1. RESPONSES REGARDING SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND POLICY AFTER
COVID-19 PANDEMIC
One registrant on report to committee.
Topic: Brief reports regarding what policies have been created or modified due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, and what is and is not sustainable for long-term policy and criminal
justice system innovation.
County Executive: Focus on policies related to children, youth, and families, such as
reducing placements for youth by not allowing sanctions placements, through strict
screening for intake. Adaptation to virtual workspace when possible, and determining
what is beneficial remotely vs. in-person. For rural areas, virtual mental health services
have been very helpful.
Mayor: Determining what work can be done remotely and in-person across agencies.
Emphasis on development of the CARES program; trying to maximize response time and
capacity. Strong focus on addressing homelessness; trying to expand capacity and
create space for physical distancing. This is being done through collaboration with the
county and development of tiny home communities on a more permanent basis. The City
is also investing in violence prevention and in youth services, including funding housing
for youth aging out of foster care. Brief discussion about CARES; data will be publicly
available soon.
Clerk of Courts: See attached memo. Need to return to pre-pandemic staffing in-person
because the office is public-facing and requires a lot of paper files. Remote initial
appearances are continuing, although in-person appearances are necessary some times.
Potentially increasing the number of branches to address the backlog in cases.
Chiefs of Police Association: Redistributing staffing to maintain capacity for patrol. Some
use of phone reports rather than in-person calls in specific cases.
Need to maintain in-person training, as people are feeling less engaged online, which
might undermine training.
COURTS RESPONSE REGARDING SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND
POLICY AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Review of 2021 RES-320
Brief review of RES-320, which will be discussed in more detail in the future.
F. Future Meeting Items and Dates
Next Meeting: April 28th at 12:15pm
G. Public Comment on Items not on the Agenda
None