Police Commission

LACONIA POLICE COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 16, 2019 3:00 P.M. 1/16/2019 - 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 Whittum recognized Commissioners present - Chairman Douglas Whittum, Commissioner Thomas Tarr and Commissioner Frank Mello. 4.B. Chairman Whittum recognized Staff present - Chief Matthew Canfield, Captain Allan Graton, Prosecutor James Sawyer, Lieutenant Richard Simmons, Lieutenant Michael Finogle and Lieutenant Kevin Butler. 4.C. Chairman Whittum recognized a quorum has been established and there are three Commission members present. 5. PERSONNEL MATTERS 5.A. Commendations & Awards No discussion. 5.B. Training No discussion. 5.C. Miscellaneous - Laconia Links No discussion. 5.D. Resignations/Retirement No discussion. 5.E. Hirings Cha Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. 1  Lt. Finogle advised there are five currently in the Academy as of last week and there was one in the background phase, but is no longer being considered. He advised we will be testing on February 2, 2019 at Great Bay Community College and he has opened up the police app for certified and non-certified applicants and has already started receiving applications on-line. 5.F. Promotions/Classification Change No discussion. 6. COMMAND STAFF REPORTS 6.A. Captain Chairman Whittum recognized Capt. Graton. 6.A.i. 2018 Attrition Summary Commissioner Tarr inquired if the spaces on the report that are empty for 2016 and 2017 are actually zeros and Exec. Asst. Marsh confirmed they are. 6.A.ii. 2018 IPC Summary Commissioner Tarr inquired about the total of 8 under Unbecoming Conduct and if they are actual cases, individuals or incidents. Capt. Graton advised they are cases and not necessarily individuals. Commissioner Tarr advised it appears 6 of the 8 were unfounded/unsubstantiated and 1 resulted in an Oral Reprimand and 3 were referred to an Internal Affairs Investigation. He inquired if 7 of the 8 cases were resolved, where does that leave 1. Capt. Graton advised 1 is still currently under investigation, which is indicated with an asterisk by the total number, and does not have an outcome yet. Commissioner Tarr inquired about the 3 referred to an Internal Investigation. Capt. Graton advised there were 5 total Internal Affairs Investigations for 2018, 3 of which were Unbecoming Conducts being referred to that. 6.B. Operations Lieutenant Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Simmons. Lt. Simmons noted the schedule has been tight for a while and saw some relief in December, which is evident in the statistics due to having a couple of extra people on the schedule. He recognized this was a big improvement and a couple of people make a difference. He recognized we are down a couple of people again, so we are back down to where we were, which may be evident in the statistics at the next meeting. He recognized the five we currently have at the academy, along with one additional person currently in the in-house training, and we should see more people on the schedule and a climb in the statistics. Lt. Simmons also advised the Main Street overnight parking has started and we now send out messages through Twitter when DPW will be out plowing. He advised this has been executed two times and has worked out well. With Dispatchers becoming more comfortable with Twitter, we should be able to use that for reporting of accidents and other situations in the City. 6.B.i. Press Release(s) 2  No discussion. 6.C. Support Lieutenant Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. Lt. Finogle advised we are currently working on a ventilation system for the evidence room and the armory. He advised the original company declined to do the project and we've again put it back out for a company to do the work. He advised this will be covered under the 2018/2019 CIP that Capt. Graton secured for the project. He advised we are also pricing cameras for the evidence room, so that we can get a snapshot or live view of anyone inside in the case of accidental drug exposure. Chairman Whittum inquired why the original company refused to do the work and Lt. Finogle advised that it was a matter of an exterior wall, which the company is not designed to handle and did not wish to contract out. 6.D. Investigations Lieutenant Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Butler. Lt. Butler reviewed the Criminal Investigative Unit Monthly Activity Report and noted the statistics are considerably down. He noted the sex offender numbers are increasing exponentially and can be attributed to the reclassification to different tiers, which may require more yearly registrations. Commissioner Tarr inquired if we have a retired employee who has taken that over and Lt. Butler advised he is not retired yet, being Detective Wholley, who right now handles the majority of the registrations. Commissioner Tarr inquired if that population is stable or increasing and Lt. Butler advised it fluctuates. Lt. Butler also noted training hours are at 92 and Lt. Finogle advised this can be attributed to the in- house program. Chairman Whittum inquired if any of the homeless are registered sex offenders and Lt. Butler advised yes. He advised they register with Det. Wholley, who has them call him daily and check in on where they are staying. He advised they are not given permission to stay anywhere and it's up to them to get permission from where they are staying. He advised in the event something occurs, Det. Wholley can be contacted to find out where to find them. 6.D.i. 2018 BCI Drug Unit Report Lt. Butler reviewed the 2018 BCI Drug Unit Report and noted the seized number are substantially higher. 6.E. Legal Prosecutor Chairman Whittum recognized Pros. Sawyer. Pros. Sawyer recognized Off. Goodheart, who has been on light duty and has been of great assistance in helping him prepare victims to testify or conducting follow up. 3  He also advised a volunteer is hopefully coming on and will be present for the VSU meeting next week for her first introduction to the volunteer program. Additionally, he advised this Friday he will be teaching at the Huot Technical Center for Capt. Clary, which he advised has been a good experience. They run a good program and they have good synergy with the police department in terms of having the program within the City. Chief Canfield advised we currently have a trainee at the Academy who took part in that program. 7. COMMISSION ACTION 7.A. Acceptance of minutes from previous meeting On a Motion made by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, the meeting minutes of December 19, 2018 were accepted as distributed. 7.B. Out-of-State School(s) Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. Lt. Finogle advised Lt. Simmons has requested to go to a Street Survival 2019 seminar in February in Atlantic City, New Jersey and was preliminarily approved by Command Staff and we are looking for Commission approval for out-of-state travel. He also advised Off. Brewer-Croteau is requesting to attend an Advanced Child Abuse and Death Investigation class to take place in February in Winslow, Maine. He advised this was also preliminarily approved by Command Staff. After some discussion, Chairman Whittum entertained a Motion made by Commissioner Tarr to approve the two requested out-of-state schools, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously. 7.B.i. Street Survival 2019 - Lt. Richard Simmons 7.B.ii. Advanced Child Abuse and Death Investigations - Patrol Officer Anna Brewer-Croteau 7.C. 2018 Commission Attendance Report No discussion. 8. REVIEW OF MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS 8.A. Department Monthly Highlights Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield reviewed the Department Monthly Highlights report No further discussion. 8.B. Monthly Fleet Report Chairman Whittum recognized Lt. Finogle. 4  Lt. Finogle advised we took custody of the new cars, one of which is on the road today and one is at OME being worked on and should be on the road by the end of next week. 8.C. Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics No discussion. 8.D. Budget Print-Out Capt. Graton advised the budget is on track for first half of the year. Commissioner Tarr inquired if we see any fiscal challenges ahead in the next six months and Capt. Graton advised uniforms may be an issue with any new hires, as we're already overspent on that line, and overtime. Chief Canfield said a big challenge to our budget is the fact that we've been asked to make up the severance packages for Tom Swett and soon to be Jeff Wholley. There was also a payout to Kevin Shortt for time on books. He advised being early on in the budget season with open positions, the City asked that we do our best to absorb those costs, which were very significant. He advised they are not expecting us to cover 100%, but certainly expect us to absorb a large portion of that with open positions. 8.E. Monthly Traffic Statistics Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield reviewed the Monthly Traffic Statistics Report. Chairman Whittum inquired about the driver inattention and distraction statistic and inquired how many can be attributed to cell phones. Chief Canfield advised it could be a range of everything. Certainly cell phones, music and every other distraction out there are consistently targets of the STEP Patrols that Lt. Simmons works hard on to secure funding for and they specifically go out and target those sorts of things. Commissioner Tarr inquired about what percentage of driver inattention results in charges. Chief Canfield advised the actual number is not known, but is probably pretty slim. A lot of times it is very difficult to prove with a summons. He advised it's also a "catch all" category, because it doesn't fall under any of the other categories. 9. CORRESPONDENCE TO AND FROM THE DEPARTMENT Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield reviewed the correspondence received. No further discussion. 10. CHIEF'S REPORT Chairman Whittum recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield advised he attended his second meeting with the Big Brother/Big Sister Program conducted in the southern part of the state and we will be taking part in the program. He advised Off. Bryan Moynihan has volunteered on his own and attended the first meeting back in the Fall and has taken 5  it upon himself to go through the selection process to become a Big Brother to some troubled children here in Laconia. He advised we are working to go forward with this and it appears initially that it will be a collaborative effort with the Boys and Girls Club, as well as the schools. Chief Canfield also advised Off. Adams is working with several different partners in the community on a program called ACERT (Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team) where, if we go into a home and arrest the parent(s) for a domestic violence situation that was particularly violent or they saw something traumatic, a lot of these children are adversely affected by seeing that violence and this is a program that will follow up on that. This is not only us, but some other services throughout the community to follow up with these children and maybe get into the household and figure out what is going on and offer services and try to reverse some of that trauma. 10.A. Performance Assessment Report Cards Chief Canfield reviewed the Performance Assessment Report Cards received. He advised we will be transitioning to a new card with a QR code to be scanned and links to survey. 10.B. Overdose Statistics Chief Canfield reviewed the Overdose Statistics for 2018. No further discussion. 10.C. Full Scale Exercise - After Action Report Chief Canfield advised a good report was received, which was produced by Homeland Security and due to good work by Lt. Butler. He advised some really good feedback was received in areas where we can improve for our response to an active shooter event. He advised our intent is to look at those key things and keep that going in our training program for this year and then follow up with another Full Scale Exercise next Fall. 11. OLD BUSINESS No discussion. 12. NEW BUSINESS No discussion. 13. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE The next Regular or Special Meeting date of February 20, 2019 was confirmed. 14. OTHER BUSINESS No discussion. 15. CITIZEN COMMENTS No citizen comments. 6 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 91)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 Commissioner entered into Non-Public Session at 3:31 p.m. At 3:43 p.m., the Non-Public Session of the Laconia Police Commission 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:3III. Chairman Whittum entertained a Motion to seal the Minutes, moved by Commissioner Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously. The purpose of sealing the Minutes is due to medical information discussed. 17. ADJOURNMENT On a Motion by Commission Tarr, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 3:43 p.m. 7