MEMORANDUM
May 25, 2010
To: Chief W. Ronald Olin
From: Captain Tarik Khatib
Ref: Livescan Booking Station
For your consideration, please accept this analysis examining the costs of municipal prisoner care and the potential savings if the Lawrence Police Department were to place a livescan booking station at the Law Enforcement Center.
Problem Statement
Prisoner care costs associated with individuals booked into the Douglas County Jail solely on municipal charges, and for which the City is billed for, have been steadily increasing. The daily rate is set by Douglas County and the full rate is charged even when a prisoner may be at the Jail for a brief amount of time. Lawrence Police Officers who transport prisoners to the Douglas County Jail for municipal warrants and minor offenses spend a significant amount of time traveling to and from the Jail which is located at the far southeastern portion of the City of Lawrence. If the arrest is for a warrant, officers are required to divert to the Law Enforcement Center to obtain a copy of it before proceeding to the Jail. When the civilian teleserve officer is not available, a second officer is required to travel to the Law Enforcement Center to obtain the warrant while the arresting officer waits in the parking lot with the prisoner.
Proposed Solution
The placement of a livescan booking station at the Law Enforcement Center comprised of a fingerprint scanner, digital camera and printer would save costs associated with booking prisoners for municipal warrants and other municipal minor offenses at the Douglas County Jail as well as reduce the per incident time officers spend on those activities. Use of the booking station would ensure the capture of unique suspect identifiers such as fingerprints and photographs.
Data
In 2008 the total prisoner care expense was $283,816 for 5,150 prisoner days at a rate of $55.11 per day. In 2009, the total prisoner care expense was $353,874 for 5770 prisoner days at a rate of $61.33 a day. During the first quarter of 2010 there were 1846 prisoner days at a daily rate of $67.87, expending $125,288 (46%) of the $274,545 budgeted for this year. The daily prisoner care rate for 2010 of $67.87 represents a 31% increase over the 2007 daily prisoner care rate of $51.79.
Analysis
The Municipal day count report by arrest and release date is provided to the Department by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. The report includes a notation of the number of days and hours each prisoner was in the custody of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. The report is checked for accuracy by the Department’s Management Analyst. Once verified, remittance is submitted.
Differentiation between short-term prisoner stays and extended stays can assist in determining what the potential cost savings may be if there were a booking station at the Law Enforcement Center. Short-term stays suggest bond amounts that can be more immediately satisfied by individuals and may be an instance in which a booking station at the Law Enforcement Center could be utilized. Extended stays at the Jail suggest court ordered committals or a bond that cannot be satisfied in a timely manner, neither of which would be conducive to the use of the booking station. Three time categories were examined: 24-hours or less, 6-hours or less, and 1 hour or less.
1st Quarter, 2010
24-hours or less (includes the 6-hours and 1-hour or less categories): 300 prisoner days @ $67.87/day = $20,361.
6-hours or less (includes the 1-hour or less category): 173 prisoner days @ $67.87/day = $11,741
1-hour or less: 86 prisoner days @ $67.87/day = $5836.
2009 Total:
24-hours or less (includes the 6-hours and 1-hour or less categories): 1061 prisoner days @ $61.33/day = $65,071.
6-hours or less (includes the 1-hour or less category): 599 prisoner days @ $61.33/day = $36,736.
1-hour or less: 270 prisoner days @ $61.33/day = $16,559.
2008 Total:
24-hours or less (includes the 6-hours and 1-hour or less categories): 852 prisoner days @ $55.11/day = $46,953.
6-hours or less (includes the 1-hour or less category): 425 prisoner days @ $55.11/day = $23,421.
1-hour or less: 209 prisoner days @ $55.11/day = $11,517.
It would be reasonable to surmise prisoners that were at the Douglas County Jail for an hour or less could have been processed at the Law Enforcement Center booking station if one where available. Without dissecting each particular case, the 24-hour or less stays are more difficult to determine for booking station suitability. Some may involve prisoners who were combative, intoxicated, or simply had trouble securing bond for a time period, even if arrested on minor offenses or low-bond warrants.
Using 2008 numbers as an example, it can be estimated the cost savings would be between $11,517 (the 1-hour or less costs) to $46,953 (the 24-hour or less costs) if those arrested individuals had been taken to the Law Enforcement Center for booking, bonding, and release, rather than being transported to the Douglas County Jail. The 6-hour or less figure of $23,421 may be the most accurate gauge of an estimated cost savings.
Using the same methodology for 2009, the savings would be between $16,559 (the 1-hour or less costs) and $65,071 (the 24-hour or less costs), with the 6-hour or less figure of $36,736 representing the more accurate gauge of an estimated savings. Additionally, the 2010 first quarter 6-hour or less cost of $11,741 could be used to extrapolate an estimated 2010 savings of $46,964.
Per incident officer time is estimated to be an hour to an hour and a half for municipal warrant and minor municipal offense arrests that involve transportation to the Douglas County Jail. In addition to the stops officers have to make to pick up a warrant at the Law Enforcement Center, there may be traffic congestion and delays at the Jail itself. If officers were able to utilize a booking station at the Law Enforcement Center, this time may be reduced by an average of thirty minutes. In 2008, there were 852 times in which an officer transported a prisoner to the Douglas County Jail and that prisoner stayed at the jail for 24-hours or less. There were 209 instances where the prisoner stay was for an hour or less. Using an estimated time savings of thirty minutes, the amount of officer time that could have been reduced in 2008 is between 104 to 426 hours. Using the 6-hour figure (425 prisoner days) as referenced in the cost analysis would have yielded an estimated savings of 212 hours of officer time in 2008. For 2009, this savings could have been 299 hours of officer time (based on 599 prisoner days of 6-hours or less duration).
Equipment Research
As part of a now expired state contract, The Kansas Bureau of Investigation maintained a list of livescan products meeting criteria for submission of fingerprints and photographs to the agency. Each Law Enforcement agency is responsible to work with particular vendors in regards to interconnectivity to the state for electronic submission of livescan fingerprint and photographs. Currently the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office utilizes a livescan product manufactured by Sagen Morpho, which is on the list of vendors the KBI maintains. If the Lawrence Police Department used the same system, the Department would benefit from the configuration work that has already been done by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Sagen Morpho, and the KBI. There would also be benefits to utilizing the same products so that any database of fingerprints and photographs developed by the Lawrence Police Department could be integrated with databases the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office creates. This is very important from an investigative aspect to ensure access to those databases. Another important consideration is that Sagen Morpho’s product software was created to interface with the Records Management System (RMS) and the Criminal Justice information System (CJIS) the Department currently uses. Due to these considerations, it is recommended Sagen Morpho be considered a sole source for the product.
Although no longer on state contract from a pricing perspective, Sagen Morpho utilized the state contract pricing in their quotation. The price for the livescan ILS2-p300/C, digital camera, duplex printer, and first year’s maintenance was quoted at $44,546. Remodeling of the existing teleserve office to add doorway access from the second floor lobby of the Law Enforcement Center as well as a partition wall is estimated at approximately $4000. The installation of a proximity card scanner to ensure logged access control to criminal history information is estimated to cost approximately $3900. In addition to this, there would most likely be expenses related to electronic infrastructure such as the requirement of a separate network for KBI connectivity, firewall equipment, and data and electrical wiring of the location within the Law Enforcement Center. The total project estimated price is $56,946. After the first year, a maintenance and software contract will average $4000 a year. Current information technology standards and practices would call for the replacement of the booking station hardware after five years at a cost of $40,000 (using current pricing).
Funding Sources
It is recommended the project is funded by equipment reserve funds.
Discussion
It is anticipated that the utilization of a livescan booking station at the Law Enforcement Center for certain municipal warrant and municipal offense arrests will result in a savings to the General Fund of $23,421 (2008 estimated figure) to $46,964,000 (2010 estimated figure) per year of prisoner care expenses. This is offset by the initial start-up cost of $56,946 for the booking station and related expenses. Starting the second year, maintenance and replacement costs will have to be factored in to provide a more accurate view of the actual expenses to operate the booking station. These are estimated at $11,000 a year. Given these parameters, the booking station would pay for itself within a year and a half (based on average prisoner care savings of approximately $35,000 per year). After this time period, given current arrests rates and Douglas County prisoner care charges, and taking into consideration the yearly costs associated with maintenance and replacement, a booking station at the Law Enforcement Center would save approximately $35,000 a year. The savings are likely to increase as prisoner care costs continue to rise at a significant rate. Also, officers may be able to engage in additional warrant service activities as a result in the reduction of per arrest incident time and the convenience of having a booking station at the Law Enforcement Center.
There are several more benefits in addition to the prisoner care cost savings in having a livescan booking station available at the Law Enforcement Center. These include utilizing the booking station as an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) terminal to compare fingerprints against databases, and the use of the booking station in an off-line capacity to electronically capture fingerprints of individuals by Records Division staff in regards to background checks. The booking station can also capture needed information for those incidents where a person is considered a person of interest or for elimination data during investigations.
Recommendation
Even though there is a significant start-up cost associated with the procurement and utilization of a livescan booking station at the Law Enforcement Center, the system will eventually save the City of Lawrence costs associated with municipal prisoner care. These savings will increase yearly as the costs for prisoner care continue to rise. In addition, there are officer time savings which can be applied to other duties and secondary uses for the livescan booking station. If funding can be obtained, I recommend the project moves forward and that the Sagen Morpho product be purchased without the formal bid procedure for the stated reasons.
Respectfully submitted,
Captain Tarik Khatib
Information Services Division