Police Commission

LACONIA POLICE COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES MARCH 16, 2022 3:00 P.M. 3/16/2022 - 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 No discussion. 5.C. Promotions/Classification Change No discussion. 6. COMMAND STAFF REPORTS 6.A. Chief - Support Division Chief Canfield reported the following: 6. COMMAND STAFF REPORTS 6.A. Chief - Support Division Chief Canfield reported the following: They have been working on a number of different grants to supplement equipment, with the latest one being for a trailer that was provided by Homeland Security. It's a trailer that contains equipment for accident and crime scenes, barricades, traffic cones, etc., and they are working on getting that assembled. They have been working on the specs for the new command post vehicle that was purchased with 100% grant funds. The company is out of Arizona and has experienced some delays due to COVID. They are hopeful for a May delivery date, but that is tentative at this time. There has been a significant amount of training that our officers have attended or will be attending in the near future to complete this year before Spring. That is an accomplishment, especially for some of the younger officers, as some of the training they are attending is cutting edge. The City is transitioning to a new voice over internet phone system for all departments and the date for the switchover for the Police Department is March 30th. The timing couldn't be better, as our current phone system is starting to fail. 6.A.i. Orders & Bulletins No discussion. 6.B. Chief - Operations Division Chief Canfield reported the following: They have been busy with a number of good arrests as of late. They have been hard at work planning for Motorcycle Week. A planning meeting is scheduled for March 23rd with other agencies that we work with. This is one of two meetings with the second being the briefing in May. The summer schedule is out to bid, so they are looking forward to the summer and some other major events, including the Coffee Festival, Motorcycle Week, 4th of July and hopefully PumpkinFest. 6.B.i. Hirings Chairman Whittum inquired the status of hirings. Chief Canfield advised we currently have one open position and we just completed the background on one of our Community Resource Officers, who graduates from college in May, at which time we'll be looking to hire him. There were no issues with his background and hiring him will put us at full staff. 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 February 23, 2022 were accepted as distributed. 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 February 23, 2022 were accepted as distributed. 8. REVIEW OF MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS 8.A. Department Monthly Highlights Chief Canfield reviewed the Department Monthly Activity Highlights report. No further discussion. 8.B. Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics Chief Canfield reviewed the Criminal Investigative Unit Statistics report. He advised an item of note is that they presented Grand Jury for the 1st time in quite a while due to COVID and presented 65 Felony level cases and all came back as a "true bill", indicating they were all indicted. This was almost two days of presentations to Grand Jury for those indictments. 8.C. Budget Reports Chief Canfield advised we are currently at 63.4% through the year for the budget cycle and our budget is running at 61.6%, so we're running about 1.86% under budget. 8.D. Monthly Traffic Statistics Chief Canfield reviewed the Monthly Traffic Statistics report. No further discussion. 8.E. Monthly Fleet Report Commissioner Davis inquired how many miles on the average cruisers run per year. Chief Canfield advised approximately 25,000 miles on average. He indicated we typically keep the front line cruisers for about five years, and depending on the shape it's in, we'll rotate it into an off-line capacity. We usually don't go over the 100,000 miles, which is recommended. He advised officers are assigned to vehicles, so they aren't all driving t he newer vehicles. By doing this, we can assign more officers to lesser mile cars or vice versa. 9. CORRESPONDENCE TO/FROM THE DEPARTMENT Chief Canfield advised we received a thank you from the family of Lieutenant Kevin Butler thanking us for our support during the passing of a family member. We also received another through our website thanking an officer for his help in dealing with a suicidal family member. 10. CHIEF'S REPORT Chief Canfield reviewed the Drug Overdose report, noting there have been no overdose deaths yet this year and last year we had a total of 75 overdose calls and 14 overdose deaths, so hopefully with being into March and having no overdose deaths the trend will continue. He advised we made two arrests, both of which resulted in indictments at the last Grand Jury, for deaths resulting from an overdose. These were very difficult cases to prove that someone who sold the drugs caused the deaths, but with two very good and very lengthy investigations they were able to make that happen. Chief Canfield also reported the following: He met with Adam Drapcho from the Daily Sun last week and discussed the possibility of doing  sold the drugs caused the deaths, but with two very good and very lengthy investigations they were able to make that happen. Chief Canfield also reported the following: He met with Adam Drapcho from the Daily Sun last week and discussed the possibility of doing a Chief's Corner editorial once a month in the paper. It will be two parts where he will write about current happenings in policing in Laconia and also answer one question that can be submitted through the month. Great community outreach to get in touch with our community, which has been hindered due to COVID. We will be starting the Coffee with a Cop program again, hosting it at different locations throughout the City to meet and greet anyone who wishes to attend and answer questions they may have about policing and discuss current happenings. He has provided the Commissioners with the Goals and Objectives for 2022. COVID affected some of the 2021 goals not being achieved, but they have continued those into the 2022 Goals and Objectives. 11. OLD BUSINESS No discussion. 12. NEW BUSINESS No discussion. 13. OTHER BUSINESS No discussion. 14. CITIZEN COMMENTS Councilor Cheney indicated he asked Chief Canfield to look into the traffic problems on the south end. He advised he went down to visit with a complainant, and while standing there. a garbage truck went by traveling at approximately 50 mph, so there is a problem and he knows Chief Canfield is trying to address it. He noted his relationship with the department has been outstanding and he wishes to thank the Commission and particularly Chief Canfield for an above average willingness to work together. Councilor Cheney also added that he doesn't know exactly where the budget is going at this point, but the County budget climbed dramatically. This is going to affect how the Council deals with the departments. He indicated he will be fighting for wage and benefit package increases, as well as equipment. He inquired about the trailer Chief Canfield spoke of. Chief Canfield advised this will be an aluminum trailer fully stocked with traffic cones, traffic barricades and traffic signs. Councilor Cheney advised he is hoping we get what is needed to make the department more effective. He is hoping to be one of the votes to push things along to get more help. Chairman Whittum recognized Councilor Cheney's efforts have been effective in enhancing the department. 15. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE  Chairman Whittum recognized Councilor Cheney's efforts have been effective in enhancing the department. 15. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE The next Regular meeting date of April 20, 2022 was confirmed. 16. ADJOURNMENT On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 3:20 pm.