Police Commission Minutes 02/04/2004

The Rochester Police Commission held their regular monthly meeting on February 4, 2004. Present at this meeting was Chairman Dumont, Comm. Flanagan, Comm. Stenhouse, Chief Dubois, Capt. Donlon, Capt. Pease, Capt. Allen, Lt. Taylor, Attorney Grossman, Secretary Warburton, members of the Department, the public and the media.

A. Kenn Ortmann, Interim City Manager. The City Manager first thanked the Commission for being first on the agenda. He also thanked the Police Commission for their participation in the goals setting meeting in mid-January. He offered an apology for any mis communication that occurred regarding the Commission’s attendance. He stated the Commission made it quite clear in meetings prior to January 17^th that they may not be able to attend. That information was not clearly conveyed to all interested parties following the transition of personnel in the city manager’s office. However, it was important to thank the Commission for their contributions to the extent they could attend.

The City Manager noted a goal of improved communication in various areas of the city and stated that it would seem to him in reading the City Charter these issues should be clearer than they are. When reading the Charter, that lends to confusion. I would like to work toward resolving that confusion.

Section 24 of the Charter outlines the Duties of the Police Commission. It says “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 the same.”

Section 61 of the Charter is titled Compensation. It says “The compensation of all officers and employees not fixed by this Charter shall be fixed in the rules and regulations of the merit plan by a schedule of pay which shall include a minimum and maximum and such intermediate rates as may be deemed desirable for each class or position provided for in said rules and regulations. In increasing or decreasing items in the City budget, the City Council shall not increase or decrease any individual salary item, but shall act solely with respect to total salaries in the various departments of the City.”

The City Manager said to read those two sections of the Charter would appear to make an argument either way, that the merit plan places limits on what the pay for police officers should be, or that authority is vested in the Police Commission. This is open for interpretation and presents an unusual situation, in that the two sections say different things, but each section is neither right nor wrong. In order to resolve this issue, he would like to suggest to the Commission a meeting between the Council and Commission to meet and look at these areas of confusion and resulting tension and determine who is responsible for what. A meeting of these two bodies could resolve the matter consistent with the goals setting session about working together to come up with the best resolution. I recognize that if the two bodies cannot come to a resolution on this interpretation that there are other ways to resolve this, such as through the court process.

The City Manager said that he would extend to the Commission that “if you are willing to work with the Council in those areas and resolve this confusion . . . ” Chairman Dumont respectfully interrupted the City Manager stating “We were ready to meet with them last August and it was pushed to September, then October. We tried to do that and it never happened. We are willing to meet with you or anyone, any time.” The City Manager responded that this is a new Commission, in a sense and a new Council. Staff is making efforts and we want to build on the successes of the difficult issues that we’ve already solved. Initiating these meetings that were talked about and doing so with some urgency is the right step.

Chairman Dumont asked the City Manager if he had any insight as to the Police Commission being ex-officio non voting members on the building committee. He said, “I saw it on television and was surprised to see us taken off.” Comm. Stenhouse suggested that’s an issue to talk about at this meeting with the Council. The City Manager said with these two bodies, he feels there are probably a half dozen issues from each side to discuss. Comm. Flanagan requested an expedited meeting as it’s been a long time coming.

B. Chaplain. Chairman Dumont announced that the Department had selected a Chaplain from the letters of interest submitted. He stated that Ronald Lachapelle from Gonic would fulfill this role. He stated that Ron is no stranger to the City, or the Department, having served for thirty years as a Police Commissioner. He is confident that Ron will serve us well in this capacity.

A. Building Committee Updates. Chief Dubois stated the building is coming along, still under budget and on schedule. A tour is set at 10:00 A.M., February 21, 2004 for the City Council. The stairs between floors are planned to be finished by then. We couldn’t be happier with the progress of Horne Construction and the design team. We are poised to occupy a state of the art building that will be the envy of the County and in my opinion, the State. The City Council and Commission have done an outstanding job and we are excited and looking forward to the move. Chairman Dumont noted that he had toured a portion of the building this week and he was quite impressed.

B. FY 05 Budget Updates: Discussion Capt. Allen stated that all the benefit calculations have been completed and we are looking at an added increase that equates to sixteen percent. That sounds like a lot until you factor the move to the new building. This includes electricity increases, etc.

Capt. Allen stated that the Chairman asked him to complete some research in comparing our budget to the City of Dover. We researched the past five years. Our budget this year is slightly more than 4.5 million. Dover was at that figure in 2001 and now they are about 1.2 million higher than us.

Chairman Dumont thanked the Captain and said that he prefers not to compare cities. However, the population of Rochester is larger and our area is bigger than Dover. We will never catch up with them, but this information puts that into perspective. Chairman Dumont noted that our Department dispatches both police and fire. Chief Dubois replied the same is true for Dover.

Chief Dubois stated that we continue to prepare our budget presentation in a power point menu plan. If the Commission has anything additional to add, we will incorporate that for the presentation. Comm. Stenhouse asked that emphasis be placed on the community policing generated activity, specifically that reduced personnel reduces those kinds of things. Chief Dubois said exactly. “I want to paint a picture of what it takes to provide certain services in the City.”

C. K-9 Program, Housing Donation. Chief Dubois said we talked about this last month. The Commission was concerned about costs being passed on to the taxpayer. I explained that the initial donation offered fell short to run the program for a full year. I have since spoken to the Housing Director, Karl Van Asselt and he has increased his donation offer by an additional three thousand dollars. This will fully fund the program for one year, with the condition that we locate a donated animal. We are working on that and I can’t present a final financial picture until that is complete.

Therefore, we stand at an offer of eight thousand dollars for the first year and Karl Van Asselt has verbally committed that he would seek funding for an additional two years. This second dog would be attached to the Housing programs to benefit those properties, but Karl Van Asselt feels and we agree that the dog can be used throughout the City and not restricted solely to housing. This offer is up for discussion with the Finance Committee. If we could get a sense as to how the Commission feels about this project it will help those future discussions.

Chairman Dumont asked about the funding for years two and three? Chief Dubois responded that Housing has committed in writing to eight thousand dollars for the first year to get the program up and running. Karl Van Asselt has committed verbally to an additional five thousand dollars in each of the successive two years (total of ten thousand) to support the program. Chairman Dumont stated he would support that, if we could get that commitment in writing. Comm. Flanagan offered that we know how he feels about K-9 programs. He wants whatever is best for the City. “If we can assure the Council of the costs and assure the taxpayers this is at no cost to them for the three years, they may lean toward approving it.” Comm. Stenhouse stated that in his experience Karl Van Asselt has always been a man of his word. However, if he were to be replaced tomorrow, it may be safer to have this in writing. Overall, the Commission spoke in support of the second K-9 with funding from Housing.

Comm. Flanagan said that he knows of a dog available for purchase for $3,500. that has been through all the same training as Fina. If our quest for a donation falls through, maybe Housing might be willing to fund that. Chief Dubois stated that we are working with the Working Dog Foundation on a donation. This particular animal is ready for training. The Foundation has been impressed with our progress to date. We have demonstrated and shown we support the concept. I’m confident that we are strong candidates for a donation but the Foundation cannot commit to this at this time. Chief Dubois concluded by stating that there is already an officer funded by Housing and assigned one hundred percent to Housing. In essence this officer comes back to us in a larger capacity by the dog being available to the whole city.

Item	Terms	Bid	Vendor / Company
Harley Davidson MC (2) w/Tour Package	2-year Lease LLEBG (grant)	$11,200.00 $3,000. (tour pack)	N.E. Police Vehicle Leasing
Digital Voice Recorder	5-Year Lease, option to buy, w/trade, Op. Budget	$14,900.00	N.E. Dispatch
Mobile Command Post	Purchase, Homeland Security	$49,234.40	Northeast Custom Creations
Thermal Imaging Kit	Purchase, Homeland Security	$10,934.00 $16,273.00	Diversified Optical Fire Tech & Safety
Vision Stick	Purchase, Homeland Security	$4,555.00	Julius Kraft, Co.
Portable Radio Mic Kits	Purchase, Homeland Security	$5,753.00	L.A. Goodnow Co.

Capt. Allen said the Department is asking the Commission’s permission to accept the bids and award as presented. The recommendation for the thermal imaging equipment is to Diversified Optical as they met the minimum bid specifications. Fire Tech offered a higher bid that included more options.

E. Volunteer Program. Capt. Donlon stated we’ve had a good response to our advertising for volunteers, receiving between ten and fifteen inquiries. We plan to set up interviews in a couple of weeks. We’re holding interest open for a bit longer so that we don’t miss out on any good candidates. We will then complete a brief non-intrusive background. We’ve consulted with legal counsel regarding work to be performed and will offer more information next month.

F. Reverse 911. Chairman Dumont acknowledged this is still on the agenda at his request. Chief Dubois confirmed he has no new information. We will continue to work on ways to fund the project, first through homeland security funds and then other sources. It makes more sense for the taxpayer to draw on homeland monies if we can. We are waiting for the new award announcements to have actual numbers to talk about.

A. Distinguished Unit Awards. Chief Dubois said it gives him pleasure to recognize Department members when they do good work, individually or as a team. He briefly outlined the incident for which these awards are recommended. He said that a resident was threatening harm with a knife to herself. All responding officers and the communications specialist did an outstanding job. She was taken into custody without harm to herself or other persons. These Department members get support from the Commission via training in less-lethal munitions. We are particularly proud of the officers for the risk to officer safety this call presented, but more to the compassion given to the resident that resolved this peaceably. Members recognized for the Distinguished Unit Action Bar include: Officer Jason Thomas, Officer Andrew Jackson, Officer Keith MacKenzie, Officer James Fox, Sergeant Anthony Deluca and Specialist Bruce Daigle. A brief recess was called for pictures.

B. Family Violence Center (child advocacy). Chief Dubois advised that this program is designed to improve services in this area and is the opportunity of grant funding from an initiative signed by the President. I think there is a need for this type of program. On behalf of the Department, I signed off in support of this grant and the City Council authorized the Manager to sign it also. The program will be located at the Community Center, thereby putting many of the same or like services in one central location. The grant is for one year. It is intended to continue to be funded in the future through grants or other sources available via the county delegation. Long-range it will be self-supporting, at no cost to the taxpayer. Comm. Stenhouse noted he was pleased to see rent on the space listed as a cost. The City Council designed the Community Center to operate just that way.

C. Three Year Plan for Department. Chief Dubois said this is self-explanatory. We update this each year in conjunction with the budget. We plan to use FY05 as a base for the fiscal years to follow. Areas we are not successful in can be carried over. This also allows us to check our progress during the year attain future goals.

1. SOP 17: Overtime Work Positions, Update First Reading: We talked about this at our last meeting hoping to establish some type of control with regard to payment for special events, and ensuring payment from vendors with delinquent payment histories. This sets a standard of prepayment. The vendor that brought this to the forefront is making payments as agreed. If he does not have the full amount paid by the close of this fiscal year, it will not help this budget.

1. Patrol Bureau. Capt. Donlon highlighted the events of the month. We have a couple of Officers away at training schools. Sgt. Toussaint is in Rhode Island attending management training. This course was formerly the command training program at Babson. Off. Harding is attending a “train the trainer” motorcycle school. Upon return he will instruct other officers in this medium. The K-9 Program is going very well. On a routine traffic stop Fina “hit” on a marijuana scent and following a search warrant uncovered the same in the vehicle. We hope to continue to eradicate illicit drugs from our streets. We are working on some backgrounds of the firefighters that have agreed to come over and help out in the center during major fire incidents.

2. Investigations Bureau. Lt. Jeff Taylor presented this report. With a new Grand Jury sitting we only presented 12 cases this month. Seven were held and one was reduced to misdemeanor charges. Det. Cahill had 18 new D.V. cases for a total of 32 charges. Juvenile prosecution had 21 new cases. Evidence took in 317 new items, and purged 398 items. The SRO at the middle school handled 23 juvenile matters, completed 16 student counseling, 15 teacher conferences and 12 parent conferences, two simple assaults, one sexual assault and one false public alarm. Chairman Dumont complimented the thorough year-end report of the drug investigator.

3. Administrative Bureau. Capt. Allen advised the Commission of the situation with the overtime account. We are 61% through the year and 98% spent in that line. This is due primarily to time off taken. We cannot continue at the rate we have been without severely overspending. All required annual training has been completed and submitted to Concord. We continue to work toward the accreditation process. We will be sending Lt. Dumas to some training in May. This was a process that previously had four levels. That has all been combined into one process. We are looking forward to getting the process going again. Our two new cruisers are currently at the UNH having the Project 54 components installed. There is still work to be done to integrate the software of Project 54 with the MDT. Once we have this installed, we will set up a demonstration for the Commission. The problems we have been having with our server seem to be working out, although there are still some things to tweak for optimum operation.

4. Communications Bureau. Chief Dubois spoke on Jayne’s behalf. He stated we show an increase in the calls for service to 47,924 which is slightly more than 2900 calls over last year. The center is dealing with those increases the best they can. We are in the process of filling the open part-time position with a person who worked here some years ago and therefore brings some experience to the field. Jayne is working to relieve some of the administrative duties the center is doing. She meets with resistence trying to move these things, but someone has to do these tasks. Staff talks about these things in depth and Jayne is working hard to lighten the load.

1. Cruisers. Comm. Flanagan heard from a constituent concerned with the “bone yard” of dead lined cruisers at DPW. They feel it’s an eye sore. Chief Dubois confirmed that we have dead lined three cruisers and are looking at a fourth. Once the cars leave us, they either go to another city department, or go to auction. One positive thing we can say about leaving them dead lined, is that we were able to cannibalize two of them, to make one functioning vehicle. We are fortunate that work is done through a City employee. We have two cars the Council authorized in September and we are just about ready to put those into the fleet.

Chief Dubois did wish to update the Commission and ask for their endorsement for changing the design on the cruisers. We are the only city department that does not have our seal on the vehicles. We want to move “Police” from the front fender and put it under the seal, and put “Rochester” on the front fender. You can only determine where our cars are from by standing right next to the vehicle with the current design we use. We would leave our motto and our website address where they are. We would move the American Flag from the rear window support to the rear fender. One thing that’s important is that this design will be integrated as the cruisers are replaced, so for a time, you will have two designs. It doesn’t make sense to redesign a cruiser with 100,000+ miles. The Commission supported the changes and advised the Chief to proceed.

A. Appreciation and Recognition. Letters recognizing Department members this month include: Off. Wallace and Fina are thanked by Nashua PD for assistance with a search. Off. Pridham is recognized by the Dep. County Attorney for court preparation. Off. Thomas is thanked by the Bethany Church for Teddy Bear event participation. Rochester Jaycees’ annual banquet recognizes Mike Beaudoin as Outstanding Specialist of the Year, and Officer Vinton Wallace and Officer George Cahill shared Outstanding Young Police Officer honors. Off. Babine is thanked by Ms. Roberts for his handling of a recent accident. Off. Mangum is thanked by Ms. Neslusan for his handling of a recent accident.

1. Minimum Staffing. Chief Dubois stated this response was drafted at the request of the City Manager following the public comment portion of the most recent city council meeting. An additional request has been put forth by Councilor Keans to determine what took the Department so long to respond to this accident call.

Effective this week we have had to institute some new policies with regard to minimum staffing, as a result of our being ninety eight (98%) percent spent on overtime, at only sixty-one (61%) percent of the year completed. We have reduced minimum staffing levels to three officers on midnights, four officers on day shift during the week – reduced to three on Saturdays and Sundays, and five officers on the evening shift. We hope to see an impact in the next few pay periods.

Other things we have instituted to supplement street staffing include the reassignment of some detectives to patrol. The K-9 officer is also responding to calls. Det. Sergeant Callaghan will fill in on the evening shift when possible if that Sergeant takes leave. We will grant time off up to the point that we reach minimum staffing and once below that, leave requests will be denied. These things are being done to help the budget and keep the overtime in check for the remainder of the year. It is absolutely necessary. There is no other effective way to control that line item. The savings we may realize in other lines are not significant enough to make this up if we continue to spend that way.

Comm. Stenhouse stated it sounds like a good plan, if we have to do it. Comm. Flanagan asked two questions. When was the last time the City only had three men on one shift? Are we doing this because of the overtime money? He was concerned that we are setting our community up as a target by making this known.

Chief Dubois stated these are minimum levels. We have built us a buffer with the reassignment of the investigation’s staff. Getting to minimum staffing is a worst case, but it can happen. “I personally worked the midnight shift the other night. We were scheduled for five officers, and me. One person called in sick, leaving four, and me. Then a dispatcher called in sick. We could run it with overtime like we have been to keep staffing levels up, but financially we can’t afford to do that any longer. So, the minimum levels are where we get down to, but we don’t start there.”

I will be talking about staffing in the budget process and I can talk about it some here. There are a lot of factors that come into play. We have just taken two more investigators and put them on the street. That means we have fewer resources to send follow up on cases to and will therefore accept fewer property crimes in the bureau because we don’t have the personnel to do them. What we’ve done is similar to what we will present to the Council for the upcoming budget. What kind of services do you want us to provide? That in turn will affect customer relations. We will keep the city safe. However, service related issues will suffer for the rest of this fiscal year and into FY05.

Comm. Flanagan stated he wasn’t suggesting we wouldn’t respond to priority calls. We do our best to prepare the public with this information, but sometimes it’s not enough. Chief Dubois stated that it’s been his experience that a well-trained professional with the right attitude and right level of compassion can explain why. Most folks are very understanding when these things are explained. They may still be unhappy, but the focus is on the situation and not the officer. No matter how much forewarning we will still deal with an angry citizen the night of the call. We monitor those closely to ensure they do a good job explaining that at the time.

Comm. Stenhouse said we do have to plan and live realistically. Do we want to do it that way — no. But there are certain things that can wait 1-2 hours. I'm sympathetic to the citizen but if the officer uses compassion, folks still won’t like it, but will be more receptive. Chairman Dumont asked if it was the plan to follow this for the rest of the fiscal year. Chief Dubois said it is. Capt. Allen is being optimistic. We may adjust that. Hopefully it won't go the calendar year, but it could, depending on our funding. That is the menu we will present.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to enter a non-public session at 8:15 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.