Well, good afternoon, everyone.

Let's say that again.

Good afternoon, everyone.

We are so happy to be here.

Guess what?

The streets are clear.

And it's still cold, though.

So we're very happy to be here.

So good to see everyone again.

It's been a while, and uh we've had many little opportunities with all of that ice and snow and uh what a great day to say thank you, public safety.

Thank you to our firemen, our policeman.

Thank you because what you did the last two weeks is what people really don't want to know about or experience, but you came through, and I know a lot was going on.

And matter of fact, I live on a street where I see the fire truck comes every day continuously, and I knew something was going on because I could hear the chains on the fire truck tires.

Uh and I'm saying that that's serious when you see the hear the chains on the trucks.

Uh but it reminded me how blessed we are that we have the equipment to be able to serve our community, even in treacherous times, and the firemen are safe.

I didn't hear or see my policeman.

Um I didn't hear you, um, probably because I was stuck in the house in the back of the house, cooking like I had never cooked before, because it seemed like the right thing to do when you're stuck in the house.

But I know you were doing good things.

I kept getting the notices and regrettably we did have some tragedies, but you guys are always there when people really don't want you, but you're needed.

And I thank you so much for that service.

Um, I also will give a shout out to our uh road crews that got the streets cleared as best they could given those two main events snow and ice first, lots of ice and sleep, frigid coal, and then more snow.

So um I want to thank them for the service that we provided to our residents, even though people complain grandly as if this is something that we should be able to do with excellence over and above when we don't have it happen for 30, 40 years.

But anyway, uh we're going to open our meeting, and so madam uh clerk, what you call a role, chairwoman Scipio?

Here.

Councilmember Hall.

Here.

Councilmember Joyner.

Present.

And Councilmember Andrew Bowen.

Here we have one.

I'm sorry, we're having some technical problems up here.

Okay.

What do you want me to do?

We'll just tell you that we'll I'll get this work as quick as I can.

Okay.

We can continue though.

Thank you.

Okay.

All right.

We only have one thing on our consent agenda, which are our minutes.

Um have a problem with the minutes.

If not, we'll vote.

Move to approve.

Seven.

All in favor?

Aye.

Thank you.

Uh, we have three items on our general agenda.

Uh, so we'll have the first item, please.

Item G1, ordinance amending chapter two, Article 3, Division 3, Section 2-108 of the City Code regarding police complaint filing and investigation procedures.

Sorry.

Hello there.

Hey, how are you doing?

Very good, Captain.

Oliva, so you're gonna tell us all about this particular item.

Yes, ma'am.

Well, please proceed.

Good afternoon, Chair Scipio, Mayor Allen, and members of the public safety committee.

My name is Charles Weibo, captain with the Winston Salem Police Department.

Thank you for the opportunity to present this proposed amendment to Section 2-108, Division 3 of the City Code.

Today's item is an update to the city ordinance governing how citizen complaints against police employees are received.

Investigated and communicated.

I want to be very clear.

Instead, it moder modernizes the ordinance by clearly outlining complaint intake, investigative responsibility, and notification processes, while improving access efficiency and clarity for the public.

There are three key changes to the ordinance.

The first, the amendment expands and clarifies how a citizen may submit a complaint.

Under the revised language, complaints may be submitted directly to the police department through the city clerk's office, or online through the city's website.

This improves accessibility and removes any unnecessary barriers for the public.

Second, the amendment clarifies who investigates complaints.

The updated language states that complaints are investigated by the Winston-Salem Police Department rather than specifying only the professional standards division, also known as PSD.

This is an important distinction.

It does not mean that PSD is removed from the process.

PSD continues to handle serious, complex or high liability cases and oversight.

Third, the amendment modernizes how complaints are notified.

Complainants are notified.

Rather than requiring notification by letter only, the revised ordinance allows notifications by written correspondence, by phone, by electronic communications, or other appropriate means.

This improves timeliness and responsiveness.

Importantly, the complainant's right to appeal to the Citizens Police Review Board remains intact.

The amendment also reflects the Department's obligation to comply with North Carolina personnel confidentiality laws, which restrict the disclosure of internal investigative and personnel information.

For that reason, the ordinance appropriately focused on notifying complainants of investigative outcomes and advising them of their appeal rights rather than the automatic release of complaint documentation to the Citizen Police Review Board.

This ensures transparency and accountability while remaining consistent with state law.

And I want to be equally clear about what this amendment does not do.

It does not eliminate investigations, it does not reduce transparency, it does not bypass the Citizen Police Review Board.

Complaints are still investigated, outcomes are still communicated, appeals are still available.

I appreciate the committee's time and consideration.

Are there any questions?

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much for this.

Um I do have I just have one question.

Um I've never had to do this.

Um is there an opportunity for this to be an anonymous complaint, or is it all have to be you have to put your name to it so that we can get back to you?

Phenomenal question.

So our current practice, even today is you can provide anonymous information.

This does not change that.

If we have an anonymous complaint, whether it's external or internal, we will conduct the proper investigation.

Thank you very much.

Yes, sir.

Councilman.

Thank you.

Um, thank you for uh your report and presentation.

Has there ever been an official form that um has been made available to citizens versus you know there being different types of format of how one would form a complaint, whether it's handwritten or via email, so that I know that there are specific things that are noted of how to make a complaint and certain things to capture, but I wondered if you all had at least thought about um creating a form if there's not one already available.

Yes, ma'am.

So I will say that we currently do have a form, an official form to file an official complaint.

Um part of that process currently is that form, in order for it to be considered an official complaint, that professional standards division will investigate, that form must be signed by the citizen and notarized.

Um though we do have a form that we are going this city ordinance, we're going to make a change to it internally.

Um we're trying to make it more accessible, right?

So they can file that form even down at the city city's clerk's office, but it's not required for them to have it notarized, or if they don't want to sign a form, they can call us on the phone and we will intake their complaint that way as well.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Are all complaints investigated or some another?

So all concerns are addressed.

This will allow the police department to better utilize our resources.

So of course, any concern that a citizen has, even if it's something such as an officer was rude to them on a traffic stop to more egregious complaints, they will both be investigated.

It's just who we're going, the police department will investigate it, and we will decide what's the best way to investigate that particular case, what resources we're going to use for that particular complaint, depending on what it is.

And give us a little understanding of how many complaints do we get over uh whatever period of time you want to choose.

Okay, let me see here, because I think I may have that in here.

Bear with me, I have it on my email.

So give me one second.

Thank you.

Okay, so let's see here.

Well, we'll see.

There you go.

Kind of.

All right, we'll make it work.

Thank you.

So citizen complaints, for example, currently, for the year of 2025, we had a total of six citizen complaints.

Six six official citizen complaints.

Um within those complaints, however, there may be multiple different um rules of conduct violations.

So a citizen may come down and file one official complaint.

One citizen may come down and do that, but there may be six different possible violations within that complaint.

But as far as how many complaints, there were six from the citizens for 2025 and internal, we had a total of about 29.

34 internal complaints.

What does that mean?

So internal, just meaning that these are complaints that were initiated within the police department.

So supervisors conducting investigations with internally.

So for example, as a point of reference, uh let's say a uh an officer is involved in a car accident.

That's a very common one.

Um, and in fact, that's usually the number one thing as far as sustained complaints that we have in a department.

So if a if an employee is involved in a car accident and it's deemed to be a preventable accident, the supervisor, the chain of command for that employee will conduct that investigation, and if they are sustained on it, they would that would count as an internal complaint that they've investigated.

Okay.

Um and are all complaints answered in writing to whoever is making that complaint.

So currently the complaints that are filed, right, the ones that they come in and fill out that form that I was telling you all about that gets notarized, they do currently get a letter that comes from the police department informing them of their the status of their investigation.

Um if there are other matters that are not official complaints, so for example, someone calls and says an officer was rude to me, but I don't want to file an official complaint.

I just want that matter addressed, um, they will not receive a letter.

That is usually phone communication and supervisor, making sure that the citizen knows, hey, we're addressing this this concern.

Any other questions, concerns?

Okay, council member.

Thank you.

And so as a follow-up to that, before if it's a if it's a phone call and you're doing the intake that way, and someone wants to communicate a concern.

Yes, ma'am, then before the end of the call, and they don't necessarily want to file an official complaint, then the response will be your concern will be addressed, but the onus is on and the responsibility is on the person calling to ensure that they do an official complaint to get something in writing.

When you're saying the person, so the citizen correct.

So so um council member Scipio was saying um the the response was all concerns are addressed, and we know that there are a couple of different ways that people can make a complaint, even if they decide to pick up the phone and call an intake can be done that way.

If someone calls in what I'm calling a concern, because it won't be noted as an official complaint, right, unless they give their name and want an official follow-up, right?

Yes, ma'am.

Currently.

Yes, ma'am.

Currently, but if they want to um address a concern that an officer was rude to them, they have officer's name.

They will not know that a supervisor or someone officially followed up to address a concern unless they do file an official.

I'm understanding now.

No, ma'am.

So again, our practice and the way we train our supervisors is we are to talk to them and let them know.

We it would be a follow-up conversation, a phone conversation that they would have with them to let them know.

Now there are times that citizens say, I don't want a phone call, follow-up phone call.

I just want you to address the officer with speeding, right?

Or the person the employee was speeding.

I don't need a phone call back.

But if they request a phone call, then a supervisor will let them know, follow up with them and let them know it's been addressed.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Are there any any other questions, committee members?

What's your disposition on this particular item?

Move to approve.

I second all in favor.

Aye.

Great.

We'll go to G2.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Appreciate y'all.

Item G2 resolution approving a contract for towing management and vehicle management solutions and adjusting fees.

Good afternoon, Chair Scipio.

Good afternoon.

Mayor, members of council.

I'm back before you again today to uh discuss uh the vehicle management system that we talked about for providing tow services for the police department and to our citizens.

Uh this was an item that has previously been before this council and has went to city uh city council was pulled.

Um and for further discussion with the tow companies.

Uh so today I have Alan from VMS and I have a member of the uh tow board with us as well.

Um we had that follow-up meeting with them to address all concerns.

Um Jerry can speak to those concerns if if you would like to know the full detail of it.

Uh but after we met with all 14 members uh that are currently towing uh vehicles for the police department in the city right now, everyone is in agreement that this is the path that we would like to move forward with.

Um this will be more efficient, it will reduce the time of officers and citizens on the side of the road.

Uh and it also um allows for the tow companies to have some concerns that they had that we weren't aware of that uh when we had this meeting, we we found out about to make our process more efficient.

Additionally, this will also allow our citizens uh the ability to locate their vehicle with by the tow company that was towed faster and more efficiently through uh the internet portal that it'll have access to.

So I'd be happy to take any questions.

Uh we do have a letter of support now from all 14 members of the the tow committee that was that's working with us now.

So I'll answer any questions, or if you have any questions for the gentleman that took the time to be here with us today.

Um, count you have any does anyone have any concerns?

Okay, uh council member joiner.

Thank you, Chair.

Um good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

I have a couple of questions.

Um an accident that aren't insured.

At 30, I believe it's 35 dollars that's collected at the end of the month per car that's called that's towed.

Yes.

Who pays that?

So that would be part, so it would be part of the overarching tow fee.

Uh the tow fee currently sits at 175 dollars.

The total fee uh would now be going to 279 dollars.

Um the big part of that, $50 of that is because we have not done a tow uh fee increase for our tow companies since 2019.

Um so trying to get them to where they're actually able to be somewhat profitable from this, uh, then $35 for that, there's a $10 fee that goes to the city uh as well.

So to make sure that the tow companies um are being able to make some sort of profit out of this, um, a vehicle that is uninsured involved in a in a uh wreck that the police department contacts and calls a next out record for, that would be incumbent upon that citizen to pay that fee.

And the vehicles that are not collected, picked up by the owner, who would then pay that fee to VMS?

So that fee, and I'll I'll let Alan explain that part of it a little bit more.

Vehicles that are not redeemed at the participating record company locations, those record companies would auction those vehicles, and we don't apply any fees to those when it goes to a public auction or a scrap auction.

So at the end of the month when this fee for all tows, all calls are um placed, those vehicle costs will be set aside.

And so that record would not have to pay that.

The record companies will pay $35 for every dispatch request, other than breakdowns, roadside assist, uh banded vehicles.

There's a list where we don't nickel and dime and apply that.

And then if I'm the record company and I do release a vehicle, a crash or an enforcement tow DUI, something of that nature, and I'm not insured, then the vehicle owner would pay that, and that's a $54 administrative fee passed on to the vehicle owner.

I'm just trying to be clear that the record, I understand they're 14 now, but you know, as time goes by, one wrecker is replaced by another wrecker who didn't agree to this.

I want to make sure that the records are not getting stuck, $35 per that cars that didn't get picked up, didn't get whatever.

And that could be $350 at the end of the month, or that could be $3,500.

$350 may or may not totally impact somebody, but $3,500 could possibly, and the gentleman may be able to speak clearer to that for me.

I don't know.

Thank you.

Uh the process by having something in place already where we're able to, if a vehicle doesn't get picked up by an owner or insurance company, by having the process of filing the papers through the state and DMV, be able to auction it off, that usually absorbs that money that's being paid out.

And so moving forward, if other companies were to come on, I mean, really, this avenue gives us a great opportunity for them to be able to become more profitable.

As you said, it seems like a big number, but as the chief of police just said, I mean, and and we know through the PD, these raises have not been 2019.

So the number looks big just because of the time frame, just trying to get it caught up because now it's just basically in line with what other state towing companies and cities are charging for the tow.

And so nothing's out of line.

And it does give the opportunity where it's going to take some paperwork.

The towing companies will have to make sure they do all their paperwork and get it in.

Now, if you let there and don't get your paperwork in and let it linger, yeah, you're going to be in a bad position as far as the end of the month.

But if you do your do your job, do what you're supposed to do, it should work out just fine for the ones on rotation now and ones coming on.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Before we move forward.

Before we move forward, can you give us a two-minute overview of this new program?

Sure.

Um, so you may you mean do it or you want to do it?

Okay.

Uh so essentially I'll give you one minute on what it what it looks like now and one minute on how it'll it'll be move forward.

So currently, if we have officers that are dispatched to a traffic accident, they arrive on scene, they deem a vehicle is not drivable and needs to be towed away.

The citizen does not have contact with the record company, and they would like for the police department to reach out to a record company to have their vehicle towed.

That officer then has to go to a different radio channel, they have to contact uh our communications.

Uh that communications operator may be helping another officer, they may be on a 9-1-1 call in inputting a call for service.

Uh, that's a 9-1-1 life-saving emergency, uh, or they could be backed up.

And sometimes it is it is very frequent for our officer to say stand by your third in line.

That means there could be other people that are wanting a record, uh, having um warrant checks run, whatever the case may be.

So now that's when our clock begins of how long it takes to get a record dispatched.

Uh, once they are accepted in line, we give a vehicle description.

Our communications operator then makes phone contact with whoever is the next up on the tow list at the top of the order, they go to the tow list, they'll reach out to that record company, the record company will say, Yes, we'll accept the tow, or no, we don't have a record available, they then have to have to reach out to a second call.

Um at that point, the record company would be dispatched, the communications operator goes back to the officer, tells the officer, this is the tow company that's coming, and then they have 30 minutes to respond.

Um the new system, essentially the officer can use their telephone, uh, an app on their phone or their in-car computer, and they can automatically go in, it automatically tells them who's the next up record service, and that record is dispatched immediately.

No more time with communications taking them away from answering 911 calls or not helping other officers with warrant services or anything or that sort, and then they still have the 30-minute time frame, but you've cut all the additional time out, and what we're seeing uh nationwide from their software is that they're seeing a dramatic cut uh in the amount of time it is taking uh to get a record actually on site to tow that vehicle and clear the roadway up.

So that's that would be the different the the change in the process.

Did I miss anything?

I don't think so.

I mean the city's already invested in iPhones for the traffic unit, and they have the MDT and MDTs on board all the patrol vehicles, so they can quickly enter a toll request.

And if you've used Uber before, it'll be that same effect for an officer.

If I've heard it described during a kill zone as on a swivel seconds count, waiting for that tow truck to arrive, and we're gonna expedite that process hopefully by 20 minutes, like we've done in 60 plus other cities around the nation.

So it's a game changer for the men and women in uniform for our first responders working up what's called a struck by happens.

We've all seen the dash cam videos.

Uh horrendous things happen again.

Let's clear those roads and get traffic moving in and keep citizens and first responders and officers safe.

Thank you.

I was so privileged to be able to sit in with the tow truck meeting.

And um this is an interesting new technology that we are going to embark on, hopefully, as a community, uh, because it it makes the police department much more efficient, but it also helps our wonderful tow tow truck drivers because they can they're gonna be monitored, they'll know where to go, they don't have to worry about is somebody getting it out of turn if they're not in the queue.

It just brings them up to date also in providing their service.

And I forgot to think about this until I saw it on the news, but our tow truck companies were very, very busy over the last several weeks.

Um, and being there trying to get to the sites, getting vehicles out of all kinds of conditions that were clogging up our roads.

So I I really look forward to um this becoming part of our tool kit.

Uh, are there any other concerns?

Uh Ms.

Councilmember Clark, you've got a personal story.

I happened to use your services last weekend.

Um I was in a major accident.

There were three records called.

Uh they were there quickly.

I was impressed, and by I have State Farm that when I called State Farm with information, the record companies were in their system.

It's even coordinated down to that level.

Uh I simply gave the first name and she typed it in, and she's yeah, they're at such and such address.

I said, Yeah, that's them.

Uh I would like to give a plug to our police department, fire department, and EMS that all responded uh appropriately.

Um three blocks down, and I could see it was a house fire.

Somebody used a propane torch to melt the ice on their back steps and caught their house on fire, which probably shouldn't do.

But anyway, so uh country club road, you kept everyone busy there for a while, but everybody did a great job, and I was impressed with the record services, particularly coordination all the way down to the insurance companies.

Uh and once the insurance takes over, by the way, they then move the car from the records place to wherever their storage lot is.

And that was fairly automated too.

Uh that the record companies had all that information as well in their system.

So all went very well.

And I'm glad to hear that everyone seems to be in agreement with this now.

Um I've been concerned is been addressed what happens when nobody picks the car up.

But I always thought that even a wreck car is worth a couple hundred bucks just to steal.

Is that still about true?

Two or three hundred bucks.

Yeah, it goes price of metal metal.

That's what's on the feet dictating it.

Yeah, you can always unless it's an extreme case of a recovery where there's a lot of intense labor to get it out, and what's the time you can recover your your fees?

At least your fees, yeah.

Okay.

You're not gonna you're not gonna get rich on it, but you can recover your fees.

Yeah.

Okay, thank you, sir.

Thank you very much.

Uh committee members, what is your pleasure on G2?

Move to approve.

I second all in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

And so G2 will go for it.

Um now we will hear from our G3, our wonderful fire department.

Item G3, Winston Salem Fire Department 2025 annual report.

All yours, Chief.

Thank you, ma'am.

Good afternoon.

My chair, Mr.

Mayor, members of the committee and council.

I'm joined with by Assistant Chief of Operations, Andrew Gray, Assistant Chief of Logistics, Daryl Sawyer, and Assistant Chief of Training, Patrick Grubbs, who all had a big role to play in getting this report put together.

And I'm just going to kind of go through you gonna drive for us, Madam Clerk.

Thank you.

I'm gonna start on page three.

I'm just gonna point out 10 or 12 things to you that I think are worthy of stopping and talking about in the report.

On page three, you'll see there uh we have we have a page dedicated to the bear team.

Um relatively new program for us, but they continue um to do good work in the community.

They are answering about six requests for service a day.

When you think about what they're on scene time is, and you figure in you know, bathroom breaks and and meals and that sort of thing, they're they're they're pretty busy.

If they were an engine uh company, and if you if we include um their follow-up calls, which adds about 10% of their call volume, where they have an initial contact with a client, and then they go back to make sure services have been connected or you know, prescriptions are been filled.

The bear team has they they have a they've cast a wide net in terms of dealing with uh uh um uh behavioral health crises in the community.

Uh so if you add those those calls back, which are not reflected in the call volume in this report, they would be our fifth busiest engine in the city.

So uh it's pretty steady.

You'll see there at the bottom of page three um some advertising.

You see a billboard and then that banner at the bottom.

I don't know if you happen to notice uh when the when the billboard was running or if you've seen one of the transit buses uh going around town that has uh the bear logo on the side of it.

So um uh Director Ryan has uh stepped up her effort in making sure that the community is aware that bear services are available.

Uh also speaking of Director Ryan, I don't know if you noticed last week uh the governor signed an executive order is um related to mental and behavioral health.

Um and if you look closely in that photograph, Director Ride was there with them at the at the governor's mansion when he signed that um executive order.

I'm gonna move to page four, madam clerk.

Uh the uh fire and life safety branch.

Uh we're talking about calendar year 2025 now, remember.

Um they um added three new uh new positions, inspectors.

Uh we were running about a 3,000 um inspection backlog.

Um and they have cut into that by about 33 percent uh over the past year, drawing down that drawing down that backlog.

That also allowed us uh to do what most of our peers have did years ago was and that was um put a fire investigator on shift.

So now when a fire of any nature, dumpster fire, grass fire, house fire, high rise fire, whatever it is, um a a fire investigator is attached to that resource assignment.

And uh by doing that, we have we are now our investigators now have a closure rate that is about three times what the national average is, and they have reduced the number of undetermined fires.

So uh it is not uncommon because of the damage that occurs at a fire for an investigator just not to be able to say what caused the fire with you know something that we could stand on in court.

Um we have reduced that number of undetermined from 43 percent to 11 percent, which I think is remarkable.

Um, and that's that's by having those investigators on shift, and we're not relying on you know, a company officer to do an investigation, they're not trained to do investigations, or uh waiting for an investigator to come uh through an on-call rotation.

Uh and then uh um you will see there kind of at the bottom, you'll see some um smoke alarm installation, uh, you know, a picture there, uh collaboration with the Red Cross, the fire and life safety branch, and uh is where the risk reduction specialist lives, and she keeps us busy at you know, various community activities, Carolina Classic Fair, Safe Kids, Child Protective Safety Seat inspections, youth fire set of programs, et cetera.

I'm gonna move to page five.

If you all have any questions as we go through, please stop me.

Uh logistics branch on page five.

You will see there, um particularly that that um tractor drawn aerial that's in that top photo.

When we wrote the specifications for that truck, I remember everybody was sitting in the room wearing masks.

I mean, this this we are finally um starting to take delivery of uh some apparatus that have been on order for years.

Uh we we got into some supply chain issues during COVID, and then of course, many municipalities spent ARPA money buying fire trucks, which just spike the demand, like the industry had never seen.

And we're not talking about building Thunderbirds on a cords, you know.

I mean, it you just don't add production lines to build fire trucks.

Uh so uh those delivery times are starting to come down.

Um this new ladder truck here is in service on Palmer Lane.

Um there's also the the kind of middle picture to the right side there.

That new ladder is in service on Glend High Road.

You'll remember we turned a turned the truck over and totaled it last the December of 24.

So this is the replacement to that.

Um also uh engine a new engine 16 is here for Pope Road.

It's not in service yet, but soon will be.

And then uh the next thing that we'll take delivery of in a month or so is uh a replacement for ladder 14 shadown east.

Uh also you'll see there in the bottom left corner, uh two hybrid battalion chief vehicles.

We are continuing to uh to convert as is appropriate uh our light vehicle fleet to hybrids.

I'm gonna move on to the case.

Ma'am.

Sorry, you you asked that we could do questions.

I don't want you to go too far.

But the um truck that that turned over in 24, it seems like you had mentioned something about the possibility of maybe doing some sort of not necessarily a trade with Greensboro, but I think that there was um where we could get at least a deal um to be able to use maybe one of their trucks.

Is this that or no ma'am?

This so this truck right here is brand new to us.

What we so our when we turned that truck over, you know, after we found out everybody was okay, uh other than a uh hurt wrist and some hurt feelings.

The the major loss when that fire truck was totaled was not that truck as a frontline unit because the replacement had been ordered.

The loss when we turned that truck over and totaled it was we were not gonna have that truck to go into the reserve fleet, which we need when trucks are broken down, they need oil, they you know, an oil change, new tires have to go for service, et cetera.

You just don't leave a fire station open until that truck comes back.

We put a reserve truck in place until the frontline unit comes back from whatever work is being done.

So that was the big loss.

So uh we were able to buy a truck that was going out of Greensboro's fleet and put it in our fleet to replace that reserve.

But good memory.

I tried to, thanks.

Um we uh last Monday we had a part-time logistics um uh technician start in a logistics branch.

So hopefully, you know, having somebody to run parts and um you know, take take turnout gear for repair and do all of those sorts of things.

I think it's really gonna be a big a big help in that branch of the fire department.

Um and then I will tell you uh just what kind of people we have working for us.

Um so you talked about the hearing the chains uh on the fire trucks.

So one of the issues we experienced in the past two weeks is the travel roads from the fire stations to the neighborhoods were clear.

80% of our calls are residential in nature.

Doesn't matter what it is, fire medical public service.

So we were wearing out chains on the primary roads, getting to the neighborhood roads.

And we keep multiple sets of chains for for all the apparatus, but we were wearing through them and they were breaking on the on the clear roads where the asphalt and clear concrete was chewing them up.

So said we'll buy some more chains.

Well, we couldn't buy any chains because when the utilities ramped up for the first ice event that turned out to be a dud, they bought up all the chains by the pallet loads, we understand from the chain suppliers.

So our folks at the shop sourced um the raw materials and they were actually building chains uh at our apparatus maintenance facility uh to keep our trucks on the road.

So it's important to recognize that kind of dedication from our folks all across the organization, but but particularly in our apparatus maintenance shop, those those guys really do go out of the way to make sure that the big truck big do you know the big trucks with the red paint chrome are staying on the roads.

So I just thought that was that would that beared mentioning.

And talk about um HOSS Alert.

This is just in here for a point of information.

Umert is a transmitter that is on fire apparatus.

So if you're running ways or maps, for example, as a as a routing tool on your phone, I'm sure everybody has noticed that you get alerts that say, you know, emergency, emergency vehicle ahead, that sort of thing.

So that alert uh for us gets prompted through um HOSS Alert when so Hoss Alert has a excuse me, a device mounted on mounted on the fire truck.

When the warning lights are operating, that hoss alert comes on and it is transmitting, and that's where you see emergency vehicle ahead.

Uh and you can see some of the statistics there about what we have the number of alerts that have been sent since we started putting these on in 2022.

We've had to add them to apparatus thus far.

Uh the Sutfin apparatus does not come with these.

We we switched to Pierce about two years ago, and um the host alert system comes as standard equipment on Pierce Fire Apparatus.

So as we continue to take delivery of more Pierce apparatus, um, at some point, you know, in the next four or five years, everything in your fleet will have have these host alert transmitters on them.

One thing that's not uh reflected in the data on uh on what you're looking at is um HOSS Alert sends responder to responder alerts too.

So a lot of apparatus crashes happen when two fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, whatever they are, are approaching the same intersection from different directions and and they crash at the intersection.

So when HOSS Alert sees that two apparatus approaching uh from opposite directions, it'll that it sends alerts to to each apparatus to say, hey, you've got something else coming from another direction.

Uh and just last year that happened 700 times.

So when you think about the fact there's only six of these in service, and they alerted one another 700 times, that gives you some idea of how much our fire trucks are on the road.

Our fire trucks are on the road responding about 45,000 times a year.

I'm gonna move to page 11 now and mention that call volume, uh, annual call volume that you see there, total responses in that top line down about 14 percent.

Now, last year when I was presenting, uh that number was up 80 percent coming out of COVID.

It is that down now for down 14 percent from last year, due uh in large part to work from our operations branch, even up to the assistant city manager, deputy county manager level, working with the medical director to pull down our medical call volume, and that is critically important.

Medical calls are not our primary responsibility.

That's way that's uh that is the that is for Site County's primary responsibility.

We respond as a compliment to them, but if you get so bogged down in medical call response, you're not available for fires and rescues, and that is our primary responsibility.

So it is critically important to us to make sure that we just do not become overwhelmed with the number of medical calls we're we are we are answering.

Just ma'am.

Are all of our firefighters trained paramedics?

I know they use some paramedics, train paramedic training.

But on the all paramedics.

They are trained as EMTs, emergency medical technicians.

Um the paramedic level service for us in the system where we operate the the juice would not be worth the squeeze when you talk about the facilities and the instructors required to maintain that level of certification.

Um so we live at the EMT level, and you get paramedic level response from for Scythe County.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Um you see there, property loss and saved.

System where we operate the the juice would not be worth the squeeze when you talk about the facilities and the instructors required to maintain that level of certification um so so we live at the EMT level and you get paramedic level response from for Scythe County Yes ma'am um you see there property loss and saved this is um so property loss is a 33 percent reduction from last year property saved is double what it was last year not statistics to get terribly excited about because you know one incident in a university building or a hospital building or something that really has high value can push those numbers really dramatically one way or the other so I just wanted to point out the differences if you happen to look back at the 2024 numbers but I I don't I don't get real excited about that just because there's so much so much variability in how those numbers are derived.

Fire fatalities are down uh from last year uh from 2024 uh we had five in 2024 two in 2025 civilian fire injuries and firefighter injuries are up and I realize this is only two years of data but that follows what we are seeing uh across the industry is increased firefighter and civilian injuries uh because fires burn faster and they burn hotter today than they did 30 years ago and we're really coming into the age where houses housing stock built starting in about 1990 is now getting into 30 or 35 years old and that's really when we started with open floor plans and what we know in the business is lightweight engineer construction that is um the use of truss construction um and and um a geographic design as a substitute for um mass and building material so you know 500 years ago when they built a building they didn't know what it take to hang it you hold it up they made a you know they had a post this big around well that building would stand up forever under fire now you know they've got a computer helping them and they figured out that that they can put it on a tube four and that's what they do and a do before it doesn't stand up very well under fire and we are seeing those houses now that started being built in the early 90s get some age on them and and and we and that is one of the things that is driving firefighter and civilian injuries as we have fires in those lightweight constructweight constructed houses more and more frequently on page 12 I just wanted to count uh to uh give some kudos to the training branch um last year they rolled out for the first time a ladder company operations class officer development school they redesigned the um uh job readiness uh physical ability tests we had for since 2017 we have been tied to the facility at King the fire training facility at King um Chief Grubbs and his staff uh utilizing the assistance of a consultant have now bought a uh built a course that is um um certified is not the right word what's it um validated thank you um that's why I take my bodyguards everywhere I go um the um so it is a validated course and it can be loaded in the back of an enclosed trailer and it is designed to to be set up and operated uh in the space of an apparatus bay in a station so it's portable and we can move it around and folks can practice with it they have two of them built now uh with with plans to build additional ones so that we can at least have four circulating around the city so that our folks can stay ready for that um for that physical uh annual physical ability test uh and stay in better shape we also if you'll remember uh about four and a half million dollars you appropriated uh last year to purchase new self-contained breathing apparatus uh that is a new product from Scott about 4,000 of those units are in service around the country includ including hundreds of them for the fire department of New York and everybody thinks about big fire department they think about fire department of new york when those units were delivered here our training folks put them through their paces with uh with the recruit class that was running and discovered a flaw in the mechanism that latches the bottle to the back frame on those SCBA so the the folks from Scott came uh chief grubbs and his his staff showed show Scott what was happening with those with those units and so now um the largest manufacturer of self-contained breathing apparatus in the world is coming right here to Little Lord Winston Salem uh to test their product to see if they have designed um and a um uh an acceptable uh solution to that to that problem that we identified with that bottle lap so uh again I think it's important to recognize the the uh the good work that our folks are doing uh and how thorough they are and will we get a break on the cost of those they're gonna give us some donations you'll be glad to know that we spent about um I don't know 20 or 25 percent less than what was appropriated for those units because we bought so many of them but uh I they have not started handing out any coupons yet okay let's just press them for that we can help we need a little help uh the other thing the the um the training branch did particularly in 2022 and 2023 but it paid off last year um was an improvement in the way they kept training records which was one of the key points

You'll be glad to know that we spent about um I don't know, 20 or 25 percent less than what was appropriated for those units because we bought so many of them, but uh they have not started handing out any coupons yet.

Okay, let's just press them for that.

We can help.

We need a little help.

Uh the other thing that the um the training branch did, particularly in 2022 and 2023, but it paid off last year, um, was an improvement in the way they kept training records, which was one of the key points that allowed us to attain our ISO one uh rating last year, and that uh segues me into um that page on uh the ISO um uh rating on page 15.

Um the Western Salem Fire Department, because it is accredited and carries that ISO one rating uh represents less than one half of one percent of all fire departments in America.

And then the last thing for me, uh Madam Chair, and I appreciate your patience.

Starting on page 16 and 17, uh you'll see some photographs there uh of our special teams.

And we get questions sometimes, you know, why are we deploying uh water rescue assets to Kentucky or to Asheville or to Jones County or wherever wherever that may be.

Um, but you know, the the answer to that question is because when we have events like we had uh over the past two weeks, or we have the micro bursts that we had on Akron Avenue back in July, um Akron Drive uh back in July.

Uh we have assets here in terms of equipment and training that we otherwise would not have.

Those those assets have come from the state, uh, and we likely would otherwise not be in a position to be able to afford those assets.

And our folks get training and experience that they otherwise would not get that when you go into events like that uh puts us in a much stronger position to be able to respond and manage those those incidents.

And then the last thing is you as you kind of scroll through the end there is uh just some recognition of our folks who are out there um uh winning awards, uh earning scholarships.

These three pictures here represent about $25,000 in scholarships uh from the state firefighters association.

So proud of our folks for winning those.

And then I I mentioned earlier about how our risk reduction specialist and and public information officer, miss um children's keep us active out in the community.

You can just see some photos from some of those activities that we do throughout the year.

That's all for me, madam chair.

Again, I appreciate the patience.

I'll take any questions anybody has.

Thank you for this excellent um report.

I think sometimes we take excellence for granted in our city with excellence that some employees give in fire departments, one of those, along with our police department.

And I celebrate you guys all the time because you do magnificent work.

You're there when we need you, even when we don't know that we need you.

You come out and do a great job.

And yes, some people are disappointed because they're very critical, but they don't know all of what you go forward.

I'm so pleased that our city council uh over the years, at least since I've been on, has seen the need to invest in our public safety departments and give you the equipment that you need.

Um trying to uh um lovely kinds of stuff.

I love those trucks.

I love to see our more rescue.

I want our residents to know that their tax money is.

Oh, thank you very much.

That your tax money is really well spent when it comes to public safety.

Um, and we are for city our size.

Um we have resources that we call on to serve our community well, and we have great staff that's creative, and they keep bringing us new things for us to stay on top of our public safety.

Um I I when I'm at the National Leagues of Cities and I'm talking to others, I feel so blessed that Winston Salem has taken the lead in many things in making sure that our departments are well equipped.

Uh and that's because we have great leadership and we have great staff and we have great people doing that job that many of us can't even think about doing and wouldn't want to.

So I I celebrate you and I thank you for this report.

I think that people I'm assuming we can go online on our website and get this report.

Is that right?

It will be.

It is not on our show you all that stuff before it gets out for public dissemination, but it will be on our website.

And I do encourage people to to get it and look at it and see the pictures and see um your work in action and our tax dollars in actions.

Any concerns, questions?

Oh Scott, please go ahead and think, Matt Chair.

I have a few.

I didn't even see her back there.

I apologize for missing her during my introductions.

No worries.

What you did was in the corner.

But I saw her picture.

I thought I thought I saw that I saw I thought I saw you in the picture, so I was really excited to see the the governor um sign that executive order uh around the behavior health.

And so I'm really excited to see how that can impact us here.

Um I always say over the past week or so I've really appreciated uh the social media push for hiring uh new uh firefighters.

Um it's one I think it's just good marketing, but it's also just really funny to to see the firefighters and and doing uh these these things.

Um, but also just to pick point out the the amazing work that you um all have done.

Um just a moment for me to say the same thing again and again.

I'm looking forward to to seeing what the pay study does so we can look at um putting more money in the pockets of our firefighters.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember.

Thank you, Chair CPO.

I echo uh some of the comments that uh council member Andrew Bowen just mentioned.

Um also want to give kudos to social media.

Um also follow you all, Chief Penn.

I yeah, I follow y'all on social media too.

Um, but um it has been really cool to see.

Um I will also um point out that I was really glad that there was a section in here about the training because uh we've talked about all the training that um folks in fire service do um throughout the year where it's not just reporting to a fire station or responding um to a call, but it's those trainings that maybe we don't see about, see or hear about often.

And so I was glad that there was a particular section that was dedicated to that in this report.

Um going back to the fire and life safety branch, you talked about um there was a good number of um uh numbers and statistics here about how many smoke alarms were installed.

I know that that's a free service.

Um I want to say it's the fire suppression apparatus that's put underneath the stove or stove.

Well, there are several brands, uh stovetop fire stop is probably best known.

Okay.

Um those sorts of things.

Could you um could you tell the public the best way if they're interested in having something like that done at their home or if they would like for matter of public education and they want someone from fire service to come to their event or to talk to some children and community is the best way um for them to do that to just call 911 or is that to go online?

Don't do that.

Don't do that.

So could you it could you uh let folks know the best way to do that if they want the fire department to maybe show up and and educate them?

Yes, ma'am.

So the best way to do it is to go to our website, which is from the city's website.

You know, you you can link to our website through the departments, which is up at the top banner.

Um that's the best way.

But we know that some folks still you know don't like the internet stuff, don't have computers, you know, whatever.

That's fine.

Uh so in the absence of being able to get to our website and fill out that form, the next best choice is uh 336 747 6935.

336935.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

And maybe you ought to put that in your annual report somewhere.

The so it can add that to the annual report next year.

That's delegation.

Yeah, right.

Very good.

Very good example there.

Um any other comments about um, I did have a question, Chief.

Um, I was excited about the um in inspectors.

The you said you hired three new inspectors.

Yes, ma'am.

What are what's the training they must have?

Are they certified?

Have they gone through and gotten certified firefighters certificates?

Or what is it that what's their criteria?

So some of them are certified firefighters, some of them have come in, have have were hired in the operations branch to be firefighters and and found that they had a passion for code enforcement and they've moved over to the life safety branch.

Um but uh they don't have to be certified firefighters to be inspectors.

To be inspectors, they have to be certified as an inspector by the North Carolina Code of the North Carolina Code officials qualification board, which is the same certifying entity that certifies mechanical spec inspectors, electrical inspectors, plumbing inspectors, all of those, all of those certificates are are um are um uh overseen.

I can't think of the right word I'm looking for, but by the code officials, North Carolina Code officials qualification board.

Okay, didn't know that.

Thank you so much.

That's interesting.

And it is pretty rigorous.

Uh it is not uncommon.

I don't know about the other disciplines, but for fire, it's not uncommon for somebody not to pass that state exam the first time.

It's it's um the the North Carolina State Fire Code is an impressive document, and although it's designed as a reference document, and you can have I think you can have it with you at the test.

You could when I took it, um, but it is still a lot um to find what you're looking for and interpret what the code says.

Great.

Well, thank you, Chief.

Uh, any other questions, concerns for the chief and this wonderful annual report.

Thank you so much, Chief.

Yes, ma'am.

We appreciate you all's attention and support.

Thank you.

Um council members, Mr.

Mayor, thank you for being with us, Mr.

Clark.

Thank you for being with us today.

And um at this point, we've completed our agenda for the day.

So with that, we will adjourn adjourn the public safety committee meeting.

Thank you.