Police Commission

LACONIA POLICE COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 18, 2019 3:00 P.M. 12/18/2019 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Tarr called the meeting to Order at the above date and time. 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Commissioner Mello lead the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Executive Assistant Lori Marsh 4. ROLL CALL 4.A. Commissioner Tarr recognized Commissioners present - Chairman Douglas Whittum (via conference call), Commissioner Thomas Tarr and Commissioner Frank Mello. 4.B. Commissioner Tarr recognized Staff Present - Chief Matthew Canfield and Captain Allan Graton. 4.C. Commissioner Tarr recognized a quorum has been established and there are three Commissioner members present. 5. PERSONNEL MATTERS Commissioner Tarr recognized Chief Canfield. 5.A. Commendations & Awards Chief Canfield requested we talk about this at the end of the agenda. 5.B. Resignations/Retirement No discussion. 5.C. Promotions/Classification Change No discussion. 6. COMMAND STAFF REPORTS 6.A. Captain - Support Division Commissioner Tarr recognized Captain Graton. Captain Graton advised we are still working on the radio system and at the end of this month we will get equipment on the water tower in Weirs and hopefully in January we will have the system up and running and be able to get all of the testing done and hopefully switch over then. He also advised the three new cruisers have still not been built. He advised he received an update last week that they believe they will be built the first week in January, so there will be another 4-6 weeks after that before the are delivered. He indicated it looks like February or March before the cars will be close to being on the road. Commissioner Tarr inquired if they are all SUV's and Captain Graton advised yes. Commissioner Mello inquired if the SUV's will replace the cars and Captain Graton advised that is correct and we are going to all SUV's. 1/6  6.A.i. Orders & Bulletins 6.A.ii. Out-of-State School - Chief Canfield.School Shooting Prevention Leadership Forum.01-08- 2020 Commissioner Tarr recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield advised this is a request to attend a two-day school in New York sponsored by the FBI National Academy on leadership in schools and school security. He advised it talks about multi-agency response, coordination of resources, understanding and conducting school security assessments, building capacities, and kind of builds and supports the Governor's Task Force on School Preparedness and Safety. Commissioner Mello inquired if there will be another school drill this year the same as last year. Chief Canfield advised we are working with Homeland Security for a grant to conduct an inactive shooter drill. He advised it will not be based on the school necessarily, but will be along the same lines. He indicated he is not sure of a date as of yet, due to funding and the grant writing capabilities. Commissioner Tarr advised he noticed the target audience also includes School Resource Officers and he inquired how this will work with our School Resource Officers. Chief Canfield advised he will bring all of the material/information to our School Resource Officers and the school Superintendent as well. 6.B. Captain - Operations Division Commissioner Tarr recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield advised we were technically at full staff; however, Officer Lindsey Batstone stepped down from a full time Patrol Officer to take the administrative position vacated by Cheryl DeTurk, who is retiring on the 20th of this month. He indicated for family and scheduling reasons, Lindsey thought this would be a much better fit for her and her family. She advised we are full staff minus that position. He indicated there is a recruiting test in February; however, we have several applicants who are in currently in the wings and our recruiting looks really good. Commissioner Mello inquired if Lindsey is staying on part time and Chief Canfield advised yes. Commissioner Tarr inquired when this will take effect and Chief Canfield advised she has already started as of the 9th of this month and cross trained with Cheryl for the two week period. He advised Cheryl is done this Friday and Lindsey will then take over. 6.B.i. Hirings No discussion. 6.C. Legal Prosecutor No discussion. 7. COMMISSION ACTION 7.A. Acceptance of minutes from previous meeting On a Motion made by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Chairman Whittum (via conference call), and passed unanimously, the meeting minutes of November 20, 2019 were accepted. 7.B. Commission Vote.Out-of-State School.Chief Canfield.School Shooting Prevention Leadership Forum.01-08-2020 2/6  On a Motion made by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Chairman Whittum (via conference call), and passed unanimously, the above out-of-state school was approved. 8. REVIEW OF MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS 8.A. Department Monthly Highlights Commissioner Tarr recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield reviewed the Department Monthly Highlights report. Commissioner Tarr inquired about the big jump in motor vehicle stops and Chief Canfield advised Captain Finogle has been able to make the schedule work to put some extra manpower out with the concentrated effort of stopping cars and making motor vehicle stops, so there is a significant jump in motor vehicle stops from 479 this month to 166 for the corresponding month last year. He advised this is due to a significant effort to do some more proactive motor vehicle enforcement. 8.B. Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics Commissioner Tarr recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield reviewed the Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics report. He noted they conducted a very significant search warrant today, which resulted in approximately $14,000.00 in cash, approximately five fingers of heroin and some methamphetamine. He indicated the whole operation netted five arrests and led to another location in Laconia, which led to another search warrant. He indicated they were able to recover a number of checks that were stolen in a burglary two days prior. He advised this was some very good work in the proactive drug world. Commissioner Tarr inquired if these were places that were familiar and Chief Canfield advised he believes most were familiar. He advised it was an operation that was conducted by our Detective/Drug Unit, as well as the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force that one of our Detectives is assigned to. He indicated it was a very good inter-agency cooperation and resulted in a very good payback on that position as well. Commissioner Tarr inquired that with the bail revisions in place now, which are about to be changed again, if any of the arrestees were on bail from a previous offense. Chief Canfield advised he does not know if they were on bail, but that they were released and back out within two hours. 8.C. Budget Reports Commissioner Tarr recognized Captain Graton. Captain Graton advised we are about 2% below the full bottom line of budget at this point. Commissioner Tarr about the new line for court overtime. Captain Graton advised the City Council requested information on where overtime money is going and he has been working with Finance Director Glen Smith and Executive Assistant Lori Marsh to separate the overtime costs so that it can be relayed to the City Council. Commissioner Tarr noted we're about halfway through the fiscal year and inquired if any of the lines items could potentially cause some concern. Captain Graton advised we'll have a couple that will go over, indicating one would be due to the cruiser being totaled in a deer strike. The money to purchase another car and install the equipment was covered partially through Primex and the remainder out of our budget from the Miscellaneous line. He indicated a couple of other lines will be a little over, but we will be able to make it work. 8.D. Monthly Traffic Statistics 3/6  Commissioner Tarr recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield reviewed the Monthly Traffic Statistics report. Chairman Whittum inquired how many of the accidents reported on Union Avenue are due to the construction and Chief Canfield advised we are not able to track that. 8.E. Monthly Fleet Report No discussion. 9. CORRESPONDENCE TO AND FROM THE DEPARTMENT Commissioner Tarr recognized Chief Canfield. Chief Canfield advised we received a nice thank you from a woman who was missing her daughter, which all ended well and she was very thankful. He also indicated there were several posts on our Facebook page, one of which was from a woman who posted it was nice to see the Laconia Police Department out walking the "beat" on Main Street and it brought back great memories and encourages community connections. Chief Canfield also noted there is a letter in the Commission packets from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, who renewed his appointment on the International Terrorism Committee that he was appointed to last year. Commissioner Tarr inquired if any other New Hampshire law enforcement professionals are on that that committee and Chief Canfield advised not from New Hampshire and he is the only one. Commissioner Tarr congratulated Chief Canfield and the department on this honor. 10. CHIEF'S REPORT Chief Canfield reviewed the Overdose Statistics Report and indicated overdoses and overdose deaths are trending about half what they were last year. He indicated we are seeing a lot more meth than we are heroin at this point. Commissioner Tarr noted they are trending in the right direction. Chief Canfield advised it's appears to be the drug of choice and certainly opportunity and the costs of the drugs, as well as the overdoses, have changed that climate. Commissioner Tarr inquired if there was any speculation as to why we are seeing an almost 50% drop in the overdose calls and Chief Canfield advised he believes it is due to the transition to meth, both cost wise and lethality wise. He indicated he thinks people are realizing that the heroin is cut with fentanyl and they are scared of overdosing and dying, so they are switching to meth. He indicated with that being said, we're seeing a lot of poly drug users who are using both as well. Commissioner Mello inquired if it is anticipated that this month overdose numbers will be higher. Chief Canfield advised he does not believe so, as we are still trending far below what we were last year. He advised that with only two weeks left in the year, he thinks we're going to still be about half of what we were at last year for deaths and total overdose numbers. Commissioner Tarr referred to the sweep spoken of earlier and inquired if there was a fair amount of methamphetamine seized or observed. Chief Canfield advised he is not sure of the actual quantity, but there was some meth seized. Captain Graton advised it was less than the amount of heroin. Commissioner Tarr inquired if there is any evidence of increased cooking of meth and Chief Canfield advised no. He indicated most, if not all of it, now comes straight from Mexico and we're not seeing much home cooked, which is good for a safety factor and the explosive nature. Chief Canfield advised we continue to conduct safety and active shooter talks and have done a number of those recently. He advised he did one this morning at the Visiting Nurses Association. 4/6  Chief Canfield concluded by reminding the Commissioners of the retiree Christmas luncheon this Friday, December 20th, at the Police Department at noon. He also indicated he wished to recognize Chief Merrill, who was the #2 person running the NHPS&T Council and who just recently passed away from a very quick bout with cancer; as well as the brother of New Hampton Police Chief Kevin Stevens, who used to work for Laconia Police Department and State Police, who also passed, and wished to keep them in our thoughts and prayers. 11. OLD BUSINESS No discussion. 12. NEW BUSINESS No discussion. 13. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE 14. OTHER BUSINESS Chief Canfield thanked Commissioner Tarr for serving for the past four years and for everything he has done for our agency. He advised it has been an honor to work with him, and in honor of him, he and Commssioner Mello presented Commissioner Tarr with a placque recognizing his service on the Police Commission. Chairman Whittum echoed the Chief's comments and advised he thinks Commissioner Tarr has brought a real high level of expertise, commitment and stature to the Laconia Police Commission and will be missed. Commissioner Tarr advised he has enjoyed his four years and it went by fast. He indicated deciding not to run is just a personal decision and has nothing to do with anyone at the Laconia Police Department. He indicated he has enjoyed the professionalism by everyone at the police department and is has been a pleasure and privilege to work with everyone on the police department for the past four years. 15. CITIZEN COMMENTS No citizen comments. 16. NON-PUBLIC SESSION (According To RSA 91-A:3, II) RSA 91-A:3II(e) - Consideration or negotiation of pending claims or litigation which has been threatened in writing or filed by or against this board or any subdivision thereof, or by or against any member thereof because of his/her membership therein, until the claim or litigation has been fulled adjudicated or otherwise settled. On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Chairman Whittum (via conference call), and passed unanimously, in accordance with RSA 91-A:3II, the Laconia Police Commissioner entered into Non- Public Session at 3:25 pm. At 3:35 pm, the Non-Public Session ended on a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Tarr, with a unanimous vote. Public Session reconvened at 3:35 pm. Commissioner Tarr entertained a Motion to seal the Minutes, moved by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Tarr, and passed unanimously, because it is determined that divulgences of this information likely would affect adversely the reputation of any person other than a member of this board. 5/6  Roll Call vote to seal the minutes: Commissioner Thomas Tarr - Yes Commissioner Frank Mello - Yes 16.A. Pending Litigation 17. ADJOURNMENT On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Tarr, and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 3:37p.m. 6/6