Study Session

Council Member Benjamin asked City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermide about the city's role now that BVSD passed its resilient schools closure plan. She said the buildings remain BVSD property, but the city is discussing possible future uses such as a police substation or training center, and cited a strong ongoing partnership with BVSD on aquatics.

“the properties remain the property of BBSD... we have been discussing with the district ways in which some of the buildings could be used for city purposes”

Chief Steve Redford said BPD is authorized for 190 sworn officers but is down 12, with nearly 30 of the 178 filled positions not deployable due to training or injury leave. He said the department has lost 118 officers since 2021 (35 in 2021 alone) and 17 more in 2026, and that 50% of patrol officers now have under five years on the job.

“we've had 17 officers with an average of nine years experience each”

Redford presented crime data showing property crime and most person crimes down over five years, but assaults rising, including assaults on officers. Proactive policing is up: 17% more directed patrols, 32% more pedestrian contacts, and 27% more traffic stops compared to the three-year average, even as calls for service have dropped slightly.

“we've had 17% more directed patrols this year, 32% more proactive pedestrian contacts, 27% more traffic stops”

Council Member Speer asked about the new Boulder Community Connect program, in which businesses and residents can voluntarily share private camera feeds with the new public safety information center. Redford explained it lets dispatchers verify in-progress crimes (e.g. confirming a robbery alarm is real) before committing officers, similar to a 22,000-camera program in Atlanta.

“it's not a we don't watch them proactively. it's only when there's a need for us to do so”

Council Member Winer asked what can be done about open drug use in public seen by residents. Redford said a 2017 state law downgraded public drug use from an arrest to a summons, and jail capacity remains limited, though he is working with the DA and municipal court to escalate consequences for repeat low-level offenders.

“in 2017, uh state law was changed where if we see someone using meth, fentanyl, heroin, crack cocaine in public... that used to be an arrest. That's a summon.”

Council Member Marquis asked about the CARE team's status. Staff (Redford and HHS's Kurt Firnhaber) confirmed the co-responder CARE program that operated without police was changed this budget year, eliminating a dedicated fire position, while a separate mental health clinician crisis team continues and still sometimes needs police backup.

“that team went out and still had to call a police officer based upon people's behaviors”

Independent Police Monitor Sheri Dea presented 2025 complaint data: 149 total allegations, 18 sustained, and eight cases where she or the oversight panel disagreed with the chief's discipline decision. She described new case categories like 'performance and conduct' created in 2025 to route lower-level concerns away from formal misconduct review.

“In 2025, there were a total of 149 allegations... 18 allegations that were sustained”

Police oversight panel co-chairs Lizzie Friend and Bill de la Cruz told council that process changes over the past year added gateways that route most complaints away from panel review, with only one panel review completed in the last six months, causing frustration among panel members. They are hopeful the pending five-year ordinance review (due mid-to-late October) will restore panel involvement and add transparency requirements.

“we've only completed one panel review in the last six months”

Municipal Judge Jeff Khan explained the court handles only low-level charges (not felonies or drug offenses) and that citation numbers for unhoused defendants were roughly comparable in 2025 and 2026. He described the voluntary community court program, through which 271 cases were dismissed over two years after defendants completed tasks like counseling, while people who don't engage accumulate warrants (over 800 issued in 2025).

“271 cases were dismissed in the last 2-year period uh as a result of someone completing either one or more tasks”

Judge Khan said parties near CU have grown much larger and louder than in the past, sometimes with staged bands and a thousand attendees, straining police, prosecutors, and the court. Deputy Chief Hardcop described the party registration program, in which hosts get a warning call before receiving a citation, and said compliance has dropped this year after being strong from 2022-2025.

“we're not seeing that same size anymore. They're big parties. They're amplified music parties with DJs, with stages, with rock bands”

Council Member Kaplan asked whether people cited for open drug use, harassment, or blocking business entrances downtown are held accountable at rates comparable to traffic offenders. Judge Khan said most of those complaints (harassment, theft) are actually state court charges outside municipal court's jurisdiction, and that comparing traffic to trespass case outcomes would be misleading given different legal frameworks.

“a lot of those are harassment charges or there are theft charges, shoplifting charges... Those are all state court charges”

Council Member Adams raised concerns about e-moto and e-bike safety, describing young riders without helmets getting injured. Redford said many of these vehicles are legally unregistered motorcycles that parents mistakenly buy as e-bikes, and police are focusing on education (tagging bikes, working with shops) alongside enforcement and citations for illegal riding.

“we have parents buying what they think is an ebike, but it's actually by law a motorcycle that can't be ridden on the street without plates and a driver's license”

Chief Redford said Latino community outreach remains a priority given federal immigration enforcement activity, including maintaining a Spanish-speaking liaison so residents feel safe calling police regardless of immigration status.

“with everything going on at the federal level, we continue to meet. We have Spanish speaking liaison... trying to ensure that everyone feels safe calling us”

City Clerk staff (Alicia Johnson, Emily Richardson) presented research on other cities' sister city programs, finding only Colorado Springs had a formal deactivation process and none had dedicated funding or staff. They proposed five changes: an online application, defined review timelines, deadlines for bringing agreements to council, a standardized agreement template, and considering a cap on alliances plus a formal deactivation process.

“none of the municipalities had dedicated staff specifically assigned to process sister city applications or monitor the program”

Council Member Speer proposed replacing individual council-member liaisons with a two-member council committee to oversee all sister city relationships, track annual reports, and recommend ending relationships that fail to comply after a cure period. All eight council members present gave non-binding straw-poll support for the concept.

“this could be the rug that ties the room together”

Council Member Winer argued against harsh 'revocation' language, suggesting sister cities should have an easy exit option, and referenced a 2016 agreement with Boulder's Nablus sister city relationship to keep it non-political. Council Member Adams and Mayor Brockett discussed adding a withdrawal option, a possible cap around nine alliances, and an escalating cure process before ending a relationship.

“instead of the strong language of provoking, I think it would be almost like a blessing for some people to be able to get out of it”

In the sister cities discussion, Council Member Winer, who sits on the board of Boulder's Israeli sister city, cited a 2016 agreement with Boulder's Nablus (Palestinian) sister city to keep the relationship non-political and asked that new sister cities agree to similar language. Council Member Adams responded that the existing 2001 sister city framework already centers on humanitarian and human rights concerns and has not been violated.

“the whole point of sister cities is like not demonizing people”