ROCHESTER POLICE COMMISSION
ROCHESTER, NH 03867
Barry K. Flanagan, Chairman
Paul J. Dumont, Commissioner
R. Gary Stenhouse, Commissioner
MINUTES OF THE POLICE COMMISSION MONTHLY MEETING
The Rochester Police Commission held their regular monthly meeting on October 3, 2007. Present at this meeting was, Comm. Flanagan, Comm. Stenhouse, Comm. Dumont, Chief Dubois, Dep. Chief Allen, Capt. Callaghan, Capt. Dumas, Attorney Grossman, Chaplain Ron Lachapelle, and Secretary Warburton.
Also present were members of the Department, the public and the media.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT:
Jack Sousae 152 Gear Road. Mr. Sousae thanked the Commission for letting him speak. He noted he had two things to bring up. 1.) the police report previously mentioned one month ago. Mr. Hackett was a key member of the meeting that was held at the Sousae residence and his name is not in the report. That’s an oversight. 2.) Mr. Sousae said “for the life of me I can’t understand my social security number and no one else’s in this report. I’m a law-abiding citizen. I don’t have a traffic ticket, I stop at all the stop signs. It took someone from outside of law enforcement to go after my social security number and publish it. I don’t understand.”
Chairman Flanagan asked Chief Dubois to respond and address this.
Chief Dubois, speaking to Mr. Sousae said, “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. You addressed us last month, concerned with how your social security number was released to someone other than you. An investigation into how that took place was conducted. I went to pay you a personal visit and you requested we talk in public. I’ll tell you what I can publicly.“
Chief Dubois said, “Before I apologize, I want to thank you for bringing this to our attention. We found flaws, not an error in the social security number, but in our ability to track how it happened. We did release personal information for you to someone other than you. I apologize. We made a mistake. I want to reemphasize that you letting us know about it helped us prevent that from happening to anyone else.”
Mr. Sousae said, “I accept.” He said, “I’m not concerned with inner workings of the police department. That’s not my business. When I go to the police department for help, I don’t want to be kicked in the backside by having my social security number released. My name is not on a log in America, no where. You had to go outside of law enforcement to get it. I accept your apology.”
3. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES:
Comm. Dumont MOVED to accept the minutes of the September 5, 2007 meeting as submitted. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse. Open for discussion.
Comm. Stenhouse noted that the under public comment, the fourth line, appeared to be missing a word. The sentence should read, “His purpose for attending the Commission meeting was regarding a police report that he made, which took several weeks to complete before it came out.”
The motion to adopt the minutes, as corrected, PASSED unanimously.
4. OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
A. Accreditation Update. See Bureau Report, Capt. Dumas.
5. NEW BUSINESS:
A. Award Recognition; Distinguished Unit Action Awards. Chief Dubois called all members being recognized forward to accept this award from the Police Commission. They are recognized by their supervisor for outstanding teamwork related to quality of life issues and crime problems which included efforts to reduce incidents related to alcohol and criminal mischief in the downtown. Officers and members recognized included Officer O’Connor, Officer James Murphy, Officer Michael Brinkman, Officer Aaron Garneau, Officer John Gantert, Officer Brenden Bentz, Spec. Michael Beaudoin, Spec. Brian Daigle and Spec. Paul Barton. All received the award to worn on their uniform and were congratulated by those present.
B. Oath of Office: Christopher Somma. The oath of office for Lieutenant was administered by Comm. Flanagan to Christopher Somma. Lieutenant Somma’s achievement was witnessed by Department members, family and friends.
C. Resignation: Sgt. Eric Dugas.
Comm. Dumont MOVED to accept the resignation with regret, noting he is a great guy and we hate to lose him. SECOND by Comm. Flanagan, and PASSED unanimously. The comments of regret were echoed by the other Commissioners.
D. Bids B Police 4 x 4,Review Recommendation and Award. Capt. Callaghan noted that the bids for this had been rejected earlier and the item was rebid, with a closing date of September 27, 2007. The recommendation from staff is to accept the bid from Hillsboro Ford, for the Expedition EL (extra length) model, in the amount of $8353.00 per year for a four year lease. Hillsboro Ford was the only company that bid in the second round. Hillsboro Ford also submitted a bid for a regular size standard Expedition for $7245.00 per year for a four year lease. We budgeted just over $7200.00, but where thinking of a smaller vehicle at that time. When we think of the equipment we need in the vehicle we will get more bang for our buck going with
the larger model, as it will be a command vehicle and used during emergency response.
Comm. Flanagan MOVED to award the bid, as recommended to Hillsboro Ford. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse. Open for discussion.
Comm. Dumont asked if we had budgeted the full amount?
Chief Dubois said that we had budgeted a pre-bid amount of about $7500. But we had some savings in our accounts on the other end, and will be able to swing this.
The MOTION to award the bid as recommended to Hillsboro Ford PASSED unanimously.
E. City Purchasing Procedure; City Ordinance Chapter 4; Review. Chief Dubois noted that the City had recently made some changes to their purchasing guidelines which have been adopted by the City Manager and Council. We recommend the Police Department also follow these guidelines and request the Commission to endorse them.
Comm. Stenhouse MOVED to adopt the City’s purchasing guidelines at the Police Department. SECOND by Comm. Dumont and PASSED unanimously.
F. SOP Updates: SOP 85A Release of Records; First Reading. This is a first reading only to this operating procedure. The changes are a direct result of the concerns that have been raised by Mr. Sousae.
G. Bureau Commander Reports.
1. Patrol Division: Deputy Chief Allen. Deputy Chief Allen stated that the comp stat report shows a rise in copper thefts in the City. This has been a statewide problem. Our most recent significant theft was from the fairgrounds. The Detective Bureau is working with other jurisidictions to solve these crimes.
Additionally there has been a rise in burglaries, both residential and commercial, along with thefts from motor vehicles. We have done a lot in preventative, proactive work, including the development of a pamphlet for prevention. This information is being forwarded to businesses and being distributed at ward meetings.
We have done some enforcement work in terms of directed patrols in targeted areas and expect to see some improvements by the end of the year.
Ward meetings were held this past month in Wards 2, 3, and 4. The remaining Ward officers are coordinating meeting space, for meetings in October. Only one ward has yet to commit to a date.
Deputy Chief Allen noted that the Hanson Pines clean up effort was very successful, with approximately five officers involved in this joint effort with the Recreation Department and Timberland Company.
We have received the transfer of the cars from Code Enforcement and they are up and operational.
Our upgraded website is anticipated to roll out in the middle of October. Staff will be trained on updating various pages, keeping the information current.
2. Support Division: Capt. Scott Dumas. Capt. Dumas provided the Police Commissioners with binders containing all the reformatted policies, as part of our accreditation progress. Most of them the Commission has seen before. Some of them are new. We are beginning work on the proofs and compliance. Our target date is the end of December.
The regional detective meetings are an invaluable tool. Patrol made an arrest yesterday that we were able to link to some of the stuff happening regionally. Outstanding work is being done.
3. Communications. Capt. Dumas presented the report in the absence of Supervisor Swats. He noted the big issue is the budget. We are working diligently with the Fire Department to get the overtime back in line. We had moved some money for the per diem position, which makes it look worse. It is still tough, but we are working on it.
It was noted that Supervisor Swats will be leaving our employ at the end of November. Chief Dubois concurred with statements made that Martha had done an outstanding job and was leaving us with some big shoes to fill.
4. Financial Report: Capt Callaghan said most of the financial stuff was covered under new business. He did want to point out that the Rochester Fair was pretty uneventful, with only three arrests. We will be meeting with Mr. Perry next week for an after action review and planning for next year.
6. CORRESPONDENCE:
A. Appreciation and Recognition: Comm. Flanagan thanked all the people who openly recognized the police officers and their work this month. It is along list and the press is invited to have copies of the letters. Persons recognized during the previous month included: The American Legion Riders thank Officer. Babine and Officer Mundy for POW/MIA motorcycle run escort. Officer Jackson, Officer Miehle and Specialist O=Connor are thanked for their efforts in investigating and effecting arrests for suspects going through cars. Sgt. Burke and Det. Lustwerk are recognized by Capt. Dumas for extra efforts in the legal bureau during personnel shortages. School Resource Officer Tom Blair and School Resource Officer Don Funk are
recognized as City Employees of the Month for October. Crime Analyst Jade Lambert is thanked for information sharing during regional meetings, which netted an arrest for a neighboring community. Chief Dubois is thanked by Shell McCorkle of the DV Project for support of the program.
7. INFORMATION:
A. Financial Reports. This has been moved to Bureau Reports.
B. Information other; enclosed with Agenda. No discussion.
8. NON-PUBLIC SESSION:
Comm. Dumont MOVED to enter a non-public session at 7:24 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, Comm. Flanagan-yes. The non-public session closed at 9:26 P.M. on a MOTION by Comm. Stenhouse, SECOND by Comm. Flanagan and PASSED Unanimously.
9. MISCELLANEOUS:
Comm. Dumont MOVED that as soon as the contract has been finalized to award raises to the following personnel based on satisfactory evaluations, Officer Bourque (July), Sgt. Deluca (July), Officer Garneau (Aug.), Officer Swanberry (Aug.), Officer Pinkham (Aug.), Officer Brinkman (Aug..), Officer Bonneau (Sept.), Officer Emerson (Sept.), Sgt. Triano (Oct.), Officer Stickles (Oct.). The motion was SECONDED by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.
10. ADJOURNMENT:
Comm. Flanagan MOVED to adjourn. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse at 9:28 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rebecca J. Warburton
Secretary
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