sample and the corresponding control sample. Each reviewer will code both treatment and control sample incidents for the number of informational data points which were disseminated to responding officers. Additionally, the time from incident dispatch to the delivery of that information to officers will be recorded for each group. Any differences identified in the coding will be assessed by a third reviewer to assist in reconciling any disparities. Because the coding process will be independent, the determination of interrater reliability will strengthen the confidence and defensibility of the evaluation conclusions. The research team will be responsible for all performance and outcome measures and for administering and reporting the findings of the project evaluation. Aside from this, the research 11 team will be responsible for deliverables one and four outlined previously in the project timeline. The MPD and consultant will be responsible for deliverables two and three. Table 2. Miami Real Time Crime Center (MIA) SPI Project Evaluation Design Question Objective Performance Design & Analytics Data Measures Q1. Does the MRTCC 01: To increase the M1: Average number of Design: Record increase the diversity of diversity of data sources utilized in MRTCC cases vs, Management information utilized in police information MRTCC cases vs. Randomized Control/ System (RMS); responses to gun violence delivered to officers existing operating Experimental design; Random Incident Case and is that information and detectives, procedure cases. sampling of cases for MRTCC Files. delivered quicker than MRTCC cases vs. (Tx; n = 250) or existing existing operating existing response 02: To reduce the M2: Average time to response practices (C; n = procedures? [Process] time to delivery of delivery of information in 250). Baseline pre vs. post; information to MRTCC cases vs. and vs, control comparisons. officers and existing operating detectives. procedure cases. [MD Scale 5; CS.gov scale 3]. Q2. Does the MRTCC 03: To improve M3: Case clearance rate Analvtics: increase the overall rate of clearance rates of comparison, MRTCC Means difference -in- case clearances for gun violence. cases vs. existing difference comparisons; incidents of gun violence 04: To reduce the operating procedure Independent samples T-tests. and does it shorten the time cases. Cohen's D. needed to clear cases? time required to [Outcome] clear gun violence M4: Average time to cases. clear gun crimes, MRTCC cases vs existing operating procedure cases. Q3. Does the use of the 05: To reduce M5: Levels of use of MRTCC reduce officer use inappropriate force deployed in of force when responding to officer use of force MRTCC cases vs, gun violence incidents and when responding to existing operating does it improve officer gun crime procedure cases. safety in those encounters? incidents. [Outcome] M6: Frequency & 06: To improve severity of officer injury in officer safety when MRTCC cases vs. responding to gun existing operating crime incidents. procedure cases. 12 Budget Summary Budget Summary Note: Any errors detected on this page should be fixed on the corresponding Budget Detail tab. 1 Year 5 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 7 Year 4 v � 'p Q LL v LL Q CO or i (if needed) Z (if needed) $0 (if needed) $0 $0 v CID -0 v v r v .0 a) v v 'a a v 76 v y _0 v Budget Category g g ry ° ) Cr ° LL Q ° a Q ° ' Q N 0 0 v o GJ N ° t LL Q ° v a °1 LL Q N $0 LL� CN O� LLM C OM LL�CrO� C LL �[ C O= $0 $0 Z $0 Z $701,700 Z No Z A. Personnel $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 B. Fringe Benefits $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 C. Travel $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 D. Equipment $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 E. Supplies $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 IF. Construction $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 IG.Subawards(Subgrants) $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 H. Procurement Contracts $335,666 $0 $257,588 $0 $108,446 $0 $0 $0 11. other $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Total Direct Costs $335,666 $0 $257,588 $0 $108,446 $0 $0 $0 J. Indirect Costs $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Total Project Costs $335,666 $0 $257,588 $0 $108,446 $0 $0 $0 Does this budget contain conference costs which is defined broadly to include meetings, retreats, seminars, symposia, and training activities? - Y/N 1 Year 5 (if needed) 7 QJ v � 'p Q LL v LL Q CO or i Z $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $701,700 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $701,700 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $701,700 No