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Home My WebLink AboutIR 7674 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7674 ,."Pk 10 "0 1 January 12, 1993 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council -'41 31x,�O,��* Subject: AUTO THEFT PREVENTION AUTHORITY Isis The Fort Worth Police Department in its efforts to prevent and reduce auto theft is currently involved in multi-agency negotiation with the State of Texas Auto Theft Prevention Authority in an effort to obtain a state grant designed to combat auto theft on a county-wide basis. The following details the Fort Worth Police Department's efforts and hopefully will provide you with an understanding of the Auto Theft Prevention Authority. The Auto Theft Prevention Authority was established by House Bill 640. This Act of the 72nd Legislature of 1991 was intended to reduce motor vehicle theft in the State of Texas. The Authority is composed of six members appointed by the Governor with advice and consent of the Senate. Funding is acquired through gift or grant and by an annual assessment on motor vehicle insurance companies of a fee equal to $1 multiplied by the total number of motor vehicles insured each year with the State. It is anticipated approximately twelve million dollars will be available each year for funding programs throughout the state. Funds will be awarded by the Authority to various projects which fulfill the Authority's mission of combating the problems of motor vehicle theft. These funds will be made available by the Authority for various projects; however the following are of particular interest to reduction and prevention of auto theft. 1. To provide financial support to law enforcement agencies for economic motor vehicle theft enforcement teams. 2. To provide financial support to law enforcement agencies for programs designed to reduce the incidence of economic motor vehicle theft. 3. To provide financial support to local prosecutors for programs designed to reduce the incidence of economic motor vehicle theft. 4. To provide financial support to judicial agencies for programs designed to reduce the incidence of motor vehicle theft. The Auto Theft Prevention Authority (ATPA) held its first regular meeting in Austin during March of 1992. During the meeting members targeted six (6) cities for area meetings. These area meetings were designed to give local law enforcement an opportunity to describe the auto theft problem in their area and make recommendations to address this problem. To date the only area meeting in north Texas was scheduled in Arlington, Texas on April 9, 1992. During this meeting, ATPA members expressed a strong desire that north Texas area grant applications be presented as a joint Dallas-Fort Worth operation rather than allowing numerous smaller requests. This concept was opposed by the Dallas District Attorney's Officie and members of the Dallas OFFICIAL RECORD CR SECRETARY ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER mu , 1 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7674 January 12, 1993 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council Page 2 of 4 Subject: AUTO THEFT PREVENTION AUTHORITY Police Department. Opposition was based primarily upon the geographic distances between the cities and related jurisdictional problems. At this area meeting representatives of the Fort Worth and Arlington Police Departments provided a presentation describing the auto theft problem in Tarrant County. Also, crime prevention enforcement operations, and prosecution problems were described to the Authority members. From this presentation ATPA members learned that approximately one third of the 155,000 vehicles stolen in Texas during 1991 were stolen in the metroplex. Following this area meeting, the Chief of Police invited a number of state and local police agencies along with the district attorney's office to a meeting at the Fort Worth Police Academy. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss and formulate a strategy for dealing with auto thefts in Tarrant County. Some of the agencies involved in this process were: Arlington River Oaks Azle Department of Public Safety Bedford Tarrant County District Attorney Benbrook National Insurance Crime Bureau Euless Federal Bureau of Investigation Haltom City Tarrant County Administration Mansfield Dallas Fort Worth Airport DPS North Richland Hills ATPA Representative - Dale Green Richland Hills Weekly follow-up meetings were conducted by these agencies in April and May of 1992 to analyze the county-wide auto theft problem and devise plans for forwarding a Tarrant County grant application. One important item identified in these meetings was a lack of prosecution for auto theft cases in criminal district courts. Meetings were arranged with the judges of these courts to obtain support for an Auto Theft Impact Court similar to the drug court now in existence. Five of the seven district court judges contacted and the Tarrant County Administrator and District Attorney's Office support the concept of a Tarrant County Auto Theft Impact Court. This special impact court would handle cases from agencies throughout Tarrant County and would hear cases such as Auto Theft, Burglary Vehicle, Altering Vehicle Identification Numbers, Violation of Salvage Dealer Law, and other related felony crimes involving vehicles. The current district courts are experiencing a backlog of over 650 cases per court making it virtually impossible to hear property crime cases. Cases going to trial in these courts are experiencing approximately a three year delay. OFFICIAL RECORD I CITY SECRETARY a. t IT. WORTH, TE)X. ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER feff we"". INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7674 ��aar��.'0710'0 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council January 12, 1993 A Page 3 of 4 X Subject: AUTO THEFT PREVENTION AUTHORITY Another important item addressed in these meetings was a need for a specialized enforcement unit composed of officers from agencies throughout the county. The basic thrust of the unit would be to focus on individuals and businesses dealing in stolen vehicles and parts. Criminal prosecution and forfeiture proceedings would be heard in the proposed impact court in an expedited manner. Funds generated by forfeiture proceedings in this court would finance both the operation of the Tarrant County Auto Theft Unit and court. Under the current plan, this unit would place the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office as the grant administrator overseeing three teams of officer/investigators. All authorized personnel and equipment are to be grant funded and these teams are proposed to consist of the following Tarrant County agencies: Fort Worth PD Euless PD One Sergeant One Detective One Detective Arlington PD Hurst PD One Sergeant One Detective One Detective Richland Hills PD Azle PD One Detective One Detective White Settlement PD Department of Public Safety One Detective Two Investigators North Richland Hills Tarrant County Sheriff's Office One Detective One Sergeant Haltom City PD One Detective A grant application for an Auto Theft Impact Court requesting funding in the amount of $397,261.00 and another application for the Tarrant County Auto Theft Unit requesting funding in the amount of $1,261,581.00 have been prepared by Tarrant County Administrator G. K Maenius. Both applications are scheduled for discussion with the Commissioners Court on January 12, 1993 at 10:00 a.m. If the proposals are accepted by the Court they will be submitted to the Texas Auto Theft Prevention Authority and if approved their tentative date for implementation is March 15, 1993. OFFICIAL RECORD C nP S E C RTARY F T. Wo RTH I TEX. EIL -ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No.— 7674 �Aftycft'o January 12, 1993 ' ifoRr To the Mayor and Members of the City Council Page 4 of 4 X Subject: AUTO THEFT PREVENTION AUTHORITY 1013 Under ATPA guidelines, the City of Fort Worth as grant participant will incur no monetary expenses during the first (6 months) and second(I year) grant periods. Following this first 18- month period, the City and all other participants, as a total, would have to, provide a 20% matching fund contribution for a one year period, followed by a 40% matching fund requirement for each subsequent year of operation. However, it is believed that grant participants should incur no actual matching fund contribution expenses, since the ATPA by legislative design requires that all income generated by the task force be credited toward further matching fund requirements. The magnitude of the auto theft problem can be brought to light by reminding you that in 1991, Tarrant County had a total of 19,491 vehicles stolen, valued over $100 million dollars. 68% of these stolen vehicles were from Fort Worth. This staggering figure excludes other actual losses such as vehicle repair, wrecker and storage fees, personal property taken from vehicles, and associated insurance costs, etc. The implementation of a county-wide enforcement unit coupled with an impact court for auto theft cases should significantly reduce the auto theft problem in Fort Worth. If any additional information is desired please contact Assistant City Manager Libby Watson at 871-6140. Bob Bob Terr�� City Manager RECORD toy SECRETARY fT VIORTH9 TEL REG E3 --ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS