The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutRES NO 151-2022RESOLUTION N00.15 1 2 022 A RESOLUTION GRANTING FUNDS TO THE KERN COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY TO FILE AND ENSURE THE PROSECUTION OF MUNICIPAL CODE VIOLATIONS. WHEREAS, on November 6, 2018, Measure N was passed by voters, increasing the sales and use tax within the City of Bakersfield (herein City) from 7.25 to 8.25 percent; and WHEREAS, the funding from Measure N is designed to go directly to the City to address top community priorities, including enhancing public safety, reducing homelessness, and bolstering economic development activities; and WHEREAS, as part of Measure N, it is the intent of the City to add 100 sworn police personnel to improve response times, reduce crime, and increase neighborhood police patrols; and WHEREAS, it is expected that such an increase in sworn personnel will increase the number of misdemeanor citations/arrests; and WHEREAS, the City Attorney's office operated a Community Prosecution Program (herein Program) with the assistance from the Kern County District Attorney's Office from 2005 through fiscal year 2011; and WHEREAS, the purpose behind the Program was to provide additional resources to prosecute various quality -of -life crimes, to preserve the safety and integrity of Bakersfield's business community and neighborhoods; and WHEREAS, the Program resulted in consistent and diligent prosecution of certain misdemeanor crimes, including but not limited to graffiti, petty theft, selling alcohol to minors, being drunk in public, litter, street racing, and other quality -of - life crimes; and WHEREAS, the Program is no longer in existence by the name, the Kern County District Attorney's Office has filled the void of the Program by continuing the prosecution of city ordinance violations and other quality -of -life crimes WHEREAS, it is the intent of the City Council for the City of Bakersfield to reinstate the funding by devoting funds generated by Measure N to the Kern County District's Attorney's office so that designated deputy district attorneys can continue to concentrate on the prosecution of quality -of -life crimes which Measure N was designed to address and that if not handled, may destroy the quality -of -life within our community; and WHEREAS, this method is believed to be the most efficient use of resources aAKF, and will ensure continued prosecution of city ordinance violations and othero`� �s1� quality -of -life crimes; and r" 00RIGINAl c WHEREAS, the funding use and importance of the funds, have been laid out in a letter addressed to the members of the Bakersfield City Council, attached as Exhibit A, from the District Attorney, Cynthia Zimmer. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Bakersfield as follows: 1. The above recitals are true and correct and incorporated herein by reference. 2. The City of Bakersfield hereby grants to the Kern County District Attorney Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000) for its immediate use to prosecute misdemeanor citations/arrests which occur in the City of Bakersfield. 3. Said funds are a one-time payment subject to renewal in fiscal year 2022/2023 upon approval of the City Council. 0• HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was passed and adopted by the Council of the City of Bakersfield at a regular meeting thereof held on SEP 2 12022 , by the following vote: �(ES COUNCIL MEMBER jA RIA , GO ALES, WEIR, SMITH, `��4akN; GRAY, PARLIER NOES: COUNCIL MEMBER ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBER BSENT: COUNCIL MEMBER Q5 ,fefY)(U_1 APPROVED: SEP 2 12022 By KAREN GOH Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: VIRGINIA ENNARO City Atto ey By 1 CA�� City Attorney J LIE DRIMAKIS, MMC City Clerk and Ex Officio Clerk of the Council of the City of Bakersfield Page 2 of 2 Pages o�gAk�� 'ORIGINA OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY a , "N T O F X. ERINI CIVIC CENTER JUSTICE BUILDING 121 S TRUXTUN AVENUE BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA 93301 (661) 868-2340, FAX: (661) 868-2700 CYNTHIA J. ZIMMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY To: Members of the Bakersfield City Council From: Cynthia Zimmer, District Attorney, County of Kern Re: Quality of Life Crimes/Community Prosecution Program Date: September 14, 2022 Members of the Bakersfield City Council, ANDREA S. KOHLER ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY JOSEPH A. KINZEL ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY In the past, Bakersfield and other California cities have found it prudent to establish funding or other opportunities to ensure the effective prosecution of what are often considered "quality -of -life" crimes. These crimes, often governed by a city's municipal code, include conduct that cities have deemed criminal, but. which state laws often do not adequately regulate to a city's satisfaction. Bakersfield has many such provisions in Title 9 of the Municipal Code, which governs and makes unlawful conduct including gambling, drinking alcohol in public, open display of narcotic paraphernalia, unruly and loud gatherings, panhandling, curfews, trespassing, shopping cart theft and other crimes, that, although minor in nature, if left unenforced can have a significantly deleterious impact upon the quality of life for a city's residents. Bakersfield has taken various approaches to quality -of -life crimes in the past. As far back as 2009, the City Attorney's office designated Deputy City Attorneys to prosecute quality of life crimes in the Kern County Superior Court. Those Deputy City Attorneys worked alongside County Deputy District Attorneys, but the Deputy City Attorneys focused only on cases occurring in or directly impacting the city for which they served. Several California cities still use their City Attorney's Office, which is empowered to prosecute misdemeanor violations of the municipal code, to secure enforcement of city rules and ordinances. In Bakersfield, that program, previously referred to as the "Community Prosecution Program" is no longer in place, and the City Attorney no longer staffs courts with attorneys to handle misdemeanor municipal code violations. To fill that void, and to help ensure continued prosecution of city ordinances while offsetting costs to the District Attorney, Bakersfield has traditionally deemed appropriate the funding to help offset costs and ensure continued prosecution of city ordinance violations and other quality -of -life crimes. One reason that cities devote resources to the prosecution of city ordinances and other quality -of -life crimes is the recognition, made in cities across the state, that County District. Attorney's Offices, which are tasked . with prosecution of all crimes — not only misdemeanors — struggle to prioritize comparatively minor municipal code violations when balancing caseloads of murder,manslaughter, sexual assault and other violent crimes. Such remains true, and while the Kern County District Attorney's Office is committed to effective prosecution of crimes within the City of Bakersfield, the prosecution of quality -of -life crimes — important as they are — will be relegated behind the more serious cases for which the District Attorney is responsible, particularly when county resources are stretched thin. > fn In recognition of this reality, the City of Bakersfield has historically recognized the benefits and nee'gfor 6 CRIGINk' supplementing the Kern County District Attorney's Office, in exchange for the ability to ensure that prosecution of municipal violations occurs. In recognition that the City should be ensured that it receives value for its investment, the Kern County District Attorney's Office has allowed for police officers to "direct file" any Municipal Code violation, including the "quality of life" crimes discussed herein. By allowing city police officers to direct file such cases, the City ensures that such cases do not face non - prosecution due to limited District Attorney resources. The City receives the benefit of having a prosecutorial agency with consistent staffing, supervision, training, and presence in the Superior Court, and the security that not only are city ordinance violations filed, but that they are prosecuted to conclusion. In addition to ensuring the filing and prosecution of municipal code violations, the Kern County District Attorney's Office has permitted city police officers to direct file cases involving quality of life crimes under the many of California's Penal, Vehicle, Health & Safety, and Business and Professions Codes that include crimes of driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs, trespassing, prowling, street racing, and a host of other conduct that impacts a city's quality of life, and for which prosecution bears particular importance to a city's populace. It will come as no surprise that the City of Bakersfield, Kerri's most populous city, presents and files more cases than any other city in the county, and the resources required to ensure the prosecution of quality -of - life crimes in the City of Bakersfield is substantial. Many of the prosecutors in the District Attorney's Office, me included, are proud to call Bakersfield our home, and we are dedicated to ensuring that its streets are safe and that our standard of living lives up to the city's promise. To that end, we have sought to increase focus on quality -of -life offenders who otherwise evade the criminal process by repeated failures to appear in court and have targeted such offenders for increased prosecutorial resources. The Kern County District Attorney's Office has long been a partner with the City of Bakersfield in working to ensure that norms of basic decency and civility are maintained in the city, and a large aspect of that partnership is the mutual recognition and understanding of the efforts made from both the City and the County in the criminal justice system. I submit that the partnership established by funding the Quality -of - Life Crimes/Community Prosecution program provides mutual benefit to the City and the County, and that its continued funding is an important piece to ensuring justice and civility in our most populous city and by extension, through the county at large. The requested $300,000 investment will be used to for salary of trained and dedicated prosecutors that may continue ensuring that quality -of -life impacting crimes receive the attention in the criminal justice system that they deserve. Respectfully, Cynthia I Ziinm _ . District Attorney, County of Kern 'ORIOINAl