Police Commission Minutes 11/02/05

The Rochester Police Commission held their regular monthly meeting on November 2, 2005. Present at this meeting was Chairman Dumont, Comm. Flanagan, Comm. Stenhouse, Capt. Allen, Capt. Taylor, Lt. Turgeon, Attorney Grossman, Chaplain Lachapelle, Secretary Warburton, members of the Department, the public and the media.

Comm. Stenhouse MOVED to accept the minutes of both the October 7, 2005 special meeting and October 7, 2005 regular meeting as submitted. SECOND by Comm. Flanagan and PASSED unanimously.

Comm. Stenhouse noted that he is pleased to see the things we accomplished this year as a Commission, and a Department. The comp stat program has been in effect for a full year and is proving to be effective. Arrests are up, not necessarily because crimes are up, but better data is being generated. The project 54 radio equipment upgrade is complete. We located funding to install Reverse 911. We also restructured the investigation’s bureau which has contributed to increases in arrests. We have effectively used grant funding for a SAFE Team vehicle, and finally, we have been one full year in this building. We need to commend the folks that made that happen. The Citizens should be very happy with the work we have done over the past year.

Chairman Dumont noted that he wished we were able to get in the work the City Manager did with the memorandum of understanding regarding the Commission’s duties, but that came after the close of the fiscal year. It will be in next year’s report.

B. Quarterly Report on Goals and Objectives. Deputy Chief Allen reported that we have established a healthy list of goals for this fiscal year. We are well on our way to completing them and we are still in the first quarter. These goals encompass the entire police department, from the Chief down to the line officers.

Chairman Dumont noted that high goals had been set. He is proud of the members of the Department. The goals are approximately 75% complete, just in this first quarter.

Comm. Stenhouse stated that he is happy to see the Chief and the Deputy Chief setting bench marks for these goals. Many times organizations will set goals and never look at them again to see how they are doing in achieving them. Comm. Stenhouse commended the staff on doing a good job with this.

1. Horne Construction Award for Excellence in Construction - Rochester Police Dept. Members of Horne Construction, including President Ralph Blackington and Project Manager Mark Geuther were on hand to present an award they received from the American Builders and Contractors Association for excellence in construction for the Rochester Police Station project. The award, presented to the City, through the City Manager, Robert Steele, was then presented to the Police Department.

2. Stephen Burke - 20 Years. Sgt. Stephen Burke was recognized with a plaque representing his twenty years of dedicated service to the City of Rochester. His family was on hand to witness his achievement.

3. Distinguished Unit Action Award: Communications Specialists. An award was recommended, and presented to Communications Specialists Eileen Douglass, Bruce Daigle and Carol Griffin for many months of team work in training center staff, during critical staff shortages.

4. Distinguished Unit Action Award: 80 Pine St. Awards were given to all members involved with the shooting incident at 80 Pine Street. Deputy Chief Allen noted that this was a tragic incident, in that a person did lose their life. The cohesiveness of all members of the Department involved in this investigation merit this recognition.

Allen noted that this award is the combination of grants previously received direct to agencies, such as the Byrne Grants and LLEBG awards. The award was given to the county, and our share is $15, 078.24. We intend to use those funds for technology upgrades to the lecture hall and comp stat room to enhance those programs. The grant was forwarded to the Council and adopted at the last meeting. We are seeking the endorsement of the Commission for the same.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to accept the JAG GRANT as awarded through the County for the purposes outlined above. SECOND by Chairman Dumont and PASSED unanimously.

down from this same period in 2004 and also from our last reporting period. The communication between the bureaus, and the patrol shifts has been excellent and all members need to be commended for that relationship. We watch the things we talk about in comp stat meetings bear out in briefings and while we did those things before, we didn’t do so to the extent we do today.

Our traffic stops are up 21%, MV summons arrests are up over this period in 2004. We show 1,000 more stops this year than last, with two months to go. Our downtown coverage with the K-9 was shown at 353 minutes. The parking enforcement officer also issued 55 tickets, in 21 hours. The winter parking ban has gone into effect. We are issuing warnings for the first two weeks.

to fill vacancies in the center. Both are in training right now. We have begun to work with the Portsmouth Police Department and ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children), and three of our detectives have received training in this area. This is going very well.

We have one detective that can do forensic work on the computers, which is very beneficial to this agency, over sending those units out to have that completed.

We recently had a string of burglaries occurring and this information was disseminated from patrol to investigations quickly and accurately. We have made one arrest on four separate burglaries. We can directly correlate that to the comp stat process in the way we get the information and get it assigned to investigators.

fiscal year 07 budget. The current budget looks good. We are on target, although overtime is a bit high. We have had some serious call outs that have generated a lot of that, and therefore are doing well to keep it where it’s at. We can continue to control that through the rest of the year.

We recently totaled a cruiser and are working with our insurance company and city hall to get that replaced. We will only receive a portion of the cost of the vehicle through insurance and have to find the remaining funds to purchase a replacement.

1. Capital Improvements. Comm. Stenhouse wished to discuss the capital improvements more in depth. He stated that he feels the Commission has a duty to accept that list.

Deputy Chief Allen noted that he has met with the City Manager and the Finance Director on our CIP requests. We are receiving support from the City Manager on our submissions. We may adjust the dollar amount on the crime van.

Comm. Stenhouse stated we need to determine if these are the things the Commission wants to support. For example, in 2007, the crime van we have listed with a price tag of $147,000. What kind of vehicle are we looking at? The Fire Department heavy rescue trucks cost slightly more than that.

Deputy Chief Allen said that the concern is legitimate. We have scaled the request back to $100,000 by cutting several of the options that the unit is equipped with. We can acquire those in the future and phase them in without putting such a burden on our taxpayers. The vehicle, scaled back, will still meet our needs. It is a 16-foot box with basic evidentiary processing equipment, a generator, cabinets and desk space. We believe we are overdue for acquiring a vehicle of this level. We are handling all of our own major crime scene investigating and processing. An agency of our size should be equipped with the tools to do our job as best we can

Comm. Flanagan discussed the life expectancy of the van, in relation to where it will be stored. Will it be inside or outside? Deputy Chief Allen stated that it will be outside. Comm. Flanagan reported that he doesn’t think our life expectancy then is realistic. To place this vehicle outside to the elements in New England, it will degrade over time. Deputy Chief Allen stated that these vehicles are built to last. It just will not physically fit into the garage.

Comm. Stenhouse stated in 2008, you are asking for weapons. He continued, “eight years ago, I was the guy who was told these weapons will last fifteen years. Now we’ve got to replace them. Those statements were true at the time, because they were made by the manufacturer. However, it is not profitable to them to keep the same technology in place for 20 or more years, when they can change it in four or five.” “So, when we say these are good for 15 years, you know you will be back in six or seven, not because you didn’t state the truth then, but you can’t control the manufacturer. It’s not how the system works.” We need to modify the life expectancy of that request.

Comm. Stenhouse stated in 2009 you are looking to replace equipment in the exercise room. Do we have any data on how many people are using that equipment now? Deputy Chief Allen stated that we do not, because right now it’s on a voluntary basis. The standards placed on the new officers are done by the Academy, not us.

Comm. Stenhouse stated in the next round of negotiations, we should seriously consider fitness standards, that both sides agree on and negotiate. The citizens of the community were generous in allowing us to put that facility in, and thus we have an obligation to see that it’s used.

A. Appreciation and Recognition. Off. Mike Mundy is thanked by Chaloux’s Auto World for traffic assistance during a charity ride through the City. Attorney General Kelly Ayotte recognizes Department members for their work on the investigation at 80 Pine Street.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to enter a non-public session at 7:50 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. The non-public session closed at 8:24 P.M. on a MOTION by Comm. Flanagan, SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to award a merit increase, based on a passing evaluation to the next step in the contract for Officer Keith MacKenzie. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to proceed to the next steps of the hiring process for John Dupuis for Patrol Officer. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.