Public Safety Committee Meeting - February 9, 2026
Public Safety Committee Meeting - February 9, 2026
The Public Safety Committee of the Winston-Salem City Council met on February 9, 2026, at 2:00 PM to discuss three agenda items: amendments to police complaint procedures, a contract for towing management and vehicle management solutions, and the Winston-Salem Fire Department 2025 Annual Report. Chair Annette Scippio called the meeting to order, and all four committee members were present. The meeting adjourned at 3:02 PM.
Consent Calendar
- C-1: Approval of the Public Safety Committee Summary of Minutes – The minutes from the December 8, 2025 meeting were approved unanimously via consent vote.
Discussion Items
-
G-1: Ordinance Amending Police Complaint Filing and Investigation Procedures – Captain Charles Olivo, Winston-Salem Police Department, presented the proposed amendment to Chapter 2, Section 2-108 of the City Code. The amendment expands complaint submission methods (directly to police, city clerk's office, or online), clarifies that investigations are conducted by the WSPD (not solely the Professional Standards Division), and modernizes notification to complainants (written, phone, or electronic). Appeals to the Citizens Police Review Board remain intact. Key statistics: In 2025, there were 6 official citizen complaints and 34 internal complaints. The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval, referring the item to the City Council on March 2, 2026.
-
G-2: Resolution Approving Contract for Towing Management and Vehicle Management Solutions (Autura) – Staff from the WSPD and representatives from VMS Company presented the program. The contract with CFKAA Holdings, LLC d/b/a Autura will implement a digital dispatch system for towing, reducing officer time on scene and improving safety. The new fee structure raises the tow fee from $175 to $279, including a $50 increase for tow companies (first since 2019), a $35 per-dispatch software fee, and a $10 city fee. All 14 current tow companies support the program. The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval, referring the item to the City Council on March 2, 2026.
-
G-3: Winston-Salem Fire Department 2025 Annual Report – Fire Chief Trey Mayor presented the annual report, highlighting:
- BEAR Team: Responds to about 6 behavioral health requests per day; would be the fifth busiest engine company if follow-up calls are included.
- Fire & Life Safety Branch: Added 3 inspectors, reducing the inspection backlog by 33%; fire investigators now on shift, achieving a closure rate three times the national average and reducing undetermined fires from 43% to 11%.
- Apparatus: New ladder trucks in service, hybrid battalion chief vehicles, and a reserve truck acquired from Greensboro.
- HOSS Alert: Emergency vehicle warning system; 700 responder-to-responder alerts in 2025.
- Call volume: Down 14% from 2024, partly due to reduced medical call responses.
- Property loss: 33% reduction; property saved doubled.
- Fire fatalities: 2 in 2025 (down from 5 in 2024).
- Training: New portable physical ability test course; SCBA equipment flaw discovered and manufacturer is testing a fix.
- ISO 1 rating maintained (less than 0.5% of U.S. fire departments).
- The report was received as information only; no action taken.
Key Outcomes
- G-1 (Police Complaint Procedures) – Unanimous recommendation to approve (4-0); referred to City Council on March 2, 2026.
- G-2 (Towing Management Contract) – Unanimous recommendation to approve (4-0); referred to City Council on March 2, 2026.
- G-3 (Fire Department Annual Report) – Received as information; no vote required.
Meeting Transcript
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.
openpublica.com