Rochester Police Commission Minutes 11/03/04

The Rochester Police Commission held their regular monthly meeting on November 3, 2004. Present at this meeting was Chairman Dumont, Comm. Flanagan, Comm. Stenhouse, Capt. Pease, Capt. Allen, Capt. Taylor, Lt. Gould, Lt. Dumas, Lt. Callaghan, Attorney Grossman, Secretary Warburton, members of the Department, the public and the media.

Comm. Stenhouse MOVED to accept the minutes of the October 6, 2004 regular meeting and the October 14, 2004 special meeting as written. SECOND by Comm. Flanagan. The motion PASSED unanimously.

A. Building Update: Capt. Allen reported that there are still a few items that require completion. We have been assured by Horne Construction that they will be completed in the next couple of weeks. We are on track.

A. Swear in New Officer; Wendy Talon. The oath for Patrol Officer was administered to Officer Wendy Talon by Commissioner Flanagan. Wendy’s family was on hand to participate in this achievement, with her daughter Samantha doing the honors of pinning on her badge.

Comm. Stenhouse stated that Wendy began working for the City when he was the City Manager. She started with the Water Department and then moved over to P.D. a couple of years ago as a part-time secretary. He said this proves that you can do whatever you set your mind to, and that it is possible for City employees to experience growth.

B. Oath of Office: Sgt. Anthony Triao. The oath for promotion to Sergeant was administered to Sgt. Triano by Commissioner Flanagan. Tony’s wife was on had to pin on the badge of his new rank.

C. Oath of Office: Lt. Paul Toussaint. The oath for promotion to Lieutenant was administered to Lt. Paul Toussaint by Commissioner Flanagan. Paul’s wife was on had to pin on the badge of his new rank.

D. Policies: Discussion on Development. Capt. Pease stated that this concerns the memo, as included in the packet with regard to who sets policy for the Department. It is the City Manager’s belief that he sets policy and he is more than willing to meet and discuss the same with the Commission.

Comm. Dumont stated that he wrote a letter to the City Manager on September 15, 2004 regarding the Commission and moving forward with the declaratory judgement. The contents of that letter, is as follows:

It has been said many times in recent months that we want to work together. Let me state it again. The Police Commission wants to work with you and the City Council.

In the joint meeting that was held with the Council and Police Commission in March of this year, one matter discussed by the police commission was sending the Charter to Superior Court for a declaratory judgement. That request by the Commission was never acted upon by the Mayor and Council.

On behalf of the Police Commission, I am again requesting that the matter of the duties and responsibilities under the Charter be forwarded to Superior Court for declaratory judgement.

Chairman Dumont stated, “After this letter was sent, it was given to the Council, and Council voted to send it to the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee did not act on it. They said they will not act on it and it is up to the Commission to do something. They didn’t wish to join us in this cause to resolve this.”

This comes back tonight because the City manager has directed the Chief that the Standard Operating Procedures that we work on is no longer a function of the Commission, but that of the City Manager. We find this to be wrong and against the Charter.

Section 25 of the Charter reads, “ It shall be the duty of the Board of Police Commissioners authorized hereunder to appoint such police officers, constables and superior officers as it may, in its judgement deem necessary and to fix their compensation; and, to make all rules and regulations for the government of the police force and to enforce same.”

Chairman Dumont stated his action is in direct conflict with the City Charter. We might have won the war in the election but we are still in the battle. We must resolve this and resolve this in a friendly way. “I ask my colleagues to move to take all action necessary to go to superior court in a friendly manner so the commission will know what their job and duties are.”

Comm. Flanagan formally MOVED that the Rochester Police Commission request a declaratory judgement from the Strafford County Superior Court, in as friendly a manner as possible to get the answers to this question. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse. Open for discussion.

Comm. Stenhouse said “We have a system here, have had a commission for 55 years. During that time the Police Commission operated under several charters, and operated in the same manner as today, exactly. There have been no changes, no hidden, smoking mirrors. They have operated the same way under three different City Managers, following the same ordinances and Charter. Now we have a fourth City Manager with a different interpretation of the rules, as they have existed. Mr. Steele is a layman, and the Commissioner’s are laymen, and the Attorney’s work for us. The only way for both sides and parties to finally get the word as to whom is responsible for what, is through the declaratory judgement.

Comm. Stenhouse stated that he has been a resident of this City for 12 years. In those 12 years, there have been four attempts to do away with the Police Commission, each attempt being unsuccessful. “I question the necessity to do that if the Commission had no powers and duties all of those 12 years.” It is the only prudent course of action for the benefit of the citizens who voted to keep the Commission, to give them a fair shake once and for all. That is to take this into the Court.

The Commission received a brief synopsis from Lt. Dumas on the areas that had been modified. Attorney Grossman has reviewed and approved the modifications.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to waive the second reading and adopt the modifications to SOP’s 38, 56, and 84, as submitted. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

1. Patrol Bureau: Capt. Michael Allen reported that comp stat areas and our associated work is ongoing and moving forward. Lt. Callaghan is still working with DOT on a follow up meeting with the corridor business with regard to Route 11 and the long term plans for that roadway. Accidents, even with increased enforcement are still up. It would appear that a redesign of the road is the right direction and the City and State is moving toward that. It is matter of funding. Lt. Callaghan has been doing a good job with that.

Lt. Callaghan also reported that our downtown comp stat is progressing well also. Approximately 50 - 60 CARE packages have been distributed. We have been able to increase our patrols there now that field training officers have been freed up and officers in training have been released to patrol. The summer bump out was a nice addition, however, it did draw some concerns with regard to traffic safety as there was no barrier to block cars changing lanes, or entering the area from the Union Street parking lot to North Main Street.

The newspapers have reported heavily on the rash of burglaries at convenience stores, particularly those selling cigarettes. Lt. Callaghan said concern with regard to these burglaries in addition to the economic impact, are the psychological effects. Most of these targets are “safe targets” and are apt to be hit more than once. There is not much planning involved. Therefore, in the short term we have set up some surveillance with the patrol and detective staff. Our longer term goals are to assign officers to work with the stores, providing security analysis designed to minimize their victimization and prevent further attacks. Three of the five stores hit have used the techniques in our “robbery care package.”

Lt. Gould has been working on the thefts from motor vehicles issue. We have had a rash of those in recent weeks, in fact a 50% increase. Most report that the cars were parked in private driveways and unlocked. It makes it difficult to set up surveillance, because of the randomness of the events, and the fact that they are occurring on private property. The best way to attack this problem is through public education and to encourage people not to leave any valuables in unlocked cars, even in their own driveways.

In other areas, we are now charter members of the NH Tactical Officers Association. We have also increased minimum staffing on all three shifts. The station officer is in place on a full time basis on the day shift and evening shift.

The Police assisted the Fire Department with a large scale funeral last month for a firefighter from Rochester who tragically died during a training mission in California.

2. Support Bureau: Captain Taylor reported calls for the month of September were high. The domestic violence officer had 25 new cases, with a total of 24 misdemeanor charges. Juvenile had 34 new arraignments, 10 adjudicatory hearings, and six cases were diverted. Evidence handled 402 pieces of evidence, of which 238 were new pieces to be logged. Grand Jury, we presented two cases, both were true bills. The submissions were minimal due to a packed Superior Court docket. One hundred twenty cases were prosecuted in the District Court and of those, seventy-four had guilty findings, seven were nol prossed, one was not guilty. There were a large number of defaults this month and warrants have been issued.

Lt. Dumas reported that Officer MacKenzie and Fina were certified in narcotics and tracking in the final weeks of October. The team is back up to where it was prior to Officer Wallace resigning.

The West Midland P.D. in England visited all the SAFE haven’s in the area. They are unique in that they are cash-rich and program-poor. We are envious. Panel discussions were held for two hours, with Sgt. Triano holding court and doing a tremendous job. It will be difficult to replace Tony and the role that he has played as our HUD officer for the past several years. Det. Funk has stepped up to the task, and with 16+ years on the Department he should do a fine job.

Both SROs graduated from DARE Officer training. We recently had bomb threats at high school and arrests were made. The message we are trying to get across is bomb threats are not funny and we will prosecute you.

All officers in training have been released from the field training program. Officer Talon will start the in-house program this week. We currently have one opening and once filled we will be up to full staff.

A. Appreciation and Recognition. Letters recognizing Department members this month include: Sec. Flo Alley is thanked by a local Attorney for researching case files. Off. MacKenzie is thanked by Exeter Police Chief for K-9 assistance. Off. Mundy is recognized by the County Attorney’s office for investigative work.

A. Financial Reports - October. Capt. Pease stated that in this packet was the “13 month budget report” which is just a way of saying that it’s the final report on the previous year’s budget. We returned more than $73,000 to the city, with the Commission’s help. The Commission thanked the staff for working very hard to achieve those numbers.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to enter a non-public session at 7:30 P.M. for the purpose of personnel and legal 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 8:20 P.M. on a MOTION by Comm. Stenhouse. SECOND by Chairman Dumont and PASSED unanimously.