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, October 7, 2015. Present at this meeting was Comm. Levesque, Comm. Lindsay, Comm. Peters, Chief Allen, Capt. Toussaint, Capt. Boudreau, Chaplain Lachapelle and Secretary Warburton as well as invited guests, 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. 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.  September 2, 2015 regular meeting

Comm. Peters MOVED to accept the minutes of the September 2, 2015 regular meeting as presented. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.

4.        OLD AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 

            Comm. Peters noted that now that school is in session he is seeing calls from constituents regarding speeding on some roads. We can put the speed trailer out. If people have concerns in this regard, let the Commission know so it can be addressed timely.

5.        NEW BUSINESS:

A. Awards and Recognitions

            1) Lifesaving – Off. Michael Lambert was recognized with a life-saving award for efforts of a person in cardiac arrest. This person, unfortunately, did pass away at the hospital several days later, but he was given a fighting chance.

            2) Lifesaving – Off. Marc Cilley was recognized for two separate incidents. One was a cardiac arrest and the other was a suspected drug overdose.           

            B.  Community Outreach – Veteran’s Council.  Officer Michael Miehle is a veteran officer of the Department. He is also the newest community engagement officer, replacing Tracy Hayes. Mike is well known and engaged in the community. He lives in the City and we are looking forward to his success in the position.

            Officer Miehle stated that he was relocated to this area by the US Coast Guard. He serves as a CPO in at the Gloucester, MA station. He was able to merge those responsibilities as a police officer and the Veteran’s Council and the work they do in the City.

            The Veteran’s Council is formed under the Charter and responsible to the Mayor. They comprise 15 different member organizations, including the American Legion #7, American Legion Auxiliary, the AMVETS, Humane Lodge 21, Knights of Columbus, Rochester Elks 1393, the Victory Club and several others including members of the City Council and Police Department. Meetings are held monthly. We do outreach to Veteran’s, participate in the Memorial Day Parade, events on Veteran’s Day, the POW/MIA vigil at the Commons, Pearl Harbor Day and the Armed Forces Day held annually at the Lilac Mall.  The Council also annually collects flags and retires them with a ceremonial burning.  

            The Veteran’s Council maintains the Honor Roll on the City Hall lawn. This is a wood structure that needs maintenance and painting during the year. This is done with volunteers and Veteran’s Council funds. The Council also maintains the monuments in the City. There is some funding from the City, but the rest is obtained through fundraising efforts of the Council. 

            We meet with Veteran’s at the local nursing homes and bring them out to various events. This is important to recognize them and spend time engaging with them. We have lunches sponsored by towns or businesses and we bring them once per year to the Veteran’s Home in Tilton and to the Veteran’s ceremonies at the cemetery in Boscawen.

            Some of our details overlap with the Pease Greeters and other organizations that might seek to have some assistance related to Veteran’s such as donations for medical equipment funnel them into nursing homes or  private homes where Vets are in need.

            We are working in collaboration with Home Depot on an initiative to provide some funding to repair veterans homes. Any Veteran’s in the community that need projects done where they are financially or physically unable to do them, we might be able to help. This is a work in progress.

            The Veteran’s Council is a broad organization. If you have a topic that has Veteran in it, this group of people is willing to get involved. They are hardworking and dedicated. Off. Miehle said it is an honor for me to be a liaison and I appreciate the command staff for selecting me to represent and work with the Veteran’s Council. I feel quite indebted to them for they work they have done before me.

            Comm. Levesque thanked the Department representatives that have come before the Commission these past several months to talk about the outreach in the community the Department does. I am grateful to you for the time you donate to these programs.

            C.   Accept Resignation – Officer Tracy Hayes.  Officer Hayes submitted her resignation from the Department effective October 1, 2015.

Comm. Lindsay MOVED to accept the resignation, with regret and to forward a letter of appreciation. The motion was SECONDED by Comm. Peters and PASSED unanimously.          

  D. Policy Updates: First Reading  

            1). Policy 71.1.1 Arrest Procedures, Booking Room. Chief Allen noted that most of the updates in the policy are housekeeping. One significant change is how we secure cooperative prisoners in the booking cell. When the booking room was designed; steel eyelets were embedded and prisoners are handcuffed to the bench for their safety and the officer’s safety. There are several instances that can become problematic. Prisoners that were compliant at first now become non-compliant. This has caused some issues for us in that booking area.

            The change here is really to allow for compliant prisoners to not be secured by handcuff to that eyelet. If we bring in a non-compliant prisoner they will remain handcuffed with an officer stationed in the cell to be with the prisoner. We feel that is in the best interest of safety to the prisoner and the officers. It is consistent with how it is done in other departments that have similar configurations as ours. I am asking that you waive the second reading and move to adopt this tonight due to the importance of how we secure prisoners.

            Comm. Peters said that there are a lot of areas that have been eliminated or struck and he is not comfortable waiving the second reading. He would like to pass this off for another month to have more time to review.

Comm. Peters MOVED to place Policy Standard 71.1.1 Arrest Procedures, Booking Room into a first reading. The motion was SECONDED by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.

            2). Policy 45.2.1.6 Citizen Ride Along. The big change to this policy is the prohibition of any participant carrying a weapon during the ride along.

Comm. Peters MOVED to place Policy Standard 45.2.1.6 Citizen Ride Along into a first reading, and to waive the second reading and MOVE for adoption. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.

             E.  Monthly Reports

            1. Operations. Capt. Toussaint noted that three of the six wards met this period and those meetings other than city officials and police were lightly attended. We discussed comp stat data for the wards, changes in the laws and items beneficial to the community.

            The K9 had a busy month with 18 calls for service, 8 of them drug searches. Keith just returned from Illinois where he and Daisy Mae were awarded the USPCA patrol case of the year for their work in Northern Maine apprehending a homicide suspect. He barely unpacked from that when he was off to Virginia to bloodhound school. They are a valuable asset to our agency and gets national attention for us.

            The new housing vehicle is up and running. It is fully marked and it’s getting positive comments.

            Comm. Lindsay noted he is getting positive feedback from the residents of Wellsweep for issues they bring to Officer Blair’s attention. He has been able to calm people down and reassure them to let investigations take their course. Comm. Lindsay said that he thought it was all senior citizens living in that housing but it is not.

            Capt. Toussaint said that a lot of what Off. Blair does is as a liaison with the residents and relationship building and information sharing.

            Capt. Toussaint said the patrol had another positive month with over 1,000 traffic stops using the consistent strategy of deploying officers to areas identified by the crime analyst that have high drug activity. Traffic stops are up year to date 63%. As expected the more contacts we have, the more arrests we have and arrests from traffic stops has climbed year to date 48%. DWI arrests from traffic stops are up 43%. This is a big public safety issue and to pull these folks off the street could save lives.

            The Commission inquired if we have made any arrests for violating the hands-free law. Capt. Toussaint said through summons, yes.

            Comm. Peters noted that traffic stops are way up compared to years past. Not everyone receives a summons. There is education, targeting areas watching traffic for the safety of the residents, pedestrians and visitors to the city. Kudos to the men and women.

            Capt. Toussaint said that overall property crime is down 34% year to date. We are thrilled about that and feel like we are on the right track. Officers are doing a great job.

            Chief Allen said the 34% reduction in property crime is unprecedented. We know there is a strong correlation between drugs and property crime throughout the country, not just here. These issues reported in other parts of the state are reporting increases where we are seeing decreases. It’s an important distinction to make that the strategy we are deploying with high visibility, high traffic enforcement and using known drug intelligence is a direct result on our property crime reduction.

            We have started to closely track overdose responses. Last year between September and December we had almost 79 overdose incidents we responded to. This year, the entire year to date, we’ve responded to 67. Enforcement, education, and outreach in the community, as well as other spokes in the wheel in medical treatment, and recovery is making an impact in our community. I’m not hearing about those in other parts of the state. This is great work and initiatives being done together.

            Comm. Peters said getting the people; the resources on the street shows in the numbers. Now we need to maintain and it. 

            Proactive policing makes a difference. To do it you need people. There is a balance that we have to address. We don’t have fewer calls but we do have less crime. It all relates. I appreciate the generosity of commitment from the City Council to give us the resources. We have been telling them that we need it and it is making a difference.

            Comm. Lindsay spoke to the overdose data. We have to assume some of those are repeat people. Do you feel the number of new people you are helping is increasing or decreasing?

            Chief Allen said I haven’t looked at the data for recidivism. That is something we can get. Keep in mind when I talk statistics those are only the ones that we are involved in. Not every overdose gets reported. The hospital stats are probably higher. Our numbers data is from the coordinated response between police, fire, and Ems.

            Comm. Levesque asked about Narcan being available to individuals. Is it going to help or hurt?

            Chief Allen said that I support the program. If it’s going to save lives in our community, why wouldn’t I support it? I’ve heard the arguments and I don’t agree. The availability of Narcan for families that need it for their loved ones, they are doing it for the right reason, not as a means to abuse. It’s a good program that will save lives.

            Comm. Lindsay asked once you open Narcan to the general populace I think there is a strong possibility of a black market; wheeling and dealing Narcan without going through formal channels. It may sound a bit absurd but I can see dealers distributing heroin and Narcan along with it.

            Chief Allen said I respectfully disagree and here is why. In Rochester, Frisbie is the first hospital in the State to issue a standing order prescription to a pharmacy, subsequently resulting in others being issued this week throughout Strafford County. Rochester, Dover and Somersworth all pharmacies now have the ability and anyone can go into a pharmacy and get a prescription for Narcan. All they have to do is go in and demonstrate the need to the pharmacist. So in terms of a black market item and being sold by someone in the dealing business – it’s too easy for anybody to get, so I don’t see that being an issue that will develop. If it was difficult to get through other means then I agree that could be an unintended consequence, but because of the ease of access I don’t see that happening.

            Comm. Lindsay said easier distribution means it’s greater out there.

            Chief Allen said it will be, sure.

            Comm. Peters asked are we carrying it in the cruisers.

            Chief Allen confirmed as of two weeks ago, we are.

            Capt. Boudreau said the investigations bureau saw a sharp increase in overall activity this period. 51 cases were sent up from Patrol. There are 79 cases assigned for investigation or review. We saw another successful month in Grand Jury with 11 cases presented all with true bills.

            It was a busy month for call outs. There were three deaths and two robberies.

            Det. Frechette advised that the Family Justice Center received a grant extension to keep that program moving forward.

            We had one of the Detectives working with Bridging the Gaps on the Drug Take Back Day. We had a record 9 boxes of unused prescription medications. The DEA hasn’t released the weights yet.

            The Communications Center staffing is starting to improve. Specialist Holman is at the end of her training and entering her final observation period. She is expected to be released to solo headset shortly, which will eliminate some of the overtime slots we have been filling. We started one new trainee in dispatch and the final background is nearly complete for the remaining open position to get the center up to full staff.

            Officer Hayes resignation found us selecting Officer Miehle as the new Community Engagement Officer. He worked with her during her last week to get out into the community and meet some of the contacts. He is excited to take on this program. He is very community oriented and lives here in the City.

            At the end of August we had a modified version of National Night Out, calling it Rochester Night Out. There were approximately 1800 participants for the event. Guyer travel hosted a free movie night which increased participation.

            Officer Jackson is off to a good start as the School Resource Officer at the High School. We are getting positive reports of his activity on school grounds and over at the recreation center. He has been checking in with the Middle School during Officer Funk’s absence.

            Comm. Peters inquired into Officer Funk’s progress. Do we expect him back this calendar year?

            Officer Funk checks in with us every couple of weeks. He has not been cleared to return to duty. We are hopeful for that to happen in the next couple of months.

            Comm. Peters asked if there is a fallback plan if he doesn’t, particularly for DARE?

            We do have a presence with Officer Jackson. We have other options but it would involve redeploying to a part-time position and we would rather not interrupt the flow of things and implement if we don’t have to. We can discuss this further as Officer Funk progresses.

            Comm. Peters said since he is part time for the future we need to make sure we have someone certified to teach DARE.

            Chief Allen said we do have another officer that is certified but he is full time in Patrol currently.

            2. Administration. We rolled out Narcan in the cruisers a couple of weeks ago in partnership with Frisbie Hospital. We did a joint press release with them. We’ve yet to deploy it but it’s reassuring to know timing being of the essence that officers have the ability to deploy in the event they need to.

            Molly Martuscello is going a wonderful job with the Bridging the Gaps program. Comm. Peters is one of the coalition members and he can attest to her work in bringing the coalition members together.  October  23 -31 is Red Ribbon Week a national program that targets drug-free communities and raising awareness of dangers of drug and alcohol use. Bridging the Gaps has a number of different activities planned.  Mayor Jean will issue a Proclamation, officers will wear red ribbons on their uniforms and magnets will be put on the cruisers.

            Comm. Peters asked when the next academy class was for recruits.

            Chief Allen said he wasn’t sure of the date but we will hire when the timing is right to bring them on and get them through the necessary training and then send them to the academy.

            Comm. Peters said as much in-house training we can get done frees up more time when they get back.

            F. Other.

            1. New Cruiser. Chief Allen advised the Commission that funding for a new cruiser had been appropriated by the Council the previous evening. They added $33,000.00 to purchase the car that was cut back in June. We are looking forward to getting back on track with our replacement plan. The State bid pricing has expired so we will have to go out to bid. None of the dealerships have any leftovers, and they are estimating 8–10 weeks for the car to arrive.

            2. Bullet Resistant Vest Grant. The Council also accepted the bullet resistant vest grant in the amount of $7,163.00. This covers ½ the cost of purchasing a vest.

            3. Highway Safety Grant. The Council authorized us to apply for highway safety grant funds in the amount of $11,200.00 that we will use to help offset the cost of the in-car video camera replacement. We will advise if we are awarded the grant. The Council has to accept that also.

6.        CORRESPONDENCE:

            Correspondence for the month included:  Off. Danie is thanked by the NH Police Cadet Academy for his participation as a staff member. Lt. Bossi, Sgt. Brinkman, Off. Forrest, Off. Garneau and Off. Williams-Hurley were recognized by Frisbie EMS for their assistance and actions during a suicidal subject call. Off. Moore is thanked via facebook for recovering an item stolen from a city resident. Off. Benjamin, Off. Danie, Off. Powers and Off. Worthley are thanked by UNH PD for assistance during opening weekend at the University. Det. Rousseau is selected as the City’s Employee of the Month. He was nominated by the Dispatch Center for creating a database that assists them in their job function. Andrew Georgevits of the Trump campaign thanks the Department for professional assistance during Mr. Trump’s visit to the City. Off. Jackson is thanked by a resident for assistance in recovering of a stolen bike.

            Comm. Lindsay commented that he was at the Trump Rally and saw the officers interacting in a large scale situation. They did a good job and showed a lot of respect and professionalism.

            There was a recent Facebook post from a gentleman who was very appreciative for the Officers helping to find his dog. There was a follow-up article in the paper noting that dog meant more than anything to this resident and that the officers went through the swamp to rescue the dog was above and beyond. Comm. Lindsay commented that officers were recognized in the paper’s editorial. Kudos to them for taking initiative where they easily could have said no, we can’t help.

7.        INFORMATION:

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

B. Other.

            1. Newspaper. There is a new newspaper that will be produced once per month. It’s going to be a free paper that will be mailed. It could be a good way for us to get information to residents.

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

Commissioner Peters MOVED to enter a nonpublic session at 8:20 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 Commissioner Peters, Commissioner Lindsay and Comm. Levesque voting in the affirmative.  Two-minute recess. The non-public session closed at 8:51 P.M. on a MOTION by Comm. Peters, SECOND by Comm. Levesque and PASSED unanimously.

9.        MISCELLANEOUS:

Comm. Peters MOVED to award merit increases on the respective anniversary dates to Off. Jacob Garstin (3.3%); Off. Keith MacKenzie (4.5%); Off. Paul Kusnierz (3.1%); Off. Joseph Rousseau (4.5%); Off. Elizabeth Turner 3.7%) and Off. Randy Smith (3.4%). The motion was SECONDED by Comm. Lindsay and PASSED unanimously.  

9.        ADJOURNMENT:

Comm. Peters MOVED to adjourn. SECOND by Comm. Lindsay at 8:53 P.M.

                                         Respectfully Submitted

Rebecca J. Warburton

Secretary