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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA3249 - RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOU POLICE AUTO THEFT INTERDICT DETAIL RAID MO5221 Riverside Auto Theft Interdiction Detail (RAID) MOU AGREEMENT #3249 M05221, 7-21-93 _ MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING RIVERSIDE COUNTY AUTO THEFT TASK FORCE I. OVERVIEW Vehicle theft has become the most costly of all property crimes, and is an American epidemic. It impacts over four million Americans each year at a cost exceeding $10 billion. This represents almost half (48%) of the dollar loss of all crimes combined. California leads the nation with approximately 315,000 thefts annually and experienced a loss of 315,486 vehicles in the year 1992 . In Riverside County during this same year a total of 11,867 vehicles were stolen at a cost to the motoring public in the amount of $75 million. The auto theft rate in Riverside County has more than tripled in the last ten years. In an effort to combat this growing crime, and to address mounting public concern, the California Legislature passed into law Senate Bill 2139 (Vehicle Code Section 9250.14) . As stated, this bill authorizes the Board of Supervisors to impose a one dollar fee on all vehicles registered in the County at the time of registration renewal, to enhance the capacity of local police and prosecutors to deter, investigate, and prosecute vehicle theft crimes. In May of 1991 , the Riverside County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution pursuant to Vehicle Code Section 9250. 14 specifically to fund a multi-jurisdictional vehicle theft task force. The resolution was adopted unanimously which results in an additional $1 .00 fee to be charged on each Riverside County new and renewal vehicle registration. II. MISSION To reduce the incidence of vehicle theft/car jackings and increase the apprehension of the professional vehicle thief. 1. Interface with the California Highway Patrol Investigative Services Unit (Vehicle Theft) , DMV, DOJ, FBI and all agencies within Riverside County for the sharing of intelligence information related to vehicle theft. 2. Increase the number of arrests of vehicle theft and car jacking suspects, particularly the professional thieves participating in the surgical stripping, renumbering for resale, exportation, and car jacking. 9e3 Riverside Vehicle Theft Task Force 7/ '/ Memorandum of Understanding 3 . Identify locations that are used in connection with vehicle theft offenses and take appropriate enforcement action. These locations may include legitimate business locations (e.g. , repair/body shops and dismantlers) used for illegal activities and the sites of "chop shop operations. " 4 . Identify local trends and patterns of vehicle theft and car-jacking activity to be targeted by Task Force investigators. 5. Increase the recovery rate of stolen vehicles and reduce the number of car-jacking incidents in Riverside County. 6. Provide centralized repository for vehicle theft expertise, support, coordination, and information data base. 7 . Provide a forum for public awareness as to vehicle theft prevention and trends throughout Riverside County. This will be accomplished through coordination with the local media to publicize the vehicle theft problem and Task Force activities, thereby encouraging public participation while discouraging potential vehicle thieves. 8. In cooperation with the Riverside County District Attorney; increase the number of felony prosecutions for vehicle theft, and car jacking suspects, particularly the professional thieves participating in the surgical stripping, renumbering for resale, exportation, and car jacking. III. TASK FORCE ORGANIZATION A. Executive Committee The Executive Committee shall be comprised of seven members of the Riverside County Law Enforcement Administrators' Association or their designees including representatives of the Sheriff, Inland Division CHP, FBI and the Police Chiefs of Riverside, Corona, Perris, and Palm Springs. Additionally, representatives from the CHP Border Division and the District Attorney's office will also sit on the Committee as non-voting members. 2 Riverside Vehicle Theft Task Force Memorandum of Understanding Members of the Executive Committee will meet once a quarter to review Task Force operations and to provide direction, guidance, and input. The Sheriff, or his designee, shall serve as Director and chairperson of the Executive Committee. Quorum voting of the Committee shall be by majority vote and shall be by Committee members only. Committee vacancies shall be filled by majority vote of the Executive Committee. B. Task Force Coordinator The Task Force Coordinator's position will be staffed full time .by a lieutenant provided by the California Highway Patrol. The Coordinator will be responsible for management responsibilities of the Task Force and will be directly accountable to the Executive Committee for Task Force operations. The Coordinator's salary and benefits will not be reimbursed by the Task Force fund. C. Supervision The Task Force Supervisor's position will be staffed by a sergeant provided by the Sheriff's Department. This sergeant will be selected by the Task Force Coordinator with input from the Sheriff"s Department and concurrence of the Executive Committee. The sergeant will supervise all subordinate members of the task force and provide necessary input for performance evaluations to the parent agency. Salary and benefits associated with the supervisor's position will be reimbursed to the Sheriff's Department through the task force fund. D. Prosecution Staff The District Attorney's Office has established a vehicle theft prosecution team funded through monies collected pursuant to CVC 9250 .14 . This team will work directly with the Vehicle Theft Task Force to provide legal review and will file cases warranting a criminal complaint. All vehicle theft task force cases will be vertically prosecuted. If warranted, Federal prosecution will be pursued by the appropriate attorney's office. 3 Riverside vehicle Theft Task Force � ' Memorandum of Understanding E. Investigators The Task Force shall be staffed by qualified investigators recommended for assignment by the participating agencies. Assignment to the Task Force shall be for a minimum of two years. Due to the critical nature of the position, personnel recommended to the Task Force will be subject to selection interviews by the Task Force Coordinator and Supervisor. Consideration for placement on the Task Force is given based on past job performance, investigative experience, and the ability to work with others in a close, team relationship. Personnel not meeting acceptable standards of performance or refusing to comply with Task Force policies and procedures may be removed from the Task Force and transferred back to his/her department. If the Task Force Coordinator has cause to replace a member, he shall discuss the issue with the parent agency. If the parent agency does not concur with the decision of the Task Force Coordinator to remove and replace the task force member, the issue shall be forwarded to the Executive Committee for final resolution. It is agreed, however, that the resolution of operational problems at the lowest level is in the best interest of the Task Force. Salaries and benefits associated with these investigators will be reimbursed from the task force fund to the participating agencies. Any participation by the FBI, DMV and/or NICB in the task force will not be reimbursable through the Task Force Fund. F. Administrative Support Staff One Information Processing Specialist will be assigned to the Task Force. This position will support the operations, Task Force staff and provide clerical liaison to the parent agencies. One Accountant position will be assigned to the Task Force to handle the general accounting, budget, purchasing, disbursement and reconciliation of the task force fund. This position will be responsible for providing a monthly and quarterly accounting of the task force fund. The salary for these positions will be paid by the vehicle theft task force fund. 4 Riverside Vehicle Theft Task Force Memorandum of Understanding G. National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) Investigator one three quarter time NICB Investigator will be assigned to the Task Force as a Coordinator between the Task Force and NICB. All salary, benefits, overtime, per diem, and business expenses for this team member will be paid by NICB and not reimbursed by -the task force fund. H. Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent One full time FBI Special Agent will be assigned to the Task Force as an investigator. All salaries, benefits, and overtime accrued by this investigator will be paid by the FBI and not reimbursed"by the task force fund. The investigator will bring an investigator's vehicle with him/her to the task force when reporting. I . Department of Motor Vehicles Special Investigator The Department of Motor Vehicles, Special Investigations Unit, Riverside Office, will assign one investigator who will work on an on-call basis to assist with records information including 'vehicle backgrounds, investigation of fraudulent identification (vehicles/persons) , identification of suspects, document analysis, etc. Expenses for the assistance of these investigator positions will not be reimbursed by the task force fund. J. California Highway Patrol Two full time vehicle theft investigators will be provided by the California Highway Patrol, one each from Inland and Border Division. With the exception of overtime payments, all salary, benefits, per diem, and business expenses for this team member will be paid by the CHP and not reimbursed by the task force fund. K. Participating Agency For the purposes of this memorandum of understanding, a "Participating Agency" is defined as any law enforcement agency which has an employee assigned specifically to this task force, regardless of the status of reimbursement from allocated funds. 5 Riverside Vehicle Theft Task Force Memorandum of Understanding IV. FISCAL PROCEDURES A. Task Force Fund The task force fund, established pursuant to CVC Section 9250.14, will be administered by the vehicle theft Executive Committee. Any requests for the expenditure of funds will require the approval of the Executive Committee based on a simple majority vote of approval . The Task Force Coordinator will be authorized to expend an amount approved by the Executive Committee for the operational needs of the task force. Any operational needs of the task force exceeding this amount will require prior approval of the Executive Committee. B. Salaries and Benefits The Task Force Coordinator, representatives from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the FBI, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Highway Patrol, will not be reimbursed by the task force fund for salary and benefits. The salary, benefits, approved overtime, per diem and business related expenses of all remaining task force members will be reimbursed to the participating departments by the task force fund. Those personnel assigned to the task force on a reimbursable basis will be paid through the payroll section of their parent agency. Reimbursement will then be provided to the parent agency by the task force fund. It shall be the responsibility of the Task Force Coordinator to institute a system of checks and balances whereby the hours of each participant will be authorized and audited for accuracy. This information will be reported to the agencies' appropriate time-keeper, with a copy submitted to the Task Force Accountant. The Task Force Coordinator will also retain a copy of this record. Members assigned to the Task Force whose salaries are reimbursed by the task force fund shall be on full time assignment to the Task Force. Administrative processing costs to determine payroll by participating agencies will not be reimbursed. C. Participant Claims for Reimbursement Participating agencies shall request reimbursement for Task Force members' regular salaries, benefits, overtime, business expenses and per diem from the task force fund. 6 Riverside Vehicle Theft Task Force Memorandum of Understanding Reimbursement will only be made based on actual hours of program participation. Requests for reimbursement from the parent agency shall be submitted to Riverside County Sheriff's Department no later than the 15th day of the month following the month the participant worked. It will be the responsibility of the Task Force Accountant to develop a format for claiming expenses with appropriate back-up detail information and to provide a sample of the document to the parent agency. This document will then be used by each participating agency for claiming any expenses incurred as a result of participation in the Task Force. Payment of the claim will be processed within 30 days of receipt of invoice. In the unlikely event that revenues fall short of what is required for full reimbursement; reimbursement shall be made on a pro rate share basis. In no event will general revenues of the County be used to offset any such shortage. Reimbursement claims by Task Force members for reimbursable travel, per diem, lodging, materials, or services shall be submitted on an approved claim form specific to Task Force operations. Such claims shall be approved by the Task Force Coordinator. Upon approval, the Task Force Coordinator shall forward the reimbursement claims to the Riverside Sheriff's Department for payment within 30 days of receipt of such claims. D. Right to Audit Each party to this Agreement shall make available to the County of Riverside at: all reasonable times, its payroll and other records relating to this Agreement. The County or independent auditor may audit such records and if the County determines that ineligible costs have been reimbursed, the agency shall immediately repay the amount determined to be ineligible. If not repaid within 30 days, the County may hold the amount determined to be ineligible from future reimbursements. The parties shall maintain the original copies of the required records for a period of three years after the date the expense is reimbursed. Task Force funds shall be audited at the direction of the Executive Committee. This audit will normally be conducted by a private firm. The Task Force is responsible for the cost of the audit. 7 Riverside Vehicle Theft Task Force Memorandum of Understanding E. Overtime The Executive Committee will approve a "not to exceed" monthly allocation of overtime to be utilized by the Task Force, as necessary. Monthly amounts exceeding this allocation will require the submission of written justification by the Task Force Coordinator for approval to the Executive Committee. F. Indirect Costs The County of Riverside, through the Sheriff's Department, receives and is the Financial Administrator for all source funds for the Riverside County Vehicle Theft Task Force. As such, a significant amount of management time will be required for the administration of the funds and costs associated with the administration of these funds will be reimbursed to the Sheriff's Department. G. Special Fund A special appropriation fund shall be established by the Sheriff's Department to be used for operations of the Vehicle Theft Task Force. These funds shall only be used as necessary in the performance of duties relating to Task Force activities. Such usage will be limited to special and extra-ordinary expenses incurred during the investigation of vehicle thefts. Authorization to use these funds will be determined by the Task Force Coordinator. V. LIABILITY Each participating agency in the Task Force shall have full financial responsibility for their respective investigators while assigned to the Task Force, including vehicle accidents and industrial injury claims. Additionally, the agency shall also be responsible for any and all workers' compensation claims of their respective investigator if he/she should become injured in the course and scope of his/her duties while assigned to the Task Force. Riverside County, its officers, agents, and employees shall not be deemed to have assumed any liability for the negligence of participating agencies or any of its officers or employees; and participating agencies shall hold the County, its officers and employees harmless from any and all claims and damages resulting therefrom. Participating agencies and the 8 Riverside Vehicle Theft Task Force Memorandum of Understanding County shall hold each other harmless from the liability for acts or omissions of the other. Each party to this Agreement agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the other parties to this Agreement in regard to any liability imposed on the Agreeing parties due to the acts or omissions of another party's assigned employee(s) . VI. OPERATION LOCATION Appropriate space will. be provided to house Task Force participants and related equipment by the Sheriff's Department at no cost to the Task Force. The Task Force main office will be located within the western portion of Riverside County. A satellite office will be established in the Indio CHP Area office. Investigators; from Palm Springs Police Department and CHP Border Division will operate from this office. All costs for this facility will be borne by the CHP. VII. EQUIPMENT The Task Force Coordinator will be accountable for equipment assigned to the Task Force and will utilize approved Riverside County procedures for procuring, accounting and safeguarding fixed assets. A. Vehicles If the Task Force is unable to provide a vehicle to the assigned member through Task Force resources, participating agencies agree to provide this equipment. Maintenance of vehicles provided by the Task Force will be paid by the task force fund. Fuel will be paid by the participating agency with reimbursement made by the task force fund. Certification of fuel amounts and costs will be required. These reimbursements will be paid from invoices submitted to the Sheriff's Department. Such claims will be approved for payment by the Task Force Coordinator. 9 Riverside Vehicle Theft Task Force Memorandum of Understanding B. Communications Ectuinment Hand-held radios and cellular telephones will be acquired in cooperation with the County GSA and paid for by the task force fund. The Coordinator, supervisor, and each investigator will be provided one radio and one cellular telephone. Procedures will be developed to ensure proper use and accountability of this equipment. C. Other Equipment Other equipment including in-house covert equipment, office equipment, computers, hand tools, cameras, video cameras, etc. , will be purchased with monies from the task force fund and provided to members from Task Force budgeted inventory. Situations requiring air support, unique vehicles, or other unique items will require cooperative scheduling and assistance from the member departments. D. Disbursement of Task Force assets At the conclusion of the funding authorized by CVC 9250.14 , all assets of this task force will be distributed to the participating agencies by the Executive Committee. VIII .UNDERCOVER DOCUMENTS The use of covert identities to support or enhance undercover operations is essential . This will require that investigators possess undercover California driver's licenses and other sources of identification. The procurement, utilization, and control of these documents will rest with the participating agency. Investigators will be expected to bring covert documents with them at time of assignment. IX. ASSET SHAPING Task Force operations which result in the potential for either State or Federal asset seizures shall be brought to the attention of the Executive Committee for a decision as to whether or not an application for asset forfeiture sharing will be made pursuant to appropriate State or Federal law. Any forfeited funds paid to the Task Force 10 Riverside Vehicle Theft Task Force Memorandum of Understanding shall be retained by the Task Force for future operational expenses. X. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES All Task Force members shall abide by the Standard Operating Procedures Manual (SOP) which shall be prepared by the Task Force Coordinator with the assistance of the Task Force Supervisor. The completed SOP will be subject to the review and approval of the Executive Committee. The SOP shall specify policies and procedures for Task Force operations and shall include the following specific items: A. In any case where the policies or procedures of the Task Force conflict with those of the member's parent agency, the member shall abide by the policies of his or her own agency. Conflicts not resolved by the supervisor will be referred to the Task Force Coordinator for resolution. B. The investigation of officer-involved shootings shall be conducted according to the RCLEAA officer Involved Shooting Protocol. This protocol will in no event override the officer involved shooting policy of the involved participant's parent agency. Vehicle accidents will be handled by the agency having jurisdiction at the location in which the incident occurs. Additionally, the Task Force Coordinator will insure that the parent agency of the involved officer has been notified. Nothing precludes further investigation or concurrent investigation by the officer's parent agency. Injured personnel will be taken to the most immediate and competent medical facilities available. The parent agency of the involved team member will be notified of the incident immediately. C. Task Force member evaluations and investigations of citizens' complaints or internal investigations shall be handled jointly between the assigned Task Force Supervisor and the parent agency when Task Force assignment is an issue. Disciplinary actions will be approved solely by the parent agency. Parent agencies will provide the name, rank, and telephone number of a "liaison supervisor" that will assist the Task Force Riverside vehicle Theft Task Force Memorandum of Understanding supervisor with :inquiries of mutual concern. Internal discipline problems will be addressed by the Task Force supervisor and documented when necessary. Continued failure to abide by Task Force policies and procedures may result in removal from the Task Force at the recommendation of the Task Force Coordinator with concurrence of the Executive Committee. D. The release of media information regarding Task Force operations will be coordinated through the Task Force Coordinator. The Task Force Coordinator will apprise the Chairman of the Executive Committee of all incidents which may result in significant media interest. The Executive Committee will determine what course of action will be taken in releasing significant event information. XI. REPORTING A. The Task Force Coordinator will be responsible for implementing a reporting system which tracks team activities, statistics, and accomplishments of Task Force operations. This reporting system will serve as the basis for quarterly reports to the Executive Committee as well as to ensure an accountability of personnel and equipment resources. B. The Task Force Coordinator will submit an operational report to the Executive Committee on a quarterly basis within 20 days following the end of each calendar quarter. C. An annual report will be provided to the County Board of Supervisors, with copies to each participating city council. XII. AMENDMENTS TO THE M.O.U. The Executive Committee may amend any portion of the M.O.0 by a majority vote of the quorum. 12 Riverside Vehicle Theft Task Force Memorandum of Understanding XIII. TERM OF AGREEMENT This agreement shall commence on September 1, 1993 and shall remain in effect until the termination of Task Force Funding on close of business on December 31, 1995, as set forth in Vehicle Code Section 13250. 14 (SB 2139) , unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted prior to January 1, 1996 deletes or extends that date. Participating agencies may elect to terminate the agreement prior to its designated termination date. Any agency desiring to terminate its participation in this agreement shall indicate such intent in writing to the Executive Committee. The termination shall be deemed to take effect not less than 30 days after receipt of the written communication or upon a date established by mutual agreement. XIV. SIGNATURES The undersigned state that they represent and have the authority to execute this Agreement on behalf of their respective agencies and, in signing this agreement, concur with and support the Riverside County Vehicle Theft Task Force as set forth in this Agreement and for the period and purpose-s—statte erein. (17� ROB P S Palm Sp ings City Manager ATTEST: � CITY OF PALM SPRIPJGS By City erk ut'PROVEO AS TO FORM J /✓ ttorney ;h- ate 13 F'ni,ii ,;Yilri65 POLICE R AID % , D :) RIVERSIDE AUTO THEFT INTERDICTION DETAIL MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING