Police Commission

POLICE COMMISSION August 27, 2021 Minutes PRESENT: Chairman Jim Sponaugle, Commissioner Trish Hansen, Commissioner Elizabeth Starr, Chief Paul Sandy, Deputy Chief David Guerrera, and Tracey Hatfield. Also present, Kevin Smith and Eddie Velazquez, writers from the Cortland Voice. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Police Commission was held on August 27, 2021 in the Mayor’s Conference Room at City Hall. Chairman Sponaugle called the meeting to order at 8 a.m. A. MINUTES – On the motion of Comm. Hansen, second by Comm. Starr the Commission approved the minutes of the July meeting. B. BILLS –The Commission reviewed the June bills totaling $61,173.64 and were approved on the motion of Comm. Starr, second by Comm. Hansen. Brief discussion regarding purchase of 3 new MVR cameras for police vehicles, replacing old, outdated versions. Also, brief discussion regarding training and vaccinations. C. REPORTS –The reports as approved on the motion of Comm. Starr second by Comm. Hansen were highlighted as follows: A request was made by Comm. Starr to re-number the reports. 1. Year-To-Date Budget – The Chief reviewed the new budget figures with the Commission. Finance errors briefly mentioned. Thank you to Tracey for catching errors and getting Finance to correct. 2. Vehicle Maintenance – The Commission reviewed the report; a short discussion was had regarding:  Vehicle maintenance line is very low due to City Council not allowing the purchase of enough new vehicles the past 2 years. The cost to maintain older vehicles still in operation has caused a rise in money used for vehicle maintenance. May have to suspend routine maintenance of vehicles in October.  Car 16 (K-9) had a malfunction in the door popper.  Car 27 needed to have AC condenser replaced. 3. Sick Time Comparison – The Commission reviewed this report. We have one officer recovering from Covid. The Mayor is looking into allowing the officer to use Covid time instead of sick time. 4. Overtime – Various categories of overtime hours were reviewed. OT is leveling out.  Stop DWI OT has been suspended temporarily due to staffing levels. 1|Page  5. Other Activities Report –  Mental health calls are up  Narcan calls are down, although Narcan doses are up. Multiple doses are being used for one call/individual. Calls could possibly be down due to doses being self-administered before 911 is called; although there is no data being kept on self-administered doses. 6. SPCA Report – The SPCA report was reviewed. There was a letter to the Editor due to a call not being handled properly by CPD. After investigating this incident, it was determined that the call was never actually dispatched to CPD. The call was dispatched to SPCA and Cortland Fire; the call was handled promptly. A phone call was made to the letter writer (by CPD) to explain that CPD was never dispatched to this call. 7. Parking Tickets – Tickets issued are down. 8. Detective Bureau Cases – A variety of crimes investigated by the Detective Bureau for the month were reviewed by the Commission. 9. Officers Injury Report – Nothing to report. 10. Arrest Breakdowns – Arrests up; growth in misdemeanors/felonies. V&T down with DWI Patrol suspended. Student arrests may go up with school being back in session. Classes are being held on campus instead of virtually. OLD BUSINESS A. POLICE COMMISSION – There will be a public hearing at the next council meeting to discuss the increase of Police Commission members from 3-5. The Mayor has a list of possible candidates for the 2 vacant positions. Process is moving along. B. GRIEVANCES– Nothing new to discuss. C. CAP –Centralized Arraignment. Still working out the bugs. Another CAP meeting is needed before we can participate. One of the Judges is saying CPD is not listed on the agreement that would allow us to participate. 2|Page D. ACCREDITATION-Moving along well, on target to complete by the end of the extension we requested. E. RECRUITMENT/CIVIL SERVICE LIST-  3 Civil Service prep training sessions were held in July  After being notified there were only 12 applicants signed up to take the Civil Service exam in September, Lt. Cute emailed everyone who attended the training sessions in July to remind them of the deadline to sign up for the upcoming exam. Number of people signed up went from 12 to 33.  The County has one open position at this time, Homer appears to be set.  CPD has permission to hire 4.  Broome Academy starts in the Spring.  We have 2 anticipated retirements early in 2022. Hope to get council approval to hire prior to that. F. C.O.P.S. POSITION  We have a couple of officers who have expressed an interest in taking over some of the events previously handled by Officer Abbott in the COPS Position. _Veteran’s Breakfast, Shop with a Cop)  We cannot fill this position full time until we are adequately staffed. NEW BUSINESS A. AMERICAN RECOVERY $$  Money is here. Mayor has asked who needs what.  We are hopeful we can get some money for more new cars and possible stipends for officers who worked during Covid. E. KNAPP-RETIREMENT- Moving along. OTHER BUSINESS A. COMMENDATION, APPRECIATION, and CORRESPONDENCE REPORT –  Brief discussion regarding the bike sale. 3|Page B. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS – Commissioner Sponaugle made a brief statement regarding the commendation for Officer Drake. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to discuss, on the motion of Comm. Hansen, second by Comm. Starr the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Tracey Hatfield Sr. Account Clerk 4|Page