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, August 6, 2014. Present at this meeting was Comm. Levesque, Comm. Lindsay, Comm. Peters, Chief Allen, Deputy Chief Dumas, Attorney Grossman, Chaplain Lachapelle, Secretary Warburton and members of the Department and the 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
2. PUBLIC COMMENT: There was no public comment.
3. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES:
A. June 4, 2014 – regular meeting
Comm. Peters MOVED to accept the minutes of the June 4, 2014 meeting. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.
4. OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
A. Standard Operating Procedure Updates
1. 61.2.1 Traffic Accident Investigations: Update, second reading
Comm. Peters MOVED to place Policy 61.2.1 Traffic Accident Investigations into a second reading. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and open for discussion.
The language change is driven due to state statute that requires blood shall be taken, but it is the practice of the hospital not to force anyone. So even though the law allows us to we have other means to obtain blood and the policy change reflects the County Attorney’s recommendation.
Comm. Peters MOVED to adopt Policy 61.2.1 Traffic Accident Investigations as updated. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.
The Commission requested that we highlight updates for future policy updates.
B. Other
1. The Attorney General released the final report on the homicide on Sylvain Street and has ruled it a justifiable homicide and determined there will not be criminal charges.
2. The JAG Grant was approved. The Sheriff’s Department is waiting on official notice of receiving the money. The Council accepted the funding at their meeting on August 5, 2014.
5. NEW BUSINESS:
A. Recognitions
1. NH Chiefs of Police Cadet Academy Graduates Ian Watt and Marcus Wyckoff were recognized for their achievements as first year cadets. Ian graduated top of the class, and Marcus also had a strong showing. Marcus could not attend due to other commitments. Lt. Gould assisted Chief Allen with presenting certificates for their achievements while attending the academy.
B. Oath of Office, promotion to Sergeant: Andrew Swanberry
Attorney Grossman administered the oath of office to Sgt. Swanberry.
C. Accept Resignation: Officer Kenneth Tapscott
Comm. Peters MOVED to accept the resignation of Officer Tapscott. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.
D. Accept Retirement: Sgt. Stephen Burke
Comm. Peters MOVED to accept the retirement of Sergeant Stephen Burke, with regret. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.
It was noted that Sgt. Burke served us for 29 years and we are sad to see him go. But he is ready to retire and do other things. Chief Allen said it is rare for a person to stay that long with one Department. Comm. Peters noted he enjoyed working with him.
E. Award Education Incentive: Lt. Jason Thomas. Chief Allen noted that Lt. Thomas graduated with a Bachelor Degree from Southern NH University. I am a supporter of one furthering their education. This is not easy to do when working full time and studying full time. He is eligible for the $1500.00 incentive for this achievement.
Comm. Lindsay MOVED that the paperwork is in order and the financial incentive is awarded to Lt. Thomas. SECOND by Comm. Peters and PASSED unanimously.
F. Monthly Reports
1. Operations. We are reporting on two months because we didn’t meet in July. The RUN program continues to be successful. We’ve struggled some with attendance, but are working with the citizens to boost the attendance.
Comm. Lindsay noted at the last Ward 6 meeting there were 25 to 30 members and he feels those numbers will continue given the issues they are facing.
Chief Allen said when we have issues in some of the neighborhoods it’s extremely important that we involve members of the community in helping us solve some of those issues. We can’t do it alone with our staffing. These are community issues and it’s important to get involved. Not just citizens, but elected officials, the commission, the council; that’s what makes the meetings meaningful and effective. This is a broad based cross of the community involved.
Comm. Levesque offered that attendance is open. You don’t have to wait to have an issue to show up. You can come and meet the officers representing your wards, talk with them and others. The conversation may be something that gets you more involved in the community. The more that go, the better it is.
Comm. Peters concurred. He said in Wards 1 and 2 it’s not just police and police issues. Representatives from all throughout the City, including public works, city hall, fire, councilors, they are all there is answer questions, and interesting topics are presented as well. It’s not one sided about police. It’s a broad spectrum of issues that come up every single month.
Comm. Lindsay noted that Ward 6 meetings the 4th Wednesday of every month at the community center.
Comm. Peters noted Ward 1 next meets on August 13, at 7:00 PM at TARA community center.
The K9 unit had a busy month. There were 12 tracks called out; 7 in the city. A couple of drug searches and other person searches. He continues to do a great job. He is in very high demand not just here, but in other communities we have agreements with.
Comm. Peters inquired how active is the K9 with the new task force.
Chief Allen replied the task force is brand new and has only been operational for about a month. He has done some limited work with them. He is one of the resources available to the task force if they should need them for an investigation.
In comp stat this period we modified how we run our DDACTS program. This is really just a restructuring where we are targeting the city and broadening the area. We are starting to branch out into specific wards and hot spot pockets of activity. We are increasing foot patrols motor vehicle activity, and bike patrols so that we can try and make impacts on those issues in those wards.
We are getting ready to roll out the new crime analysis program. This is new software available to the officers. Training is in the works. This software has a public interface that the public will be able to access via our website.
On the support side they also had a busy month. There were several callouts including for robberies, one of which we made three arrests for one of the Shell Station robberies. They were called out for other robberies of local convenience stores, drug overdoses, with death resulting, two untimely deaths, an arson. They are doing a great job being flexible. We are dedicated to making sure we have folks to respond to these crimes as they occur.
In Communications we promoted three to lead dispatchers. The Communications Supervisors position was eliminated in the FY15 budget reductions. Specialist Bowley, Specialist N. Bailey and Specialist Neal were selected. We are happy to get them in place. But on the other side Specialist Keri Devine and Specialist Jason Cole resigned this period, and this week we received a third resignation from Specialist Lavallee. We are actively working to fill those positions, but this obviously puts us into a staffing crunch that we are filling with per diem dispatchers and officers that have been trained to work in the center. We’ll get through it, but overtime will take a hit as well.
Comm. Peters asked when you are full staff do you keep the per diems in case we need them?
Chief Allen advised that we do. We try to fill shifts with per diem because it’s more cost effective.
Officer Hayes attended multiple community policing events. Again she is our primary poster for face book and it continues to be effective in engaging the community, solving crime and building relationships.
National Night Out was held the previous evening. It was well attended and had a large community involvement. It was great to see the Commissioners there, along with other elected officials. It is a drug free fun family event. I have to mention both our Nicole Rodler and Graham Griffin from Bridging the Gaps worked together and drive the coordination of that event. It is a lot of work, with planning and organizing and it continues to grow annually.
Comm. Peters mentioned that Wings and Wheels held in early June was a huge success. There were 4300 in attendance, raising $6,000.00 and collecting 1200 pounds of food. Officer Hayes did a remarkable job.
2. Administration. Dep. Chief Dumas noted that we are still a couple of months away from finalizing the FY14 books. All invoices for the year need to be completed this week. We are showing an overall surplus of $134,000.00 on the police side and $39,000.00 on the dispatch side. Most of this is from salaries and benefits as we transitioned with turnover in both budgets this year. Overtime was an issue and is something we continue to monitor closely. As you look at the FY15 budget if you see lines that look depleted most of that is due to blanket purchase orders, or known cost items being paid in full for the year.
As noted the JAG grant was approved and we are waiting for the spending portion to become available so we can move forward with the purchase of the tablets. These will have all the same functions as the MDT’s, as well as having cameras for still, video and audio recording.
There was 277 hours of training this period, primarily on line training through the IACP that offers different blocks of instruction that can be completed on duty time. We had 30 officers take the juvenile interviewing course. We also did some dashboard training with the crime analyst. This software is one of the benefits of our association with BAIR Analytics. The public won’t notice much difference once this goes live. It is very user friendly. The Police Department dashboard is useful in the wards for highlighting burglaries, speeding, thefts, etc. The officers can track all the activity, but can also set up their dashboard to get emails for their sector every shift. This will be useful moving forward.
Comm. Peters asked if that is all accessible with the tablet.
Dep. Chief Dumas noted that it is. This will have all the same function as the MDT. Chief Allen added that they will have internet access real time from the cruiser.
Currently in hiring we are down three. We have three graduating from the academy on August 22. Officer Forrest will have a brief overview and will be ready to be released to solo patrol. Officers’ Hatch and Benjamin will complete the in house phase and move into field training.
All of the vehicles we were authorized for have been purchased. It was to our benefit that Dodge extended their State Bid. The vehicles have all been stickered. The new ACO and PEO truck also looks sharp.
6. CORRESPONDENCE:
The correspondence for the month included: Officer James Murphy and Officer Aaron Garneau are thanked by Jason Bushway from the Bud Carlson Academy for a presentation to the students on alcohol awareness. Sgt. Deluca is thanked by a citizen for a tour of the Department. Officer Ouellette is recognized for his positive attitude, leadership and teamwork over previous 6 months. Chief Allen is thanked by Ian Watt for recommending him to the Chief’s Cadet Academy. Off. Mackenzie is thanked by the SMU Caruth Institute for participating in the CSI camp for a day. Off. Harding is recognized by a citizen for his assistance at a traffic accident. Off. Harding is recognized by a citizen for his work on MV enforcement on Pickering Road. Off. Ouellette is recognized for his presentation on the Crisis Intervention Team.
7. INFORMATION: No additional discussion.
8. NON-PUBLIC SESSION: (Pursuant to: RSA 91-A:3)
Commissioner Peters MOVED to enter a nonpublic session at 7:48 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 8:17 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 PT Off. Thomas Blair, Off. Frank Porfido and Off. Aaron Garneau. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.
10. ADJOURNMENT:
Comm. Levesque MOVED to adjourn. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay at 8:22 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rebecca J. Warburton,
Secretary