Citizen Police Advisory Committee

CITIZEN POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 19, 2013 7:00 p.m. The Citizen Police Advisory Committee met in regular session on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in the Executive Conference Room at City Hall, 800 Municipal Drive, Farmington, New Mexico, 87401. Members Present: Deb Dumont, Chairman; Chuck Culpepper, Steve Grey, Patricia Simpson Members Absent: Joel Irvin, Rosalie Maez City Personnel Present: Kyle Westall, Police Chief Taft Tracy, Internal Affairs Lieutenant Casey Malone, IA Sergeant Josh Laino, IA Sergeant Jason Eley, Assistant City Attorney Kim Parrish, Administrative Assistant Guests: None I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman Deb Dumont at 7:00 p.m., and there being a quorum of members present, the following proceedings were duly had and taken. II. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING Steve Grey moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of January 15, 2013 as presented. Chuck Culpepper seconded the motion. Motion carried. III. CHIEF’S REPORT, CHIEF KYLE WESTALL Chief Westall stated that they hire 7 new recruits who are now in the academy. The Police Department also received new software for taking accident reports, which seems to be very popular. Insurance companies can go into this reporting system and get reports much quicker than before. The City is looking for $4.4 million to make up for budget deficits. The Police Department was set to adopt 5 officer positions that were previously federally funded that we were planning on moving to the City’s general fund budget, which may not be able to happen this year. These positions will not go away, they would just be unfunded. The positions are 2 school resource officers, 2 bicycle officers, and a crime scene analyst. Chief Westall also mentioned their fleet concerns. Three cars have been totaled, and funding for replacements may be cut. Insurance may only cover enough costs to pay for 1 new vehicle.  They are adding a full-time court liaison, who will manage subpoenas and paperwork that goes between Magistrate and Municipal Court. This will take some of the burden off of the Community Service Officers. Chief Westall discussed the effort that has been put into management training for the Captains, Lieutenants, and Sergeants. He stated the he and Judge Liese have been working on getting a court case worker to follow the top repeat offenders to help keep them out of the system, which includes getting them long-term help via counseling, or long-term employment, etc. They are seeking a grant for this position. Steve Grey asked about the possibility of looking at Native American candidates. Chief Westall stated that they have been working job fairs throughout the Navajo Nation. Sergeant Kee is over training and recruiting and he has been working to recruit people from the reservation. Several people have made it through the beginning process, but then don’t pass the background check. It hasn’t been all that successful, but they still have more Native American officers than ever before. They have had more success recruiting Hispanic officers. IV. INTERNAL AFFAIRS REPORT, LT. TAFT TRACY Taft Tracy introduced Casey Malone as the new IA sergeant. Lt. Tracy gave an overview of the January and February reports, and the pending allegations. January had 2 “Use of Force” incidents in which tasers and/or firearms were used. Steve Grey asked about the 2 incidents that involved tasers, and if either resulted in death. Lt. Tracy explained that only one of the incidents was lethal, where the officer had to utilize his firearm after the taser was ineffective. Lt. Tracy handed out the Annual Statistics Report for 2012, and gave an overview of the results. Steve Grey asked about when a citizen complains about unsatisfactory performance, and what that means. Lt. Tracy explained that “unsatisfactory performance” complaint means that a citizen might not be satisfied with how the officer handled the situation. For example, maybe the officer didn’t take a report and he should have. If the findings reveal that a report was not necessary, the officer would be exonerated. Deb Dumont asked if there were trends in any of the categories on the report. Lt. Tracy explained that they review these reports specifically for trends. If a certain officer received a certain number of complaints in a specific time period, it flags that officer and they review all the complaints and the officer’s performance, and their supervisor addresses the issue. If it’s noticed that an officer is just lacking in certain skills, they will put them through training. Steve Grey asked if officers see the annual report. Lt. Tracy said yes they do see all these reports, including the department overviews of Internal Affairs. V. TRAINING Chief Westall took this opportunity to discuss the recent fatal shootings in January that have received a lot of media attention, and how these situations are handled. Sgt. Laino talked about the recently updated Use-of-Force policy, which changed to the “Response to Aggression” policy. Their process for handling these situations was  never actually in writing until this policy. He explained that if there is an incident that causes death or serious harm, it will affect the officer in some way, but each officer handles it differently. So they can be sent for a psychological evaluation. They also set up a “Companion Officer” program, which means that each officer can choose another officer to be their “companion”, who they can go to for comfort. But they cannot discuss the incident with their companion officer. Sgt. Laino pointed out the value of having a program like this and how studies have shown that officers rebound much quicker with a program like this one. Chief Westall explained that after an officer goes through a traumatic incident, and they are cleared by a psychologist, it’s up to him when they can come back to work, and whether to put them on light or restricted duty, etc. He stated that they’ve also made it a policy to just call the State police to come do the investigation when an incident of this type takes place. Deb Dumont asked when this policy was implemented. Chief Westall stated that they have been doing this in the past, but it just wasn’t in writing as a policy until now. Chairwoman Dumont also asked how they know when an officer is mentally safe to return to duty. Sgt. Laino stated that they can never be 100% sure of that, but they have mechanisms in place to monitor those officers. The supervisors have daily interactions with their officers, and they know if an officer starts acting out of character. Chief Westall also said that he monitors the officer and walks them through the investigation process. VI. OLD BUSINESS None. VII. NEW BUSINESS None. VIII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Committee, and, upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned. ____________________________ ______________________________ Deb Dumont, Chairman Kimberly Parrish, Secretary