Police Commission Minutes
Rochester Police Commission
Rochester, NH 03867
Lucien G. Levesque, Chairman
Bruce E. Lindsay, Commissioner
Derek J. Peters, Commissioner
MINUTES OF THE POLICE COMMISSION MEETING
The Rochester Police Commission held their regular monthly meeting in Council Chambers on Wednesday, May 7, 201 4. Present at this meeting was Comm. Levesque, Comm. Lindsay, Comm. Peters, Chief Allen, Deputy Chief Dumas, Attorney Grossman, Chaplain Lachapelle, Secretary Warburton, invited guests, and members of the department and public.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M.
A. Pledge. All participated in the Pledge of Allegiance.
B. Prayer. Chaplain Lachapelle led the opening prayer.
C. Roll Call. The clerk called the roll marking all Commissioner's present
- PUBLIC COMMENT: There was no public comment.
- ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES:
A. April 2, 2014 regular meeting.
Comm. Peters MOVED to accept the minutes of the April 2, 2014 meeting. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay. Open for discussion.
Comm. Lindsay noted comments he made regarding the education background of the crime analyst were important and he would like them to be included in the minutes.
Comm. Levesque MOVED to adopt the minutes, as amended. SECOND by Comm. Peters and PASSED unanimously.
- OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
A. FY14 Budget Projection: Capt. Dumas noted that we are close to the end of our fiscal year. We are in good shape in the bottom line, but some operations lines are projected to be in the red and will be supplemented by other lines, in particular salaries and benefits due in large part to finding quality candidates. It is a process. Every time we move ahead to full staff, we move backwards again.
The overtime line is projected in the red by $38,000.00 because it includes the comp time pay out. We have attempted to address this in the budget to actually reflect what we are spending in overtime to have and show an accurate accounting.
Dispatch is in good shape despite how shorthanded they have been all year. Their overtime line is projected at $20,000.00 in the red, which will be covered with salary and benefit lines again in large part to finding and hiring quality candidates.
B. FY 1 5 Budget Submission: Last week we presented our budget to the Council and it went well. It was well received and generated some good discussion with the council and commission. We are looking forward to the coming month and half where the council will deliberate on our proposals. Based on the feedback there is support for our requests. It's a difficult year in terms of the tax cap in funding the available positions we are seeking, but we have demonstrated the need. It's a matter of economics and if there is room to fund those positions. The budget discussion was encouraging and we're looking forward to working together with Council in the coming weeks to get a budget that meets our needs and the community public safety needs.
C. Standard Operating Procedure Updates
1. 42.1.1.1 Investigations, Bounced or Fraudulent Checks: Second reading for adoption.
Comm. Levesque MOVED to place Policy Standard 42.1.1.1 Investigations; Bounced and Fraudulent Checks into a Second Reading, by title only, for adoption. SECOND by Comm. Peters.
Comm. Levesque MOVED to adopt Policy Standard 42.1.1.1Investigations; Bounced and Fraudulent Checks as updated. SECOND by Comm. Peters and PASSED unanimously.
5. NEW BUSINESS:
A. Recognitions
1. Third Annual Willis "Red" Hayes Community Ambassador Award - Officer Keith MacKenzie. Chief Allen noted that the Red Hayes award was created in honor of former officer Red Hayes. It is a community award and officers can be nominated by the community or the Department. The officer is selected by the community, which is made up of a committee representing the Hayes family, friends of Red Hayes, and former Chiefs of Police of the Department. I extend my thanks to Chief Hussey, who hired me 26 years ago, former Chief Dan Auger and Sheriff Dubois for being here tonight.
Chief Allen invited Marilyn Berry and her committee to the stage for this presentation.
Marilyn stated this award Marilyn stated this award arose from the wishes of David Hayes, the son of Willis "Red" Hayes who wished to do something that would honor his Dad's service to the City. This award was created to be given to a patrol officer that most closely represents the essence of the late Willis "Red" Hayes. Red was a patrol officer for 32 years. He was well known to the people and flamboyantly directed traffic, he greeted all by name and was the friendly cop on the square. Everyone who ever knew Red never forgot him. He is a true legend in this City.
Upon Red's passing, the Foster's Daily Democrat ran an editorial "Hail Red Hayes." The article noted that he had a rare universal popularity without critics and 100's if not 1000's will mourn him. He genuinely loved people. His Chief, Nelson Goodfield, recalled that Red would come to the aid of anyone in need. He hated to give out tickets for minor offenses, like parking tickets. Former State Police Colonel Paul O'Leary, a tough Irish kid from Boston, said that Red showed him the other side of law enforcement, the humanness. It was said in his eulogy that he could have written the book on how to win friends and influence people.
After reviewing the nominations for the award, the Committee selected Officer Keith MacKenzie for this award. Keith has been with the Department since November of 2002. He is a husband and a father of two. He cares for his K9 partners, including Fina who is now retired. He is open to talking about the dogs and participates in many community policing events. He has a positive can-do attitude and is humble about his work, noting it is all about the dogs. He participates in the annual CHaD hockey game and is a mentor to youth through coaching hockey. He has received the distinguished unit action award 5 times, a Chief's award for his work with K9's and a lifesaving award. He has many letters of thanks and appreciation in his file.
One of the letters in his file was from a nighttime burglary, where he and his K9 tracked and located the suspect who had been in the home of an elderly resident. He then went back and sat with this resident, something she and her family will never forget. The family said, "Keith is the real deal. He was so kind and compassionate to our mother."
Marilyn Berry invited Sheriff Dubois to say a few words. Sheriff Dubois thanked Chief Allen and the Rochester Police Commission for keeping him and other former chiefs involved. We are honored and thank you for thinking of us and keeping us involved in an award of this magnitude and are happy to support you and one of your finest officers. Sheriff Dubois also thanked Keith's wife for her support. He said Keith is recognized throughout the county, region and eastern seaboard for his K9 work. He has assisted countless law enforcement in the State, New England and in foreign countries. He said to Keith, you are joining a fine group that has previously received this award and there will be those to follow you. I am honored to be part of your career. This award is well deserved.
Chief Allen said I'm not going to repeat the words that have already been said, and said well. He also thanked Keith's wife for her support. Keith does a phenomenal job for us and is known throughout the county, region and country for his work. We are proud to have him as one of ours.
Officer Mackenzie said that no one gets into law enforcement to win awards, but it's nice to be recognized. He noted when he joined the Department in 2002, Sheriff Dubois was the Chief. During training he made it a point to talk about Red Hayes, who he was and how he knew everyone in the community. Keith said, out of the 1000's of people who have worn the Rochester badge, what was it that made Red so special? It is the community policing, treating people with dignity and respect, treating them like humans. While I didn't know Red, he sounds like a great guy and someone I would have liked to hang out with. I strive to always treat people with respect and to the new officers joining the Department tonight, if you take one thing from this, it should be to be respectful. Keith said I'm honored by this award. My dogs make me who I am. I appreciate this recognition and thank everyone for coming out tonight.
Keith's name will be added to the perpetual plaque. He received a ribbon for his uniform, presented by Rick Sessler, whose Dad was close friends with Red. In keeping with the spirit of giving back to the community, a part of the award is to make a donation to a local charity of the Officer's choice. Officer MacKenzie selected Victim's Inc. and a check in the amount of $100.00 was presented to the director Pat Rainboth. Officer MacKenzie said he and his wife would like to match that, and gave an additional donation to Victim's Inc.
B. Oath of Office for new officers.
Chief Allen noted that the law enforcement profession has come a long way and the process a new officer has to go through to get hired is particularly stringent and a lengthy process that includes a physical agility test, an oral board, an interview with the Commission, a background investigation, a psychological, polygraph and medical exam. We do that because we screen for candidates that will model the characteristics and values that our department represents. We talk about this in our mission statement created years ago under Chief Donald Vittum. Our mission is to protect life and property through equal enforcement always keeping in mind the rights and dignity of the public. Officer MacKenzie talked about this and I echo those statements.
Our motto which became our value statement almost a year ago is dedication, pride and integrity; which mean serving the public to the best of your abilities, having pride in themselves, in the department and the community they serve every day and integrity always doing the right things even when no one else is watching. These are the things we look for in new officers. These officers should be proud of their accomplishment in rising to the top of the pool of candidates and I'm proud to have them sworn in tonight.
1. Officer Jacob Benjamin. Officer Benjamin was born and raised in Concord. Jacob brings a background of working in loss prevention for a large retailer. This is an area that gets a lot of publicity in Rochester, so we are hoping Jacob brings new strategies and innovative ideas to help us combat that. Attorney Grossman administered the Oath and Jacob's Mom pinned the badge.
2. Officer Dwayne Hatch. Officer Hatch has been inspired to seek a career in law enforcement through his grandfather who is a retired from the NH State Police. Attorney Grossman administered the Oath and Dwayne's fiancé pinned the badge.
Both Officer Benjamin and Officer Hatch will be heading off to the NH Police Academy this month for 14 weeks of training.
3. Officer Michael Miehle. Officer Miehle comes to us as a full time certified officer which is a benefit to the City. Officer Miehle was previously employed by us, and left to explore other opportunities. We are glad to have him back. He will go through a short re familiarization with the Department and then be back on patrol. Attorney Grossman administered the Oath and Dep. Chief Dumas pinned the badge.
C. Standard Operating Procedure Updates
1 . 61 .2.1Traffic Accident Investigations: Update, first reading
Comm. Peters MOVED to place Policy Standard 1.61.2.1into a first reading, by title only. SECONDED by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.
D. Presentation and overview of FBI Academy. Lt. Thomas recently graduated from the 256th session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. This is 10 weeks of academic and physical training. This is a prestigious training course and it's not an easy program to get accepted to. There is a stringent selection process. They only allow command level officers that exhibit traits, characteristics and standards representative of the FBI NA into the academy. We are proud to have him selected. Jason will talk about the value of the program, his experiences, what he learned and how it will benefit us. It's a big commitment to be gone from your department and your family for that length of time. We pay the officers salary while away, but other than that there is no cost to attend the program.
Lt. Thomas thanked the Chief and Deputy Chief for their support from the get go. Without that, I wouldn't have been able to attend. He said the classes are top notch including the physical fitness training. There were 221people in the class, representing 23 countries and 47 states. The relationships you build with executives across the nation and the world is difficult to describe. One email can reach all those people to discuss endless topics relating to policies and equipment and other valuable information useful in the profession. It's at your fingertips and there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Lt. Thomas said he took courses related to media relations, stress in law enforcement and physical fitness to name a few. Years ago fitness was running every day. Now they have introduced cross fit training which is a combination of exercises, including running. I have brought information back to the department and officers on this. I've also developed a critical incident packet, hoping that officers will volunteer to fill it out. This deals with the unthinkable. There are a lot of issues that officers don't talk to their families about; things like funeral arrangements - open casket or not. These packets will be sealed and never opened unless we need it. If we do need it, we will be better prepared as an agency to help the family.
The media course was phenomenal. He noted his final project he wrote a policy on social media. We have a small section in our conduct policy but we need more. The world and how we communicate has changed and we want to make sure that officers are following policy and if they maintain a social media presence how to set privacy settings for that.
Comm. Levesque asked about the critical incident packages. Would you incorporate this into policy?
This is an issue that is sometimes overlooked in an officer's career. The collection of the information is voluntary. It's important to have that information accessible and on file in the event something tragic occurs. Lt. Thomas said he has spoken to officers about it. If they don't fill it out, hopefully they will at least discuss it with their families.
Comm. Lindsay said that while Jason was gone, he'd hear comments in the patrol area that we need Jason back.
Comm. Peters said it's a commitment to spend 10 weeks away from your family. Congratulations on your achievement and thank you for taking the time to go.
Chief Allen said the academic classes you take there are college level courses accredited through the University of Virginia. Jason is currently pursuing his Bachelors Degree through Southern NH University. This has developed his career and enhanced his professional development. We encourage all our staff to advance their formal education because it is important in today's law enforcement. We applaud his achievement.
Lt. Thomas said the standards and rigors are very intense while you are there. He received 17 credits for the classes he took. He has lots of new ideas and innovation to share.
Comm. Peters inquired how many in the Department have attended the program.
Chief Allen said we have been very fortunate over the years. Some of our attendees achieved this while working for other agencies, and some of our retirees have attended, including Captain Winship, Chief Vittum, Chief Auger and Chief Dubois. Those that have attended and are currently employed here include Chief Allen, Dep. Chief Dumas, Lt. Gould, Sgt. Cost, and Lt. Thomas.
We've been very fortunate. Less than 1% of all law enforcement worldwide ever has the opportunity to attend the NA. It is a one-time application that is kept on file. You may not ever get selected. Chief Allen said both he and the Dep. Chief are actively involved in the NA Associates at the regional and national levels. You stay involved in the chapter and benefit individually from the professional development opportunities and the networking that is ongoing. These relationships give us the chance to submit applicants and get accepted to attend. It's important. It's why we remain in the chapter; go to meetings and training opportunities during the year. It's important to our success moving forward making our department relevant in the State and in law enforcement throughout the country in areas of leadership, technology, professional standards, all of those things. The time is not wasted being involved in the organization at the local and national level.
D. Monthly Reports
1. Operations. The crime analyst attended a couple of the ward meetings this month. She brings good credentials to the table and we want to get her out more in the community so they know who she is what she can do and how she makes us safer by the job she does. We are planning to get her out to all the meetings moving forward.
Chief Allen highlighted some trends that he discussed during the budget presentation. These took place last year and are continuing into the first quarter this year. Property crime last year had a pretty significant overall reduction, and that is continuing into the first quarter, WE are down overall about 4%. We do continue to see spikes in some areas like shoplifting. Overall we are seeing a positive trend year to date.
In addition to a reduction in property crime we are doing a lot better job in investigations and apprehending those individuals committing these crimes. We are up 33% for the year in arrests for property crimes. It's a nice trend. Incidents going down and closure rates by arrest are going up.
Violent crime over all down is also down year to date 4%, while arrests for violent crime are up 22%. Another positive trend.
What are not so encouraging are the activity levels on the rise. This happened last year and is continuing thus far into this year. Our priority 1and 2 calls for service, our most serious calls, continue to rise. At the same time as our activity levels continue to rise our proactive police time declines. Proactive time is all that uncommitted time doing community engagement, traffic enforcement, networking related activities beyond a service call. That's not something we want to see. Proactive should go up because our focus is prevention not reactive to crime.
I talk about this because it's tied to our budget requests this year. The reason our budget calls for hiring two civilian staff positions is that will free up 3 sworn officer positions and redeploy immediately. We are coming into our busy season. Activity increases in the summer months. I am hopeful that the council feels we've made our case and that they support funding those positions. It will make a difference in our ability to do more proactive work but also help with response times. This is another area of concern where the trend is rising that we are taking longer to get to calls for service. No one likes to see that. More cops on the street will help us achieve our target goals.
Although certain portions are promising and encouraging crime is not a true picture of the demands placed on a PD. It's just a small percentage.
Comm. Peters asked for a breakdown of percentage of calls, to show where we are spending the majority of our time. For example, are we spending 50% of our time on one call and splitting 25 and 25 on the other categories? He's not sure the public understands the percentages.
Chief we do document them by the number of calls but we can attach a percent to that.
Comm. Peters noted that shoplifting had another spike this period.
Chief Allen said it did and there are a number of factors into that. More than half occur at one establishment in the city as a result of their very aggressive stance on handling shoplifters. They've increased loss prevention staffing and have one of the most sophisticated video systems. That along with their aggressive policy equates to more people being caught. I'm not convinced more are doing it, but I am convinced we are apprehending more of them.
Shoplifting is symptomatic of other social and crime issues in the City. There is a direct correlation between those that shoplift and those that commit other crimes, such as substance abuse and other vice crimes. We believe taking the approach and raising awareness to the issue and in conjunction with the partnership with the retailers in the long term will make a difference. The numbers may not reflect that but in talking with the retailers we all believe it's making our community a safer place.
Comm. Peters noted we have a large complex coming to town next year that will bring in another 30-40 businesses on the Route 11 corridor. The businesses are doing a better job and getting involved. It's a big thing where before they may have just let it go.
With the warmer weather we are doing more mountain bike patrols, foot patrols and using the motor cycles in the hot spots of the city, including the DDACTS area. The public will start to see more of those patrols.
Comm. Levesque inquired where the foot patrols are.
Chief Allen replied in the downtown and some of the hot spots that are seeing increased trends in property crime, thefts from MV, burglaries in an effort to be proactive and preventive vs. reactive by targeting those with directed enforcement patrols.
Over on the support side, there were call outs for ISB for a stabbing and for a suicide investigation.
Our newest dispatcher, Candace Holmberg is finishing up her field training and is anticipated to be released to solo dispatching within the next two weeks. We still have one open position in the center that we are in the process of filling.
Officer Hayes has been doing a lot of increased enforcement activities in the downtown. She is also working on the 3rd annual Wings and Wheels event scheduled at Sky Haven in June. This is a large event and Tracy has been coordinating that since its inception.
SRO Officer Funk is preparing for a DARE graduation to take place next week at the Middle School. SRO Officer Murphy did a seatbelt challenge event and a number of students participated. The goal of the challenge emphasizes wearing seat belts for our youth drivers.
In prosecution I know this is an area of concerns with us and the Commission. We are still doing well managing the case load in there. I can't say enough about the work that Lt. Gould and Det. Loignon are doing. They are keeping us above sea level with the number of cases that get cycled through there.
Comm. Peters said it concerns me the most is that we are basically doing this with 1.5 people. Arrests are up and our prosecutors are getting busier and busier. Are we looking at a fall back plan if the council doesn't support the budget?
Chief Allen said we are looking at that already and have a couple of options available to us if the funding doesn't go through; more of a plan a and plan b. We are prepared to take the appropriate steps to ensure the unit doesn't crumble if in fact the Council decides not to fund the additional position in that unit.
Sec. Alley being back is a great asset. She is the glue that keeps it together and between her and the other part time secretary how they get done what they do is commendable. It's one of those overlooked jobs in the department. People don't see it and don't appreciate the amount of work they really do. You have to experience it and work in the department to have a true understanding of what they do. One of the other things we are asking in the budget is a part time secretary in that unit and I'm hopeful the Council considers that. We need the help in there. Arrests rates continue to rise. There is a lot of work associated with every arrest. The arrest is the easy part. The harder part is all the work that goes with it after. That unit does a tremendous job managing all that.
Comm. Peters commended the prosecution team.
Comm. Levesque inquired into evidence locker purging. Are we able to get rid of any of that stuff and get it back to the victims?
Chief Allen said unfortunately more pieces come in than go out. It takes months to get from collection to trial. We have laws we have to comply with concerning how we handle and how long we retain evidence. It's a constant uphill battle taking in and purging as much as we can. There is a large deviation in that. We are constantly looking for added space for those reasons. We have a system in place when a court case is done to purge the evidence. But it takes a long period.
Comm. Levesque asked the maximum time state law says we have to hold evidence.
Chief Allen said it depends on the level of offense; violation is 90 days, misdemeanor is a year and a felony is six years.
Dep. Chief Dumas said also in this state you get two bites at the apple. Your case is heard in district court and you can appeal the finding to superior court. And until it's final we have to hold the evidence. Then we have to get a court order to destroy the evidence. It's a long process.
Chief Allen said in addition to that we take in a lot of lost and found property, and some cases of stolen property that sometimes goes unclaimed that we have to hold for a certain period. We also seize firearms in cases of domestic violence and things of that nature for safekeeping. If they go unclaimed we have to go through a court order to purge and by law destroy them.
Comm. Lindsay how come when backpacks are taken by the district court and not picked up they end up in our locker?
Chief Allen said probably because the court doesn't have storage capacity.
Comm. Lindsay said the backpacks are held by the bailiffs and then not retrieved when the person leaves the court, so we end up with 50 to 80 backpacks over the period.
Every effort is made to identify the owner to get their property back to them. Found property must be held for six months if the owner cannot be identified.
Comm. Lindsay asked for a general overview concerning motorcycles. Are they becoming a matter of congestion or violations or both in the downtown?
Chief said referring to the 1% in the recent update, motorcycles are out and we have some from the motorcycle clubs that tend to frequent the downtown in the warmer weather. We have had some recent issues we've had to address. That's again part of the reason increasing proactive patrols in the downtown with foot beats and bike patrols to stay ahead of that issue.
Com. Peters asked if we still do the meters for noise.
Chief Allen confirmed we do. Dep. Chief Dumas added though the law recently changed. It used to be 106 dB at 23 rpms and now it is 92 dB at idle. Most bikes, even those with straight pipes can pass that at idle.
6. CORRESPONDENCE:
Correspondence included the following: Rochester Middle School Phys Ed Dept thanked SRO Funk for officiating at the RMS Extreme Dodge ball Tournament. Capt. Toussaint is thanked by students at the Middle School for participating in the annual leadership day. A resident thanks Sgt. Aucoin for his response to a medical aid call last year. Off. Ouellette is thanked by a resident for assisting with a neighbor dispute. A resident thanks Off. Gantert for his compassionate help following the untimely death of their parent.
7. INFORMATION
A. Information Other; enclosed with Agenda: No discussion
B. Other
1. Proclamation for Police Memorial Week. Chief Allen thanked Mayor Jean for the proclamation for National Peace Officers Memorial Week that was read at the Council meeting. This is recognized annually and this year falls from May 11 through the 17. NH has 45 names to date on the law enforcement memorial in Concord. All officers will be wearing black badge covers for the week.
The Commission requested a letter of thanks to be sent to Mayor Jean.
8. NON-PUBLIC SESSION: (Pursuant to: RSA 91-A:3)
Commissioner Peters MOVED to enter a nonpublic session at 8:37 P.M. pursuant to RSA 91-A: 3, paragraph II, section A (personnel) and section E (legal.) SECOND by Comm. Lindsay. The motion PASSED by roll call vote 3 - 0 with Comm. Peters, Comm. Lindsay and Comm. Levesque voting in the affirmative. The non-public session closed at 9:30 P.M. on a MOTION by Comm. Peters, SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.
9. MISCELLANEOUS:
Following the non public session the Commission took the following action.
Comm. Peters MOVED to award merit increases on the respective anniversary dates to Off. T. Hayes, Off. K. Danie, Off. J. Bourque, and Off. C. Pendlebury. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.
10. ADJOURNMENT
Comm. Levesque MOVED to adjourn. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay at 9:35 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rebecca J. Warburton, Secretary