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<br /> Officer Talaat said the Report indicated that six Patrol officers were sufficient during <br /> the 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. time slot. He said the Officers on the Steering Committee felt <br /> that six was an inadequate number, and seven or eight officers were needed, due to the <br /> policy that sends officers to assist another officer who has responded to a call or <br /> incident. "That involves two or three officers out of service. That would be fine if <br /> not for Redwood Shores." When the Redwood Shores Patrol officer responds to a <br /> multiple officer response incident in the downtown area that leaves that neighborhood <br /> without an officer. Officer Talaat said the Chief has committed to having an officer in <br /> Redwood Shores at all times due to its increasing growth, residentially and <br /> commercially, including the new shopping center. He said "If we have two calls <br /> going on in the City at the same time requiring multiple officer responses, that means <br /> we have to pull that officer out of the Shores... which decreases the time that officer <br /> can Patrol in the Shores... I'd like the Council to consider that when determining the <br /> sufficient level of minimum staffing we could use on the night shift." <br /> In response to Council questions regarding how often that happened, Officer Talaat <br /> said he couldn't be specific, but from his personal experience, that scenario occurred <br /> more times than it should have. <br /> In response to Council questions, Mr. Heiss said "We have to remember we are not <br /> talking about the whole night shift, but that period when the swing shift goes off and <br /> before the day shift comes on which is about 4-6 hours in the morning. One of the <br /> things we tried to look at was call frequency. While you can't measure everything, <br /> what the officer said is true. That happens sometimes... If we really look at that <br /> period from 2-6 a.m., the critical period... we are probably averaging somewhere <br /> between one and two calls per hour, of all types, those requiring a single officer as <br /> well as those that may need two officers to respond. . .. We thought that number of six <br /> was sufficient to allow for three multiple officer calls. I can't tell you how often that <br /> happens, nobody can, based on existing data. . " We have essentially proposed that six <br /> is the number that needs to be deployed at all times, not the target, but the actual <br /> number available.... Just the way scheduling works there wìl1 be seven or eight <br /> officers actually on duty.... 30% to 40% of the year, seven days of the week, we wìl1 <br /> have six as opposed to seven or eight available to deploy.... Where those people are <br /> deployed is really the Chiefs decision, and from a safety perspective it was really <br /> tough to justify more than six." He said other community demands are not present <br /> during that time frame. <br /> In response to Council questions regarding meetings with the neighborhood and <br /> business communities, Mr. Taylor said, "I walked away with the clear feeling that <br /> there was a lot of community support out there for the Police Department. There were <br /> issues of traffic, neighborhood involvement. I was impressed with the four member <br /> Community Action Team that we have. There is a lot of community interaction with <br /> those people. There was protracted concern about young people on street comers, <br /> SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTE BOOK NO. 55 OCTOBER 13, 1997 <br /> MINUTES Page No. 570 PAGE 9 <br />