Police Commission

LACONIA POLICE COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES MARCH 15, 2018 CONFERENCE ROOM #200A, LACONIA CITY HALL 45 BEACON STREET EAST, LACONIA, NH - 3:00 P.M. 3/15/2018 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman Whittum at the above date and time. 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Commissioner Mello lead the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Executive Assistant Lori A. Marsh 4. ROLL CALL Laconia Police Commissioners present were Chairman Douglas A. Whittum, Commissioner Thomas K. Tarr and Commissioner Frank R. Mello, Jr. Chairman Whittum recognized Staff present: Chief Matthew J. Canfield, Lieutenant Thomas E. Swett, Lieutenant Michael P. Finogle and Prosecutor James A. Sawyer. Chairman Whittum recognized a quorum has been established. Chairman Whittum welcomed Councilor Bruce Cheney 5. PERSONNEL MATTERS 5.A. Commendations & Awards No discussion. 5.B. Training General discussion regarding General Orders included in the packet. Lt. Finogle advised a couple of highlights are that we have two officers attending the Instructor Development class and both are going to be new Field Training Officers as well. He indicated that school will commence in April. Commissioner Tarr inquired about the drone related training and if we intend on having a drone for our operations. Lt. Finogle advised this is exploratory to learn what other agencies are doing and how we could utilize a drone. Commission Tarr inquired if other police departments are using drones and Lt. Finogle advised yes. 1  Chief Canfield advised several other agencies in New Hampshire are pursuing this. He advised a funding source is necessary to look at and nothing we will rush into. He indicated some of the capabilities of drones are for search and rescue and accident reconstruction. He indicated a drone operator out of Meredith, who was also a sales representative for a GPS company, and who passed away, had been donating his time to come out for the Accident Reconstruction Team to do all of the aerial footage for fatal accidents by utilizing a drone. He advised applications such as that come in very handy. Chairman Whittum inquired about coverage for two dispatchers attending a five day training. Lt. Finogle advised we would typically attempt to use a part time position or backfill it with one of the other dispatchers. He advised we have also utilized Executive Assistant Lori Marsh to fill in. He advised this particular class was canceled as of this week, so they will not be attending. Chairman Whittum noted there were two applications to attend a school and only one officer was accepted and the other was denied. He inquired what the denial is based on. Lt. Finogle advised his understanding is that when there are multiple law officers from one agency who are requesting to attend a school, they are going to try to fill the school and give every agency the opportunity to attend. He advised in his particular case, they bumped the junior officer, indicating they assign an ID number and based on that number the junior officer was bumped off. He advised we do have an e-mail into them and are on a waiting list, so there is a good chance the officer still might get into that particular school referenced. 5.C. Miscellaneous - Laconia Links Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield advised we had an advertisement in the Laconia Links for the Community Forum we held at the Laconia High School on Monday night. He indicated Commissioner Tarr was in attendance. He indicated a few dozen people, to include parents, teachers and concerned citizens were there to discuss school safety. He indicated overall it was a very good conversation that lasted approximately a couple of hours. Commissioner Tarr advised his take was that if he were a parent, he would be pleased to know of the collaboration between departments, the School Board and the superintendent's office, as well as all of the Principals, and everyone seems to be on same page. They advised the incident described that happened just recently, as far as response is concerned, was indicative of that collaboration between all of those difference departments. Chief Canfield agreed. 5.D. Resignations/Retirement No discussion. 5.E. Hirings Chairman Whittum recognized Lieutenant Finogle. 2 Lt. Finogle introduced new hire, Conner Sutherland, indicating he started last week and is in the second week of the in-house program. He indicated he is a graduate of Exeter High School and went to Great Bay Community College. He indicated he is also serving as a Marine Reservist and is a Part Time Police Officer in Hampton for 2016 and 2017. City Clerk Cheryl Hebert conducted the swearing in of Patrol Officer Connor Sutherland. Lt. Finogle advised we just ran a series of oral boards on new potential candidates and that they had interviews with the Chief and we have issued three conditional offers at this point to start backgrounds. He indicated another process will be starting on March 23rd, which will be a PT test for those who took the Great Bay Community College police test. He indicated that following that, oral boards and interviews with the Chief will start. He indicated after that we have one position that we're looking to fill, provided they make it through the background process. Commissioner Tarr inquired where it leaves us in terms of numbers, authorized vs. actual. Lt. Finogle advised that with forty-two authorized, that would bring us up to full staff if we can get another four through the background process. Commissioner Tarr noted that was a recurring theme in the survey that was sent around to everyone, indicating low staffing issues. Lt. Finogle advised there are low numbers all around for applications and this is a statewide issue and not just in our jurisdiction. He advised that is why we have ramped up our recruiting efforts by testing repeatedly. He indicated Great Bay has seen a significant decline in applications to take the test. He advised we've also implemented our own written test again, so we contract out to a company and we have that test proctored here. He advised we are doing everything we can. He advised with the batch of candidates that we are getting, we seem to find more and more unqualified candidates. Chief Canfield advised literally we've been through hundreds of applicants that have been weeded out between the PT test, the oral interviews, and then the ones that we've called back we've washed two or three for psychological tests and others for other issues. He advised it has been tough and he recognized Finogle for the great amount of work on recruiting and he continues to do so. He advised this last round was probably the best we have seen and we have three conditional offers out of it, all of which look promising, but we'll see where the backgrounds lead. Commissioner Tarr indicated he also noted in the survey that one of the continued complaints in hiring was the "tattoo policy" and he requested an explanation of that. Chief Canfield advised current policy prohibits visible tattoos. He advised he does not believe it's that big of an issue and does realize it was identified in the survey, but that he thinks it's a small section of people who feel that way. He advised this has been an issue that has been discussed around the country. He advised some agencies allow visible tattoos and some don't. He advised that when visible tattoos are allowed, it is very hard to regulate what those tattoos are and what is acceptable and what isn't. He noted that concerning certain tattoos, when an officer is investigating certain sensitive crimes such as sexual assaults or something of that nature, it might be inappropriate. He advised it is very difficult to regulate tattoos themselves. He advised some agencies allow tattoos on the arms, but they mandate they wear long sleeve uniform shirts year round. He advised we haven't gone that way and haven't changed our tattoo policy. He advised he does not feel it's one of the big impediments in the hiring 3  process. He advised we have plenty of applicants who meet that requirement, but just don't meet the other requirements in the hiring process. 5.F. Promotions/Classification Change No discussion. 6. DIVISION/BUREAU COMMANDER'S FORUM 6.A. Operations/Support Division Commander 6.B. Support Division Lt. Finogle advised he wished to note that part of the training process is that we've extended our in-house academy to six weeks from four with a follow-up shadow week where the FTO just follows an Officer around in a car and are not really responsible. He advised they are not being rated at that point. He advised the six week in-house is important because it gives them more opportunity to do the more important things, such as our policy review, firearms, defensive tactics and their driving abilities. . He advised we have put a lot more emphasis on those particular areas. He advised we are also trying to line it up, in this particular case with Mr. Sutherland, his in-house academy is going to bring him right up to the police academy. He advised that when he comes back, he enters a twelve week field training process, which seems to be a cleaner approach. He indicated they are not losing some of the member retention that we've seen in the past when they have been trained partially prior to going to the academy and then return. He advised mainly it is geographical, where they forget the City streets and some of the policies and procedures, because they've been away for four months. He advised we have also implemented fitness into that, so we do routine fitness tests and PT in that particular academy. Commissioner Tarr inquired if he is the first recruit/new officer hire subjected to the three year obligation that is referenced. Chief Canfield advised no and he thinks there are only a few people left who don't have to do it. He advised that has been around for a long time. He advised there is probably only a handful of people who do not have to do it at this point. Lt. Finogle advised there are only five in the agency who are grandfathered. Commissioner Tarr clarified that he was talking about the contract. Lt. Finogle advised he is the first one who we've implemented a contract with. He advised that is amortized based on the month, indicating that if the person tries to leave, it is built into whatever particular month. He advised there is a list they receive. Chairman Whittum inquired if the contract goes into effect the month prior to entering the academy or if it would be the date of hire or the date of completion of the academy. Lt. Finogle advised their obligation to the agency is three years from the date of graduation. He advised that covers the academy cost (man hours we spend sending him there), as well as the field training officers. He advised we accounted for ammunition, uniforms, and stuff the agency is spending money on. 6.B.i. Use of Force Analysis - 2017 Lt. Finogle referenced the numbers indicated in the 2017 Use of Force Analysis contained in the packet. He indicated that this is the sixth year in a row where we have had no 4  strikes with a baton. He advised the batons are really not carried on the officers any longer. He advised it is an option, but primarily they are carried in their riot bags or could be carried in the cruiser if needed. He indicated the number of incidents of displays could be for a taser, handgun, less lethal rifle or a rifle. Commissioner Tarr inquired how in 2017 we had 85 display only incidents and 2016 we had 29. Lt. Finogle advised yes. He advised we have changed and improved our reporting system, as we were finding that based on the forms we were using, you might go to a call, for instance a drug sweep with multiple officers on scene, we are capturing better the amount of officers who displayed a firearm or less lethal tool, whereas before that wasn't as accurate. He stated we have just started reporting better. He advised that also around 2015 to 2016, we started documenting the display to see exactly how beneficial that is based on the number of times we displayed a particular weapon and not ending up having to use force. Commissioner Tarr inquired if the State maintains a database for comparison to other police departments. Chief Canfield advised not through the State. He advised he does not know any other agencies that track displays and we came up with that. He stated this started when we first went to tasers, because we knew the use of the taser was going to be less than the number of times we displayed it, so we were looking to see what kind of compliance we got for displaying a taser, rather than using. He advised this information can be used for training. 6.B.ii. Attrition Summary - 2017 Lt. Finogle referenced the Attrition Summary included in the packet. Commissioner Tarr noticed some discrepancies in the bottom line numbers. Executive Assistant Marsh advised she completed that form and failed to correct those discrepencies and they will be corrected for future reference. 6.B.iii. Internal Affairs/Initial Personnel Complaint Summary - 2017 Lt. Finogle referenced the 2017 IPC Summary included in the packet and Chief Canfield requested he recap the totals. Lt. Finogle advised out of 27 complaints, there were 13 unfounded, 3 unsubstantiated, 5 oral reprimands, 6 letters of reprimand, 0 suspensions, and 6 were referred to Internal Administrative Investigations. Commissioner Tarr inquired how many of these were sworn personnel vs civilians. Lt. Finogle advised this captures the entire department. Chief Canfield advised it's important to note that by far the majority of complaints are internal complaints, brought forward by our supervisors, due to the standards we have in place for our policies and procedures. Commissioner Tarr inquired out of the 27 different infractions, how many people that equates to. Lt. Finogle advised he does not have that number and would imagine it would be based closely on the bottom numbers. 6.C. Operations Division Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield advised he knows the Operations Division has been busy and Motorcycle Week planning is under way. He advised Capt. Graton has been looking to revise our Motorcycle Week schedule to comply with the new budget we have. He 5  advised we're looking at reducing some or our staffing levels for Motorcycle Week and that we're also working on several new events that might take place. 6.D. Detective Division Chairman Whittum recognized Lieutenant Swett. Lt. Swett referenced the two 2 months of statistics in the Criminal Investigative Unit report contained in the packet and noted someone had inquired about sex offender registrations. He advised we average between 80-100 sex offenders who register with us. He advised some register twice a year and some are four times per year, depending on what level they are at. He advised this is pretty labor intensive, so that is something we capture on this report. Commissioner Tarr requested information on how these registrations work operationally. Lt. Swett advised Sgt. Butler and Det. Wholley handle the lions share of them and it's generally by appointment. Commissioner Tarr inquired if it's something someone can fill out in the lobby. Lt. Swett advised there is one thing that they can do on a form, being a minor change such as a new car or something like that, and the form can be dropped off. He advised everything else, being the two or four times a year, is an in person, physical contact to go over forms. Commissioner Tarr inquired if they actually sit down with a detective and Lt. Swett advised yes. He advised the reason for that is that if they violate the terms of that, its a knowing state of mind, so we're very careful to capture what was said and note it in the report, and we go over each form individually. Commissioner Mello inquired if we get a lot of people who come in from other towns. Lt. Swett inquired if he was asking if the crimes committed were here or somewhere else and Commissioner Mello clarified that he was inquiring about the crime being committed somewhere else, but that the offender has moved here. Lt. Swett advised we probably give away as many as we get. He stated the average is 80-100, but he cannot answer that question accurately. He advised we get a fair show who move here and we get a fair share who move away. Commissioner Tarr advised he noticed that on the January report vs the February report, there were three new columns. Lt. Swett advised yes, indicating Sgt. Butler asked to add those, as he was trying to make a more accurate capture of the work they do. Lt. Swett also mentioned that under the patrol shifts, we filled in 7 instead of 3 for February and there were 36 training hours instead of 20. He advised this is just to try to get an idea how work is turned around so that we can assign it fairly and we can plan for it going down the road. He advised we are down at least one detective, so we see a lot more cases, a lot more follow ups, part of that being the patrol responsibilities they are assuming and follow up coming from that, as well as their assigned cases. 6.E. Legal Division Chairman Whittum recognized Prosecutor Sawyer. 6  Pros. Sawyer advised that there is a monthly VSU meeting following this police commission meeting today and there is a new member in the works, which is in the process of a background. Lt. Finogle advised the background will be ready tomorrow. Pros. Sawyer advised hopefully this will be another person on board in April. He advised it's hard to get people involved and fortunately the current volunteers have been around for a long time. He advised the training just to get them to understand the systems and procedures takes some time before they are really an asset to the department. Pros. Sawyer also mentioned that Admin. Asst. Colleen Richardson is still out on sick leave and we're manning the fort without her right now. He advised Executive Asst. Marsh, M.IS. Robin Moyer and Admin. Asst. Cheryl DeTurk are picking up the slack. He advised that with Off. Batstone on light duty, we're able to utilize her at times when she is not otherwise engaged with other tasks. He advised with everyone working together, the duties that Admin. Asst. Richardson handles are covered. 7. ORDERS & BULLETINS Chairman Whittum recognized Lieutenant Finogle. Lt. Finogle referenced the General Orders contained in the packet and there was no discussion. 8. COMMISSION ACTION 8.A. Acceptance of minutes from previous meeting On a motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Tarr, and passed unanimously, the meeting minutes of January 18, 2018 were accepted as distributed. 9. REVIEW OF MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS 9.A. Department Monthly Highlights Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield referenced the Monthly Activity Report contained in the packet. Chairman Whittum inquired what the volunteer hours are comprised of and what kinds of duties are performed. Chief Canfield advised Pros. Sawyer can speak to this, as they volunteer directly for him through the Victim Services Unit. Pros. Sawyer advised Carole helps in court with filling out forms and starts scheduling notices for him. He advised Det. Horan, who covers for him when he is not available for arraignments, does not utilizer Carole's services. He advised that was one day this month and is typically comprised of anywhere from 2-4 hours per month. He advised Carole also comes in and completes letters to send to victims advising of upcoming court dates and pulls files for upcoming arraignments. He advised Corrine helps out administratively in the office by pulling records, completes requests for criminal records and organizes files. He advised Scott Davis works with Executive Asst. Marsh for tracking sentences, where someone may be ordered to complete something, such as an evaluation, and Scott and Executive Asst. Marsh coordinate and reach out to people 7  to see if they have complied. He advised a lot of times we get unsolicited responses to what they are ordered to do, but given the nature of the population, people either forget or they do what is required but fail to provide proof. He advised the phone calls act as a reminder to get it done. He advised Dispatcher Fritzen assists with this and she also helps out with closing cases, which is one of Admin. Asst. Richardson's responsibilities. 9.B. Monthly Fleet Report Chairman Whittum recognized Lieutenant Finogle. Lt. Finogle advised we just got car #17 out of the body shop and we recently had one of the new SUV's struck during the snow storm. He advised we're in the process of obtaining estimates and that will be going into the body shop next week. Commissioner Tarr inquired if we get a replacement vehicle in these circumstances and Lt. Finogle advised we try to use other cars, but they just get more use than they typically do. He advised the cars are assigned to 2-3 officers each, so they'll just use that particular car a little more or take out a detail car. 9.C. Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics Chairman Whittum recognized Lieutenant Swett. Lt. Swett inquired if there were any questions. Chairman Whittum referred to the sex offender registrations being up twice as much as last year. Lt. Swett advised they are time consuming and it does yield the occasional charge if we stay on top of it. Chairman Whittum inquired what draws offenders to this area, inquiring if it's the services that are provided or welfare. Lt. Swett advised he does not know that it's necessarily a draw. He advised he thinks it's employment and there are services. He advised he couldn't speak to why people move here or move away. Commissioner Tarr inquired if we work in concert with NHSP to monitor and if we supply data to them. Lt. Swett advised every registration and photograph goes down to them to keep the registry up to date, so there is always an updated photo and registration available. Chairman Whittum inquired who is responsible for getting people online and putting in their addresses, being the State or us. Lt. Swett advised he believes the State maintains that, but believes there is a law that requires some sort of disclosure concerning the compliance part. Pros. Sawyer advised there was a private site that was promoted by a private company where you could locate all of the different incidents, whether it's a burglary, theft, robbery, assault, etc., and he believes there were also sex offenders on that list, so you could search. He advised it's free for people to use. He inquired of Chief Canfield if there was any relationship or if they would do that on their own. Chief Canfield advised he does not believe there is any relationship with us. Pros. Sawyer advised 2-3 years ago that was promoted and Chief Adams mentioned it. He advised if people wanted to know what was happening in the community, they could go to this website and check for yourself. 8  Chairman Whittum advised he thought a lot of real estate sites will have that information in terms of crimes and where they are committed, but he was just curious where the sex offender registration information comes from. Lt. Swett advised the Sex Offender Registry does maintain that link through the State Police website. He advised WMUR's link to it also goes to the State Police website. Commissioner Mello inquired if they can be told where they can live. Lt. Swett advised there are several levels of people who are reporting as sex offenders. He advised some are public and some are not. He advised some are on probation and some are not and some have limited responsibilities to continue to report. They may have to do it for three years or ten years. discussion between several members about this or whatever the divisions are. He advised what they can and can't do is only limited by Probation and Parole. Once they have satisfied that, then it's just compliance with the other part of the law that says if they are on the public registry, which has to do with the level of the crime and the age of the victim, which is completely different from any restrictions on what they can and can't do. Commissioner Mello inquired if just Probation and Parole can tell them where they can or can't live, such as restrictions on schools. Lt. Swett advised it's only for people who are being supervised. There was discussion between several members. Lt. Swett advised he will do some research and bring it to the next meeting. Commissioner Tarr requested employment restrictions as well. 9.D. Crime Comparison Report Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield referred to the Monthly Activity Report contained in the packet, indicating that we responded to 1,119 calls for service, a total of 243 criminal offenses investigated (up slightly from the same month last year - 219), 151 criminal offenses cleared by arrest, 108 total physical arrests, 431 motor vehicle stops, 36 motor vehicle summonses, and 343 motor vehicle written warning. He advised there were no fatal accidents, 45 total motor vehicle accidents, 16 of which involved injury, 53 parking tickets were issues, there were 7 DWI arrests and 25 people were taken into custody for Public Intoxication. Councilor Cheney noted some of the numbers do not correspond to the numbers provided to the City Council. Chief Canfield advised he will take a look that. 9.E. Monthly Traffic Statistics No discussion. 9.F. Budget Print-Out Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. 9  Chief Canfield advised if there were no question, he believes our budget is on track. 10. CORRESPONDENCE TO AND FROM THE DEPARTMENT Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield mentioned an e-mail about the nice work Eric Adams is doing and another one from a woman who sent a note about the arrest of her daughter and attributing it to saving her life from an overdose. He also mentioned a thank you note for Lt. Simmons' assistance at oral boards for a promotional exam for the New Hampshire Liquor Enforcement Bureau. 11. CHIEF'S REPORT Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. 11.A. Performance Assessment Report Cards Chairman Whittum recognized all of the Performance Assessment Cards were A's and B's, all good as usual. Chief Canfield advised we received twelve Performance Assessment Cards and they were all good. 11.B. Overdose Statistics Chief Canfield referenced the Overdose Statistics contained in the packet. He advised he believes the total overdose deaths is at three and not two as indicated on the report for 2018 year to date. Chief Canfield advised Eric Adams is working with HITDA on an overdose reporting map, where all of the overdoses in Laconia would be plotted and possibly use the computer generated information from that. He advised he will be working with Lt. Swett on that and they have a meeting coming up to talk about how we can use that information. He advised no one in the State has been using that as of yet, so it will be interesting to see how that pans out and how much of a help that will be. 11.C. CALEA Accreditation Report Chief Canfield advised that at the end of last year, CALEA changed their accreditation assessment. He advised it used to be that they would come out and conduct an on-site every three years. He advised they have expanded that out to every four years now, but every year they will go through the electronic system and will check a number of random files. Chief Canfield advised we have received our report for last year, which will be done every year, and it is included in the packet. He advised it is all good. He advised he gives credit to everyone who works for the department as far as getting the proofs, because that's where we need to show that we not only have the policies and procedures in place to meet he standard, but that we actually are meeting the standard through showing the proofs. He recognized MIS Robin Moyer for keeping up on everything. Commissioner Mello advised it looked real good. 10 11.D. HIDTA Conference Chief Canfield advised HIDTA, which is the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which is designated areas of which we do not fall into; however, the Director of HIDTA reached out to him and Officer Eric Adams, as he knew of the work that Officer Adams has been doing and some of the recognition that he has received regarding all of his work. Chief Canfield advised he and Officer Adams were invited to go to D.C. and talk at the HIDTA Conference last month. He advised it was very well received and hopefully more agencies will adopt our methods in dealing with the response to victims of opioid addiction. 11.E. Employee Survey Results Chief Canfield advised we completed the employee survey last August. He advised we will use the results not only in the short term where we have made adjustments to already, but it is certainly something that will help shape our 5 year strategic plan that we will begin work on in the fall. Chairman Whittum recognized that it was extremely thorough and praised not only that the survey was completed, but that it was acted on and it didn't sit on a shelf for weeks. He praised that a lot of things that were addressed in the survey were dealt with right away. Commissioner Tarr inquired how Chief Canfield came up with questions. Chief Canfield advised it was put out at Staff meetings and input was sought from those meetings and solicited input from all of the supervisors. He advised he also had some other examples that he used and combined them all and tailored it for our department. Commissioner Tarr recognized that it was a far ranging survey and covered all the bases and then some. Chairman Whittum recognized the interpretation of the results was detailed and good. Commissioner Tarr inquired if there were any surprises in the results. Chief Canfield advised he didn't think there were any surprises and he thought it was nice to confirm some things and give us direction on where to move. He stated he was proud how everyone took the survey seriously and there was a very high participation percentage. He stated he felt everyone put time and effort into actually providing some thoughtful feedback. Commissioner Tarr advised the communication was interesting from the Sergeant level communicating information from staff down to the lines. Chief Canfield advised he certainly recognizes that Sergeants are a pivotal point in the agency and that we have staff meetings where information is discussed and expected to flow down and for whatever reason it isn't passed on the same way. He advised that has been addressed and discussed in our meetings and we will continue to work on that communication flow downward. 11.F. Human Relations Committee 11  Chief Canfield advised in January the Mayor re-appointed him to the Human Relations Committee and referenced the swearing in Oath of Office for that contained in the packet. Commissioner Tarr inquired if that is part of the City Council and Chief Canfield advised the Mayor sits on it and there is a large group of people who sit on the committee. He advised it definitely represents the diversity of the City. He stated it started out under Chief Baker and has continued on and the committee is responsible for the Multicultural Day in September. 11.G. Governor's School Safety Preparedness Taskforce Chief Canfield advised we all saw what happened in Parkland, Florida with school shooting, which sparked a lot of debate across the country, not only with response protocols for police in responding to these incidents, but also school safety in general. He advised New Hampshire released a significant amount of money, which Laconia is a recipient for hardening of our schools hear and improvements with safety measures. He advised that as part of that overall picture, the Governor has created this School Emergency Preparedness Taskforce. He advised there are three other Chiefs appointed to this Taskforce beside himself. He advised they met yesterday for the first time and will be looking at improving the standards across the State for schools, from everything from causes and the mental health picture, to school safety and emergency response operations. He advised he thinks there is a lot of work that can be produced by this committee and there are some really good people on the committee who are very experienced. He advised their goal is to get a lot of work done in a very short period of time. Commissioner Tarr noted that it was addressed at the forum the other night and that one of the contentious points about Parkland was that one of the initial responders set up a perimeter outside the school, instead of confronting the shooter I guess. He inquired if that was our policy. Chief Canfield advised it is not. He advised in the last year, thanks to a lot of work completed by Lt. Swett, we did a lot of work in this area. He advised we have always done a lot of active shooter training, but there was a big emphasis in this past year for this type of training. He advised Lt. Swett worked very hard with Homeland Security and we did a table top exercise with the Woodland Heights School, where we did what is called a "board game", which is actually a command and control exercise for supervisors. He advised all of our officers went through the 16-hour FBI ALERT training, which is is Response to Active Shooters, and we culminated that with a Full Scale Exercise at the Woodland Heights Elementary School with all of our partners, to include the hospital, Fire Department and School Department. He advised work has begun on another one this year. 11.H. 2018 Department Goals and Objectives Chief Canfield advised these were solicited at the last staff meeting from supervisors, where they were asked to reach out to officers who work for them as far as goals and objectives for 2018. He advised that in conjunction with Emergency Preparedness and especially Active Shooter training, we are going to increase our incident command training and are going to be doing some short scenario based training at our staff meetings. He advised we are going to be looking at re-establishing our Crimeline and explore other methods of receiving information from the community, such as Text-A- Tip, which other agencies have used. He advised it's a means of obtaining anonymous information that people can send to us. He recognized that certainly the younger 12  generation is very much about Facebook and text. He advised we will be re- establishing our K9 Program, as well as working on a recruitment team, which Lt. Finogle has been working on to make it not only the responsibility of Lt. Finogle, but to get some of the officers involved in this and make it a department wide push and learn some of the details of running the whole process and, in turn, we create ambassadors at the patrol officer level for recruitment. He advised the patrol office is in need of updating and that's a project that has begun as far as reorganization and making it more efficient. He advised we will be bringing a proposal to the Commission hopefully in May or June regarding the creation of a firearms training facility or firearms range. He advised this is another task that has been worked on by all of our firearms instructors and they have done a tremendous amount of work on this. He advised our Cop cards are outdated, so we are looking to upgrade that and have received a $2,500.00 grant from Meredith Village Savings Bank toward this program. We are looking to kick that off in the Spring, as well as establish a strategic planning group to create a strategic plan for our next five years and guide us as we move forward. Commissioner Tarr advised it's good to see some of those goals are reflective of the survey results and are being taken seriously. Chief Canfield advised some of other survey results are for longer term and will be part of the overall strategic plan. Chief Canfield also advised that the date for the Annual Awards Ceremony has been set for May 15, 2018 at the Beane Conference Center. 12. OLD BUSINESS No discussion. 13. NEW BUSINESS No discussion. 14. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE The next Regular or Special Meeting date of April 19, 2018 was confirmed. 15. OTHER BUSINESS 16. CITIZEN COMMENTS No citizens present. 17. NON-PUBLIC SESSION (According To RSA 91-A:3, II) Chairman Whittum moved that the Laconia Police Commission enter into Non-Public Session at 4:00, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, in accordance with RSA 91-A:3II(a). 13  At 4:23 pm, the Non-Public Session ended on a motion by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, with a unanimous vote to maintain the Minutes as confidential, in accordance with RSA 91-A:3II. Chairman Whittum entertained a Motion to seal the Minutes, moved by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously. 18. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Whittum entertained a Motion to adjourn the meeting, moved by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 4:24 pm. 14