Police Commission

Laconia Police Commission Meeting Minutes May 16, 2018 3:00 P.M. 5/16/2018 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at the above date and time by Chairman Whittum. 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chairman Whittum lead the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Executive Assistant Lori A. Marsh 4. ROLL CALL 4.A. Chairman recognizes Police Commission members present Laconia Police Commission members present were Chairman Douglas A. Whittum, Commissioner Thomas K. Tarr and Commissioner Frank R. Mello, Jr. 4.B. Chairman recognizes Staff present Chairman Whittum recognized Staff present: Chief Matthew J. Canfield, Captain Allan L. Graton, Lieutenant Richard E. Simmons, Lieutenant Thomas E. Swett, and Lieutenant Michael P. Finogle. 4.C. Chairman recognizes a quorum has been established and there are three Commission members present Chairman Whittum recognized a quorum has been established. 5. PERSONNEL MATTERS 5.A. Commendations & Awards Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield indicated the Department's awards ceremony was held last night, advising it was very nice and he thanked the Staff's for their efforts in putting it together. 5.B. Training 1 Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. Lt. Finogle advised we are winding down due to summer and the schedule is tight and things are busy. He advised we've had a couple of conferences that people have attended. Commissioner Tarr inquired about the accreditation cycle and when the next on-site visit is. Capt. Graton advised the next on-site will be in three years. He advised this was the first year and we're now on a four year cycle. He advised it used to be three until everything went to PowerDMS. Commissioner Tarr inquired if there are things we're doing on a periodic basis. Capt. Graton advised that is correct, in that there are updates that Robin puts through PowerDMS and they do accreditation standards that will be rolling out after we complete the next cycle. Chief Canfield advised that on an annual basis they go in and check a certain number of files and there is a report completed for the past year. He advised they check a number of different files every year, so it makes it a lot more consistent to actually follow what the standards are. Capt. Graton advised we're up to date every year. Commissioner Tarr also advised he noticed that Chief Canfield and Capt. Graton had attended a conference where part of it had to do with Use of Force. Commissioner Tarr inquired what take-aways there were from this. Chief Canfield advised there were a lot of take-aways. He advised it was put on by Eric Daigle, who is a well known Use of Force and Police Attorney out of Connecticut. Mr. Daigle represents a lot of departments and is considered a Use of Force expert. He advised there were a lot of take-aways as far as what we can do to change our Use of Force reporting in particular. We will be looking into making some of those changes recommended by him. Commissioner Tarr inquired if we still maintain the Use of Force Summary and is it up to date. Capt. Graton advised it is up to date and every year we do a full evaluation and a report on it. Chief Canfield advised every every use of force gets a Use of Force report completed by the supervisor and, at monthly Staff meetings, they get reviewed by Staff as far as tactics and whether the force was in policy or out of policy. He advised if it's out of policy, it would be referred to discipline or re-training. He advised at the end of the year those are compiled and the whole entire department is reviewed as far as Use of Force vs. total arrest statistics. Chairman Whittum inquired if that is a Federal requirement and Chief Canfield advised not as of yet; however, there is talk of making a National Use of Force reporting system. He advised it is not there yet, but it is certainly our standard that we review Use of Force incidents and high liability areas, and it's also an accreditation standard. 2  5.B.i. Orders & Bulletins 5.C. Miscellaneous - Laconia Links No Discussion. 5.D. Resignations/Retirement No Discussion. 5.E. Hirings Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. Lt. Finogle introduced Patrol Officer Noah M. Beaulieu, stating he is from Southington, CT. He advised he attended Tunxis College and just recently left the United States Army as an Infrantryman, separating from active duty Honorably. He advised Officer Beaulieu was just hired by us and is in his second week, going through the six-week in- house program and due to attend the academy at the end of August. Officer Beaulieu was sworn in by City Clerk Cheryl Hebert. 5.F. Promotions/Classification Change No Discussion. 6. DIVISION/BUREAU COMMANDER'S FORUM 6.A. Operations/Support Division Commander Chairman Whittum recognized Capt. Graton. Capt. Graton advised we picked up the new motorcycle that we are leasing from Manchester Harley Davidson, which has been lettered and we're just waiting for the radio and lights to be installed and it should be available for Motorcycle Week. He advised we have also tentatively ordered three new SUV's, depending on the City's CIP getting approved in the budget. Capt. Graton advised the police department schedule for Motorcycle Week has been completed and published to employees and all of the details have been posted and all out-of-town agencies are set. He indicated the briefing for Motorcycle Week is scheduled for May 30th at 9:00 am and all partners will be present to go over the plans for the event. Chairman Whittum inquired if the motorcycle went out for bid for the lease. Capt. Graton advised he worked with Jon Gardner at City Hall and Manchester Harley Davidson was the cheapest at $2,670.00/year. He advised the next closest was Seacoast Harley Davidson at $5,000.00/year. He advised all of the other local Harley Davidson dealers do not do leases. 6.B. Support Division 3  Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. Lt. Finogle advised a part time dispatch candidate is going through the background process and is almost wrapped up, so it just needs to be reviewed by Chief Canfield. He advised we are also hiring another CRO for the summer, being a young, male who is in college at UNH and is looking to become a police officer. He advised he is hopeful that he will kind of act as a recruiting tool. Commissioner Tarr inquired where this leaves us for full time staffing. Lt Finogle advised we are still three down. Commissioner Tarr inquired if there are others in the pipeline and Lt. Finogle advised we just washed two candidates in the background process and we still have one still in the process for July. He advised today he just did a timeline for June testing. He advised Great Bay puts out a written test on June 2nd and we'll do a PT test and oral boards the following week just after Motorcycle Week. He advised the target date is November 19th for a start date if we can successfully get some candidates through the background process. Commissioner Tarr inquired of Lt. Swett how many background investigations end up in a wash out. Lt. Finogle advised approximately 50%. Lt. Swett advised that's not horrible when you consider everything that leads up to that point. He advised we hone that list down pretty tight and some don't actually end up at the polygraph stage, indicating there is a pretty comprehensive interview beforehand. Commissioner Tarr inquired in general what some of the reasons are for people washing out of the process. Lt. Swett advised it could be things that would prevent them from being certified as a police officer in the State of New Hampshire by the NH Police Standards and Training Council and any sort of deception. 6.C. Operations Division Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Simmons. Lt. Simmons advised we are very shorthanded, even with the two new people coming on, as we will not be able to use them until the end of the summer. He advised there has been a lot of planning in trying to make do with what we have for events coming up, and coming into the busy season. He advised coming up in the Memorial Day Parade, Motorcycle Week, 4th of July in the Weirs, the event on July 7th with the parade and fireworks for the Opechee Park event. He advised National Night Out is in August at 57 Blueberry Lane and in September we roll into the Citizen's Academy. 6.D. Detective Division Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Swett. Lt. Swett advised he put in two grant applications this week, one for the Opioid reduction Initiative and also a 50/50 grant for continuing to purchase bullet proof vests for the officers. He advised that since the last meeting, the New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management grant for a full scale exercise was approved. He advised the first part of that was when we did the board game last week. He advised we are starting to reach out to our law enforcement partners to get them involved in the next two steps of that, which is the Table Top Exercise and the Full Scale Exercise in the fall. 4  He advised that the statistics show we are also very busy with backgrounds, training and shift coverage. 6.E. Legal Division No Discussion. 7. COMMISSION ACTION 7.A. Acceptance of minutes from previous meeting On a Motion made by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Tarr, and passed unanimously, the meeting minutes of April 19, 2018 were accepted as distributed. 7.B. Out-of-State School Lt. Finogle advised the New England Regional Intermodal Security Exercise (RISE) school that Chief Canfield and Capt. Graton have applied to attend in Worcester, Massachusetts, involves planning for an incident that happens at Motorcycle Week in Laconia. He advised the cost is for the basic hotel/government rate. Commissioner Tarr inquired about Detective Carsen's HIDTA school and if it's a train- the-trainer type school, where Detective Carsen will come back and conduct training. Lt. Swett advised that Det. Carsen will return with knowledge, but he will not be certified as an instructor. Commissioner Tarr inquired if we will have to continue to send employees to that training or just select employees to it. Lt. Swett advised HIDTA offers training and then there's a lot of follow up trainings. He advised everything is changing and the whole paradigm shifts every year or two. Chief Canfield requested that the Police Commission vote on the Classification and Compensation Plan for Non-Union Employees approved by the City Council which was submitted to the Commission. Commissioner Tarr requested a moment to read it fully and inquired if it is for all non-union throughout the City. Chief Canfield advised that is correct and that it was presented by the City Manager as far as the change to the health insurance, as well as the cost of living increase, and it was approved by the City Council last week for all non-union employees. On a motion made by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, the Classification and Compensation Plan for Non-Union Employees was approved as presented. 7.B.i. New England Regional Intermodal Security Exercise (RISE) - Chief Matthew Canfield and Captain Allan Graton On a Motion made by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, the above listed training school was approved. 7.B.ii. Managing Narcotics Informants - Detective Daniel Carsen On a Motion made by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, the above listed training school was approved. 5 8. REVIEW OF MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS 8.A. Department Monthly Highlights Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield referenced the statistics contained in the Department Monthly Highlights report included in the packet. No further discussion. 8.B. Monthly Fleet Report Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. No discussion. 8.C. Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Swett. Lt. Swett advised there is nothing additional, other than there has been an increase in sex offender registrations over last years year to date. 8.D. Monthly Traffic Statistics Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield referenced the statistics in the Monthly Traffic report included in the packet. No further discussion. 8.E. Budget Print-Out Chairman Whittum recognized Capt. Graton. Capt. Graton advised we are on track and if we stay on the same track as we have been for the past 43 weeks we'll be good. Commissioner Tarr inquired where we should be in the overtime account at this juncture in the fiscal year and if there will be a shift of money into that account. Capt. Graton advised it will just come out of the Regular Salary line. Chief Canfield advised our budget operates on a bottom dollar amount, so we can run individual line items over and it will all just effect the bottom line. He advised we do not need to transfer from line to line. Chief Canfield advised our overtime has traditionally been overspent and every year since he's been here and it's not because we use overtime unnecessarily. He advised that out of our overtime line, probably 75% is attributed to court time when officers who are off duty have to come in and testify in court. He advised the remainder 6  is used in emergency situations when officers either make an arrest at the end of the shift and have to stay or they get caught in a bigger incident and officers have to come in or stay over from their shift. He advised for the most part we run down and we do not backfill one for one, unless it becomes critical and we have only two officers working, where we cannot run a shift with just two officers. He advised if a shift is scheduled for four officers and one is out sick, we don't replace that shift typically. He advised as far as supervisory coverage, when Sergeants are out, Lieutenants, the Captain or myself will cover that shift to avoid the cost of overtime on most occasions. He advised we do try to keep our overtime in check as much as absolutely possible. Commissioner Tarr inquired if we ever get to full staff and are able to fill those vacancies, will that have an impact on the overtime. Chief Canfield advised some impact; however, this summer will be very tight with the schedule the way it is. He advised it will be a little impact on the overtime. He reiterated that most of our overtime is consumed by court time and we have worked many different ways of alleviating that; however, unfortunately a lot of people will file "must appear" and then they'll work a plea out when they arrive at the court and we cannot just have the officer not show up, because in the event they request a trial, particularly for summonses and such, if the officer is not there it gets dismissed. So we have to make the officer appear. We've tried some pre-trial calling to people who have received tickets or have arraignment dates, but it's very difficult to narrow down the mandatory court appearances. 9. CORRESPONDENCE TO AND FROM THE DEPARTMENT Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield advised there are a couple of letters that we received, one being a nice one for Eric Adams helping a woman who struck a pot hole on Court Street and did substantial damage to her vehicle. He advised that by the sounds of the letter, it doesn't sound like she had much of a view of the police to start with; however, after her interaction with Off. Adams, he went above and beyond, and she was very impressed and it may have changed her outlook on the police perspective in Laconia, which was very nice to hear. He advised there was also a thank you letter from the family of Sgt. Bolduc, who used to work for this agency as a Sergeant back in the day. He advised we attended his funeral and surprised his wife by being there and she appreciated our support. Commissioner Tarr inquired if he was a retiree of the department and Chief Canfield advised he is unsure if he actually retired from the department or left for a different career. Commissioner Tarr indicated he didn't even know that he worked for the department until he saw the thank you note and Chief Canfield advised he never knew him and it was quite a while ago, but that he saw the obituary and attended the funeral. He advised there was also a thank you letter for assisting with a Make-A-Wish escort. He advised the Make-A Wish Program is an incredible program and benefits us doing those escorts as much as it benefits the children and is a pretty moving experience. 10. CHIEF'S REPORT Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. 10.A. Performance Assessment Report Cards 7  Chief Canfield advised there were twelve (12) cards received, all of which were A's. He also advised that on May 25th we will be serving lunch at the Woodland Heights School BBQ, where we will interact with the children and and help cook lunch for them. 10.B. Overdose Statistics Chief Canfield advised we've had a total of thirty-seven (37) overdoses year to date. He advised using 2017 as a reference, we had 146 overdoses. He advised so far year to date we have had four (4)) confirmed overdose deaths with most probably two (2) more that are going to added to that once the toxicology reports come back. He advised it looks like it will be a total of six (6) at this current time. He advised last year we had a total of nine (9) overdose deaths for the year. Commissioner Tarr advised unfortunately it is looking like we're running 35% ahead compared to last year. Chief Canfield agreed, advised it's definitely running high. Chief Canfield advised the Governor's Task Force has been very busy with not only the Task Force, but also the subcommittees who have been meeting. He advised he is on the Emergency Response Subcommittee, as well as the Technology Subcommittee, indicating they had a meeting on Monday in Concord. He advised there has been a lot of work that has been pushed out on that as far as school safety involving a lot of different areas. He advised they are looking to wrap up and do some type of final report by the middle of June. He indicated there's a lot of good work coming out of the committee that is going to be pushed out State Wide as far as recommendations for school safety. 11. OLD BUSINESS 12. NEW BUSINESS 13. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE The next Regular or Special Meeting date of June 20, 2018 was confirmed. 14. OTHER BUSINESS 15. CITIZEN COMMENTS 16. NON-PUBLIC SESSION (According To RSA 91-A:3, II) RSA 91-A:3II(a) - The dismissal, promotion, or compensation of any public employee or the disciplining of such employee, or the investigation of any charges against him/her, unless the employee affected (1) has a right to a meeting, and (2) requests that the meeting be open, in which case the request shall be granted. On a Motion by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, in accordance with RSA 91-A:3II(a), the Laconia Police Commission entered into Non-Public Session at 3:27 p.m. 8  At 4:10 p.m., the Non-Public Session ended on a Motion by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, with a unanimous vote. Chairman Whittum entertained a Motion to seal the Minutes, moved by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, in accordance with RSA 91- A,3III. 17. ADJOURNMENT On a Motion by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 4:13 p.m. 9