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, June 4, 2014. Present at this meeting was Comm. Levesque, Comm. Lindsay, Comm. Peters, Deputy Chief Dumas, Captain Toussaint, Captain Boudreau, Attorney Grossman, Secretary Warburton, invited guests, and members of the department.

Chief Allen was excused.

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 all Commissioner's present

2.       PUBLIC COMMENT: There was no public comment.

3.       ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES:

          A.  May 7,  2014 – regular  meeting

Comm. Peters MOVED to accept the minutes of the May 7, 2014 meeting. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.

4.       OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

            A. Budget Updates

            1.  FY14 Projection. Dep. Chief Dumas said that the projection overall appears to be in good shape, with us being in black. The savings will come from salaries and benefits. We are just finishing our last pay period for FY14. The overtime line was overspent due to a variety of factors including replacing officers, turnover, major case investigations and other basic activity. It was monitored closely throughout the year, with a weekly report done to show where the overtime was being spent.

            2. FY15 Submission. Dep. Chief Dumas noted that the budget passed the Council the previous evening. We came out of the process in good shape and we thank the City Council, the Mayor, the City Manager, the Police Commission and the staff for all their hard work. This is a Department wide process and all members provide valuable input. We didn't get everything we hoped for but there were some tough choices that had to be made in the budget to move us forward as an agency.

             B. Standard Operating Procedure Updates

             1. 61 .2.1Traffic Accident Investigations: Update, first reading

Comm. Levesque MOVED to table this to the next meeting. SECOND by Comm. Peters and PASSED unanimously.

5.       NEW BUSINESS:

          A. Recognitions

          1. Rochester Rotary Presentation to Family Justice Center. Dep. Chief Dumas provided a brief overview of the Family Justice Center for those that may not be aware of what it is. The Strafford County Family Justice Center is a multi disciplinary collaboration dedicated to ending domestic violence in Strafford County.  Located all under one roof, this involves such agencies as A SAFE Place, SASS, NH legal Assistance, local, state and county law enforcement, pro bono attorneys, and Rochester child care. It provides basic services such as crisis intervention, developing safety plans, problem solving, court advocacy, child care, legal representation, counseling services.

          We launched, first in the State, in October of 2011. Their vision is to empower people to end abuse and violence; building healthy, hopeful, peaceful lives through a safe, service focused environment. It is a movement that challenges, empowers and engages our community to replace abuse and violence both with dignity and respect.

          Currently the program operates with grant funding and donations are always welcome. There is a place on the website where you can make donations. http://familyjusticecenternh.com

          Dep. Chief Dumas said that joining him on the stage are Ann Sanok, the FJC Director, along with Det. Bob Frechette of the Rochester Police Department who has played an integral role in getting the Family Justice Center up and running, and Dan Hussey from Rochester Rotary with a presentation for the Family Justice Center.

          Dan Hussey noted that on behalf of Rochester Rotary he was pleased to make this donation of $1,000.00, in honor of Officer Steven Arkell of Brentwood, who was killed in the line of duty. Additionally presented was a second check in the amount of $200.00 from the Rotary members that attended the recent meeting.

          Ann Sanok thanked Rotary stating they greatly appreciate the generosity of all Rotary members. She especially wished to thank the Rochester Police Department for their incredible leadership in the development of the Family Justice Center over the last several years.

          The Rochester Police Department has really been ahead of the curve in many ways with domestic violence and family violence which impacts so many people in the county and state, many times, sadly, with tragic results. The Police Department has done aggressive training and been on the forefront helping not only this but other jurisdictions in the county to really look at domestic violence and make sure they are aware that the Family Justice Center is there and available for victims and families that need us, so that victims are safe, families are safe and law enforcement is safe. We bring awareness and outreach to all involved. Rotary was again thanked for the donation that will go a long way. It is appreciated.

          B.  Accept Resignation: Officer Adam Ducharme. Officer Ducharme recently resigned to accept a law enforcement position in Massachusetts

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

          C.  Monthly Reports

          1. Operations. Capt. Boudreau said that three of the wards meting this period, attended by residents and elected officials. A variety of topics were discussed, including a speeding problem on Portland Street, as well as the resources it takes to deal with shoplifting offenses. We continue to get positive feedback on the work of Officer Blair over at Housing. He switches up his hours to be available nights and weekends.

          Officer MacKenzie had three tracks in Rochester and three additional tracks in the County. He also had a drug search in Rochester. The K9 team participated in the Lowes appreciation day, as well as a CSI camp in Kittery that some Rochester students took part in.

          Daisy Mae received recognition with an award for track of the year, and Phlirt was certified in narcotics detection.

          With the onset of warm weather, property crimes have been our focus. There was a jump in the numbers in April, largely fueled by three areas; shoplifting, vandalism and thefts from motor vehicles. There was spree this month in Gonic. The crime analyst did some work and along with surrounding agencies developed a suspect. We can't yet tie this person to our cases, but, since the suspect was arrested by a neighboring department, our thefts from motor vehicle numbers have seen a decline.

          The Honor Guard was active this period, serving at the memorial service and funeral for Officer Arkell, the Police Memorial Day in Concord and the Memorial Day parade in the City. The motor unit also participated in these events.

          We have deployed the mountain bikes. You may see officers out and about, weather permitting.

          The Tactical Team was activated for a call in Milton this period.

          Comm. Peters noted that Ward 4 will meet on June 24 at the Police Department and Ward 2 will meet on June 30 at Frisbie. Comm. Peters suggested that we do a monthly tip on the face book page giving residents prevention strategies on vandalism or car thefts.

          Dep. Chief Dumas said we can do that. The newsletter also provides this type of information. You can subscribe to the newsletter email list by emailing Officer Hayes.

          Capt. Toussaint noted that the investigations bureau had a busy month with a homicide investigation. They along with patrol did a great job on this, working closely with the Attorney General. We are still waiting for a final ruling from the AG. Additionally the unit completed a suicide investigation. They have also been working diligently on background investigations as we work to fill open positions.

          In the Communications Center, Candace Holmberg completed her field training and was released to solo headset. We have one candidate deep in the background phase. If she completes that, she will be the 10th dispatcher, which brings us to full staff.

          We have hired a new records secretary. She will start on June 9. This will allow for better coverage of the window for customer service. We have only had sporadic coverage in there since the prior secretary left.

          POP Officer Hayes has been busy this month. She has been finalizing the details of the Wings and Wheels event, set for June 14 from 10a-2p. All of the vendors have been lined up and the entire cost of the event has been covered, leaving any money donated directly supporting the food pantry. We encourage families to come out and see the vehicles, vendors and food. A food or cash donation of any denomination is requested for entry. This event has grown every year since its inception and Tracy does a great job with it.

          Tracy also attended the annual free comic book day. It was estimated that 7,000 people were out and about in the downtown for the event.

          Tracy is also our primary person maintaining our face book page. We are now at over 7,000 likes, and average 40-70,000 hits per month. This is a useful tool to get information out to the public. People often private message us with tips and information.

          Officer Funk had another successful year of DARE. A graduation was held on May 16, 2014.

          Teen Night concluded for the year on May 3, 2014, with 336 youths attending. We will do an after action review and begin plans for next year.

          2. Administration. Dep. Chief Dumas noted that our CIP also passed in the budget as presented. We will be ordering four vehicles, one of which will be for the Animal Control and back line. The motorcycle leases were also approved, along with the com log system that we have talked about. We will replace cruiser radios as needed throughout the year. We will keep the old ones for parts, until all are fully replaced.     

          The County has agreed to act as our fiscal agent again for JAG funding that we are eligible for. They take 10% of the funding to manage this for us. We are looking at hybrid computer tablets for both in the station and in the cruisers as lap tops. These can be pulled from the docking stations and used to take still pictures, video and audio recordings. These are fairly new to the market. Woonsocket, RI is using them and so far is pleased with them. They have approximately 100 officers.

          Comm. Lindsay inquired how many we are looking at.

          Dep. Chief Dumas said 9 front line cars and 3 in house will exhaust those funds.

          We sent a couple of officers off to mountain bike school; the bikes are used from the spring through the fall. They are a great community policing tool, getting officers in and about high traffic areas. One of the officers was very appreciative for the opportunity to attend the training. He sent a thank you letter to his supervisor.

          Officers Forrest, Hatch and Benjamin are doing well as the Academy so far. We will get them back roughly at shift change.

          Officer Ducharme resigned this period and fulfilled his training agreement obligation. He was about 93 days shy and paid in full out of his final paycheck. We usually have to chase people to pay this money and it was refreshing to have this Officer honor his obligation to the Department

6.       CORRESPONDENCE:

          Correspondence included the following: Officer Balint and Officer Powers are thanked by a citizen for their assistance with a family member in need. The kindergarten at Maple Street Magnet School thanks Chief Allen for reading to the class and donating two books to their library.

7.       INFORMATION:

          A. Information Other - enclosed with Agenda: No discussion.

          B. Meeting in July.

Comm. Peters MOVED and Comm. Lindsay SECONDED no regular meeting in July barring a need to have one.

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

Commissioner Peters MOVED to enter a nonpublic session at 7:30 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 7:50 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 Det. Chris Mangum, Off. Justin Livingstone, Off. Michael Lambert, and Off. Joshua Ouellette. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.

10.     ADJOURNMENT :

Comm. Levesque MOVED to adjourn. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay at 7:55 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted,

Rebecca J. Warburton, Secretary