Public Safety Committee (Building & Codes, Fire, Police)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES July 15, 2020 – 4:00 P.M. via Google Meets CALL TO ORDER: A meeting of the City of Clarksville Public Safety Committee was called to order by Chairman Jeff Henley on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. This meeting was conducted via Google Meets. ATTENDANCE: The following members responded to roll call and were connected to the meeting: Councilman Jeff Henley, Chair; Councilman Ron Erb; Councilman Vondell Richmond; Councilman Travis Holleman; Councilwoman Wanda Smith Others Participating: Building & Codes Interim Director David Smith, Chief David Crockarell, Fire Chief Freddie Montgomery, Stephanie Fox, Melissa Eldridge and Gina Johnson APPROVAL OF ELECTRONIC MEETING: In order to comply with the technical aspects of the Governor’s Executive Order regarding holding open meetings in a forum other than in the open and in public, the Public Safety Committee determines that meeting electronically is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Councilman Richmond made a motion to approve the electronic meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Smith. The vote for the motion to conduct this meeting by electronic means was approved unanimously by the Committee. Councilwoman Smith requested the following amendments to be made to the June 17, 2020 minutes. Chairman Henley motion to approve the amendments. Councilman Richmond made a motion to approve. The motion was seconded Councilman Erb. The vote for motion was unanimous. (Requested amendments are in bold print) Chief Montgomery advised out of an existing pool of 60 applicants that took the written exam 1 was African American. Chief again reiterated the department is looking for diverse applicants and with that being said advised the department has re-evaluated the hiring process and implemented changes by “casting a bigger net” by testing up to 450 applicants and increasing diversity. Chief advised he has scheduled two open practice events to allow applicants to get familiar with the requirements of the physical agility test. BUILDING & CODES DEPARTMENT:  David Smith presented the department’s monthly report and gave a brief overview of the department’s stats and stated he would answer any questions.  Chairman Henley asked Smith were inspections up due to a mix of different types. Mr. Smith explained they had several busy months for permits being pulled and this will make the inspections pick up.  Councilwoman Smith asked Mr. Smith the plan on the property of the houses being torn down on her street. Mr. Smith asked for the address of the property. Councilwoman Smith said she would get the location of the property and call him. There were no further questions for Mr. Smith. POLICE DEPARTMENT:  Chief Crockarell presented the department’s monthly report and advised he would answer any questions. Chief Crockarell stated the fireworks calls had almost doubled from 2019. Chief Crockarell said he had discussed the fireworks call increase with Chief Montgomery and several others. There will be a future discussion on how to improve the response to these type of calls.  Chief Crockarell informed the Committee they are hiring Police officers and have 10 officers at the Police Academy now. The COVID had delayed the process from May but they are back at the Academy for a ten week process. Chief Crockarell said three certified officers from middle Tennessee Agencies were interviewed and one was just hired. He is from Dickson PD. He will go through the in house process then assigned with training officers. Chief Crockarell said based on the officer’s level of experience he should be ready in six weeks.  Chief Crockarell stated the Department is doing well and the community has been very supportive. He said they have been using virtual meets in a lot of different ways.  Chairman Henley asked Chief Crockarell who the citizens need to call regarding a complaint about fireworks debris in their yard from a neighbor. Chief Crockarell said the Police would respond to calls of that nature.  Councilwoman Smith told Chief Crockarell it was good that the department can hire certified police. She asked if the individuals coming here are reputable or have they been fired or suspended. Chief Crockarell said a very thorough background check is done on the officers applying for a position. He has spoken with several that wanted to work at the department and they have expressed they see the social media and community engagement. They might live in Clarksville but have been commuting to Nashville and would like to work close to home. Chief Crockarell said they did recently pass on an officer from a different agency due to information from the background check. Councilwoman Smith said it was good to pass on those who had disciplinary action and not to just hire them because they are a certified officer.  Councilwoman Smith asked Chief Crockarell about a fireworks incident call that happened regarding an officer pulling out a gun and there were several children around at the time. Councilwoman Smith said there is a video showing what the officer did and she will send it to Chief Crockarell. Councilman Richmond asked if the incident would show on our new vehicle or body camera system. Chief Crockarell stated it should be captured but maybe not with in car camera that depends. He said by policy the camera should be on and the view is steering wheel to steering wheel when they are dispatched to a call. Councilman Richmond asked if the camera would be on for the officer’s shift except for break or lunch. Chief Crockarell stated the cameras are turned on when dispatched to a call. They are unable to have the camera on for 12 hours a day due to not enough storage. It depends on the nature of the call whether it is citizens contact and call for service. Councilman Richmond asked if an officer was on a field call would the camera be on for the entire call. Chief Crockarell stated the camera would be on unless the call was cancel before they got to the location.  Councilman Richmond stated he had a few emails from constituents researching cases of the unfortunate shooting of Breonna Taylor. What is Clarksville’s policy for no knock warrants. He asked what types of diversity training do the officers get. He also wanted to follow up on the Wellness topic for himself and Chairman Henley. Chief Crockarell stated no knock warrants are rarely prosecutable in this jurisdiction. He said Clarksville PD is a knock and announce department. Chief Crockarell said our diversity training comes in by several different angles. We follow CALEA Standard, also the State Of Tennessee requires officer to have racial profile training. They have annually mandated training through the City Of Clarksville on harassment and hostile working environment. He stated all new officer are trained in diversity inclusion. Chief Crockarell stated the Wellness programs was very important but still in the first stages. He said they have met with Centerstone and discussed with them assisting in calls regarding mental health out in the field. Centerstone would like to provide a Wellness Program for the officers. He stated they have been involved in train the trainer and will be focusing on that for the future. He stated this program needs more staff to really get going. Councilman Richmond thanked Chief Crockarell for the update.  Councilman Richmond asked how the overall workplace morale is. He briefly discussed about what the nation is going through and wanted to know how it was affecting the officers. Councilman Richmond expressed how the counsel would help in any way they could. Chief Crockarell stated due to COVID they were having department google meets with 100 officers talking about several issues and how the department can improve. He said the staff has several meetings through google meets then the supervisors follow-up in the field with personnel.  Chief Crockarell stated they had a supervisor meeting along with Mayor Pitts at the Family Life Center on Old Farmers Road. All CDC guidelines were followed at the meeting. Chief Crockarell said Mayor Pitts discussed his support and issues with the department pay. Chief Crockarell stated they had discussed administrative issues. Then the main focus toward the end of the meeting was this profession and as leaders to remain professional. They also discussed the plans moving forward. Chief Crockarell said the officers are concerned with what they see on the news and do not agree with what happened to George Floyd. He stated they are concerned and have discussed with their families if they should remain in this profession. Chief Crockarell said the department has  seen community support. Councilman Richmond thanked Chief Crockaell for the synopsis. Councilman Richmond stated he would like to participate at the next meeting in supporting Chief Crockarell, Mayor Pitts, citizens and officers.  Councilwoman Smith said she was glad to hear of the support from the community for the Police Department. She stated she received a complaint from citizens regarding an order of protection. When the citizens called for the order of protection to be enforced, the Police Officer didn’t enforce it due to it was never received. Chief Crockarell said he was aware of the incident. He said it was handled appropriately and in order for it to be served it has to be signed by the court then entered in the Sheriff’s system. Councilwoman Smith asked who should have entered it in the Sheriffs system. Councilwoman Smith said the clerk had to inform the officer to honor the order of protection. She asked Chief Crockarell who was at fault for this not being in the system. Chief Crockarell stated it was the time frame from the judge to it being entered in the system. He said he wasn’t aware of the clerk talking to the officer to honor the order of protection. Chief Crockarell stated Capt. Smith was first involved before it went to Mayor Pitts. He said they can’t even serve a warrant unless it’s in the system. Councilwoman Smith said the officer should have explained this to the person because they thought it was in place. She wanted to know the steps for the police department regarding an order of protection. Chief Crockarell stated that’s between the courts and he didn’t have any influence on how it is handled on their end. Councilwoman Smith asked Chief Crockarell how the officers would be educated on this for future incidents. She stated the officers need to let the citizens know when it’s not in the system so there is less confusion. Chief Crockarell replied yes ma’am. FIRE DEPARTMENT:  Chief Montgomery presented the department’s monthly report and gave a brief breakdown by Division and stated he would answer any questions.  Chief Montgomery stated the monthly runs were 1173 and were getting back to normal. 71% of the calls were rescue related and approximately $23,000 in fire related loss.  Chief Montgomery advised Fire Prevention has performed 253 inspections and 25 commercial burn permits have been issued, 3 Fire Investigations and 64 smoke alarm installs, including several plan reviews.  Total training hours for June are 632 with a total of 66 members of the department were involved through 16 classes.  Chief Montgomery said the new fire truck should arrive in the next few weeks. He stated it will be delivered to a dealership close by for an onsite inspection before we take possession.  Chief Montgomery informed the Committee the hiring events were started last week and another practice for the physical agility will be this Saturday from 10am to 2pm. He said these events have been advertised. Last Saturday we had 76 that participated. He said we normally test around 50 but will test 450 in this next process.  Councilwoman Smith thanked Chief Montgomery for his report. She asked Chief Montgomery was the agility test the first step before they submit an application. Chief Montgomery stated the written test is the first step. He said this was the first time for this event that was held this past Saturday and it was just for familiarization. The process had been changed and this gives the candidates an opportunity to see the changes and also  practice. Chief Montgomery said August 17th, 18th and 19th we will be testing three times a day with 50 people at a time. He stated the people that pass the written test will then get an invitation for the physical agility test. Councilwoman Smith asked was those participants very diverse. Chief Montgomery said from the last group practice of 76 it was very diverse. Chief Montgomery invited all the council people to attend this upcoming Saturday. Chief Montgomery said mask will be provided for the ones that attend. Councilman Richmond thanked Chief Montgomery for the good job on getting the word out for this hiring event.  Councilwoman Smith asked Chief Montgomery has a decision been made about hiring 18 year olds and could High Schools start teaching the requirements of becoming a firefighter.  Chief Montgomery said this would be a longer process and HR along with the City would have to start a Feeder program. He said the time frame for that would be maybe in the next year. He also stated that Rossview High School has started a Fire Science Program for that. Chief Montgomery stated it would be about three years before we stated receiving people from that program. COMMITTEE COUNCIL ACTION REQUIRED None CITY COUNCIL ACTION REQUIRED  Chief Montgomery explained Resolution 10-2020-21: A Resolution authorizing a memorandum of understanding with Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency. After general discussion motion for approval was made by Councilman Richmond, seconded by Councilwomen Smith. The vote for the motion was unanimous.  Chief Montgomery explained Resolution 11-2020-21: A Resolution authorizing a memorandum of understanding with Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services. After general discussion motion for approval was made by Councilman Rrb seconded by Councilwomen Smith. The vote for the motion was unanimous. OTHER ADJOURNMENT There being no further discussion motion to adjourn was made by Councilwoman Smith, seconded by Councilman Holleman and approved by the committee. Submitted by: Gina Johnson Fire Department Adopted: October 21, 2020