Police Commission Minutes
Rochester Police Commission
Rochester, NH 03867
Derek J. Peters, Chairman
Bruce E. Lindsay, Commissioner
Lucien G. Levesque, Commissioner
MINUTES OF THE POLICE COMMISSION MEETING
The Rochester Police Commission held their regular monthly meeting in City Hall Council Chambers on Wednesday, June 1, 2016. Present at this meeting was Comm. Peters, Comm. Lindsay, Chief Allen, Dep. Chief Toussaint, Capt. Boudreau and Secretary Warburton as well as members of the Department, the public, 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. Peters led the opening prayer.
C. Roll Call. The clerk called the roll marking Comm. Peters and Comm. Lindsay present.
Comm. Levesque was excused.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT:
There was no public comment.
3. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES:
A. April 6, 2016, regular meeting. *
Comm. Lindsay MOVED to accept the minutes of the April 6, 2016, regular meeting as presented. SECOND by Comm. Peters and PASSED 2 – 0.
*[There was no regular May 2016 meeting of the Police Commission.]
4. OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
A. Policy Updates
1. Policy Standard 1.2.3 Interviews and Interrogations: Second Reading for Adoption
Comm. Lindsay MOVED to place Policy Standard 1.2.3: Interviews and Interrogations into a second reading, by title only, for adoption. SECOND by Comm. Peters and PASSED.
Comm. Lindsay MOVED to adopt Policy Standard 1.2.3: Interviews and Interrogations as updated. SECOND by Comm. Peters and PASSED 2 – 0.
2. Policy Standard 1.2.3.1 Interviews; Field Interview: Rescind
Comm. Lindsay MOVED to rescind Policy Standard 1.2.3.1 Interviews; Field Interview as the language had been appended to Policy Standard 1.2.3 Interviews and Interrogations. SECOND by Comm. Peters and PASSED 2 – 0.
B. FY17 Strategic Plan. This is our guiding document. We hadn’t updated it for a couple of years, but we took a look at it this year. There were no changes made to the Mission, Vision or Value statement. Our goals were updated. You’ll have the opportunity to look at this in more detail. The goals guide our activities in the Department and we involve not just members of the Department but the business community and ward groups in crafting this. We want to be representative of our community as we work for them and they should have input into the direction the department takes and what we focus on.
5. NEW BUSINESS:
A. Oath’s of Office for Promotions
1. Dep. Chief Paul Toussaint. Dep. Chief Toussaint has worked for Rochester since 1996 and has climbed up the ranks since then. Before being promoted to deputy chief, he served as a police captain, gaining experience in overseeing both the patrol and the support divisions of the department. He has previously led the police’s tactical team.
2. Capt. Jason Thomas. Capt. Thomas previously served as a lieutenant. He has been a Rochester police officer since 1998. Before that, he was a Police Explorer and a dispatcher. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. He will oversee the patrol division of the Police Department.
3. Lt. Andrew Swanberry. Lieutenant Swanberry served as a sergeant before his recent promotion. He has been a Rochester officer since 2006, having served on the evidence collection team, as a firearms instructor, in bicycle patrol, and on the accident reconstruction team. He has also been awarded the prestigious Ted Blair Memorial Award.
4. Sgt. Randy Smith. Sgt. Smith served as a patrolman before being promoted this spring. He has worked for the department since 2007. She has served as a field training officer, a firearms instructor, as a bicycle patrolman, and on the Strafford County tactical team.
Attorney Andrea Mitrushi administered the oaths of office.
B. Awards and Recognitions.
1. 20 Years of Service - Dep. Chief Paul Toussaint. Chief Allen noted that Dep. Chief Toussaint recently completed twenty years of service with the City. He said 20 years in a police career is a monumental accomplishment. Dept. Chief Toussaint was presented with a plaque noting this achievement.
2. Retirement Recognition – Chief Scott Dumas (Dep. Chief Ret.). Former Dep. Chief Scott Dumas attended the meeting for recognition of his career following his recent retirement.
Throughout his time with Rochester, Chief Dumas has been honored three times with the Distinguished Unit Award, which recognizes the ability to foster good teamwork. He has also received the Lifesaving Award, the Chief’s Award, and the Employee of the Month Award.
Chief Dumas was the officer who started the Citizens’ Police Academy in Rochester. He has also served on the honor guard, in bicycle patrol, and the accident reconstruction team. He is a graduate of the FBI Academy. Chief Dumas left the department after having established a great succession plan, with qualified officers moving up the ranks to fill vacant positions. He is now serving as the police chief in Rowley, Massachusetts.
Chief Allen noted that Scott had given “his heart and soul” to the community and the Police Department. Scott truly has a love and a passion for law enforcement.” He is a colleague and a friend. “I’m really going to miss Scott, and I do miss him,” said Allen.
Chief Dumas was presented with a plaque and a framed service uniform shirt.
Chief Dumas said he is very honored for the recognition and said he is confident that the department can move forward without him. He also spoke about Chief Allen’s leadership. “Mike, under your leadership, you’ve really prepared me.“ Chief Dumas then surprised Chief Allen with a plaque of his own.
Flowers were presented to Amy Dumas in appreciation for her support over the years.
C. 2016 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Eligibility. We are eligible to apply for $23,807.00. This is grant funding through the Justice Department. This is all based on our crime reporting numbers that we do to the State and the FBI. The award is made to the County; and Rochester and Somersworth were deemed eligible for funding. Previously the County agreed to manage the grant application as well as file quarterly reports for a percentage share of the funds. Last year Somersworth agreed to manage the grant. Chief Allen said he had reached out to the new Somersworth Chief for a preliminary discussion but details have yet to be finalized. We are hopeful for the same arrangement. This is the preliminary amount we are eligible for which must be approved not only by the federal government but also by the City Council for application and acceptance. There are no matching funds for the grant.
Comm. Peters inquired what we had used the funds for last year. Do we know what we would use the funds for this year?
Chief Allen replied we used all of it last year toward the in-car cruiser video project. We are still talking about projects this could fund this year. We have typically used it for equipment purchases, community policing initiatives and things of that nature. We have had some preliminary discussions, but nothing concrete to report on this evening.
Comm. Lindsay noted our number is impressive compared to other jurisdictions in the State.
Chief Allen replied that our UCR (Uniformed Crime Reports) numbers are high.
D. Monthly Reports
1). Operations. Four of the six wards met this period, all having a strong turnout, including city councilors as well as city employees discussing various issues in the wards. The Honor Guard participated in the NH Police Memorial on May 20 during National Police Week to honor our fallen. At Armed Forces Day at the Lilac Mall, we had a display of a cruiser and the crime scene truck and the K9.
The K9 had a busy month with 14 call outs. Six tracks, 5 drug searches and 3 community events.
Self-initiated activity remained high throughout the month. Our numbers are up in a couple of categories but we are still on target and are working on some problem areas and some sprees in the community.
81 cases have been assigned for investigation or review in Detectives. There were four call outs; 2 untimely deaths and two others for robberies. We have developed some good leads and expect conclusions to those soon.
The Communications Center remains at full staff and all specialists are back to work from various leaves. During the floor replacement in dispatch, a wire was damaged and has been fixed.
The Wings and Wheels event is set for this weekend and we are hoping for good crowds.
Comm. Peters asking about the number of cases the Detectives have assigned. Do they get overwhelmed?
Sgt. Emerson keeps a tight rein on this. Some cases are simply reviews. Some are looking for trends that may be tied to other cases while others are full-on investigations.
Comm. Peters asked when the new recruits graduate from the academy; will we be looking to help out investigations?
The last two years we have only had 5% attrition. It depends on where we are for workload on both sides of the operation.
Chief Allen said we recognize the need and this was presented as an issue and option to the Council for to another person into Detectives, but it doesn’t appear there was any support for that at this point. It is on our radar and when the timing is right, I would certainly like to like to put another person in that bureau to help out.
2.) Administration. Dep. Chief Toussaint discussed the cruiser camera project. The remaining portion of funds needed to complete the project will be taken from our projected budget surplus. We worked with finance to get the Council to approve this. This will finish this project this year. This is a big project costing just over 88,000.00 which will allow us to do all 11 front line cars. Using the budget surplus will eliminate one of our CIP requests in FY17.
We are working on reinstalling and updating the GPS system with Transcor. The tablet GPS we introduced last year to save money has not been reliable. This should be up and functioning this week.
We have asked the City Council for permission to apply for two COPS Hiring Grant officers.
The new officers are doing well in the Academy. Officer Brave is taking just the law package.
National Night Out looks to be a great event this year. We have moved to the Commons and there are a lot of vendors and information booths being planned. We look forward to a good turnout.
Comm. Peters inquired into the field training officers that were recently promoted.
We tend to run into that, some of our best people get promoted. The FTO is a very important position as it’s really your first taste of supervision and helping to shape new officers.
Comm. Lindsay noted that he was happy to see the legislature regulate the body camera programs. A lot of what we were concerned with and why we waited for the technology to catch up to the demand has been addressed with the new law, which will help guide us.
Chief Allen said that is why we waited. We knew the law was being discussed and proposed. The biggest issue is storage and maintenance of the system. If we are a department that turns the camera on for every interaction in the field, that will be an extremely large amount of data that gets stored on these devices. Do we opt for a central local server, or do we use cloud storage? Either way, it’s expensive. After you determine storage you have the hours associated with maintaining that data and sanitizing video. I want to do the program right so we are still evaluating. There will be a lot of body camera vendors at IACP this year. I should have something to present when I come back.
Comm. Lindsay commended the staff for gathering information and educating themselves before embarking on a project.
Chief Allen said he wants to take the best practices that are out there in the industry and apply them here in Rochester. Body cameras are coming, it is a program I support, but it will be costly and it's going to come down to the governing body of the City appropriating the funding if there is a political will to implement such a program.
Comm. Peters noted the cost over the benefit to the to the men and women of the Department. He confirmed we are looking to make the body camera compatible with the cruiser camera.
Compatibility will be part of any bid process. We need the system to have the capacity to integrate so the two systems can “talk” to one another and use the same technology.
E. Other
1. COPS Grant. Chief Allen said that he did speak to this application at the last Council meeting, and they will discuss it at their June 7, 2016, meeting. This is a three-year grant that funds up to 75% of the cost of a full-time police officer salary and benefits, over three years, capped at $125,000 a year. This equates to roughly 50% of the funding needed for one officer. There is also a one-year retention requirement. We have applied successfully for these grants in the past and the Council has supported them.
The Commission asked what will we do with the officer and how many are we seeking?
Chief Allen said we are seeking two for a couple of reasons. Our workload analysis indicates that we need an additional officer in the investigations bureau, and one to our patrol division, all based on our call for service data. This is not just a number we pull out of a hat that says we are busy, it is data driven. The workload analysis is a scientific analysis of the amount of workload that we see in our city and the number of officers based on our peak time of August to our slow time of February. This looks at those peaks and valleys and it averages for the year. The formula used is 60% of your activity you want to be proactive and 40% is administrative and reactive. This is our own data, not some national average numbers.
The other reason is if you go on the basis of the formula, I’m proposing that we take those two if we are approved for two and put one position in the elementary schools as an elementary school resource officer, teaching prevention of drugs and violence. I recently met with the Superintendant about a new program that Rochester will be pioneering in the State. It is similar to DARE but it’s a tiered program offered at various levels of education. There are all kinds of studies out there that show this is needed at the elementary level. In the summer we can use these officers for other community policing activity such as summer camps with the community engagement officer.
The other position we’ve talked about is using that position to supplement our community engagement officer initiatives. He’s involved in a lot of stuff. We want to enhance that so adding another person to do that type of work is what we’d like to use that person for. It makes a lot of sense to do this. I’m hoping the Council supports this next week. I think it’s a sensible way to add police officers to our department because the federal funding will offset it. The city is growing. With the commercial and residential growth in the city, there are a lot of reasons why this makes sense. I’m hoping that we get this level of support to apply. It doesn’t mean we are going to get the grant. I’d like to have the commission officially support the application of this cops grant and hopefully it will make its way to the Council.
Comm. Peters said we feel the same and will go on record supporting this 100%, as theoretically, we could apply for more, right?
Chief Allen said I don’t ask for what we don’t need. I’m basing it on the data and what it says we need to address a lot of proactive work in the city and doing prevention in the schools.
2. CAR (Community Access to Recovery). Chief Allen said the CAR initiative is something we’ve been involved with. We are launching our own initiative in Rochester in July. It will do two things. It will give people a place to go, and if they want to come to the Police Department and use us as a gateway to aid them in recovery services we will connect them with a trained recovery coach to facilitate getting them the help they need. No questions asked. This program will be in partnership with Frisbie Hospital and SOS Recovery. They are working right now to open a recovery center in Rochester. Those details are still being worked out as far as location, hours, staffing. There are a lot of pieces in play right now and we are hopeful to get this launched in July so that someone needing help going through addiction 24/7 can walk in and get connected to resources for recovery.
Comm. Lindsay asked what happens if they have drugs on them and they say they want the recovery program. Do they get out of charges for having the drugs?
Chief Allen said all situations are different. The CAR that was launched today is designed to work with someone wanting treatment. They walk in and announce they want help. They can turn in drugs with no fear of arrest. We take their drugs and destroy them. We do an intake and connect them with a recovery coach at Frisbie. How we handle the situation you mentioned would depend on the circumstances. It is not designed to circumvent someone who is committing a crime and use that as a conduit or crutch to get out of being arrested.
Comm. Lindsay said I read about the proposal. We’ve always been missing that link. You know who the addicts are and now you have that link to help.
Chief Allen said he has to give credit and kudos to Frisbie Hospital CEO John Marzinzik, and to Mayor McCarley for the support and appropriation toward the initiative. They have both been tremendous and committed to getting this initiative up and running. We have been working closely with all partners on a comprehensive plan that will address this issue. This is always where we wanted to be.
Comm. Peters said communities all want their own piece and coming together and working collaboratively is the only way this will be successful. It is safe to say you have the backing of the Police Commission.
3. July 2016 Meeting. Barring a need, the Police Commission does not plan to hold a regular meeting in the month of July. The meetings will resume in August.
6. CORRESPONDENCE:
Correspondence for the month included: Chief Allen is thanked by Hope on Haven Hill for support of addressing the opioid crisis. Great Bay Community College thanks Capt. Thomas for participating on a panel for diversity in law enforcement. Chief Colarusso thanks Det. Bourque for assisting with analysis of a cell phone. Off. Harding is thanked for solving a hit and run accident. Off. Garneau, Off. Seckendorf, Sgt. Aucoin and Sgt. Smith are thanked for honor guard representation at the CHaD Battle of the Badges event. Off. Hatch and Off. John Bourque are thanked for the compassionate delivery of a death notification. Off. Danie and Sgt. Smith are recognized by US Attorney Emily Gray Rice for assistance in the prosecution of United States v Cook. Off. Powers is thanked by the family for the respectful way he interacted with a resident. Specialists Sarah Bailey and Jen Holman are recognized by Team Leader Andrew Neal for their efficiency and teamwork during a fatal accident on the Spaulding Turnpike. Gerry’s Emergency Food Pantry thanks the Police and Fire Department for food collected during the annual hockey game which totaled 500 pounds of food and $60.00. Det. Rousseau is awarded “Officer of the Year” from the NH Police, Fire and EMS Foundation for work done on fraud cases. Off. Seckendorf is thanked by Ms. Newton for assisting her in retrieving property. Off. Harding is thanked for his patience and calm demeanor investigating a traffic accident with a school bus where one of the students is autistic. Spec. McVay is recognized for her Specialist of the Year award by Congressman Frank Guinta. Det. Livingstone is recognized by the Child Advocacy Center for his contributions to their team. Off. Worthley is commended for his performance at a recent ward meeting. Off. Lambert is recognized for his care and respect shown to a person needing assistance. Off. J. Bourque and Off. Turner are recognized by a family for their compassionate assist during an untimely death investigation.
7. INFORMATION:
A. Information Other; enclosed with Agenda. No discussion.
8. NON-PUBLIC SESSION: (Pursuant to: RSA 91-A:3)
Commissioner Lindsay 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. Peters. The motion PASSED by roll call vote 2 – 0 with Comm. Lindsay and Comm. Peters all voting in the affirmative. A three-minute recess was called. The non-public session closed at 8:41 P.M. on a MOTION by Comm. Peters, SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.
9. MISCELLANEOUS:
Comm. Lindsay MOVED to award merit increases on the respective anniversary dates to Off. Michael Mundy (3.8%) and Off. Steven Bourque (3.05%) The motion was SECONDED by Comm. Peters and PASSED 2 - 0.
10. ADJOURNMENT:
Comm. Peters MOVED to adjourn. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay at 8:55 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted
Rebecca J. Warburton
Secretary