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 at City Hall, Council Chambers on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. Present at this meeting was Comm. Levesque, Comm. Peters, Chief Allen, Dep. Chief Dumas, Capt. Boudreau, Attorney Grossman and Secretary Warburton as well as members of the Department and the media.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M.
A. Pledge. All participated in the Pledge of Allegiance.
B. Prayer. Comm. Levesque led the opening prayer.
C. Roll Call. The clerk called the roll marking Comm. Leveque and Comm. Peters present. Comm. Lindsay was excused.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT:
There was no public comment.
3. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES:
A. May 6, 2015 regular meeting
Comm. Peters MOVED to accept the minutes of the May 6, 2015 regular meeting as presented. SECOND by Comm. Levesque and PASSED 2-0.
4. OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
There was no old business for discussion.
5. NEW BUSINESS:
A. Community Outreach – School Resource Officers
1. School Resource Officer Donovan Funk; Rochester Middle School. Off. Funk said that his primary function is to build relationships with students. He said I am available in the halls during transitions; monitoring lunch periods; interacting on the grounds during session and after school. These contacts build trust. I listen and am a resource for the students and the administration in certain situations. Part of my duties also includes fielding questions from the elementary schools either through the Superintendant’s office or the schools.
I teach DARE to the seventh grade. There were 330 students through the program this year. This is my ninth year teaching DARE. The program focuses on decision-making strategies in refusing to partake. We have some good conversations in class and it gives the students an opportunity to speak to an officer and ask questions.
We also have a youth to youth program. When I am not in DARE I am part of that program. These kids are leaders in the school and help promote awareness and safety. This is headed up by one of the paraprofessionals in the school.
I attempt to get up to the High School a couple of times each year to maintain contact with the students once they leave the Middle School. It’s important that they know I still care about them and hope they are doing well. It is good to be remembered.
We have a partnership with Rotary the SRO’s assist with in fingerprinting all first graders each year. At the end of the year Rotary provides reading books to the first grade to read over the summer. Both are great programs. I also did a live radio show with Rotary on the local radio station recently.
Some other things I do in the community as part of my role is the annual geography bee at the William Allen School. I’ve been invited to proctor that and am pleased they would think of me. It gives a good base of contact with kids before they get to the Middle School. I’m involved in Teen Night. The kids see me and other officers outside of school and that too strengthens relationships. I’ve done presentations at the citizen’s academy on what my role is in the Department.
During summer and school vacations I work part time with the housing authority as one of the resource officers. I maintain contact with the students during the summer. Officer Blair and I will be working jointly to get the kids at Coldspring Manor to the Recreation Department and stay with them through the summer program.
Comm. Levesque said you’ve been doing this for nine years. Have you seen a difference in the kids from then to now?
Off. Funk said not really. Sixth graders come in as a breath of fresh air. When they leave you can see a difference in them. It gets better as I get better at what I do. There are 1,000 kids at that school so it can be chaotic at times.
Would you say your position is a positive impact?
“I surely hope so,” said Officer Funk. I know what an impact it’s made in my life. If I wasn’t making a difference I wouldn’t ask the Department to keep me there. DARE is a great opportunity. I get to see very single seventh grader, where in any other setting; you may only see 10% of them. I have the best job in the Department.
Comm. Peters asked how this is funded. Chief Allen replied it’s funded through our budget. It had been funded through a grant that has long since expired. The City supports the middle school program at 32 hours per week.
2. School Resource Officer James Murphy – Spaulding High School. Off. Murphy said he’s been at the school for two years, having taken over from Off. Blair. There was a new administration in place and a new set of goals to achieve. I think I’ve made an impact. I’ve been tough on the tobacco use and this year issued 35 summonses for possession, which has been noticed by the staff, who commented you could smell cigarette smoke in the hall early in the year and now you can’t.
Off. Murphy said my job is a little different than the Middle School because the kids are older and are being held more responsible for their actions. They can be charged in either juvenile or adult court. The school gets the first action, but if it’s a repeat or a major crime then it comes to me. Day to day I walk the halls. I look for violations of law, counsel students when needed and make connections. At the end of the day I’m walking in the Pines to ensure there are no violations occurring.
I present in some of the classes to talk about relevant topics. If something happens in the news I can talk about the laws regarding that. I talk about search and seizure and the death penalty and any other topics of interest if requested by the school.
I am a post advisor for the Explorer Program. It is associated with the Boy Scouts of American and youth ages 14-20 can participate. Youth have an opportunity to get familiar with the job as a police officer and are exposed to a variety of topics to include CPR, traffic control, radio etiquette and it gives a good base if they want to move forward in this career field. They learn about report writing as well. After meeting certain requirements they can participate in ride alongs up to 8 hours per week. They are not permitted to go to a “hot call” such as a domestic or weapons call. The Explorers do other activities as well like Teen Night.
The Explorers meet the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 6:00-8:00 PM. We accept students from other communities who may not have programs of their own. We have members from Strafford, Milton, Farmington and a home-schooled student. If you want to be involved come to a meeting and check us out.
Comm. Peters asked about funding.
Chief Allen said the high school resource officer is also city funded. Originally it was grant funded through a Byrne Grant.
Chief Allen added that both Officer Funk and Officer Murphy do an outstanding job in their respective schools which is evident not only by the results they produce, but the administration of both schools routinely give positive feedback on the job they are doing. So I thank them both for their work and dedication.
Aside from the core mission of the schools in keeping them safe, the relationship building between youth and the police is so important in the community. I’d like to think we are ahead of the curve in this area because we recognized years ago the importance of this in our schools. This also frees up other officers on the street from having to respond to issues at the school, but more important allows us to stay ahead of issues at the schools.
B. Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. Dep. Chief Dumas said that another round of funding has been announced and we along with Somersworth are eligible to apply. Somersworth has agreed to be the fiscal agent for 5% of the grant award. For the past couple of years the County was the fiscal agent for 10% of the grant award. There are a lot of administrative issues in managing the grant filing and quarterly reports. Our award will be $20,263.00 after Somersworth takes that 5%. Our intent for the funds is to put it toward the upgrade of in car cruiser video. It won’t pay for the entire program but it will pay for structure, servers, hardware and possibly one or two cameras. We still need to cost it out.
Chief Allen said the Justice Assistance Grant is something that is available every year and is based on the reporting of part 1 and part 2 crimes. We submit data to the State who then submits it the FBI. Strafford County is a disparate county, as are most of the counties in the State, and must also sign off on the application.
It has not gone to the City Council because Somersworth is the fiscal agent. They will hold a public hearing to meet the criteria of the award program. Once the award is approved federally we will come to the Council for an appropriation for those funds and request a supplemental in that amount.
Chief Allen said I thank Chief Dean Crombie for his willingness to take this on.
Comm. Levesque asked that a letter of appreciation be sent to Chief Crombie.
C. Policy Updates – First Reading
1. 41.3.2.3 First Aid, CPR, AED and Naloxone.
Comm. Levesque MOVED to place Policy 41.3.2.3 First Aid, CPR, AED and Naloxone a first reading by title only, followed by a second reading for adoption.
The Department has been working on this for several months at the state and local level toward putting naloxone in the hands of law enforcement officers. When officers respond to an opiate overdose use of naloxone counteracts the effects. In the past the only individuals allowed to do this were EMS service providers or fire departments. The sate recently created guidelines for law enforcement to carry. We are close to finishing the training for our front line and supervisors in advanced CPR. There is an on line and a practical training component in administering the drug. We are about 70% complete. WeE hope to be finished by the end of June and submit all the paperwork to the state so we can have this available in the cruisers.
Comm. Levesque confirmed there is a two-year re-trainer on this. Chief Allen said there is which part of our CPR guidelines is also.
Chief Allen said that Frisbie Hospital has paid for all the training. President and CEO John Marzinzyk has been wonderful to work with. He offered up his staff to help us with the training and to provide all the equipment, which had a cost of about $1,800.00. This is a huge benefit to the City. Further they will supply the medicine at no cost so we will have that once all certifications have been completed. Without him and his support this would not have been achieved and we would have had to seek out other funding sources.
Comm. Peters asked if Frisbie Hospital looked over our policy.
Chief Allen said they helped us to develop it.
The motion to adopt the policy as updated PASSED 2 - 0.
D. Monthly Reports
1. Operations. Capt. Boudreau said the 5 of the 6 wards met this period. There were some good discussions on crime trends, narcan and drug issues. All the interactions were positive.
The TAR Team had two callouts this period. One for a fatal hit and run involving a bicyclist and another for a felony DWI on Highland Street in East Rochester after a car crashed into a house.
The Honor Guard participated in the Police Memorial in Concord as well as the Memorial Day Parade. The new uniforms were rolled out. Lt. Bossi did a great job seeing this project through.
We had another positive month in comp stat. We continue to see very high self initiated work. We had 1,000 traffic stops doubling our proactive activity in patrol and doubling the arrests from traffic stops. This has led to an overall reduction in property crimes which are down 30% while our closure rate is up 11%. The officers in patrol are doing an outstanding job.
The support bureau continues to be active. Thirty-five cases were sent up for review and we have seventy-three cases out for assignment. We had nine true bills from Grand Jury this month.
The fatal hit and run is still under investigation. We are working closely with the County Attorney. Other calls this period included a felony assault and three untimely deaths.
The property crime detectives have been doing some proactive compliance checks with the pawn shops.
Training of the three new dispatchers is continuing. We still have one open position and have three strong candidates in the background phase. We had a State NCIC audit this month in preparation for the federal audit in July. We passed without any issues.
The Community Engagement Officer is working hard on Wings and Wheels. We are hoping for a bright and sunny day.
The Department survey has been completed. The crime analyst is putting this together and we will have the results for you at the next meeting.
The final Teen Night of the year had 235 youth attending. It was a great ending to another successful year of this program. It will start back up in the fall.
Comm. Peters said we are down a position in prosecution. Do we have a plan in place to cover adult and juvenile prosecution?
Between the work of the City Attorney and the Juvenile prosecutor court is being covered. This is a short term solution until we get a new prosecutor on board. There is a candidate doing a background now and we hope to have this completed by the end of the month.
We will have a second opening in Dispatch in June by the 19th. One of the Specialists tendered her resignation this week. It’s a tough job and the pay isn’t that great, so it’s hard to find qualified people willing to do that job.
2. Administration. Dep. Chief Dumas said the current budget doesn’t have too many changes. We intend to return a surplus to the city in salaries and benefits. Dispatch overtime is in trouble, but the saving on the salary and benefit lines will offset that, however slightly, and we are still projected to finish in the black.
There is a memo in your packets on the maintenance bids. We will have the uniform bid that is due to be opened on June 4. We are looking forward to making recommendations on awarding the bids in time for the new fiscal year.
The City is changing liability insurance carriers. One of the major things that will affect us with this change is the loss of the simunitions training. This was previously offered at no cost. The new carrier doesn’t offer it at all. This is a strong training program that is dynamic and realistic in a safe setting and is a great tool to test officers. This is a step above the simulator we have at the Department because it is live and interactive with the person you are dealing with.
We have three simunitions instructors trained at the Police Department and we have purchased some equipment in the past for this. We are looking at what the cost is to purchase additional equipment and putting those figures together. We are looking for about $5,100.00 to continue to do that training moving forward.
We had 350 hours of training this period, most of it attributed to the advanced CPR training. We are about 70% complete.
Sgt. Cost is working on putting an outlaw motorcycle gang training together. He is considered an expert in this area. We have some local clubs in this area and we need to stay on top of and ahead of the curve. As some of the focus has changed to homeland security and terrorism, the people that used to track this are not doing so as closely as they once did. We should recover all the money through host fees. The benefit of hosting is that we can put our officers through the course at no cost.
Hiring update on the Police side is positive. We are not hiring. We do have open positions in the Communications Center.
We have hired the Bridging the Gaps Coordinator. We had worked with the City Manager and Council to bring this person on temporarily as a city employee during the transition process of fiscal agents when we could not access the grant funds. We are in year seven of a ten year grant and the work we have done and moving forward will continue and work well with our mission in the police department. The person hired grew up in Dover and was not only a participant in the Dover Youth to Youth, but was also hired as a coordinator within their program. We will bring her to a future meeting to talk about the program.
E. Other
1. COPS Grant. Chief Allen reported that he learned last week of a funding opportunity through COPS grant funding. Based on our desire and needing to put another officer in the Department we see this as an opportunity to save the taxpayer money over the first three years. It is similar to previous grants we’ve had where 75% is funded federally and 25% is funded locally. There is a one year retention requirement. We plan to speak to the Council to see if they would support our application. We had asked for an additional police officer this year and it was not included in the budget and not in the City Manager’s proposal.
In response to Comm. Peter’s question Chief Allen said after the retention period there is no obligation for funding beyond that.
Comm. Peters said so they could cut a position. Chief Allen said they could.
Comm. Peters said a couple of weeks back during the budget hearing Councilor Keans mentioned an opportunity that may be out there for motorcycles.
Chief Allen said the timeline for that this year has passed. The program is still available and we will look to offset funding next year.
Comm. Levesque said we have two motorcycles. Should we increase it to three?
Chief Allen said I don’t see the need to do that at this time. Two is sufficient. Sometimes they are both out at the same time but not often.
Dep. Chief Dumas added that we are fortunate to keep the staffing as is. Putting both motorcycles out is when we have added staff.
Comm. Peters asked about training additional officers.
We have seven right now. It is expensive to outfit them. For example the boots are a custom fit and not interchangeable. This equipment is required and we don’t take that lightly.
2. Fleet. Chief Allen said as you know the Council made a cut to our CIP budget for vehicle replacement. We were seeking three this year, and two were cut. I want to talk about how we formulate the replacement plan. When we put the request in each year it’s based on a long term strategy plan. We go out five years. We look at the mileage of all the cars, front and back, and we look at vehicle repair costs over the life of the vehicle. For the most part we are pretty spot on in terms of predicting the lifespan of the car both front line and back line based on long term trends. So although the cut to those two vehicles won’t hurt us in the short term, it will hurt us in the long term replacement plan within the five years. The impact will not happen next fiscal year, but in the year after.
What that means due to the cut last night next year we will be looking to replace three cars instead of one car, based upon the information I told you. In 2017 the mileage for the front line cars will be at or beyond 100,000 miles. The replacement strategy we have been using has been supported by the Council and ensures we don’t load up but spread the burden over five years. When you don’t follow the plan you push that burden out to future years. We have a tax cap and to purchase six front line cars with changeover costs is an expensive price tag in one year. I wanted to explain that impact won’t be this year or even next year, but in the year after.
Does not following a replacement plan shoot up replacement costs?
Chief Allen said it can. Cars that get to 100,000 miles have front end problems, transmission problems and it can be expensive to repair them and keep them safe on the road. We don’t operate them for emergency driving unless they are safe. When the cost to repair is more than what the car is worth, we deadline it. It doesn’t make sense to waste money to repair a car when the value is not there.
We were also going to increase our backline fleet by one this year through keeping one of the front line cars. It was going to be an administrative car used for training, details, for the community engagement officer or school resource officer and other such functions. There are a lot of ancillary positions that need vehicles to support their positions. There are many occasions they don’t have a car to use because there just aren’t enough. That is why we wanted to add one. This was the year to do that based on the overall health of the fleet. Our fleet has never been healthier. We haven’t had to deadline cars because we have a healthy fleet. I don’t want to stray from that and send us backwards.
Chief Allen said I don’t think I explained this well during the budget process. If the Council gives me an opportunity next week I will clarify that.
3. No July Meeting.
Comm. Levesque MOVED that the Commission would not meet in July. Second by Comm. Peters and PASSED 2 - 0.
6. CORRESPONDENCE:
Correspondence for the month included: Officers Jackson and Balint were thanked through our face book page for assisting a citizen with changing a tire. Off. Gantert is thanked through our face book page for his compassion in assisting a citizen with a theft report. Ms. Wisminity thanked Off. Dominique Murphy for her kindness and compassion investigating a traffic accident she was involved in. Off. Moore was thanked by NHDOC Investigator Coulombe for his professional and detailed report on a suspect with gang ties. Charles Bold compliments Officer’s Marvin and Hatch for the professional and courteous response to a suspicious subjects call.
7. INFORMATION:
No additional discussion.
8. NON-PUBLIC SESSION: (Pursuant to: RSA 91-A:3)
Commissioner Peters MOVED to enter a nonpublic session at 8:23 P.M. pursuant to RSA 91-A: 3, paragraph II, section A (personnel) and section E (legal.) SECOND by Comm. Levesque. The motion PASSED by roll call vote 2 – 0 with Commissioner Peters and Comm. Levesque voting in the affirmative. Three minute recess. The non-public session closed at 8:41 P.M. on a MOTION by Comm. Peters, SECOND by Comm. Levesque and PASSED unanimously.
9. MISCELLANEOUS:
Comm. Peters MOVED to award a merit increases on the respective anniversary dates to Off. Michael Mundy (3.9%) and Off. Steven Bourque (3.9%); Comm. Levesque SECONDED the motion and it PASSED 2 – 0.
10. ADJOURNMENT:
Comm. Peters MOVED to adjourn. SECOND by Comm. Levesque at 8:43 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rebecca J. Warburton
Secretary