Police Commission Minutes 01/04/06

The Rochester Police Commission held their regular monthly meeting on January 4, 2006. Present at this meeting was Chairman Flanagan, Comm. Stenhouse, Comm. Dumont, Chief Dubois, Deputy Chief Allen, Capt. Taylor, Capt. Callaghan, Chaplain Lachapelle, City Manager Steele, Fire Chief Norm Sanborn, Police Account Clerk II Young, members of the Department, the public and the media.

Commissioner Dumont MOVED to elect Commissioner Flanagan as Chairman for the next two years. SECOND by Commissioner Stenhouse. Commissioner Dumont MOVED to elect Commissioner Stenhouse as Vice Chairman for the next two years. SECOND by Commissioner Flanagan. Both motions PASSED unanimously.

A. Disorderly Residence Ordinance: Cpt. Callaghan said he spoke with Franklin, NH, City Manager, Greg Doyon, who has offered to facilitate a meeting with the Rochester Landlord Association and others who may be affected by this ordinance. Cpt. Callaghan has forwarded tentative dates for such a meeting to Mr. Doyon and is waiting for a response from him. A date should be established within the next two weeks.

B. Revenue Update from FY05 Budget: Chief Dubois said Deputy Chief Allen had prepared a response to the Commission’s questions regarding this issue.

Deputy Chief Allen said, as noted by Commissioner Stenhouse, there was a significant shortfall in the revenue for FY05, particularly in Court and Dog fines. An analysis was completed on these accounts to determine why there was a significant shortfall compared to the projected amounts. The projected amounts for FY05 were based upon the previous years revenue. The dog fine amount was significantly reduced because, frankly, we did a poor job serving the dog forfeiture paperwork that is sent out every year. We rectified that this year through mailing those fine notices and have almost doubled the dog fine revenue received this year, compared to last year.

Court fines revenue is based upon different state statutes as well as city ordinances. The main contributing factor as to why we were $20,000.00 less than the projected amount was due to fewer alcohol-related offenses and lower fines. In FY04 we had a significantly higher number of alcohol-related offenses from which revenue was collected, as well as fines levied by the judge in that year were higher than in FY05.

1. Certificate of Appreciation presented to Jim Graham: Chief Dubois recognized Jim Graham, a planning board member, who volunteers his time to operate the camera for the monthly commission meetings. Chairman Flanagan presented the certificate to Mr. Graham to show appreciation for all his time and efforts.

2. Department coins presented to the commissioners and the Chaplain: Deputy Chief Allen had a coin developed to recognize the good works of police officers, citizens and for people who work for the police department. Several have been given out in the past month to officers and firefighters. Deputy Chief Allen presented coins to Chairman Flanagan, Commissioner Stenhouse, Commissioner Dumont and Chaplain Lachapelle.

3. Military Service Bar presented to Officer Joseph Rousseau: This is a ribbon the Commission authorizes for the uniform, given to those who served in the military. Officer Rousseau served as a paramedic for the United States Army. Commissioner Dumont presented ribbon for Officer Rousseau’s uniform.

4. Support Person of the Year 2005 presented to Martha Swats: City Manager Bob Steele presented plaque to Ms. Swats for an outstanding effort as the Communications Supervisor.

5. Chief’s Award presented to Cpt. Paul Callaghan: Chief Dubois presented this award to Capt. Paul Callaghan for an outstanding job implementing several new programs within the Police Department. A plaque was presented to him by Commissioner Stenhouse. A ribbon for his uniform was presented by Chairman Flanagan. Capt. Callaghan’s family was on hand to share in his achievements. They were recognized for their support of him in his position.

6. Blair Memorial Award presented to Officer Eric Babine: Members of the Blair family, including Theodore Blair, Sr., Theodore Blair IV, and Mrs. Judi Blair joined Chief Dubois and Chairman Flanagan in presenting this plaque and ribbon to Officer Babine. His name will be engraved and added to a perpetual plaque and hung in the Police Station. Flowers were given to Officer Babine to present to his significant other.

C. Recommendations for Lt. Gould’s replacement: The Chief presented two basic proposals to replace Lt. Gould’s open position. Both will result in a financial net gain to the city because Lt. Gould was earning a salary that was higher than the individual who will replace her.

If we maintain the current basic structure of three Lieutenants and three Sergeants in the Patrol Services Bureau along with one Lieutenant and one Sergeant in the Support Services Bureau, we propose to lighten up the Lieutenants load significantly by delegating some of management duties upward to the Captain level, Deputy Chief level and even the Chief level in some cases. This would allow the Lieutenants to assist with the street level duties so it would be less of a burden to the remaining staff.

However, that plan would do nothing to alleviate the problem with the work load distribution at line level supervision from mandatory overtime for Sergeants. We’d be able to keep strong communication lines through the chain of command because it’s a straight line right to the line officer. But that is offset by continuing to work with what we consider to be a somewhat light line level supervision matrix. We stay at status quo but we change what the managers are doing and push some of their duties up.

The second option is to take the Lieutenant position and replace it with two line-level supervisory positions. This is the choice preferred. From a cost standpoint this is less expensive than maintaining status quo in the short run because of the difference in salaries mentioned above.

This would reduce us to two Lieutenants, with four Sergeants in the Patrol Services Bureau. And in the Support Bureau we would have two Sergeants, rather than the current one Lieutenant and one Sergeant.

This could be implemented right now at a no-cost increase to the taxpayer and we would still see a savings due to the resignation. This would allow us to address the overtime distribution at the Sergeant level because that staff rank would be increased by two by realigning personnel. This would decrease the Lieutenants from doing line level work and increasing their ability to do management work, an important component in career development. We would have to pay special attention to the communication end of things because we currently have straight-line communication and this would become more jagged.

Chief Dubois responded that there are things glaring at us right now from a performance standpoint that has really highlighted this issue. This past month we have put a lot of emphasis on correcting some performance problems. We’ve had the whole department meet in workshop sessions to determine problem areas that are weak. This hadn’t been done to the prior promotions.

When this resignation was announced, the entire command staff and various divisions met to take a microscopic look and discuss areas where we are weak, as well as areas where we are strong. The issue that keeps coming up is that there is not enough face to face interaction with line level supervision. The mid level supervisors have continually told us that they are over burdened with too many conflicting priorities. We continue to work on these issues. We think the one flaw to this plan is that we don’t have the straight-line communication that we currently have, but we are confident that we can work around it and do a better job with this new proposal. This will be discussed further in the non public session.

Commissioner Stenhouse asked if the scenario on page 3 was the one in favor? The Chief said exactly. The first one is the one we have now, the second one is maintaining the same basic structure and pushes the administrative stuff up and the third one is making a change to the structure also pushing administrative stuff up.

Chief Dubois replied, “that’s where you have the lines of communication starting to become jagged because the swing shift Sergeant covers the three shift Sergeants days off and is bouncing around from shift to shift.” “The additional Sergeant that we put on support will come onto the day shift one day a week to run that shift.” When we have commanders doing it, we have a line function every day of the week but some of these people are bouncing around so there will have to be a lot of communication between the street Lieutenants and all these Sergeants. The entire patrol services division at every level support this concept and have told me they feel extremely confident they can get the job done better with this system.

Commissioner Stenhouse asked if there were four Sergeants under the current scenario? The Chief replied yes. Commissioner Stenhouse also asked if under this other scenario would we need six Sergeants? The Chief said yes by reducing the Lieutenants from four to three. Commissioner Stenhouse said he was all set but that the Chief had said something earlier about some of the issues to be addressed in a non public session. “I don’t want to vote on this until I know what is going on. I’m not willing to endorse something without knowing the ramifications.”

Chairman Flanagan said in an ever-changing city and scenario’s what happens if in six months things change again? The Chief said this would not affect the public service line officer at all because the additional supervisor we’re talking about would be coming from a position that is already in the support side that has very little public contact. There is no intention or justification to increase any more supervisory positions after this change and we have no intention of asking for any more supervisory positions until years down the road.

Chairman Flanagan asked if the working supervisors would be answering calls as well as patrolman. The Chief said yes they will respond to calls with the patrolman to have hands on over site of what’s happening at the call. We are weak in this area right now. Chairman Flanagan wanted to ensure we weren’t taking patrol away from calls. The Chief ensured this new structure would not take away from calls.

D. DARE Donation from VFW: This is not an additional donation from the VFW. This was something the commission was already aware of and voted on to accept at a prior commission meeting. The original check was misplaced and this is an additional check sent in its place. Commissioner Dumont asked if they already accepted it. Deputy Chief Allen said yes.

Commissioner Dumont MOVED to waive the second reading and adopt the update to SOP 8, as presented. SECOND by Commissioner Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

F. EMS Dispatching: The Chief said he sent the commission a copy of a letter regarding this issue and is prepared to answer any questions the Commission may have.

Chairman Flanagan asked about sharing the cost. Chief Dubois said this issue has been reviewed by both the Public Safety Chief’s who feel logistically it can work, but it does come with a cost. Everyone, so far, agrees this would be a service to the public. This has been forwarded to the City Manager to review further. The Chief said we wouldn’t accept this responsibility without the staff to go along with it. The Chief recommends the City Manager negotiate the details with Frisbie Hospital.

The Chief said Communications Supervisor Martha Swats did an analysis on this and it was a significant amount. Ms. Swats responded that it is about 7% of what we currently have now. Chief Dubois stated Ms. Swats analysis, supported by both Police and Fire Chief’s indicates we would need an additional three full time specialists to take on this additional workload.

Ms. Swats said we are currently secondary for the 911 center. With Frisbie having a 43% increase in call volume the overflow goes to our dispatch center if they don’t answer on the third ring or if it is busy.

Commissioner Stenhouse commented this was discussed when the new combined dispatch center was set up but the financing was an issue at that time. Maybe that has changed since then.

Ms. Swats advised that Frisbie personnel contacted us first, advising that it is going to be outsourced, as they have opted not to develop it themselves. Thus, they have come to us, first.

Chairman Flanagan asked if we are dispatching for Police and Fire will there be any funding from the Fire Department going toward this cost? The Chief said no, instead the city has broken the communications budget away from the Police Department budget. The center has its own budget now. Chairman Flanagan asked if we could look for Frisbie to contribute to this? The Chief said this has been passed on to the City Manager and we will live with whatever comes out of it.

G. Review Yearly Meeting List: Commissioner Dumont and Flanagan said it looked fine to them. Commissioner Stenhouse said he might have a problem with the July 5^th date.

H. Three Year Plan: The Chief advised that he gave the Commission a document that is updated every year around this time. The document is formatted “at a glance” with a follow-up narrative explaining the plans.

FY07: The highlighted areas in FY07 will be an increase in full time for sworn staff in the Patrol Services Bureau. We need to put more police officers on the road interacting with the public. We are also looking at an increase of part-time staff to full time hours.

Chief Dubois responded yes. We want to add one full time specialist in the communication center while at the same time eliminating two part time specialists and also eliminating some overtime from that budget. And our additional police officers in the FY07 budget will also allow some overtime to be eliminated from the budget.

For services we want to pay more attention to our community interaction through the Citizens Academy. We want to refocus our over all community policing philosophy with an increase of staff to allow us to do that. We would like to have completed the accreditation process at the state level this coming year.

The fleet plan will be discussed and explained in detail by Deputy Chief Allen. We want to update the fleet significantly through a municipal lease program. This would be a savings to the city over the long run.

We want to move toward an interactive leadership style – more face to face contact with officers. It is perceived that poor communication in the department is affecting morale and is contributing, to some degree, to our turnover rates. We have put a lot of training into that and are asking the commission to reconsider our staffing applications on a supervisory level and we will add that to the current comp stat philosophy. We would like to slow down with our technology advances and bring all that we have done, technology-wise, up to full speed and potential. This would include the AVL/GPS, Reverse 911, and the computer-aided component to comp stat.

FY08: We would like to continue the plan to increase staff on the sworn side it will help us to be more proactive in our policing. Want to work on youth programs. These programs would be under a captain’s supervision. We want to expand the Citizens Academy to include youths.

We plan to monitor the fleet lease program and replace the crime scene unit. We currently have three large specialty vans in the fleet and would like to reduce it down to two by combining a couple of the older models. This would be funded through the CIP program in FY08.

Leadership style will be monitored to see if it needs more adjusting. As for technology we will work on information sharing upgrades using more bio metrics and entering them into the information systems, not implementing it in FY08 but taking a serious look at it.

FY09: We want to continue to increase sworn staff. We want to make some commitments to bio metrics under technology, and also to look at officer safety upgrades. We’ve discussed the taser a bit and found there is some value from an officer safety level and some risk from a liability standpoint. Maybe by FY09 this will be smoothed out.

I. FY07 Budget: Commissioner Stenhouse said the FY07 budget was a modest 2.5% increase. Comm. Stenhouse asked if the CIP changes had caused any serious heartburn. The Chief said they did not.

Deputy Chief Allen said there are still many line items that haven’t been factored in because the numbers have to come from the Business Department and they are still calculating those costs. Commissioner Stenhouse asked when is the budget due to the City Manager? Deputy Chief Allen said we anticipate a meeting in January.

1. Patrol Bureau: Chairman Flanagan asked if there were any questions for Cpt. Taylor? Commissioner Stenhouse commented the report was very well done.

A. Appreciation and Recognition: Officer Eric Dugas is recognized by Capt. Callaghan for a presentation to Rotary on designer drugs. Officer Eric Dugas was also recognized by the Dept. of Justice for participation in the National Drug Survey. Officer Anthony Macaione is thanked by Professor Bruce Lindsay for a presentation to his Economics class held at the UNH.

A. Financial Reports- December 2005: Chairman Flanagan asked if there were any questions concerning this? Commissioner Stenhouse said he looked them over and they were right on the money.

The Chief commented on this year’s budget. There are projections on the energy line that will be problematic. We feel confident we will recover within the existing budget. Deputy Chief Allen said the current projections put us well over the budgeted amount. There will be significant shortfalls in the electricity, heating and fuel lines.

Commissioner Stenhouse said he is disturbed by the electricity line because PSNH hasn’t changed its rates. He said maybe it was the architectural engineering estimates that weren’t accurate. The Chief said they were underfunded from the amount that was recommended.

Deputy Chief Allen said he and Brian LeBrun were working closely on those energy lines due to the continuing increases. Overtime is another concern because it is already 60% spent. This is due to unanticipated call out issues within the past month. We are monitoring it and feel confident we will be able to make up these shortfalls by the end of the year.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to enter a non-public session at 7:43 P.M. for the purpose of personnel and legal matters. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse. The motion PASSED by roll call vote, Comm. Dumont-yes, Comm. Stenhouse-yes, Chairman Flanagan-yes, . The non-public session closed at 8:30 P.M. on a MOTION by Chairman Flanagan, SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

Comm. Dumont MOVED to award merit increases, based on passing evaluations to the next step in the contract for Off. Eric Ball, Off. Robert Frechette and Off. Kenneth Tapscott. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

Comm. Dumont MOVED to award top of step adjustments for Off. John Harding and Off. Jamey Balint. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.