COUNCILMEMBER KEVIN L.

FAULCONER CITY ATTORNEY JAN GOLDSMITH CITY OF SAN DIEGO

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: June 6, 2013 Contact: Matt Awbrey: 619-929-0089 Jonathan Heller: 619-808-9323

FAULCONER: MAYORS BUDGET JEOPARDIZES NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME PROSECUTION UNIT

Councilmember Faulconer calls for responsible budget with no cuts to City Attorneys Office, which battles graffiti and gangs and protects quality of life
SAN DIEGO --- Today, Councilmember Kevin L. Faulconer and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith were joined by neighborhood leaders to sound the alarm on cuts that could likely be forced on the Neighborhood Prosecution Unit by Mayor Filner's proposed budget. The Mayor's budget proposal specifically targets the City Attorney's office for reductions. Unless reversed by the City Council, the cuts will force the City Attorney to eliminate functions that are not required by the City Charter, such as the Neighborhood Prosecution Unit. The Neighborhood Prosecution Unit uses problem-solving courts to quickly prosecute lower level crimes such as graffiti and public urination without clogging up the regular court system, directing offenders to work off citations through community service, said Faulconer. Faulconer called on his City Council colleagues to support these programs by fully funding the City Attorneys budget. The Council is scheduled to vote on the Citys Fiscal Year 2014 budget Monday, June 10, 2013. Mayor Filners proposed budget prioritizes the preservation of government inefficiencies and bureaucracy over City programs that work directly in our communities. Cutting or eliminating the Neighborhood Prosecution Unit could cause real world problems in our neighborhoods that will have a negative impact on fighting crime and San Diegans quality of life, Faulconer added. Its very telling that the only city department targeted for significant cuts in the mayors budget is the one department that has stood up to the mayor and told him no when his actions cross the line of legality, said Goldsmith. Voters elected me by large margins in 2008 and re-elected me in 2012 with a strong mandate to do the job I promised to do. Among those promises included a commitment that we would exercise a watchdog oversight function. Obviously the mayor hasnt liked that role from Day One. Added Goldsmith: Regardless of the mayors repeated efforts at intimidation, our office will not back down. If we have to cut, we will not cut our oversight units. Unfortunately, that means other popular units, such as Neighborhood Prosecution, may be cut or eliminated. I hope the City Council steps in and stops this nonsense coming from the mayor.

The Neighborhood Prosecution Unit partners with the San Diego Police Department, community organizations and leaders to aggressively and creatively combat crimes that impact quality of life. The units goals are to improve quality of life in targeted neighborhoods; build partnerships to solve community crime problems; expand prosecutorial tools to more effectively address neighborhood crime priorities; and hold offenders accountable in the criminal justice system and to the harmed community. NEIGHBORHOOD PROSECUTION UNIT (NPU) FACTS Source: Office of the San Diego City Attorney 2012 Annual Report NPU screened/processed 2448 quality of life cases in 2012. This includes graffiti cases, gang cases and affidavits for arrest warrants. 255 of those cases were set for trial, with all but seven resolving before testimony was given; 5 court trials and 2 jury trials were conducted NPU works with SDPD to monitor compliance of chronic offenders with probationary conditions, including stay away orders, and files probation revocation motions when appropriate. Beach Area Community Court BACC serves Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, and Mission Bay Park communities. BACC hosted 10 court sessions, seeing a 108% increase in participation from 2011. BACC addressed 277 participants, and facilitated 1108 hours of community service in the beach area. Instant Justice BACC hosted two special Instant Justice sessions in March and July, allowing people who received eligible citations to just show up at a designated location after the busy weekend to immediately complete community service and resolve their citation. The community, business, and SDPD partnered to launch the events which received a high volume of positive media attention. There were 73 participants completing 438 hours of community service. $37,3827 of labor was given back to the beach communities in 2012 through BACC. Instant Justice is being evaluated to expand into Eastern and Mid-City divisions. Homeless Court and Stand-Down NPU partners with various agencies to clear warrants and efficiently process cases for homeless individuals with low-level misdemeanor and infraction offenses. Homeless Court addressed 533 defendants with a total of 2,087 cases and a 92% attendance rate. 375 homeless veterans registered to participate in the Stand Down court proceedings, resulting in 1415 cases addressed by NPU. Prostitution Impact Panel PIP is an educational community-based victim impact panel designed to inform offenders who solicit or agree to engage in prostitution activity about the far-reaching impact of prostitution on a community. 5 PIP sessions were conducted, addressing 84 defendants. ###