Police Commission

LACONIA POLICE COMMISSION Meeting Minutes July 11, 2018 3:00 P.M. 7/11/2018 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Whittum called the meeting to order at the above date and time. 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 Chairman Whittum recognized Commissioners Present - Chairman Douglas Whittum, Commissioner Thomas Tarr and Commissioner Frank Mello. 4.B. Chairman recognizes Staff present Chairman Whittum recognized Staff present - Chief Matthew Canfield, Captain Allan Graton, Lieutenant Richard Simmons, Lieutenant Thomas Swett, Lieutenant Michael Finogle and Prosecutor James Sawyer. 4.C. Chairman recognizes a quorum has been established and there are three Commission members present Chairman Whittum recognized a quorum has been established and there are three Commission members present. 5. PERSONNEL MATTERS 5.A. Commendations & Awards Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. No discussion. 5.B. Training 1  Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. No discussion. 5.B.i. Orders & Bulletins 5.C. Miscellaneous - Laconia Links Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. No discussion. 5.D. Resignations/Retirement Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield advised he unfortunately reports that Lt. Swett will be retiring as of September 1st. He advised Lt. Swett will be sincerely missed, having served nearly 20 years with us here in Laconia and has worked for several other departments throughout the State. He advised Lt. Swett has been a tremendous asset to us. 5.D.i. Retirement - Lieutenant Thomas E. Swett Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. 5.E. Hirings Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. Lt. Finogle introduced Nathan Hoffman, who served five years in the United States Navy as a Submariner and is from California. Lt. Finogle advised Mr. Hoffman just started this past Monday and will be attending the Academy hopefully at the end of August. Nathan Hoffman was sworn in by City Clerk Cheryl Hebert. Commissioner Tarr requested an update on where Mr. Hoffman places us for full staff. Lt. Finogle also advised we still have two more positions to fill, with Lt. Swett leaving it actually becomes three positions. He advised the PT test was held on June 30th with 25 applicants out of that group. He advised 127 people took the Great Bay test, of which we ended up with 25 applicants. He advised that of those 25, we ended up with 16 who showed up at the PT Test, all of whom passed. He advised we received one withdrawal so far, so we have 15 going forward with oral boards at the end of the month. He advised we are hopeful that somewhere near the beginning of October we will be putting someone on. Commissioner Tarr inquired where Mr. Hoffman is from. Lt. Finogle advised he grew up in northern California, went into the Navy and was a Submariner. He advised their submarine ended up in Portsmouth in dry dock for repairs. He advised that happened 2  to be the time that Mr. Hoffman was getting out, at which time he took the Great Bay test and we talked with him and recruited him. 5.F. Promotions/Classification Change Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. No discussion. 6. DIVISION/BUREAU COMMANDER'S FORUM 6.A. Operations/Support Division Commander Chairman Whittum recognized Capt. Graton. Capt. Graton advised we made it through Motorcycle Week a little over what the City gave us for a budget. He advised a lot of that was due to the fact that in the past, for the first weekend overtime, it hadn't come out of the Motorcycle Week budget. He advised we felt it would be a more accurate representation of what the costs actually are if it did come out of the Motorcycle Week budget, so we did so. He advised this caused us to be a little over what the City allowed us for the budget for that week. He advised a lot of that was also due to the very good weather we had all week, not having any full days of rain where we could cut personnel. Capt. Graton advised he hasn't received the year end numbers for the past fiscal year budget; however, he knows we came in well under budget. He advised the 4th of July celebration (actually celebrated on the 7th) went well and we did a good job preparing for that and the 125th Anniversary. He advised there was a very large parade that was well attended, an hour and a half from start to finish, and everything at Opechee Park went smoothly. He advised we have two cruisers that we just ordered and we should take delivery in September. Commissioner Tarr inquired if those vehicles were SUV's and Capt. Graton advised yes. Capt. Graton advised we are working on Triathlon planning for August 12th, which will be starting out of Opechee Park. He advised Pumpkin Fest is always on the radar as well and Lt. Simmons us working on National Night Out. 6.B. Support Division Chairman Whittum recognized Capt. Graton. No Discussion. 6.C. Operations Division Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Simmons. 3  Lt. Simmons advised that in looking at the statistics, the only thing that really jumped out at him was the motor vehicle stops are down again and accidents with injury are up. He advised that is concerning and he is keeping an eye on it. He advised that in looking at last year around this same time with the comparison, there were a couple of extra people on, so we were able to do some traffic cars, which were a big part of it. Lt. Simmons reiterated what the Captain said, that the parade and Opechee/125th Anniversary went very well. Lt. Simmons advised now we're moving on to National Night Out, which is August 7th at 57 Blueberry Lane. He advised all of the groups involved have been contacted and most will be returning. 6.D. Detective Division Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Swett. Lt. Swett advised they have been covering vacations and it's a very busy time of the year for grants. He advised at Monday night's City Council meeting there was a first reading of two grants that we've been awarded, one being Granite Shield for the third year in a row, and the JAG money from the Department of Justice finally was released, so that contract is going in front of the City Council. Hopefully all will be approved on the 23rd. Chairman Whittum inquired what we are looking for money wise in total. Lt. Swett advised the JAG Grant is $14,632.00 and they awarded us $50,000.00 for Granite Shield. Commissioner Tarr inquired of Lt. Swett if he is in fact "THE" grant writer for the department. Lt. Swett advised yes. Commissioner Tarr expressed his concern that with Lt. Swett's pending retirement, will there be an overlap with the person selected to fill that role over the next six weeks or so for training. Chief Canfield advised the grants will be divided up a little differently going forward and we will be returning to the system we used to do grants as they pertain to different divisions. He advised they will be working on that very shortly with Lt. Swett. He advised there's about seven weeks time to catch people up on those and have them take them over. 6.E. Legal Division Chairman Whittum recognized Pros. Sawyer. Pros. Sawyer advised the Governor signed Senate Bill 556, which relates to bail and annulments. He advised it has changed quite a bit. He advised the first part goes into effect at the end of August, dealing with the bail statute, and annulments go into effect the first of the year. He advised that prior to this, Probation used to do investigations, and advised now, for violations and Class B Misdemeanors, there is not going to be any investigation and really is more of a paper thing. He advised the prosecutor will be notified. He advised if there is something that has been annulled or dismissed, there is not even a petition required under the new Statute and it's automatically annulled and that applies both to the court record and the arrest record. He advised he is unsure of the mechanism for that, if it's going to be determined in-house or through some formal notice from the court to the police department. 4  Commissioner Tarr inquired if we have access to annulment information during the recruiting process or if that is protected information. Pros. Sawyer advised he hasn't reviewed the Statute completely compared to the old Statute, but the way it was modified during the most recent time, law enforcement still could get access to it. He advised he is not sure if it was for that purpose or for criminal investigations only. He advised he is also unsure if that has changed as part of this new Statute. Commissioner Tarr inquired if a person applying has to put down if they have ever received an annulment. Lt. Finogle advised that is not a requirement on the current application; however, it is done through the police app and that's not on there. Chief Canfield advised there is one question regarding if the applicant has ever been arrested, convicted, etc. on the background packet. Lt. Finogle advised it talks about criminal history. Chief Canfield advised that even if there was an annulment, the arrest part contains catch phrases that would probably pick up on that in the background. Lt. Finogle advised that would also come out during the Oral Board before we even go to the background phase. 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 June 20, 2018, were accepted as distributed. 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. Commissioner Tarr inquired about the discrepancy found during last month's meeting pertaining to the total number of physical arrests year-to-date in last month's report (111). Chief Canfield advised that appears to have been a clerical error and was corrected on this month's report. 8.B. Monthly Fleet Report Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. Lt. Finogle advised we took another car back from the shop and it is getting lettered. He advised there is nothing further to report. Chairman Whittum inquired which cars will be surplused when the three new cruisers are received. Lt. Finogle advised car #12 has already been surplused with damage. He advised we are looking at the Chevy Tahoe as a surplus vehicle due to the amount of repairs being put into it and advised a decision has not been made regarding the third vehicle. 5  Commissioner Mello mentioned a lot of departments are going to pickup trucks and inquired what the differences would be between a four door pickup truck and the cruisers we're getting now. Lt. Finogle advised he's not sure we would use the space in the pickup truck as beneficially as we would an SUV regarding the covered space and the prisoner transport area is adequately equipped in the current vehicles versus a pickup truck might be higher to get someone in, as we would probably invest in 4-wheel drive if we were going that route. Capt. Graton advised the SUV's that we drive are all pursuit rated vehicles, so they are designed to be driven at higher speeds and have better braking capabilities. He advised Ford only makes a special service vehicle for a pickup truck, so it's not rated to be able to run at those high speeds and does not have those braking capabilities as well. Commissioner Tarr inquired if Graponne installed a the CO sensor on the SUV's we're getting. Lt. Finogle advised that is not an option. Captain Graton advised that is not an option on the bid sheet and is something we have to do after. Lt. Finogle advised it's a small unit we purchase from Ossipee Mountain Electronics that tacks to the dashboard. Commissioner Tarr inquired if the department has to pay for that and Capt. Graton advised yes. Chief Canfield advised the problem has supposedly been corrected by Ford, so their stance would be that there is no problem any longer with those. He advised out of an overabundance of caution, we still install the sensors. 8.C. Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Swett. Lt. Swett advised he has nothing if there are no questions. Commissioner Tarr inquired about the covering of more patrol shifts, referencing the 6 last month to 27 this month. Lt. Swett advised some of this has to do with Bike Week. Commissioner Tarr inquired if that is a great percentage of that number. Capt. Graton advised they all would have been assigned to work a shift during Motorcycle Week. He advised from the first Saturday through the last Sunday they would have been assigned normal shifts. 8.D. Monthly Traffic Statistics Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield advised the Monthly Traffic Report included in the packet is inaccurate, as it still has the May statistics on it. He referenced the June statistics contained in the report and noted that parking ticket statistics are up considerably from where they were last year. He advised a large part of that is due to the kiosks in the Weirs are up and running and we can take enforcement, whereas last summer they were not operational until the middle of the summer, when they were actually working and the bugs were worked out of them. Capt. Graton also advised there were a lot of issues at the beginning when they were first installed. Commissioner Tarr inquired about the parking enforcement employees we hired and how well they have been received by the public as opposed to a uniformed officer. Lt. Finogle advised the general public is used to seeing them out and about, especially this 6  time of year when they are hired for the summer. He advised we haven't received any unusual complaints, other than t he normal complainants in the lobby about parking tickets. Commissioner Tarr clarified that he was inquiring about whether or not they take a lot of grief from people who receive tickets because they are not a uniformed officer. Lt. Finogle advised no. Lt. Simmons advised he doesn't believe it's an issue, as most of the time they are not actually handing people tickets and they just return to find them on their vehicle and don't know who issued them. 8.E. Budget Print-Out Chairman Whittum recognized Capt. Graton. Capt. Graton advised he has nothing for this year. He indicated he is still waiting on last year's number, but we ended well under budget. Commissioner Tarr inquired if we are getting the School Resource Officer this year from that transfer that was supposed to happen. Chief Canfield advised yes, advising it looks like the funding will be for six months of the year. Commissioner Tarr inquired if that will be for the Middle School and Chief Canfield advised yes. Chairman Whittum inquired if there is the availability of any grant money for that position for the remaining six months. Lt. Swett advised that is complicated and explained that the COPS Grant pays for the School Resource Officers, but if we have already hired one and put one in position, we can't use the COPS Grant to hire another. 9. CORRESPONDENCE TO AND FROM THE DEPARTMENT Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield advised we received a nice thank you letter from the Department of Safety for Officer DeNutte and Officer Shortt, who assisted on the Mt. Washington. He advised there were a couple of thank you letters for a block party that Sgt. Hubbard helped out with at River's Edge. He also suggested the commissioners take a few minutes to read the e-mail that came through to Eric Adams from a former client who reached out and said thank you for helping her get her life straight. He advised Officer Adams deals with a lot of different clients and a good percentage of them may not make it through and relapse, but it was really nice to hear that someone was actually helped by him and are now a couple of years out of recovery and are doing very well, they are employed, and their life is straightened out. Commissioner Tarr recognized that everyone who does the work that Officer Adams does needs one of those letters every now and then. Chief Canfield agreed and stated it's a tough job and it's heartwarming to see. Chairman Whittum inquired if this e-mail could be shared with the Daily Sun, omitting the person's name, to let the public know exactly what he is doing. Chief Canfield advised yes. Chief Canfield also added that Doug from Sick Boy Motorcycles made a donation of $500.00 to the K-9 Unit and a thank you note went out to him. 10. CHIEF'S REPORT Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. 7  Chief Canfield advised on August 10th we will be conducting a Table Top Exercise, again for an active shooter event. He advised this is very good training with all of our law enforcement partners and all of our First Responder partners in preparation for the Full Scale Exercise that we will be conducting this fall. Chief Canfield advised we will be doing Cop Card photos coming up in the next few weeks and the Commission will be notified when those dates are determined for the Police Commission Cop card photo. He advised this is funded in large part by a grant that was given to us by Meredith Village Savings Bank for $2500.00. Chief Canfield advised the department photos are done and have been distributed to the commission. Chief Canfield advised the City employee BBQ is scheduled for Thursday, August 2nd, at Opechee Park from noon to 1pm and the Commission is invited. Chief Canfield advised the Governor's Task Force on School Preparedness Safety concluded their report. He advised there was a meeting last week down at the Governor's office and that is going to be pushed out probably for some more funding for school safety throughout the State. He advised that as a result of that, they did some focus groups to drill down into some of the issues and the feasibility of implementing some of those recommendations, of which he believes he will be asked to help out with that. Chief Canfield additionally added that the U.S. Attorney General will be coming to Concord tomorrow and he was invited to participate in a round table on law enforcement issues effecting the State of New Hampshire and he was also invited to his speech, which will be a general assembly at the U.S. District Court tomorrow as well. Chairman Whittum advised it is his understanding that the Laconia High School is the recipient of some of those funds for school safety. Chief Canfield advised yes and that he believes they were looking at some security upgrades, window tinting and some cameras. He advised it is our goal to bring cameras back and be able to view them live and real time in dispatch. He advised our schools have made significant improvements in not only security, but in camera systems and the card access systems. He advised our department ID's have the RFID access to them, so our officers can access any door within the schools. He advised we've also expanded that to the college as well. 10.A. Performance Assessment Report Cards Chief Canfield advised there were (7) received for the month, all of which were A's but one, which was marked B's and C's. He advised he reached out to the person by phone; however, did not receive a return call. 10.B. Overdose Statistics Chief Canfield advised that although it is still marked with (4) for 2018, it appears there will be a total of (6) overdose deaths for 2018, with a total of 51 overdoses year to date, which is trending slightly less than last year and more on par for the year before. 11. OLD BUSINESS No discussion. 8 12. NEW BUSINESS No discussion. 13. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE The next Regular or Special Meeting date of August 22, 2018 was confirmed. Commissioner Tarr inquired if that was a change from the previous scheduled date and Chief Canfield advised yes, stating the reason is we would like confirmation on the recommendations for promotions, which will be solidified for that date. 14. OTHER BUSINESS No discussion. 15. CITIZEN COMMENTS No citizens present. 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 3:29 p.m. At 3:42 p.m., 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:3,III. Chairman Whittum entertained a Motion to seal the Minutes, moved by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously. 17. ADJOURNMENT On a Motion by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m. 9