HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 1h - Budget Appropriation for Inmate Program Trust Account
DATE:
November 3, 2015
TO:
Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM:
Robert Guthrie, Chief of Police
By: Collen Flores, Lieutenant
Jennifer Brutus, Management Analyst
SUBJECT:
REQUEST FOR BUDGET APPROPRIATION OF INMATE PROGRAM
TRUST ACCOUNT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015-16
Recommendation: Appropriate and Approve
SUMMARY
It is recommended that the City Council appropriate up to $8,000 from the Inmate
Program Trust Account and approve (1) the purchase and installation of two IP cameras
for the Arcadia Police Department’s jail CCTV system in the amount of approximately
$3,500; and (2) future jail related expenditures, as necessary.
BACKGROUND
In 2011, the Arcadia Police Department established a new Inmate Telephone Services
Agreement with LittleJohn Communications, Inc. after the City cancelled its contract
with its former jail phone company, Inmate Communications. Inmate Communications
was not paying the City its commission, was behind in payments, and was gouging
inmates’ family members by overcharging phone calls. The City conducted a Request
for Qualifications and interviewed several inmate telephone service companies.
LittleJohn was found to be the most qualified company who had the ability to collect
commission from cell phones, record phone calls, alert detectives when necessary, and
block phone calls to domestic violence victims. They also offered the highest
commission to the City.
Under the current cost sharing Agreement, LittleJohn is responsible for furnishing,
installing, repairing, and servicing all inmate jail phones in exchange for 50% of
proceeds from phone calls made by prisoners after they are booked. Prisoners are
allowed to make three or more phone calls while housed in the Arcadia Jail. The City
receives the other 50% commission on inmate phone calls and saves the funds in a
trust account called Inmate Program Trust.
Inmate Program Trust Account
November 3, 2015
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Since 2011, the City has collected approximately $12,300 in phone call receipts. The
accounts receivable for this fund varies widely with deposits ranging from $50 per
month to a couple hundred dollars per month. Since the passing of AB109, there have
been fewer arrests, which has resulted in less inmates being booked; thus less inmates
making telephone calls and less inmate phone call related revenue for the City. Each
year the amount of inmate phone call revenue continues to decrease and the largest
decreases were notated over the last two fiscal years, a 36% drop in FY13-14 and a
63% drop in FY14-15, in comparison to the previous years’ collections.
The Inmate Program Trust account is to be used for jail related expenditures, such as
facility maintenance, supplies, equipment purchases and repairs, and audio and visual
components associated with the jail’s camera system. The account was established
over 12 years ago and, since then, the Department has only used funds from the
account on two occasions: once in 2008 for repairs to the jail’s freezer (which stores
prisoner meals) in the amount of $1,703.67; and again in 2015 in the amount of
$6,736.18, to go towards the purchase of a digital video recorder (DVR) for an upgrade
to the jail’s CCTV system. The DVR was needed to bring the City in compliance with its
video retention policy, which requires the City to keep 365 days of recordings. Prior to
the upgrade, the City’s old DVR was only maintaining 200 days of recordings.
DISCUSSION
For the Fiscal Year 2015-16, the Department has identified one immediate purchase
need using Inmate Program Trust funds. A total of two (2) IP cameras are needed for
the jail camera upgrade project explained above, in the amount of approximately $3,500
for product and installation. The Department needs to replace its old analog cameras
with IP cameras to improve resolution, video signal, and video compression or
”encoding”. The Department completed the informal bid process by soliciting quotes
from three vendors of which two, Johnson Controls, Inc. and Siemens, declined
participation in the project. The third vendor, CelPlan Wireless Global Technologies out
of Reston, Virginia, submitted a quote and was selected. The City has done business
with CelPlan in the past and the company is lead over the Department’s current jail
camera system upgrade project.
The Department is satisfied with CelPlan’s products and services, and has experienced
expeditious response to service calls. Therefore, it is recommended that the City
Council approve the purchase and installation of two IP cameras for the Arcadia Jail in
the amount of approximately $3,500 using funds from the Inmate Program Trust.
In addition, the Department may encounter issues with jail cameras in the future that
may warrant replacement or repair; thus, the Department would like to allocate an
additional $3,500 for two (2) IP cameras in case these types of issues arise.
Furthermore, the jail’s freezer has been malfunctioning over the last year and it is
Inmate Program Trust Account
November 3, 2015
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anticipated that repairs will be needed at some point during the remaining part of this
Fiscal Year in the amount of approximately $1,500.
Inmate Program Trust
Budget Allocation for FY15-16
Identified Purchases Potential Purchases
$3,500 - two IP cameras for the jail CCTV $3,500 - camera equipment and
system and installation services installation services (in case jail cameras
need repairs or new IP replacements)
$1,500 - freezer repairs
FISCAL IMPACT
If approved, up to a total of $8,500 for the purchase and installation of two IP cameras
and potential jail related purchases would be spent from the Inmate Program Trust
Account during FY 2015-16.
Traditionally, it was not necessary for the City Council to allocate and approve the use
of minor trust fund accounts such as this one; however, our independent auditing firm
recently issued a finding, based on a Governmental Accounting Standards Board
(“GASB”) pronouncement, that this is now mandatory.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council appropriate up to $8,000 from the Inmate
Program Trust Account, and approve (1) the purchase and installation of two IP
cameras for the Arcadia Police Department’s jail CCTV system in the amount of
approximately $3,500; and (2) future jail related expenditures, as necessary.