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The Governor’s Office has asked all state agencies and boards, including the AzPOST Board to produce a plan which indicates the impacts of a 15% reduction in their budget. This exercise is specifically designed to describe the consequences of a legislative budget plan that relies exclusively on cuts alone.
The AzPOST Board and its mission are funded entirely by the Peace Officer Training Fund (POTF), a percentage of the surcharge on convictions as a part of the Criminal Justice Enhancement Fund (CJEF). The reversion of Peace Officer Training Funds (POTF), funds gathered by local governments, from actions of local law enforcement officers, contradicts the intent and legislative direction of ARS 41-1825. Prior legislatures understood the importance of the actions of the Board and implemented this funding mechanism to protect those activities from pressures on the General Fund.
With the exception of the reductions listed in the Operations section of the attached documents, all other reductions are direct reductions of funds to local governments and will not only reduce their ability to train their officers, but will increase costs to local entities.
The plan as outlined in these documents has the following priorities; first, operation of the Board, including its investigative and compliance activities, second, basic training of cadets, and last, in-service training. The plan strives to continue support, although reduced, for every aspect of the Board’s mission. As everyone who has participated in such budget reduction exercises can attest, it is a difficult document to draft, but it must be done given the current state of our state.
STATE OF ARIZONA FY 2010 BUDGET REDUCTIONS - ISSUE DESCRIPTIONS Arizona Peace Officer Standards & Training Board Issue Title: Reduction of Operational Expenses
Issue Priority: 1
Peace Officers Training Fund: $200,000
Total: $200,000
Professional and Outside Services: $70,000
The contract for consultant services was established to provide support for the computer system which houses Peace Officer Certification Records. It is a Linux system and due to the lack of functionality of that language, we are changing to a Windows based environment. This reduction may create a situation where we will not have the support needed during the transition. This may cause either a delay in the transition or a significant slow down for staff as they suffer through the bugs which always accompany such a transition.
There are no other ways to fund this type of transition and it impacts the Certification Unit to the largest degree. The criminal justice system relies on accurate and timely certification records for the officers, so the impacts could be felt by outside law enforcement entities, as well as AzPOST staff.
The Board is enabled by ARS 41-1822, as to its duties and responsibilities including certification of officers and by ARS 41-1825 as to its authority to expend funds for the operation of the Board.
A second reduction will be a decrease in the interagency support agreement with the Attorney General’s Office. Due to the number of cases requiring hearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings, the Board has contracted with the AzAG for two full time Assistant Attorney Generals. This will be reduced to 1 full time and one half time position. The impact will be that some officers will have to wait longer for their hearing to be scheduled.
Printing: $25,000
The Board offers approximately 140 classroom programs during the year, covering topics unique to law enforcement such as crime scene management, sexual assault investigation, collision reconstruction, and others. For most of the programs, there are extensive handouts and resource manuals provided to the students. This reduction will cause the officers to get less information during the class and have considerably less information to take back to their departments as resources from the class.
Part of this reduction in printing costs will be due to the reduction in classroom programs provided by the Board. It is anticipated that due to reductions in the funds available for officer travel, there will be fewer classes held. Officers, principally from non-Maricopa County agencies, will not be receiving the specialized training needed to provide competent service to their communities.
The only other way to fund this type of training is to charge the agency or the officer to attend the courses. Training budgets for all agencies statewide have been significantly reduced, so the reality is there are no local funds available to support the training either.
The Board is enabled by ARS 41-1822, as to its duties and responsibilities including training of peace officers and under ARS 41-1824 it is to expend funds for this training in a way that maximizes the impact of the training funds. The reduction in out-of-Maricopa-County training will be contradictory to that legislative intent.
Conferences and Training: $25,000
These funds were allocated to be used by Board staff, volunteer instructors and Subject Matter Experts who advise the Board on curriculum, to attend special training to insure the Board’s programs are up to date and contain the best information. This reduction means that the current curriculum will not be reviewed as is normally done, nor will the “experts” receive the support needed to insure their credentials are maintained.
In addition, the Board, in an effort to meet its ARS 41-1824 legislative goal to expend funds for this training in a way that maximizes the impact of the training funds, uses individual instructors from agencies around the state. The agency, in return for providing the instructor for programs receives the benefits of having a current expert on their staff for day-to-day operations. This reduction will mean that some agencies will not be willing to share their personnel and therefore other, usually smaller agencies, will not receive the training they need.
Travel Reductions $30,000
In-state travel for Board members and its staff will be reduced by approximately 40%. This will be accomplished by not having board meetings outside of Phoenix and by adjusting the travel requirements of staff when doing investigations and administrative audits. This will result in less timely service for agencies trying to hire new officers and place them into a police academy as is required by Administrative Rule and good sense. The authority for this is ARS 41-1821(E) and 41-1822(A)(3&6) Travel for investigation will be limited to absolute need and then when multiple tasks can be accomplished on a single trip. This will increase the time needed to compete investigations and therefore increase the time frame for officers to have their case brought to the Board for resolution.
Other Operating Supplies/Books $50,000
These funds were used to provide books and other class-related materials for class attendees. This reduction will eliminate some sources of information provided to the officers. This will result in the elimination of some classes or parts of programs as they are founded on special workbooks and textbooks. The impact will be the reduction in quality and quantity of the programs offered to agencies for their officers and commanders. The authority for these expenditures is in ARS 41-1824.
STATE OF ARIZONA FY 2010 BUDGET REDUCTIONS - ISSUE DESCRIPTIONS Arizona Peace Officer Standards & Training Board Issue Title: Reduction of Training Programs
Issue Priority: 2
Peace Officers Training Fund: $796,500
Total: $796,500
All of the reductions listed in the area are direct reductions of funds to local governments and will not only reduce their ability to train their officers, but will increase their costs. The reversion of Peace Officer Training Funds (POTF), funds gathered by local governments, from actions of local law enforcement officers, contradicts the intent and legislative direction of ARS 41-1825.
In all cases, the alternative funding for these programs rests with local agencies. Removal of Board support shifts the cost and burden to local government. There are 168 agencies which either directly receive funds or participate in the training provided by the Board. Of those, only 20 have more than 100 officers and could reasonably support in-house training sections. There are slightly more than 15,000 officers and approximately 10,000 of those officers work for eleven agencies. It is clear that the other 157 agencies need sources of training and these reductions will have a more significant impact on them.
Aid to other agencies:
This funding was allocated to assist agencies around the state with training needs. Through grant funding, region training is supported by the Board in an effort to provide the types of training experience officers need but is difficult or impossible for an individual small agency to provide. All of these funds support local agencies and officers and if not provided by the Board from the POTF, the local government must provide it or it will not be done. The authority for this program and the way it is implemented is in ARS 41-1827 and 41-1828.
This reduction will result in the elimination or reduction of the following programs:
Advance Forensic Interview Techniques $77,000
This program teaches detectives court approved techniques to interview children who are either victims or witnesses. Without this training, interviews of children may not be used in court resulting in perpetrators going free. There are some AFIT trained detectives but as promotions occur and individuals retire there will be fewer and fewer. This will result in increased investigative time and perhaps the loss of critical evidence.
October 9, 2009
Improvements to Western Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy -- $80,000 The law enforcement agencies along the Colorado River have established a basic law enforcement training academy in Lake Havasu. This allows them to train the individuals from their area in their area, rather than forcing the cadet to live in Phoenix for almost 5 months. However, to make this a reality several improvements must be made to State Parks building which houses the academy, such as living quarters. Without these funds to provide the improvements needed, these agencies will have to use the Arizona Law Enforcement Academy in Phoenix. This will make it harder to recruit individuals and will increase the attrition rate for their cadets, based on historical data. The alternative is for the agencies to provide housing in the area at an increased non-recoverable cost.
Firearms and Use of Force Simulators $218,500 There are 37 firearm simulators placed around the state. These simulators provide training in the critical shoot/don’t shoot scenarios. They have proven to be the best way of training officers in the appropriate use of deadly force. In addition, each year in order to keep their certification current; officers must receive such decision-making training. This funding was to upgrade all of the systems to include Tasers, and shotguns so that officers could be trained in the proper use and decision making for those weapons as well as their sidearm. In addition, the video scenarios used were going to be replaced with new ones so the officers would have new experiences thus improving the training experience for them.
Without this funding, those systems which are not working very well will not be upgraded and may cease to work, and the officers will not receive the best training in the use of force which may lead to liability issues or the victimization of a citizen.
Annual Qualification Ammunition Reimbursement $210,000 In order to maintain peace officer certification (R13-4-206) every officer who carries a firearm on-duty must qualify with that weapon annually. This is to insure they can safely and effectively operate the weapon. In the past, the cost of the ammunition for this qualification has been borne by the agency, but in these difficult budget times the Board has reimbursed the agency for the cost of meeting its standard. This reduction will shift the burden of ammunition cost back to the local government.
Calendar Schools -- $165,000 The Board provides over 140 specialized law enforcement programs during the year for officers, sergeants, detectives and administrators. This reduction will reduce the courses provided by approximately half. Due to the requirements of R13-4-114, instructors of continuing training courses require Board recognition. These train-the-trainer courses will still be available but some of the other courses will not. Officers from small agencies which rely on these calendar schools to provide advanced training for their officers will probably not have access to the training they desire. The courses which will not be offered will include Child Pornography investigation, Domestic Violence investigation, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse investigation, Advanced Accident reconstruction, Interview and Interrogation techniques, Computer Crimes, Crime Scene Management, High Risk Vehicle stops, and Human Trafficking. Courses which will be reduced in number include Police Supervision, Leadership in Police Organizations, General Instructor, Firearms Instructor, Defensive Tactics Instructor, and Physical Fitness instructor.
The impact of this training not being available is clear. Cases will not be investigated properly, and perpetrators not caught and prosecuted. Agencies will be at greater liability for supervisory and management actions, and perhaps will simply not function as well. The majority of the impact will be on the smaller agencies that have no resources to obtain specialty training of this type for just a few officers. This reduction is a direct reduction in the training provided to local agencies and the services they provide will not be of the highest quality possible.
To achieve this reduction, all support for student travel will be stopped. Obviously, Maricopa County area officers will still have access to training but out-of-area officers will have to provide their own travel funds. This will have a disparate impact on smaller agencies and rural agencies including all but two sheriff’s offices.
Chiefs and Sheriff Training $46,000
Each year, the Board supports the training of Chiefs, Sheriffs, and Command level personnel by providing grants to local agencies and organizations for national level speakers and renowned presenters from law enforcement. It is too expensive and doesn’t make sense for individual agencies to either send staff to out-of-state conferences or bring in such experts for just their agency in order to stay current on important issues. By providing support for speakers to present at statewide conferences the per-head cost for high quality information is reduced greatly. Without this training, new, innovative and command level instruction will not be available to most of the agencies in the state. While the large agencies might be able to justify such expenditures, the huge majority of agencies cannot.
This reduction will result in command level officers not attending such schools as the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Course or the FBI Southwest Command College, both unique programs preparing new chiefs and executive to take control of their organizations.
STATE OF ARIZONA FY 2010 BUDGET REDUCTIONS - ISSUE DESCRIPTIONS Arizona Peace Officer Standards & Training Board Issue Title: Elimination of Agency Allocation Funding
Issue Priority: 3
Peace Officers Training Fund: $200,000
Total: $200,000
All of the reductions listed in the area are direct reductions of funds to local governments and will not only reduce their ability to train their officers, but will increase their costs. The reversion of Peace Officer Training Funds (POTF), funds gathered by local governments, from actions of local law enforcement officers, contradicts the intent and legislative direction of ARS 41-1825.
For several years, the Board has allocated an amount for each agency to use as it needs to meet its unique training needs. This allocation was a base amount plus a per-head figure which provided agencies a usable minimum dollar amount but also reflected the realities of the larger agencies. It was payable to the agency as a reimbursement for documented training which met specific criteria to insure it was used properly.
This reduction is a direct reduction in the amount of funds available to local agencies, as all of this funding went back to the agencies. In some small agencies, this is the total amount available for the training of their officers.
The Board provides this funding under the authority of ARS 41-1827 and 41-1828.
| FY 2010 BUDGET REDUCTIONS - SUMMARY OF ISSUES ARIZONA PEACE OFFICER STANDARDS & TRAINING BOARD | |
|---|---|
| PEACE OFFICERS TRAINING FUND | |
| FY 2010 All Non-General Funds Budget (less Federal Funds) | 7,976,800 |
| AGENCY REDUCTION TARGET - ALL NON-GENERAL FUNDS (w/o Federal Funds) Issue Title1Priority | $1,196,500 Reductions Amount |
1 Reduction of Operating Expenses $200,000 2 Reduction of Training Programs $796,500 3 Elimination of Agency Allocation Funding $200,000
Fund Total as a Percentage of Non-General Fund Reduction Target 100%
1 Please complete the attached Description and Impact Statement for each issue.
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October 9, 2009