Police Commission Minutes 04/07/04 AMENDED

The Rochester Police Commission held their regular monthly meeting on April 7, 2004. Present at this meeting was Chairman Dumont, Comm. Flanagan, Comm. Stenhouse, Chief Dubois, Capt. Donlon, Capt. Pease, Capt. Allen, Comm. Supervisor Jayne Young, Secretary Warburton, members of the Department, the public and the media

A. Building Committee Updates. Chief Dubois reported that we’ve made some excellent progress with regard to furniture with the assistance of our Economic Development Director, Karen Pollard and Frank Cieri of Micros Northeast, owners of the former Cabletron building on Industrial Way. It appears much of what we looked at will meet many of our needs and significantly reduce the costs for the remaining needed furniture. We should have a more exact list and will arrange for a pick-up of those items in the coming week. We are still on target for substantial completion by mid-May. There is an issue with regard to the electrical in the building and we are working with the design team and the Manager on that. This may delay the actual move date into August. That is a moving target and we will continue to update the Commission in that regard. The disability ramp out front is being finalized this week.

As we get closer to completion there are things that will creep up that we will have to address. The building looks great. We continue to walk through daily and are working closely with the construction management team. This building will meet our needs very well and we are happy with the progress being made. Chairman Dumont commented that he toured the building this date. It’s a beautiful building and much better than our current facility.

B. FY 04 Budget Updates: Discussion. Capt. Allen reported that we have completed an analysis and projection for the remainder of this year. We estimate to be in the black by $25,000 on the police side and approximately the same amount on the communications side. We reduced the overtime again this month, spending about $6,000.00, a significant reduction from prior problem months. We were able to add two new officers due to those projections. They left for the Academy this week. We continue to look for qualified candidates and hope to hire for the two remaining open positions by mid-May.

C. FY 05 Budget Updates: Discussion Capt. Allen reported that there is not much of an update for this item. We are waiting for word from the City Manager with regard to the reductions that he’s made. We anticipate more information by April 20, 2004, when the Council gets the budget.

Comm. Stenhouse commented that under the health line item we are projecting $222,000, of which $25,000 is for new staff. Without that increase our overall bottom line would only be about 4.5% from last year. If we changed nothing, it would probably be the same. It is understood that those numbers for health may change slightly, as they are based on the guaranteed maximum price from our carrier, the NH Municipal Trust.

D. K-9 Program: Housing Donation. Chairman Dumont noted that the Housing Authority has withdrawn the funding offer for this project. This puts this matter to rest. Comm. Flanagan wished to thank Karl Van Asselt of the Housing Authority for all of his help. He commented maybe things in the future will allow us to resurrect this.

E. Crime Line Donation Chief Dubois stated we discussed this with the Commission last month and the concept was favorably reviewed. We received written confirmation from Crime Line of their donation of this equipment, including labels and ribbons for the bar coded evidence software. This operates in conjunction with our IMC package and will make the property management function that much more efficient. This donation has been accepted by the City Manager and we ask that the Commission formally accept the donation this evening.

Comm. Stenhouse inquired if the donation was equipment or money, what is the value of the same and what are the maintenance fees? Capt. Allen replied that it is equipment, with a value of approximately $2,500.00. The supplies will be donated for the first year and the increased maintenance costs have been budgeted for. We intend to start using the program as soon as possible, to benefit the transfer of evidence to the new building.

F. Reverse 911 This remains on the agenda with the hope that we will be able to fund the same with either Homeland Security monies, or through the CIP. It’s preferable to fund with Homeland Security first. The CIP submission is a fall back and we made that clear to the City Manager.

1. SOP 69: Medals and Commendations: Update, First Reading. This was a discussion item only in March presented to the Commission with regard to members on the Awards Advisory Committee. We’ve made the recommended changes, to the operating procedure as discussed last month and bring it formally to the Commission for action at this time.

A. Recognition; Police Explorer Promotion Presentation: Officer Anthony Bossi thanked the Police Commission, Chief Dubois and Lt. Dumas for permitting this recognition and promotion at the Commission meeting. The Explorer Program has 12 active young men and women supporting the Department and the profession. Explorer Matthew Hatch, who is being promoted to Sergeant this evening, has been with the program for six years, which is longer than he [Off. Bossi] has been a police officer. Matthew has perfect attendance, good leadership skills, he is an enthusiastic participant and respected by his peers. Matthew was presented with the insignia denoting his promotion.

Chief Dubois thanked Officer Bossi, Officer Stanley and Officer Kelby for the ongoing, hands on work with the Explorer Program. We consider our program to be on par with other extra curricular programs that are offered at Spaulding High School for youth. The patrol officers run this program fairly independently with regard to budgeting, training and community involvement and we are fortunate to have their interest in participation with the youth in the City. The Commission also noted their appreciation for the work involved with the program.

B. Recognition: Off. Jason Thomas for Honorable Service. Chief Dubois stated that award is similar to the Good Conduct award given in the Military. A person must be nominated by their Supervisor. The officer must demonstrate exemplary conduct for a three-year period, not have received any discipline in that three-year period, and show well-rounded growth in the position. Officer Thomas has certainly accomplished all of that. He is the recipient of the 2^nd Annual Chief Ted Blair Memorial Award. He is doing an outstanding job for the Department and City in his role as training officer. He is one of the first members of the Department that new employees work with and are mentored and influenced by. We are pleased to present this award to Officer Thomas, for it is well deserved. The Commission publicly concurred with these statements.

C. Accept Resignation: Specialist Mike Beaudoin. Briefly noted was the Commission consensus that “we are sad to see Mike leaving, but, an offer of $10,000 more per year in the private sector would be hard for anyone to pass up.”

D. Education Incentives: Off. Murphy and Off. Keevan. Capt. Allen reported that Officers Murphy and Keevan both hold Bachelor of Science Degrees from the University of NH. Off. Murphy in Kinesiology and Off. Keevan in Recreation Management and Policy. We recommend approval of the education incentive as authorized under the C.B.A.

E. COPS Universal Grant: Review, Discuss, Accept, & forward to Council Chief Dubois stated that by virtue of the date of our meeting, this has already been introduced at the Council level and forwarded to the Finance Committee. We are asking the Commission to accept the award.

Comm. Flanagan said he would like to personally state to the City Council that they take a very hard look at this COPS Grant. Rochester is growing and the population is increasing. This is an opportunity for this community to receive this federal money, with some matching funds from us. The last time we used federal money we saved the taxpayer more than one million dollars. I hope each councilor looks at this on their own for what it’s really worth to the citizens. The Council has said this[money] comes with a lot of strings. I say it’s a commitment to the community, the taxpayer and the Department. This is a wonderful program and I urge the Council to take a good hard look at it with all the facets before they make their decision to accept or not accept.

Comm. Stenhouse asked if the Department would be permitted to make a presentation regarding this. This boils down to having the staffing to do Community policing. If we are not going to do community policing then we shouldn’t take the money. But if we are going to do community policing then we should take it. I wouldn’t approve accepting the money if I didn’t know the reason. The whole key is the staffing picture and having people on the street.

Chairman Dumont stated we intend to stagger the hiring to minimize the final impact, correct? Chief Dubois concurred, saying, we wrote the grant that way. We have done that in the past with the blessing of the Council. With respect to making a presentation, we have not been asked to do that. However, historically, we have come before the Council and they have asked all their questions.

F. Chaplain: Review and Approve Membership to Chaplain Association. Chief Dubois advised that since the inception of our Chaplain Program, Chaplain Lachapelle has been active and has been reaching out to contacts in the community. We support his membership in the Chaplain Association in Massachusetts. This is the closest one to us. The fee is $25.00 to join. We feel it’s worth doing and recommend the Commission approve the same. The Commission approved the membership, with the caveat that membership dues will not be paid by the Department budget, but rather the Commission agreed to split the cost equally among them.

It was asked and answered that all updates had been reviewed by Attorney Grossman. Comm. Stenhouse stated that he had a couple of questions. With regard to SOP 47, he could find no reference in the procedure for one to lodge a complaint against the head person (Chief of Police). Language should be added that it goes through the Commission. Chief Dubois advised he thought that language was there, but we will review it and make any necessary update and bring this back to the Commission next month.

Comm. Stenhouse also had a question on SOP 106. He restated for the record that he is the Director of Member Services for the City’s Worker’s Compensation carrier. He has no financial interest in the company, but he is an employee there. With regard to the SOP 106, the medical exam, do we do any screening via questionnaires regarding on the job injuries sustained by an applicant for a physician to screen? Chief Dubois stated we do ask those questions, following the conditional offer of employment. We reinforce those during the interview and the polygraph to determine if said injury, if sustained, will interfere with the successful completion of training.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to waive the second reading and adopt the updates to Standard Operating Procedures 14A, 14B, 47A, 51, 74 and 106, and bring SOP 47 back for a second reading in May. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

1. Patrol Bureau: Capt. Donlon reported that Lt. Gould is in her first week at the FBI National Academy. The City has reinstituted the City Safety Meetings whereby staff reviews workers compensation submissions. The committee is chaired by Capt. Bonneau of the Fire Department. The purpose of the committee is to try and reduce workers compensation claims by recognizing any areas that we could be doing things better or different. The Patrol Captain will represent the Department on this committee. We are working on instituting Comp Stat which is a method used to analyze crime and identify trends and then allocate the appropriate resources to such issues. We are redefining how we input calls, so that the data will be accurate. We hope to begin this within the next six to eight weeks. We will update the Commission each month.

2. Investigations Bureau: Capt. Pease reported that in ISB, his biggest concern is bureau staffing. With the recent hiring of staff, we’ve returned one general investigator to the bureau which has helped tremendously. This may allow us to loosen up some on the restriction of accepting property crimes and handle a reasonable number, but Patrol will still handle some of them. We talk constantly in the bureau about effective staffing and are concerned with the activity generated during the summer. We are discussing alternatives for that, to include changing some of the speciality assignments to general investigators for a time period. We are excited to put the bar coded evidence in place, so that the evidence tech is well-versed in the same upon the move to the new facility. There was a gain this month where more items were released than were received. We have a plan in place for moving the evidence and prosecution records as soon as we get the go ahead to do so.

We have identified a concern regarding the back log of grand jury cases. Twenty five of the thirty cases presented this month were held. This had led to an in-depth review of “held” cases, which revealed a significant number are waiting for presentation. The reason for the back log is not known. We intend to meet with the County Attorney to resolve this. While it may take a few months, we are aggressively working on it. Capt. Donlon advised that grand jury has always been a “roller coaster” and that all commanders who have worked in the ISB Bureau have experienced this. It’s not a new or unique problem. The Commission was concerned with the age of some of the cases, in that by the time they are presented, the primary investigator could have left our employ.

3. Administrative Bureau: Capt. Allen stated that the supplemental to balance our outside detail line was made. We hired two officers and are actively seeking certified candidates for the two remaining openings. Off. Thomas has been attending area career fairs. To answer the question recently posed regarding advertising for certified candidates, we don’t usually do it that way because it limits us. Not all certified candidates pass our employment standards. There continue to be memory leaks from the server. Although this is a common problem, we hope for a resolution soon and we are actively working with the City’s consultant to determine why. Until we can figure that out, our software upgrade will be delayed. Some of the equipment the Commission recently approved is being shipped. The vision stick and the thermal imaging kit has arrived. The thermal imaging kit had some minor issues and was shipped back. The mobile command post has been ordered with an anticipated delivery date of August.

Chairman Dumont inquired if we are still having problems with the speed trailer. Chief Dubois confirmed that we are and that Attorney Grossman is now involved and has written to the company regarding those problems.

4. Communications Bureau: Supervisor Jayne Young reported that National Telecommunicators Week is April 12 through the 16. The resignation of Specialist Beaudoin, leaves a gaping hole on the Midnight shift. It takes three to four months to get a specialist to basic level and then a year for them to be really proficient. We now have three certified communications training officers. We did a great job in February and March with overtime. April will see an increase with the loss of staff already reported.

Comm. Stenhouse MOVED that in recognition of Telecommunicators Week, the Chief draft a letter for signature by the Chairman expressing the gratitude of the Commission for the work of our Communications Specialists. SECOND by Comm. Flanagan and PASSED unanimously.

A. Appreciation and Recognition. Letters recognizing Department members this month include: Officer Macaione & Lt. Gould are recognized for court prep and testimony by the County Attorney’s office. Lt. Dumas is thanked for reading during Dr. Suess week at the East Rochester Annex. Fire Capt. Giguere thanks Off. Balint and Lambert for cooperative work during a fire investigation.

1. DARE Program, Allen School. Comm. Stenhouse advised that a letter had been dropped by his house this evening on this matter. They have asked for some resolution to this, after being shut out of the program for two years running for budgetary reasons. Please look further into the data in the letter and get back to me.

2. NH Tactical Officers Association. Capt. Allen apologized for not bringing this forward earlier. He stated that this is a fairly new organized group representing all the SWAT Programs in the State. The goal of the program is to establish standards of training and operation of these Teams. It is supported and endorsed by Police Standards and the Attorney General’s Office. Currently there are twelve teams in the State. Each team is represented by their Chief or designee. The group has recently filed for nonprofit status and is planning fund raisers to support the organization. We seek approval to become a supporting members of the Association. This will be a team, not individual membership. The cost is $100.00 per year, which is relatively inexpensive when compared to the value.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to enter a non-public session at 8:00 P.M. for the purpose of personnel and contractual matters. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse. The motion PASSED by roll call vote, Comm. Stenhouse-yes, Comm. Flanagan-yes, Chairman Dumont -yes. The non-public session closed at 9:14 P.M. on a MOTION by Comm. Flanagan. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED that following interviews, Paul Callaghan will be promoted temporarily to Lieutenant. Said promotion will become permanent when a full time vacancy of like rank occurs in the command structure. The motion was SECONDED by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

Comm. Stenhouse MOVED that based on a passing evaluation a merit increase is granted to Lt. Anne Gould and that Lt. Paul Moore is granted the Compensation Adjustment as outlined in the command contract. SECOND by Comm. Flanagan and PASSED unanimously.

Following a discussion with Chief Dubois the Commission supported a structure change, authorizing the position of an Executive Captain who will assume command of the Department in the Chief’s absences for annual leave, training, etc. The Executive Captain shall be entitled to receive the Chief’s rate of pay during such authorized coverage.