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, October 5, 2016. Present at this meeting was Comm. Peters, Comm. Lindsay, Comm. Levesque, Chief Allen, Dep. Chief Toussaint, Capt. Boudreau, Chaplain Lachapelle 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. Chaplain Lachapelle led the opening prayer.       

            C. Roll Call. The clerk called the roll marking all Commission members present.

2.        PUBLIC COMMENT: 

            There was no comment from the public.

3.        ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES:

            A.  September 7, 2016, regular meeting.

Comm. Lindsay MOVED to accept the minutes of the September 7, 2016,regular meeting as presented. SECOND by Comm. Levesque and PASSED unanimously.

4.        OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

            No old business for discussion.

5.        NEW BUSINESS:

A.  Community Outreach

            1. Housing Programs – Officer Blair noted that Rochester Housing maintains properties at Coldspring Manor, Wellsweep Acres, Linscott Court, Wyandotte, Emerson, Marshview and the new Art Nickless complex on Glenwood. There is an excess of 250 units combined. 

            Officer Blair noted that the first Housing Officer was John Harding. We created a substation at Coldspring Manor, which is still there. The Housing Officer works out of that office often. Tony Triano was the next Housing Officer followed by Tony Macaione and Jeff Taylor and now he holds that role, supported also by Off. Don Funk.

            The Housing Officers helped to start the Safe Haven and Homework Lab. The funding for Safe Haven has ended, but the Homework lab is still there and the housing officers help kids with homework, reading, conflict resolution and general support.

            The application of a new resident includes a background check to ensure the applicant meets the housing standards. The housing officer completes those. I attend eviction hearings at the district court, as well as civil hearings if an applicant is denied based on a background check. They are permitted a civil hearing by the housing authority with a neutral third party to determine if we made the right decision to deny an applicant. Sometimes people are afforded a second chance after stating their case.

            I have a personal goal that I get to each complex every day and speak to at least one resident. Both Don Funk and I assist with issues, maybe not be criminal but things that can be resolved. We worked recently to clean brush and overgrowth by Wyandotte Falls to deter criminal activity there.

            I follow up on any criminal complaints filed by residents or staff. Each morning I review the log and follow up on calls that may have come in while I was off duty. This helps alleviate some of the work load of patrol. I also address trespass orders and any problems with people that shouldn’t be there.

            The Housing Officer attends weekly activity meetings with the building managers and receives updates on what is happening with the residents, quality of life issues and what solutions can be offered by the police department. I meet monthly with housing commission and present a monthly report of all the activity.

            We have provided rides to children to the summer camp programs as well as to Teen night. We give out free bicycle helmets to children living in the complexes if they do not have one. We also work with Rotary at the holidays to provide food baskets. I have shoveled driveways for residents. We did a cookout and pool party early this summer with the recreation department that was well received and well attended.

            We have been working also with the recreation department on the monthly senior breakfast at the senior center. Word has gotten out as previously there were 15-20 attending, and this last one there were over 70 attending. We had to make three trips to the grocery for more food. Several members of the Department and recreation help out. This has been a huge success. There are about 50% of the housing residents taking part.

            The Police Housing partnership works well. We strive to improve the quality of life of the residents and I think we do a good job. We look for innovative solutions to issues. For example, we had some issues on weekends at Linscott Court. We started parking the cruiser in the parking lot there over night which curbed the issues. I vary my schedule based on activity and I adjust my schedule to handle issues on the weekends. Officer Don Funk has been in a supporting role and will be working on a more permanent part time basis with me in the near future.

            Comm. Levesque commended Officer Blair and the other officers participating in events. You have opened my eyes as to how much you do. I didn’t realize all you were involved in. Have any of the students that you have helped with homework come back to say if their grades improved.

            Officer Blair said that has not happened to date. He noted he played chess with one of the young residents and “he took me to town.” I learned something from him.

            Comm. Lindsay inquired about the waiting list for residency.

            Off. Blair said he doesn’t want to misspeak for housing, but roughly from the time of application to move in, is about two years. Apartments don’t come up often unless someone moves or there is an eviction.

            I’m looking forward to bringing Donnie on board. I’ve had some big shoes to fill by great officers that came before and I hope I’m doing that.

            B.  Policy Update: (New) 45.1 Community Access to Recovery; First Reading.  Chief Allen said before I get into the policy I want to start by saying those that may not be aware the Recovery Center opened on Monday. We have been planning this program and this is second to none in the entire state of NH. John Marzinzik has done a tremendous job with this partnership and the facets of recovery.  The Center is run by a coordinator hired by Frisbie Hospital. She will coordinate all the services being provided through the recovery center. We are excited about the partnership and the impact this will make in the City of Rochester as we combat the heroin crisis.

            The statistics show overdoses are up 40% and deaths are up 160% year to date. This Recovery Center comes at a time where it’s desperately needed and it has been one of the missing links to our overall strategy of targeting the epidemic in our community. Additionally, we are looking to launch the LEAD Program in the schools and I really believe this program will make an impact.

            This policy outlines what officers are going to do if someone walks into the lobby of the station and wants help with their addiction, or a resident overdoses or family needs help for a family member. These resources are accessible to the citizens of the community. I know it’s listed as a first reading, but I am asking the Commission to adopt this tonight because with the Center open I need to have the protocol in place. It has been implemented as a special order pending your approval.

Comm. Levesque MOVED to place Policy 45.1 Community Access to Recovery into a first reading and to suspend the rules and place Policy 45.1 into a second reading. Second by Comm. Lindsay.

            Open for discussion

            Comm. Levesque said it’s important to bring attention to the fact that anyone can go in and ask for assistance and not fear being arrested. The people have to know they don’t have to be afraid they will be handcuffed and arrested if they ask for help. This Department has a lot of compassion and our officers reach out to people and I am glad this is there.

            Chief Allen said he didn’t mention in addition to this program and policy being put in place we have done tremendous outreach in the community and preparation with the officers to get this open. We have done compassion fatigue training which Frisbie Hospital paid for, to train all about addiction and the cycle; what happens to the brain, how to talk to a person or family going through addiction. We felt it was important to have that piece so that officers understand what people go through when someone walks in the door for help. There is no fear of arrest. If people want to bring in drugs and then we dispose of them they can do that as well. We will take them and destroy them.

            Comm. Levesque there is no record they arrive and nothing in the paper.

            Comm. Peters asked if it has been used already.

            Dep. Chief Toussaint said on day one we had a person come in that was connected with resources. As of today, there have been five people that have reached out to the program either through Frisbie or the Center. Only one has accessed it through our lobby.

            Chief Allen said the important components to the program, Frisbie will track that.

            Comm. Peters asked that the Commission be kept updated.

            Comm. Lindsay asked if this will be a gateway to a detox facility with beds.

            Chief Allen said that could happen. There is a lack of available beds, but it could happen. Frisbie has developed a lot of partnerships in different areas. This is something that is needed in this state. Those in addiction might not all need a bed. There are different forms of treatment and John Marzinzik has a suite of services targeting varying degrees of treatment. There is also the mental health area. Many with addiction disease have a co-occurring mental health disorder. This is an important component to the services. We are taking an aggressive approach. John Marzinzik has taken a leadership role and when he says he is going to do something he gets it done.

            Comm. Levesque said that people need help with medication in a lot of cases. Is there anything there, a budget for that?

            Chief Allen said there is a grant valued at $100,000.00 from the State, the City has contributed $75,000.00 and Waste Management has donated $20,000.00. There is some decent seed money but long term they will need other funding, specifically for medication. There is a partner connected to the Recovery Center that will offer that level of service.

            Comm. Levesque asked if there is some type of financial aid for the medications. What are the criteria to qualify? So many times the offer of financial aid is for those people who are destitute and trying to get ahead with a family and can’t without help. We fall short nationally here.

            Chief Allen said these are all great questions that I don’t have the answer for. These are medical billing issues. I can find out but I don’t have that level of detail on billing for those with an inability to pay for the services. The bottom line is that your financial history doesn’t matter. We are going to get you help.

The MOTION to adopt Policy 45.1 Community Access to Recovery as presented PASSED unanimously.

C.  Accept Resignation – Off. Jennifer Arrajj

Comm. Levesque MOVED to accept the resignation with regret. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.

D.  Accept Notice of Retirements; Full Time

            1. Sgt. Anthony Deluca. He has tendered his retirement notice as of October 31, 2016. His last official day in the office will be October 28.

            2. Off. John Harding. He has tendered his retirement notice as of October 31, 2016.

Comm. Levesque MOVED to accept these notices with the regret, thanking them for their service to the Rochester Police Department and the City faithful.  SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.

            E. Job Description: School Resource Officer Support Sergeant. We are taking advantage of an opportunity that arose when Officer Funk decided to move from his part-time position as SRO at the Middle School to part-time at Housing. We have created a support sergeant role, which will supervise the two other School Resource Officers, as well as be a School Resource Officer at the Middle School, teaching the LEAD Program.

            The LEAD Program which we will offer at the third, sixth and ninth grades is a comprehensive program that requires supervision. This was a great opportunity to use the skill set of the officer moving into that role. This is beneficial for him and for us. This explains and outlines the duties in that regard.

            Comm. Peters noted that this is titled as a “Temporary Assignment.” He would like that language eliminated.

Comm. Levesque asked if this should be part of the Standard Operating Procedures.

            Chief Allen replied that we have a separate manual from policy and we don’t see the need to incorporate this into the policy manual.

Comm. Levesque MOVED to approve the job description for School Resource Officer Support Sergeant with correction. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED.

            F. Monthly Reports

            1). Operations. The Support side had a busy month with 45 cases sent up from patrol for review. There are 92 cases assigned to the bureau. Some are active and some are pending. There were 24 cases presented to the Grand Jury and all were true bills. We took in 361 pieces of evidence and returned 126 pieces.

            Detectives had four call outs. There were suspected overdoses, a search warrant assist and we continue to investigate a second-degree assault case.

            There was one resignation this month in Communications. This person is taking a similar position with Dover Public Safety. We do have a candidate deep in the background process.

            Officer Miehle’s pace never seems to stop. He attended various meetings including Main Street Business Roundtable, Rotary, and he worked alongside other members on a joint fundraiser for Crime line and the Benevolent Association. There were a couple of high view posts on our face-book page this month, including the notice of water restriction in the city due to the drought.

            There are seven returning and two new jurors for Teen Drug Court this year. They have expanded the program to include the life of an athlete which was recently adopted by the School Board. The School Resource Officers are back in the schools and off to a good start. Reports from both are positive.

            Five of the six wards met this period with good attendance in wards one and three. A big topic of discussion was the Recovery Center.

            Housing completed 12 background checks and had 27 calls for service at housing properties. One of the complaints led to a search warrant and recovery of drugs by the Task Force.

            The Veteran’s Council held a flag retirement ceremony this period.

            The K9 team had four callouts this month as well as a couple of presentations.

            Proactive activity dipped some this period. We are not alarmed because this is one of the highest months for call volume. There was a spike in burglaries but we have had a confession and made some good arrests.

            Comm. Lindsay said the active shooter investigations we have been doing in the community are great for people to be part of and getting this information out there.

            Chief Allen said he talked about this in the past. It is important for the safety of our community. Most recently in partnership with the schools we did two sessions; one for the paraprofessionals and one for the elementary school teachers. We still have one more session scheduled for middle and high school teachers. We had a large audience in each of the classes. We do this in the community at no cost because it is about safety.

            Comm. Peters said he did two ride-along sessions this month. Sitting in the cruiser with an officer and getting to know them makes being a commissioner easier. The equipment and tools they have available such as cruiser cameras and their capabilities are amazing. It’s important to see we are giving them the tools needed to be safe and proactive.

            2.) Administration. Dep. Chief Toussaint said that Watchguard has completed the install of the cameras in all the cars except for the three new cars that we anticipate delivery of by the end of November.

            The City Council gave us authorization and approval for new Highway Safety grants for DWI (not road blocks), sustained traffic enforcement for speeding and bicycle and pedestrian patrols.  They also approved accepting drug forfeiture funds from a case investigated in September of 2015. The JAG grant will be on the agenda for next month. Those funds are earmarked for the new patrol lap-tops.

            Comm. Peters asked if putting those funds off a month will hurt us.

            Dep. Chief Toussaint said yes, and no. Several of the tablets have failed. We aren’t losing any money or opportunities, it’s just the turn-around time to take delivery and get these units up and running.

            We also got a final notice from Highway Safety on the E-ticket program where initially we had been approved for five units. Additional funds were appropriated to get us 10 units, to outfit the front-line fleet.

            We are also seeking final approval from the Council for the COPS grant. We were notified we received the award. Pending their approval we will start looking to fill that position.

            Chief Allen said to elaborate on the COPS hiring, we received the official notice of the award on Monday of $125,000.00 which essentially covers half the cost of a new patrol officer over a three year period. This is an important position to our overall strategy in fighting the opiate epidemic. We will take an existing officer and assign them as the School Resource Officer covering the elementary schools and responsible for teaching the LEAD Program to the third graders. We are looking forward to bringing this before the Council Finance Committee next week and then on to the full Council next month.

            We hosted two days training for evidence team members. This is one area we know we need to focus training on. We have applied twice for the Paul Coverdell grant. We are waiting to hear if we are approved this year. We would use the funds to send our team to a weeklong training and certification. Pending that, we focused on some short-term training.

            The County received a grant for drug interdiction in the County. The plan is to spend those monies in the different jurisdictions. Employees working these details are required to attend specific training. We had looked into hosting the training here so we could put more people through it, but the State Police don’t want to take the training on the road. This will go toward much-needed drug work in the city and will involve the task force, of which we are a part. This will be coordinated with federal agencies as well.

            Officer Gagnon and Officer Alexander have completed their in-house training and have been assigned to field training. We are looking to have them out on the road by the last week of November.

            The certified candidate we recently gave a conditional offer has withdrawn after having second thoughts. We will look to draw candidates from the next Great Bay test to get us back to full staff. However, we will have one candidate to swear in at the next meeting.

G. Other

            1. Law Enforcement Appreciation night was held at both McDonald’s locations. This was a statewide law enforcement campaign.  We had officers at both locations to interact and engage with the public. McDonald’s put out a program that featured 8 of our officers. This was a great event. Each officer received a certificate of appreciation from management. This was a partnership with McDonald’s through the NH Association of Chiefs of Police.

            2. Chestnut Hill Road Patrols. Capt. Boudreau updated the Commission on the status of a question raised last month. Chestnut Hill Road has a speed limit of 30 miles per hour. We used the speed trailer and directed patrols on Chestnut Hill Road over the past month. 78% (roughly 22,000 vehicles) were traveling between 31-40 mph.  We had contact with 113 of them educating them on the speed limits of the area.

            Comm. Lindsay commented that he was on a ride along and some of the time was dedicated to patrolling Chestnut Hill Road. A lot of officers gave it high priority.

6.        CORRESPONDENCE:

            Correspondence for the month included:   Off. Cilley, Off. Williams-Hurley, and Off. Worthley are thanked by the parents of a person arrested for their compassion and professionalism. Off. MacKenzie’s testimony as an expert witness in canine tracking was upheld on appeal at the Supreme Court.  Off. MacKenzie was thanked by Chief Bernier in New Durham for tracking a lost hiker in extreme heat temperatures.  Off. Gantert was thanked by Ms. Curry regarding an incident he helped to resolve. School Street School recognizes public safety support in the community.

7.        INFORMATION:

A.  Information Other; enclosed with Agenda. No discussion.

8.        NON-PUBLIC SESSION: (Pursuant to:  RSA 91-A:3) 

Commissioner Levesque MOVED to enter a nonpublic session at 8:12 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. Levesque, Comm. Lindsay and Comm. Peters all voting in the affirmative.  A five-minute recess was called. The non-public session closed at 8:55 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. Jacob Garstin (3.35%), Off. Keith Mackenzie (3.9%), Off. Joseph Rousseau (3.8%), Off.  Elizabeth Turner (3.8%) and Off. Spencer Williams-Hurley (3.3%).The motion was SECONDED by Comm. Levesque and PASSED 3-0.

Comm. Lindsay MOVED to set the starting annual salary of the part-time Support Sergeant School Resource Officer at $46,309.12. The motion was SECONDED by Comm. Levesque and PASSED 3-0.

10.        ADJOURNMENT:

Comm. Peters MOVED to adjourn. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay at 9:01 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted

Rebecca J. Warburton

Secretary