Police Commission

LACONIA POLICE COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES AUGUST 18, 2021 3:00 P.M. 8/18/2021 - 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 Marsh. 4. ROLL CALL 4.A. Chairman Whittum recognized Commissioners present - Chairman Douglas Whittum, Commissioner Frank Mello and Commissioner Scott Davis. 4.B. Chairman Whittum recognized Staff present - Chief Matthew Canfield. 4.C. Chairman Whittum recognized a quorum has been established and there are three Commission members present. 5. PERSONNEL MATTERS 5.A. Commendations & Awards Chief Canfield advised our Awards Ceremony will be held on October 20th, with an anticipated start time of 5:00 pm and ending at approximately 7:00-7:30 pm. The venue has yet to be determined. He indicated we would love to have the Commission attend and we are looking forward to acknowledging the work and actions the officers do on a everyday basis. 5.B. Resignations/Retirement No discussion. 5.C. Promotions/Classification Change No discussion. 6. COMMAND STAFF REPORTS  5.C. Promotions/Classification Change No discussion. 6. COMMAND STAFF REPORTS 6.A. Chief - Support Division Chief Canfield reported the following: They have been working on a number of different grant opportunities, with Lieutenant Hubbard and Captain Graton researching available grants, to acquire things that we need, without doing so through our budget. Some of those will be brought to the Commission in the near future. They have been troubleshooting some minor issues with the radio system and are still working on getting the second frequency through the FCC. Detectives have been very busy working on a number of drug investigations. They have been working on the final command post set-up, which was funded entirely by grant. We expect delivery sometime in April. The new cars that were approved with the new budget starting July 1st were proactively ordered back in March and will probably be delivered at some point in December. At that point they will take another month to outfit and equip to get them on the road. 6.A.i. Orders & Bulletins 6.B. Chief - Operations Division Chief Canfield reported the following: This weekend will be very busy. Lieutenant Noyes and Captain Finogle have been working very hard on the planning and contingency plans for the Ironman. It will be a rather large event that has been very fluid, given it is the first time Laconia has hosted this event. We are looking for a very safe event. The public is encouraged to seek alternate routes of travel if it is not necessary for them to be in the downtown or North Main Street areas, as the event is headquartered at Opechee Park. We are looking at anywhere between 1000-2000 participants. There has been a lot of work put into planning the event and officers to work various intersections. Commissioner Mello inquired what time the event starts and Chief Canfield advised approximately 7:00 am. The scheduling software spoken of previously has been implemented on a trial basis and will be fully implemented in September. 6.B.i. Hirings Chairman Whittum inquired about the progress with hiring and Chief Canfield indicated we have talked about doing our own test, but we are waiting to see what Great Bay does as far as posting a test for this fall. He advised either way we will move forward this fall to get the other  6.B.i. Hirings Chairman Whittum inquired about the progress with hiring and Chief Canfield indicated we have talked about doing our own test, but we are waiting to see what Great Bay does as far as posting a test for this fall. He advised either way we will move forward this fall to get the other vacancies filled. 7. COMMISSION ACTION 7.A. Acceptance of minutes from previous meeting On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the meeting minutes of July 28, 2021 were accepted as distributed. 7.A. Chief Canfield indicated he is looking for approval to attend the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in New Orleans from September 10th to September 14th. He advised this is a conference he attends yearly and, as part of that, the Terrorism Committee that he sits on has their annual meeting there as well. On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the request to attend the IACP Conference was approved. 8. REVIEW OF MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS 8.A. Department Monthly Highlights Chief Canfield reviewed the Department Monthly Highlights report, noting that calls for service and motor vehicle stops are up significantly. 8.B. Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics Chief Canfield reviewed the Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics. Commission Mello inquired about sex offender registrations being down. Chief Canfield indicated they tend to ebb and flow as subjects move in/out of Laconia. 8.C. Budget Reports Chief Canfield reported our Animal Control Officer currently works 24 hours a week, of which two thirds of her salary is supplemented by the towns of Gilford and Belmont, as she provides regional animal control services for those communities. We received money in our budget this year to make her position full time and the additional 16 hours per week will be dedicated to conducting parking enforcement, which is greatly needed. He indicated our budget is certainly in good shape for being at the beginning of the budget year. 8.D. Monthly Traffic Statistics Chief Canfield reviewed the Monthly Traffic Statistics and noted we have been hitting traffic enforcement very heavy. Chairman Whittum indicated he has witnessed some of these motor vehicle stops. Chief Canfield advised that our goal with traffic enforcement is to change driving behavior and slow people down and not necessarily ticket motorists. The ratio of warning to tickets if very heavily outweighed by warnings. Chairman Whittum inquired what an example of "physical impairment" for accidents would be. Chief Canfield advised one example could be operating while under the influence of drugs (illegal or prescription) or alcohol, which can impair your ability to operate a vehicle.  to change driving behavior and slow people down and not necessarily ticket motorists. The ratio of warning to tickets if very heavily outweighed by warnings. Chairman Whittum inquired what an example of "physical impairment" for accidents would be. Chief Canfield advised one example could be operating while under the influence of drugs (illegal or prescription) or alcohol, which can impair your ability to operate a vehicle. 8.E. Monthly Fleet Report Chief Canfield indicated that, as mentioned above, delivery of the new cars will be in December. 9. CORRESPONDENCE TO AND FROM THE DEPARTMENT Chief Canfield reported we received a nice thank you letter from the Director of the Winnipesaukee H.O.G. Chapter thanking us for our assistance with a motorcycle ride. He also advised we received a nice survey result from someone we assisted in a call for service, who was very complementary of the police service we provided, being positive feedback on the work we are doing. 10. CHIEF'S REPORT Chief Canfield reviewed the Drug Overdose Statistics, noting the chart reflects two deaths year to date. However, that number has changed to three, compared to the four for 2020. He noted Eric Adams has been working very hard in his position and, along with the work the drug detectives are doing, it is certainly having an impact on some of the drug trends and is an issue that has not gone away. Chief Canfield also advised the following: On Tuesday, August 24th, we will be doing an employee luncheon. He finds it important that we recognize our employees who work every day to show our appreciation. The Sergeants, Lieutenants, Captains and himself, will be doing all of the cooking and will take place from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and then again at 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Commissioners were invited to attend. On September 25th, from 11:-00 am to 2:00 pm, we will be conducting an open house of the police department to connect with the community by conducting demonstrations by specialty units. We will unveil the new cop cards, and provide guided tours. Eric Adams is heading up the Citizens Academy, which didn't take place last year due to COVID. This will begin on September 15th and is a 10-week program. The goal is to connect with members of the community and show them what we do; teach them what we do; familiarize them with their police department and hear their feedback. There is a Staff Meeting for supervisors on August 25th, which will be followed by a training taught by Primex in September on behavioral analysis, for which everyone had to complete an on-line assessment. He is hoping to bring the Staff together and bring their communication styles and interpretations to light. He indicated he has heard a fair amount of feedback from some of the Staff who have taken the assessment, who are indicating it is very interesting. They actually receive a report back to them on their personal communication styles and their strengths and weaknesses. 11. OLD BUSINESS 11. OLD BUSINESS No discussion. 12. NEW BUSINESS No discussion. 13. OTHER BUSINESS Commissioner Davis inquired if either the fire department or police department have a signal that stops vehicles when approaching an intersection with traffic lights if they have their emergency lights activated. Chief Canfield advised it is called an "enunciator", which is a white light in the light bar and there is a black cone-shaped device on the traffic light bar that picks up that white light and changes the light to green for the direction the emergency vehicle is traveling. He indicated that the police department and fire department both have them; however, not every intersection is equipped with that device. He advised that as the lights are upgraded at intersections, they will have them at that point. Chief Canfield also advised that DPW is working on making all of the intersections ADA complaint, where the walk signals have voice commands. 14. CITIZEN COMMENTS No citizens to comment. 15. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE The next Regular meeting date of September 23, 2021 was confirmed. 16. NON-PUBLIC SESSION (According To RSA 91-A:3,II) Not applicable. 17. ADJOURNMENT On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 3:25 pm.