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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 8, 2013 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 2 of 21 (4. Orono Police Department Annual Report, Continued) Farniok indicated Part 1 crimes are the more serious crimes and are reported to the BCA, which shows that this area is still a relatively safe community. Overall, burglaries were up as well as aggravated assaults as compared to 2011. There was one aggravated assault in 2012, and due to the collaborative effort of multiple police departments, the individual received 60 months in prison. Fifteen of the burglaries in this area were linked to a single individual. The Cities of Minnetonka, Plymouth and Wayzata were also targeted by the same individual. Individuals who commit this type of crime typically will steal items and pawn them in order to purchase drugs. The police department is attempting to warn people not to keep items in unlocked or locked vehicles or leaving their garage doors open. Farniok noted extensive damage was done to Orono’s squad cars as a result of an act of vandalism and the investigation remains open at this time. Life-saving awards were given to two residents in 2012 that had come across a serious accident and pulled the individual safely from the vehicle. The other incident involved the rescue of a small child who had fallen 40 feet out of a window. The West Metro Drug Task Force executed 90 search warrants and made 75 arrests. They seized 333,190.6 grams of marijuana and 37 grams of cocaine. The amount of methamphetamine seized was 182.66 grams. The total amount off drugs seized had a street value of $3.3 million and the cash seized was approximately $65,000. The annual budget for the task force is $283,000, and $120,000 of the forfeited funds was distributed back to the various departments. Levang asked what type of firearms were seized and what the situation was with the seizures. Farniok indicated the firearms varied between hand guns and long guns. If the police department can show they are readily available near the location where the drugs are seized, the guns are also seized as part of the drug arrests and destroyed. Printup asked if the department has thought about utilizing technology to send out crime alerts to the residents. Farniok indicated they are working on developing a listserv and information regarding the listserv was included in the last newsletter. The residents can contact the police office manager to be placed on that listserv. The police department is trying to limit the number of e-mails that are sent out and only send out e-mails on crimes that can affect the community or that are targeting certain communities. Farniok stated the police department is also in the process a map implementing ping software showing where the various crimes are taking place. Anderson commended the police department for being involved in the Gillespie Center Community Drug Task Force and that it is great for residents to have the opportunity to participate in those sessions. Anderson indicated she was able to attend one of the meetings and learned quite a bit in the breakout sessions. McMillan commented the transition appears to be going well with Mound. Item #02 - CC Agenda - 04/22/2013 Approval of Council Minutes 04/08/2013 [Page 2 of 21]