Police Commission

LACONIA POLICE COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 3:00 P.M. 9/23/2021 - 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 indicated the Annual Awards Ceremony that was canceled last year due to COVID, and which usually takes place during Police Week, has been scheduled for Wednesday, October 20th, as Police Week was scheduled for October this year. He welcomed the Commission to attend and advised he will update them with a venue location once it is locked in. 5.B. Resignations/Retirement No discussion. 5.C. Promotions/Classification Change No discussion.  No discussion. 5.C. Promotions/Classification Change No discussion. 6. COMMAND STAFF REPORTS 6.A. Chief - Support Division Chief Canfield advised the following: They have been working on the Capital Improvement Requests, which were due September 16th. This is the layout for the next couple of years of what our Capital Improvement requests will be, other than anything that may come up on an urgent basis. Our main computer server is failing. The long term affects of this have not been determined, but they are working with the computer company to determine the life expectancy of that and replacement of the service may replace one of the CIP requests if it becomes more of an urgent matter. Aside from our normal cruiser requests, one of the bigger requests is the security fence around the Police Department property. Fall training will be on firearms, as well as a training with the court system that will allow transmittal of search and arrest warrants from the court electronically. The new cruisers ordered in March will hopefully be here in December and we hope to get them on the road late January or early February. 6.A.i. Orders & Bulletins Chief Canfield indicated there are a few orders for training, to include one for Austin Schilling to attend a Team Leader Course as part of his assignment to the Regional Swat Team, as well as a housekeeping item done for Eric Adams. He advised Eric has been assigned to the P.E.T. Program for a long time and works under Support, but he had previously been listed under Operations. To clean that up, he was re-assigned to Detectives, which is more in line with his daily chain of command. There was also an order for the Animal Control Officer to attend the New England Animal Control Home Society training. 6.B. Chief - Operations Division Chief Canfield advised the following: We have gotten through the Ironman, which went well overall for a very dynamic event. We are looking forward to some more solid planning earlier next year for the event. It was a very difficult to manage the many intersections, but Captain Finogle and Lieutenant Noyes did a great job planning for that event. They are working on a late event that just came in the other day, which is a request for a large fireworks show. It originally was to take place in Lakeport for Chaos and Kindness, but they are now looking to rent Opechee Park from the City and holding it there with vendors to celebrate the opening of The Cake venue downtown. This is a fast moving event and a special events meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow at noon. The next shift bid is out and the scheduling software is fully implemented and functioning well. 6.B.i. Hirings We have scheduled a recruitment test for Sunday, November 7th. We will be administering our own written test, where in the past we have typically used the Great Bay test, which still has not resumed. We have reached out to a company and are acquiring a written test that is CALEA approved and in line with our accreditation standards. We will also administer the PT  6.B.i. Hirings We have scheduled a recruitment test for Sunday, November 7th. We will be administering our own written test, where in the past we have typically used the Great Bay test, which still has not resumed. We have reached out to a company and are acquiring a written test that is CALEA approved and in line with our accreditation standards. We will also administer the PT test the same day. As part of that, we will be doing some advertising to draw some people in. Councilor Cheney has been working on a hiring incentive for both Police and Fire. He indicated he was asked by the City Manager to draft up something that is comparable to what the Fire Department has, which has been done. This breaks it down into two different categories, one for certified officer and one for non-certified. Typically hiring certified officers is more difficult than non-certified. Out of that, it breaks it down into a couple of different ways and how the payment would work if we were to hire police officers under either category. This might help with the recruitment of quality candidates. This will be put before the City Council on Monday night for a vote. He advised he is not sure where the money is intended to come from, either from our budget or additional money. Commissioner Davis inquired if the total amount of $2,500.00 is cumulative? Chief Canfield advised yes. Chairman Whittum inquired if we have projected the impact if it has to come out of our budget. Chief Canfield advised he did not. He indicated it is his hope that the City supplements it. 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 August 18, 2021 were accepted as distributed. 7.B. Out-of-State School(s) Chief Canfield explained the three Out-of-State school requests: The first request is for Sergeant Black, Officer Perras and Officer Shaheen to attend a class entitled "Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings", which is to take place in New Mexico at New Mexico Tech. This is a program that has been conducted for many years through the Department of Homeland Security, who pays the entire cost of attendance. Chief Canfield advised we are a little remote in New Hampshire as far as terrorism goes, but with everything that is going on worldwide and the expected increase in terrorism in our County, this is a very timely course for our officers to attend and something they should be aware of. On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the above Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings class was approved. Chief Canfield advised the second and third requests are by Officer Brown and Officer Thompson to attend The Reid Technique of Investigative Interviewing and Advanced Interrogation Techniques class to be held in Boston, Massachusetts from November 15th through the 18th. This is something that we routinely send our officers to during the first five years of their career. Many of our officers have attended in the past and it has received good reviews. Both officers have housing arrangements for this class, so they will not be seeking any housing costs. The only cost would be for tuition, which is $820.00 each to attend the course. On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the above Reid Technique of Investigative Interviewing and Advanced Interrogation Techniques school requests were approved.  each to attend the course. On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the above Reid Technique of Investigative Interviewing and Advanced Interrogation Techniques school requests were approved. 8. REVIEW OF MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS 8.A. Department Monthly Highlights Chief Canfield reviewed the Department Monthly Highlights report and indicated the overall calls for service are up considerably this year by about 18%. No further discussion. 8.B. Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics Chief Canfield reviewed the Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics. No further discussion. 8.C. Budget Reports Chief Canfield advised we're at the beginning and we are well within budget and doing well. 8.D. Monthly Traffic Statistics Chief Canfield reviewed the Monthly Traffic Statistics. No further discussion. 8.E. Monthly Fleet Report Chief Canfield advised nothing new to report other than the three new cars mentioned earlier. 9. CORRESPONDENCE TO AND FROM THE DEPARTMENT Chief Canfield advised we received a nice thank you from the Portsmouth Police Department for our assistance in policing an Air Show a couple of weeks ago. 10. CHIEF'S REPORT Chief Canfield reviewed the Overdose Statistics Report, noting Eric Adams has been working very hard in his capacity and his work will continue and it has made a difference. He also reported the following: There was not much of a turnout for the Citizen Police Academy, having received only one application. Therefore, it will not be taking place. He has had conversation with the Taylor Community to schedule to put on a program for their residents. We will be holding and Open House at the Police Department on Saturday, October 23rd, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. He welcomed Councilor Cheney to attend. This will coincide with National Drug Take Back Day. There will be police vehicles for people to tour, a motorcycle demonstration, a demonstration of our drone unit, some food for the kids, and tours of the police station. This hasn't been done since we first moved into the building and it is a good way to connect with the community and invite people in and show them what their police department does. The New Hampshire Chief's of Police Association will be holding their Annual Community Night Out on Wednesday, October 6th. It will take place at McDonald's and we will have police vehicles on display for kids and families to come and meet police officers, get some of the new  station. This hasn't been done since we first moved into the building and it is a good way to connect with the community and invite people in and show them what their police department does. The New Hampshire Chief's of Police Association will be holding their Annual Community Night Out on Wednesday, October 6th. It will take place at McDonald's and we will have police vehicles on display for kids and families to come and meet police officers, get some of the new police cards, and be able to check out some of the police vehicles. In additional to this, Chief Canfield submitted School Resource Officer Steve Orton's name for an award to the New Hampshire Chief's of Police Association and he was selected to receive the award, which will be presented that night as well. Steve has been with us for many years and does some tremendous work at the high school, not only as a police officer, but he is the assistant football coach and really connects with youth there. 11. OLD BUSINESS No discussion. 12. NEW BUSINESS No discussion. 13. OTHER BUSINESS Other business. 14. CITIZEN COMMENTS Councilor Cheney addressed the Commission, thanking them and Chief Canfield for recent efforts with increasing traffic enforcement. He indicated he doesn't care if officers hand out another summons, as much as he cares that the lights are on and people see cruisers out there. He advised he had a conversation earlier today with Chief Canfield with regards to a pedestrian crosswalk that he has received some complaints about some dangerous situations and Chief Canfield assured him that we will pay attention to that. He advised those types of things he really appreciates that the Commission has supported and the Chief has increased visibility. He hopes to see more visibility downtown. He knows the efforts are being made and he feels the department has made an outstanding effort and it's starting to show. He indicated he is starting to hear from people and they know the department is out and about and he thinks lights make a difference. 15. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE The next Regular meeting date of October 20, 2021 was confirmed. 16. NON-PUBLIC SESSION (According To RSA 91-A:3,II) Personnel Matter 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 the right to a meeting, and (2) request that the meeting be open, in which case the request shall be granted. On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, in accordance with RSA 91-A:3II(a), the Laconia Police Commission entered into Non-Public Session at 3:26 pm.  employee affected (1) has the right to a meeting, and (2) request that the meeting be open, in which case the request shall be granted. On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, in accordance with RSA 91-A:3II(a), the Laconia Police Commission entered into Non-Public Session at 3:26 pm. Roll Call Vote to enter Non-Public Session: Chairman Douglas Whittum Yes Commissioner Frank Mello Yes Commissioner Scott Davis Yes At 3:39 pm, the Non-Public Session ended on a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously. Public Session reconvened at 3:39 pm. Chairman Whittum entertained a Motion to seal the Minutes, moved by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, because the minutes may affect adversely the reputation of any person other than a member of this Board Roll Call Vote to Seal the Minutes: Chairman Douglas Whittum Yes Commissioner Frank Mello Yes Commissioner Scott Davis Yes 17. ADJOURNMENT On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 3:40 pm.