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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Kristen Ziman, Chief of Police
DATE: August 3, 2017
SUBJECT:
A resolution authorizing the hire of a private law firm to prosecute Driving Under the Influence (DUI) offenses locally.
PURPOSE:
DUI offenses are currently prosecuted by County State's Attorney's Office's. The Aurora Police Department is seeking to decrease costs associated with court overtime, augment officer training opportunities and increase public safety by utilizing a private law firm to provide prosecution services for locally charged DUI's and accompanying traffic citations.
BACKGROUND:
The costs associated with prosecution of DUI offenses and accompanying traffic citations has created a unique problem for municipalities. The amount of overtime associated with these types of cases is costly as it is not uncommon for them to be continued over a long period of time, taking officers off of the street at expense (financially and public-safety wise) of the municipality.
For example: Assume a minimum of eight (8) hours of overtime per two (2) officers on two (2) court appearances for a DUI arrest. Hypothetically speaking, if officer(s) make $30.00 per hour, and there are two (2) officers appearing in court, for two (2) court appearances, the cost is a minimum of approximately $480.00 per arrest on officer payroll and/or overtime. Based upon Aurora's 2016 numbers, utilizing a private firm to prosecute non-felony DUI's would save approximately $112,320.00 in payroll and/or overtime costs.
Additionally, these types of cases call for a high level of precision for police officers, creating a training challenge for police departments. A solution adopted by a number of neighboring cities has been to contract with a private law firm to provide prosecution services for locally charged DUI's.
By reducing, if not eliminating, the need for officers to be in Court, the city will be in a better position to manage our officers' time on the street and reduce cost...
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