Police Commission Minutes 03/01/06

The Rochester Police Commission held their regular monthly meeting on March 1, 2006. Present at this meeting was Vice-Chairman Stenhouse, Comm. Dumont, Chief Dubois, Deputy Chief Allen, Capt. Callaghan, Lt. Dumas, Lt. Turgeon, Attorney Grossman and Secretary Warburton, the public and the media.

John Scruton, City Manager stated that he has enjoyed his association with the Department so far. He was appreciative that at a recent Department head meeting that Chief Dubois took the lead role on the Advanced Recycling matter. Mr. Scruton stated that he is looking forward to a productive relationship with the Commission and the Officers and is glad to be on board.

A. Disorderly Residence Ordinance: Capt. Callaghan advised that a very productive meeting was held with the Rochester Landlord Tenant Association on February 7, 2006. There is a lot to benefit from the community policing partnership with this Association. We will keep a watch on our statistics, as we work on that partnership. As an example, had the ordinance been in effect, in January, we responded more than four times to four multi-family homes. These homes would have been in violation of the ordinance. With the implementation of our geo-based policing, officers will be able to take more ownership for these areas.

Det. Bossi has been assigned to be a liaison with that group. Having that liaison will allow for more timely interactions with the property owners and communicate ways to address the issues at hand. Capt. Callaghan stated that we are not by any means done with the ordinance all together. Rather, we will look at this issue more long term from the partnership angle and see how things work out.

Comm. Stenhouse admitted his surprise when the reporter from Foster’s reminded him that we have been talking about this since June of 2005, almost nine months. He explained (for the benefit of the viewing audience) that the Commission is not the ordinance making authority. We could make a recommendation that would be referred to the Council and appropriate committees before any permanent vote.

Comm. Stenhouse said before we continue to carry this issue on the agenda, which sends a negative sign to our community, we should, for the next meeting, create a written game plan on how we intend to work with the landlords, assuming they want to work with us, utilizing the demographic data and comp stat. The staff and the property owners should work together and measure the progress over a specific period, then a recommendation can be made, if there is one to be made regarding an ordinance.

Comm. Dumont stated that if all parties do their jobs correctly (police, landlords and residents) then there is no need for an ordinance. He would not vote for one. He suggested tabling the matter for six months and revisiting it.

Comm. Stenhouse stated he would prefer by the next meeting to have a benchmark how we plan to handle this to include performance measures. What are the standards for these homes? Where are they located? If the officers are spending 25-30% of a shift in certain neighborhoods then they can’t be in other neighborhoods. They can’t be two places at once.

B. Phone System Auto Attendant Issues: Update: Chief Dubois stated we are still working on this matter. We plan to reduce the number of references on the auto attendant from nine to three; emergency, records and the Chief’s office. We will have to ensure that there is always someone available to cover the records phone so that calls can be directed properly. We want to give them a voice as soon as possible. We hope this will be resolved by March 7, 2006.

C. Goals and Objectives: Quarterly Update #2. Chief Dubois reported this is our second update on our goals. The bottom line, with this second quarter progress report is we are making gains and we are confident that we will be have a successful report at the end of the year. Some of the highlights of our progress are as follows:

Our first goal, to impact crime and improve quality of life issues has four objectives. We are making good progress with the officer assigned to drug activity. We have seen a dramatic increase in our activity. The MV unit is targeting some problem areas and will focus on those, including those with high accident counts. We expect a good report by the next update.

We are making great strides working with juveniles in the City since the transfer of the diversion coordinator from the recreation department last summer. Our diversion and teen drug court programs are progressing well. We are exploring a youth group similar to Dover’s Youth to Youth, which has been very successful. We are working to address issues as an interactive family services unit encompassing the school resource officer, DV Officer and Juvenile Officer because much of this work relates to home issues.

Det. Tapscott is working on property crime investigations, white-collar forgeries and frauds and also on our efforts on cyber crime issues. He is making good progress in that area.

Our second goal deals with our efforts regarding community policing. We are working on coalition reassignments, as many had become stagnant. ISB members are coordinating several of them, where they would be better serviced by patrol. Our citizen’s academy has a good response and we are excited to begin the program again. We are refocusing our efforts throughout the Department with our community groups. We are assigning staff-level officers to interact with these groups and all are becoming involved in various ways. Captain Callaghan’s involvement with CORE is still going strong.

Comp stat continues to be successful. One area we are still weak in is getting patrol officers into the community more. With the development of the geo-based zoning I think we will be more successful targeting certain areas, with officers doing more problem solving. That is one of the reasons that I was happy to work with the Wallace Street issue. This is a perfect issue for the Department to take a role and facilitate non-traditional police work.

Our last major goal was to improve morale. We have done a lot of work with officer retention plans and we have been monitoring morale and its topics closely on a monthly basis. A lot of emphasis has been put into working with supervisors rethinking the way we supervise, using a coaching and mentoring tool bag so to speak. We have reimplemented the mentoring program for new officers hired.

D. Physical Agility tests in Promotional Process: Update Discussion. Chief Dubois reported that we have been working on filling the two open sergeant positions. We initiated a promotional process that includes a physical agility component. The physical fitness of applicants is something that has been in our policy for a couple of years. Initially the Local requested that we waive that portion, and we did that for a couple of years. However it is important to have this as part of the process for the bottom line health of the officers and the safety of the public that the leaders in this department will be fit. The standards we are using are accepted by the Police Standards and Training and new officers coming into the Department are required to meet these standards every three years as a continued component of their certification.

We have been trying to work with the Union to come to some type of agreement as to how to implement this, without a request for a waiver. “I have made no progress. The Local has simply continued its request for a waiver.”

“The Commission made a decision last month that the physical agility would be instituted for any command promotion from this point forward. I support that and I’m glad you did it. As we prepared for the open captain promotion, everyone in the command staff, with the exception of the Deputy Chief, participated in a physical agility exam in the past two weeks. The Deputy Chief has a slight leg injury and will take the exam within the next couple of weeks. It was not a difficult standard to pass, and we all passed it, at a higher standard than what I was asking the Local to commit to. I have not asked for anything unreasonable.”

“We can’t move forward on this issue because I am unable to make an progress with the Union. Therefore I am asking for your endorsement to allow me to advertise outside of the Police Department, for the position of patrol sergeant.”

Comm. Dumont stated, “The Commission has bent over backwards for the Union on a number of things, one being the goatees. Now they don’t want to meet the standards of being a healthy officer?”

Chief Dubois stated, “I believe we have skilled and highly trained officers here. There is no doubt in my mind they would not have a difficult time passing this. I can’t give you a reason why their leadership wouldn’t support it.”

Comm. Stenhouse commented that the policy was enacted, and waived. “I suspect their refusal has a lot to do with ‘you can’t tell me what to do.’” “We have two options. Very simple. Option 1– don’t fill them. Option 2– advertise outside. I’m going to motion that the Chief advertises outside the Department for the position of patrol sergeant.”

Comm. Dumont was reluctant to go outside the agency. He said, “why enact this now?” “If no one from inside applies in the next two weeks, then go outside.” Comm. Stenhouse disagreed for the reasons already stated.

E. Digital Radio Upgrade: Next Phase Discussion. Deputy Chief Michael Allen spoke to this issue. He noted this is part of the statewide digital radio upgrade. This phase provides four new console positions to our center. The reason the equipment is necessary is that the State has provided all Motorola equipment to date. We have a Motorola repeater, voter and 60 digital portable radios. It will standardize the equipment all to one brand and allow us to fully maximize the capability standard in the rest of the State.

This is the last phase of the project and all 24/7 centers are being upgraded. Our current radio vendor has reviewed the specifications and they’ve told us that all that is being provided covers our needs and no additional costs should be associated with the upgrade.

We are asking the Commission to sanction and accept this equipment. The total cost for replacement is slightly less than $190,000. Those costs include equipment and installation, fully funded by the state. The City Council is scheduled to take this up at their next meeting.

A. Highway Safety Grants for FY07: Discussion. Lt. Dumas noted that we have applied for these funds in the past to supplant overtime for DWI patrols and selective enforcement, as identified through comp stat or other sources. The Public Safety Committee reviewed and approved the application at their most recent meeting. This is just the application; it does not guarantee we will be accepted for the grant.

Comm. Dumont confirmed this would not be a DWI roadblock. Chief Dubois stated we had been down that route before and the City Council vehemently opposed DWI roadblocks in Rochester. These are directed patrols, not stationary roadblocks.

Comm. Stenhouse commented on the DWI statistics the two previous years. At first blush the statistics don’t look good – 131 in 2004, slipping to 92 in 2005. He stated, “its hard to believe it has changed that drastically.” How many people simply going about their business are killed each year in NH from DWI incidents?

Lt. Dumas agreed and said this is an area that has been identified through comp stat. Patrol is working on increased training with new officers on this issue and this past month we have seen some gains in this area.

B. Department of Justice Grant for Victim Advocates. Chief Dubois said we were just notified of this grant opportunity. I have discussed this with Captain Callaghan, who would oversee the program. In his professional opinion there is a need for the position. With your support, I would work with the City Manager and City Council to apply for the funds and consider this for the next budget season.

Chief Dubois stated that every time we bring a charge to our Prosecutor to bring to the court there is a victim. Victims often get lost in the criminal justice system. Our focus turns to the defendant through the entire process, from gathering evidence right through adjudication. We rely on the County for domestic violence victims and on Victim’s Inc for community trauma events. This person would be on staff and work closely with the victims of the every-day crimes and day-to-day victim issues.

1. SOP 14A; Firearms. This update is mostly housekeeping relative to the new building and our indoor range, implementing policies for that. We have also added the weapons we’ve acquired through the SAFE team.

2. SOP 21; Uniform and Equipment. This update is mostly housekeeping. Although a portion of our policy had been dedicated to this, the significant change was incorporating the City’s new dress code policy for civilian attire, into our policy. We also added the additional clothing items as allowed for ISB members.

3. SOP 45, Employee Discipline. This change is very minor, and only addresses probationary employees in their first year don’t have a process to appeal to the Police Commission.

Comm. Dumont asked how many communities this team represents? Lt. Dumas responded all but the Dover Police Department. It was asked why is it then called the Strafford County team. Lt. Dumas responded it was the fairest name for the unit, despite all towns not being represented.

Lt. Dumas said Det. Balint plays a key role implementing the team and coordinates all the training. All members receive special training making this program good for their individual communities, but also for the County. He is doing a tremendous job with this program.

6. SOP 77, Intelligence Information and Collection. This update deals primarily with the forms that we’ve developed to help us do our job better. This describes the forms and how the information in them will be kept.

7. SOP 106; Recruitment and Selection. This update defines a probationary employee and further reiterates, as in other policies, there is no appeal process to the Commission by a probationary employee.

D. Conditional Offer for Probationary Employment: This form has been updated, to make it consistent with standard operating procedures addressing the matter of probationary employees.

1. Patrol Division: Lt. Turgeon advised that the geo-based patrol sectors have been fully implemented and integrated throughout the Department. We’ve received positive feedback over the month and are already seeing the benefits of officers taking ownership for certain areas and certain problems. We’ve seen some results from this, for instance, at the community center, where staff raised some concerns. An officer in that geo-sector has been assigned as their liaison person. There is a wealth of information sharing, as that officer is able to brief other officers of the issues in that location.

As noted earlier the Citizen’s Academy starts next week. Letters have been sent inviting more than 20 applicants to participate. We are looking forward to a good program.

2. Support Division: Capt. Callaghan advised that the investigations bureau has had an excellent month. A burglary at Thompson Center Arms, where 41 guns were stolen and recovered, has been solved. Officers trained in forensics used some of that knowledge to assist them in this investigation. We also arrested a male for a sexual assault that occurred in the downtown several weeks ago. We have issued six warrants for sex offenders failing to register, as required.

We had an excellent meeting with bankers and postal inspectors in the area of counterfeit checks and money orders. Approximately 25 people attended the meeting, which included lawyers from the banking industry. We are looking to develop a prevention strategy. The banks had the opportunity to see what these instruments look like and how to prevent them from being passed.

Comm. Stenhouse offered that it might be helpful to work with the local media to do a spotlight on internet crimes covering a multitude of issues like ID theft - what people can do to protect themselves, predators posing as children, etc. People are just too trusting over the Internet and over the phone.

Capt. Callaghan stated we just did a press release on that issue. In March and April we will be working with our schools and PTA’s and the elderly on prevention. We feel through the auspices of community policing we can make an impact in reducing these crimes. As members of the National White Collar Crime Center we are on the cutting edge of this emerging trend. This all ties in with our goals and objectives.

3. Executive Report: Deputy Chief Allen reported that the Police and Communications budgets are in line with the bottom line. We still have several areas we are closely monitoring. We are in constant dialogue with the finance office to ensure that we are covering shortfalls, particularly in our energy lines. The overtime is beginning to decrease and is closer to where it should be. We are over by ten percent, but we had significant savings this past month.

Comm. Dumont inquired into the energy audit. Dep. Chief Allen reported that there is only one area they can change – electricity use and heating. Honeywell assessed the buildings and made some suggestions for improvements on energy efficiency. The pay back time for the cost to implement these changes would be over four years. This issue is at the City Manager level.

No date has been set yet for our budget presentation before the council. We met with both the former City Manager, Mr. Steele and the new Manager, John Scruton. The budget is still a work in progress.

Our part-time MIS person resigned to take a full-time job with the State in their computer crime lab. As a result of that we are working with the finance office on the over-all MIS needs. There will now be a centralized MIS office, under the purview of the finance director and MIS manager. Our needs will be met through that office from this point forward. The funding previously allocated to our budget for this will be transferred to the MIS budget in the next fiscal year. The restructuring of that office may work to our advantage in the long run. We have been assured that our needs will be met as they have been previously.

The school department recently installed a new IP-based video system and cameras in the schools. We have had discussions with the Superintendent about the police tying into the video in cases of emergencies. We have that capability in our building and it would be easy to integrate the two systems. It’s something to discuss with the school board before we proceed. As things develop we will keep the Commission updated.

1. Job Shadow. Chief Dubois noted that he intends for the Department to participate in job shadow days with the high school students again this year, as we have done for several years.

2. HUD Car. The Housing Authority has asked if they can place stickers on the vehicle assigned to that program that would identify that car as the Housing car. They intend to pay for the stickers. I wanted to run it by you first. The Commission supported this action, as long as Housing was paying for it.

3. Crime Line Donation. Rochester crime line would like to make a donation to the City, through the Police Department of baseball cards for the officers. These are very popular and are used throughout the country. The cards have a picture of the officer, highlights of their career and a personal message on the back. The Commission supported the donation and our participation in the program.

4. Alarm Ordinance. Chief Dubois informed the Commission that the City Manager had asked both Police and Fire to review the alarm ordinance relative to updating fees and fines and bring it into line with standards today. We have begun that process and will work with the City Manager to bring this before the Council.

The Commission mentioned the Burns Alarm Panel contract. Chief Dubois confirmed that contract has been extended for one year to review how we use it. The Commission noted that there is no point in using our people to operate it. It belongs in the private sector.

A. Appreciation and Recognition: The Goodwin family recognize Off. Bonneau for assistance with disable vehicle. Ms. Katie Hughes thanks the Dept. for time provided for job shadow experience. Granite State College thanks Chief Dubois for participating in community conversation. Chief Robert Ducharme recognizes the Strafford County TAR team. Det. Tony Bossi is recognized for investigative skills leading to the arrest of a sexual assault suspect. Det. Hana Stickles is recognized for her due diligence in monitoring the sex offender registration files.

Comm. Dumont MOVED to enter a non-public session at 8:11 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. The non-public session closed at 8:43 P.M. on a MOTION by Comm. Dumont, SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

Comm. Dumont MOVED to award a merit increase, based on a passing evaluation to the next step in the contract for Off. James Murphy. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.