Police Commission

LACONIA POLICE COMMISSION MEETING MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 8, 2021 3:00 P.M. 12/8/2021 - 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 No discussion. 5.B. Resignations/Retirement Chief Canfield advised we received two resignations. Dispatcher Alexis Dubois submitted her resignation effective December 13th. She has plans to relocate. Tom Swett, who retired a while ago and works at UNH, and who stayed on part time, submitted his resignation and will stay certified through UNH. 5.B.i. Resignation - Dispatcher Alexis Dubois 5.B.ii. Resignation - Special Officer Thomas Swett 5.C. Promotions/Classification Change No discussion.  5.B.ii. Resignation - Special Officer Thomas Swett 5.C. Promotions/Classification Change No discussion. 6. COMMAND STAFF REPORTS 6.A. Chief - Support Division Chief Canfield advised the following: They have been continuing to work on the build out of the command post vehicle, which is being built in Arizona and we expect delivery in late spring or early summer. This was grant funded in the amount of $250,000.00 through a Federal Homeland Security Grant. A majority of the detectives are attending a Serious Death/Homicide training this week, with the exception of Detective Horan and Detective Adams. They have been working closely with the Child Advocacy Center and he attended a meeting there last week with detectives to touch base with their staff. We are very grateful for the Child Advocacy Center and all the work they do in collaboration with all of our people with investigating child abuse. We have been working on preparing the budget for the next fiscal year, which is due next week. Once it is finalized, it will be submitted to the Commission for review. 6.B. Chief - Operations Division Chief Canfield advised the following: They have been working with the State Department of Health and Human Services to administer the booster vaccine to any of our staff that opted to get it, which will be held tomorrow. They have also working with DHHS to host one of eleven statewide COVID clinics here in Laconia, which will take place at the college on Saturday. They have been working on the logistics of that and traffic plan. They have been working on recruitment to fill the soon to be vacant dispatcher positions. We have been taking applications and doing interviews at those times to speed of the process, instead of setting a deadline in January and reviewing them all at that time. We've received several applications that seem promising at this point. We are still trying to fill the one patrol officer position. We conducted a test a couple of weeks ago and we'll do another testing process and oral board for two people this Friday. Hopefully that pans out with something that can be brought forward for consideration for hire. 6.B.i. Hirings 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 October 20, 2021, were accepted as distributed. 7.B. Out-of-State School(s)  On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the meeting minutes of October 20, 2021, were accepted as distributed. 7.B. Out-of-State School(s) Chief Canfield reviewed the two school requests. Detective Howe has submitted a request to attend Advanced Crash Investigation school in Foxborough, Massachusetts. He has already attended the first school as part of the Accident Reconstruction Team. There is a series of three courses, At Scene, Advanced Scene Crash and Crash Reconstruction. This is the second of that series and is a two week school. Detective Howe is willing to respond to crash scene, which he has already been doing, and this would be the second building block toward full accident reconstruction. The second request is for Detective Eric Adams to go to Atlanta, Georgia to attend a national conference on Rx Abuse and Heroin. This is a three day program and fits into the realm of what Detective Adams does. This is an opportunity for him to network with some of the leaders in his type of work, but also offers classes for him to attend to continue with the work that he does and bring back new ideas. On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the above two school requests were approved. 7.B.i. Advanced Crash Investigation - Detective Jonathan Howe 7.B.ii. Rx Abuse and Heroin Summit - Detective Eric Adams 7.C. Notice of Holidays - 2022 Chief Canfield advised it is requested the Police Commission vote to accept the list of 2022 Holiday for Laconia Police Department employees, noting it is the same as the holidays for the City of Laconia. On a Motion by Commissioner Davis, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously, the 2022 Notice of Holidays was accepted as presented. 8. REVIEW OF MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS 8.A. Department Monthly Highlights Chief Canfield reviewed the Department Monthly Highlights report. No further discussion. 8.B. Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics Chief Canfield reviewed the Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics report. Commissioner Davis noted the training hours appear to have doubled and inquired if that was built into the budget. Chief Canfield advised it can be attributed to Detective Dan Carsen attending polygraph school and that overall our training hours haven't changed much. 8.C. Budget Reports Chief Canfield advised the budget is tracking just slightly under and we're about halfway through the budget year.  8.C. Budget Reports Chief Canfield advised the budget is tracking just slightly under and we're about halfway through the budget year. 8.D. Monthly Traffic Statistics Chief Canfield reviewed the Monthly Traffic Statistics report. Commission Mello noted that he observed two trucks parked on the sidewalk on Oak Street this yesterday and this morning and inquired if they received special permission to do so to trim trees. Chief Canfield advised we wouldn't have a problem with that, as long as they are out of the street or have traffic control to do it. Commissioner Mello inquired about kids walking on the sidewalk and Chief Canfield advised they should have a plan to deal with that and direct those kids, as well as traffic. 8.E. Monthly Fleet Report Chief Canfield advised the new vehicles are in and are in the process of being equipped and outfitted. They are expected to be on-line in January. Chairman Whittum inquired which vehicles those will replace and Chief Canfield indicated they will replace three of the older vehicles in the fleet. Chairman Whittum inquired if they will go to the City for use or surplus. Chief Canfield advised they will either go to the City if they are still salvageable or they will go to auction. 9. CORRESPONDENCE TO/FROM THE DEPARTMENT Chief Canfield advised we received a nice thank you from the Boys & Girls Club for support of their organization. 10. CHIEF'S REPORT Chief Canfield reviewed the Drug Overdose Statistics report. He noted the total number of deaths is not correct, as we are currently investigating eleven (11) drug overdose deaths or suspected drug overdose deaths. These numbers are true to the point that they reflect deaths where we have received the autopsy reports back stating they were actually drug overdoses. These are significant cases that take a lot of time. We have been able to make an arrest for death resulting, where someone provided drugs that resulted in a drug overdose of a person and we are looking to make these cases on several others. Having this many people die in one year as a result of a drug overdose is unacceptable in a City the size of Laconia. He also advised the following: We have a Staff meeting training on December 16th. This will encompass a 2 hour Webinar for all of our front line supervisors on responding to crime scenes involving violent assaults and death scenes. It is something that we have seen a lot of in Laconia and this would put on better ground wit the graining opportunity. In addition, we will be continuing leadership training with Primex starting in January or February. It will consist of all supervisors being required to read two different leadership books and there will be a facilitated discussion by Primex, who will come in and lead a discussion. We will not be doing a retiree Christmas luncheon as a result of COVID and not wishing to expose people to the risk. We will be holding a department luncheon on December 22nd at noon and Commissioners are invited to attend. He noted the City will not be holding their Annual Christmas Employee Luncheon again this year so us not having our retiree luncheon is consistent with that. In reviewing the 2021 Goals and Objectives, which have been skewed by COVID, some have been brought forward to be included in the 2022 goals. The Detective Unit review has been  expose people to the risk. We will be holding a department luncheon on December 22nd at noon and Commissioners are invited to attend. He noted the City will not be holding their Annual Christmas Employee Luncheon again this year so us not having our retiree luncheon is consistent with that. In reviewing the 2021 Goals and Objectives, which have been skewed by COVID, some have been brought forward to be included in the 2022 goals. The Detective Unit review has been developed and they have developed a pathway toward continuing the polygraph program and continue to work toward being certified as a Crime Scene Unit. The training they are at now is one of the first steps toward that goal. In regards to technology, we have installed sign boards (TV screens) throughout the police department to display messages. We have held off on the patrol office review, due to not wanting to bring extra people in, but it will be addressed at some point. The uniform review and study committee has been continued to 2022. We did obtain new training uniforms that will be used for training and for when officers work details. Those uniforms all now all the same and are consistent in look. These were funded through grant money. The department firearms training will be continued into 2022. Our goal is to work on developing our own firearms range up by the transfer station on City owned land. . This would allow us additional training time by allowing officers to go up there while on duty to free up other training time. The comprehensive written directive review is on-going. We are in year two of this five year process where we have contracted with the Daigle Law Group to take a look at all of our policies and review them for legalities. Our policy manual has been broken into sections and they are submitted and are being updated as we speak. The department video has been completed and will be distributed by end of year to the department. We will be utilizing that video for recruiting. We will be developing the 2022 goals and Objectives at our Staff meeting and will be presented at the net Commission meeting. Chairman Whittum inquired about viewing the video and Chief Canfield advised he can email it to the Commissioners. 11. OLD BUSINESS No discussion. 12. NEW BUSINESS No discussion. 13. OTHER BUSINESS 14. CITIZEN COMMENTS No citizens present. 15. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE The next meeting Regular meeting of January 19, 2022 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) requests that the meeting be open, in which case the request shall be granted. On a Motion by Commissioner Davis, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed  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) requests that the meeting be open, in which case the request shall be granted. On a Motion by Commissioner Davis, 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 3:25 pm. Roll Call vote to enter Non-Public Session: Chairman Whittum Yes Commissioner Mello Yes Commissioner Davis Yes At 3:32 pm, the Non-Public Session ended on a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, with a unanimous vote. Public Session reconvened at 3:32 pm. Chairman Whittum entertained a Motion to seal the Minutes, moved by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, because they would affect adversely the reputation of any person other than a member of this board. Roll Call vote to seal the Minutes: Chairman Whittum Yes Commissioner Mello Yes Commissioner Davis Yes 17. ADJOURNMENT On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 3:33 pm.