Public Safety model ‘no longer functional’
This article was acquired from Presspubs and written by Madeline Dolby.
LINO LAKES — At this time, according to Jack Serier, a police service specialist with Citygate Consultants, the current model for the Lino Lakes Public Safety Department is no longer functional due to the lack of police personnel participation.
“Based on the history and nature of the Public Safety Department, this is no longer a functional, operational field model for the city of Lino Lakes,” Serier said at a City Council workshop.
In 2014, Lino Lakes officially left the Centennial Fire District, which consisted of the cities of Lino Lakes, Circle Pines and Centerville. Then in 2016, the city rolled out its current model for the Public Safety Department. The model presented was similar to the New Brighton Department of Public Safety, which at the time required its members to be cross-trained as police officers and firefighters.
As of last month, according to Serier, only four members of the department were cross-trained. These members included the public safety director, the police captain, one sergeant and one officer.
Serier broke down the various roles within the police department, discussed recommendations and provided comments on where the department is strong.
“You’ve got a very good patrol,” he said. “They (officers) are very much interested in making sure they deliver a high quality of service to the people in this community. You should feel very good about that.”
Serier added that the current model the city has in place for the patrol unit utilization is good. Response time was also a positive. Serier raised concerns, however, in regard to the investigation units and staffing.
“This unit, when fully staffed, has got their work cut out for them,” Serier explained. “There are some staffing concerns around it. We see that the number of cases per officer, and sergeant, as they go through their work life is at the edge. They’re so overwhelmed as far as their work volume.”
Currently, the investigations unit consists of one sergeant and three detectives. In 2024, the unit handled 335 criminal cases, a 5% increase from 2023. The unit uses a shared spreadsheet to handle case management. Serier said this does not align with industrywide best practices.
Serier provided a recommendation to help with case management. He suggested that the unit move away from the spreadsheet model and move to a case management software system that will help with intake and case disposition.
Overall, Citygate recommended that the city should abandon the combined public safety model, restore a dedicated chief of police position and cease using the deputy director of police and the captain positions. Instead, he recommended the city transition to a two-lieutenant model, where they report to the chief of police. Serier said that one lieutenant would help with operations and a second lieutenant would primarily do investigations and administrative services, including training.
“One of the things we found when analyzing schedules was also that there was a need for 24-hour supervision,” he added. “In a suburban/urban environment, it is best practice to have 24-hour supervision. Right now, there is about a four-hour period overnight that there is not police supervision.”
Serier said this issue can be mediated by making changes to schedules or changing the number of sergeants in the department.
Another recommendation included reassigning the emergency manager role from the police department to the fire administration and having three people within the department receive their emergency management certification through the state of Minnesota.
Fire Department
According to Landon Stallings, fire and EMS specialist with Citygate Consultants, the current fire crew staffing model is very fragile and inconsistent.
Currently, the fire department has 22 paid on-call personnel and nine part-time firefighters. Low staffing and the geography of the city has led to long response times. Stallings noted that while the paid on-call group is dedicated, it is undersized.
According to Stallings, service demand metrics indicate a need for 24-hour minimum service, and the coverage provided by the two current fire stations is limited.
He provided multiple recommendations that included using a fire chief who reports to the city administrator. He also recommended elimination of the deputy public safety director position. Stallings also recommended that a full-time training battalion chief, a full-time support services/ city disaster preparedness battalion chief, a part-time office support employee and three chiefs be added to staff to help with 24-hour incident command.
Another recommendation was to have two fire stations that included a combination of career and paid on-call personnel to strengthen speed and the weight of response times. Stallings recommended that each fire engine be able to be equipped with a captain, engineer and one paid on-call firefighter. This would require the city to hire 12 new career staff, plus relief.
Mayor Rob Rafferty and Interim City Administrator David Pecchia shared their thoughts.
“It is clear that we need to update our public safety structure and provide resources to both departments to meet the current needs, and the future needs, for public safety in Lino Lakes,” said Pecchia. “We’ve began the separation of the two departments.”
Pecchia added that multiple meetings have been scheduled with the Anoka County Emergency Management, the police department and the fire department. He also said that four new officers will join the department this summer. They will start patrol at the beginning of fall.
Rafferty raised a question regarding the 2025 budget and what the impact of adding new staff to the departments would have on it.
“If we’re trying to get to a level of meeting the recommendations that have been (put) before us, full-time police, as well as those that are talked about in fire, are those things we try to amend with the budget for 2025 so that we can get there?” he asked.
Serier said that, based on his understanding, Citygate will provide a three-year plan on how the budget will be impacted each year as the two departments are built out.
In April, Citygate will have a final report. It has yet to be determined when the report will be presented to the City Council and city staff.
Madeline Dolby is editor of the Quad Community Press. She can be reached at 651-431-1226 or quadnews@presspubs.com