Police Commission

LACONIA POLICE COMMISSION MEETING JULY 12, 2023 Meeting took place at 3:00 p.m. in the Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber, Laconia City Hall, 45 Beacon Street, Laconia, New Hampshire 7/12/2023 - 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 - Resignation of Patrol Officer Jordan Hunold Chief Canfield advised we received a resignation from Probationary Patrol Officer Jordan Hunold, who was still in training and determine the job was not for him and resigned of his own accord. 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 advised the following: They have been working on a number of new grant initiatives. They are working on submitting five community grant applications for a community policing project. Once the funding is secured, he will outline the projects in greater detail for the Commission. We were awarded a Burn JAG Grant from the Department of Justice in the amount of $11,000.00. They are working on the award paperwork and it will be utilized for police equipment. They are working on the bid process and acquiring three new patrol vehicles, which were approved in the Capital Improvement Program with the approval of our budget at the end of last month. We are working on a number of grant maintenance items, wrapping up grants and grant reporting, as well as wrapping up some of the tech projects that we embarked upon last year. They are Beginning work this fall on a server replacement which runs our entire computer mainframe and this is funded through the Capital Improvement Project this year as well. 6.A.i. Orders and Bulletins No discussion. 6.B. Chief - Operations Division Chief Canfield reported the following: They wrapped up the Motorcycle Week debriefing and are working on fall schedule and bid process, which will hopefully be out the week after next. National Night Out is scheduled for August 10th at 5:00 pm at Opechee Park. We hope to make this a really big event. A request has been put in to bring the D.H.A.R.T. and National Guard helicopters in. The 4th of July weekend was uneventful primarily due to the weather. 6.B.i. Hirings Chief Canfield advised w have one background completed, which will review and then present to Police Commission next month for consideration for hire. We are also in the process of wrapping up a background investigation for a dispatch position. There is a Great Bay test coming up the beginning of next month and we will be sending a number of officers down for recruitment and hopefully we'll be able to secure some good applicants out of that process. 7. COMMISSION ACTION  There is a Great Bay test coming up the beginning of next month and we will be sending a number of officers down for recruitment and hopefully we'll be able to secure some good applicants out of that process. 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 June 21, 2023 were accepted pending some minor corrections noted. 8. REVIEW OF MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS 8.A. Department Monthly Activity Highlights Chief Canfield reviewed the Department Monthly Highlights. Commissioner Davis inquired if everyone is taken into custody when charged with DWI. Chief Canfield advised they are if there is probable cause to charge them with DWI. Commissioner Davis inquired if they are held or released and Chief Canfield responded that we attempt to locate a sober party to release them to, however, if we cannot locate a sober party, they are held for intoxication until deemed sober. 8.B. Budget Reports Chief Canfield advised we are wrapping up the end of year budget report numbers from last year and anticipate it to be under budget and the final number will be reported to the Commission when received. We are currently at the beginning of the new budget that just started on July 1st. Chairman Whittum noted he cannot remember a time when the department went over budget and Chief Canfield advised we do a pretty good job and, although some things are out of our control, for the most part we do a really good job with keeping the budget in line. 8.C. Monthly Fleet Report No discussion. 9. CORRESPONDENCE TO/FROM THE DEPARTMENT Chief Canfield advised we received a nice thank you from the Elm Street School for Lieutenant Hubbard and Officer Bassett, who attended their Field Day this year during Motorcycle Week. There were games for the children outside and Lieutenant Hubbard and Officer Bassett built a wooden stand for one of our radar speed boards and basically created running course so the kids could compete against each other to see how fast they run. This was a lot of fun and a couple of our officers were racing against the kids in uniform. There was also a nice thank you from a woman thanking us for all we do. 10. CHIEF'S REPORT Chief Canfield advised the following: He participated in the Jack Heath radio show right after Motorcycle Week and did a wrap-up report on that. The Jack Heath radio show has been a great partnership, especially during Motorcycle Week to get messaging out there, as well as addressing community concerns about policing.  He participated in the Jack Heath radio show right after Motorcycle Week and did a wrap-up report on that. The Jack Heath radio show has been a great partnership, especially during Motorcycle Week to get messaging out there, as well as addressing community concerns about policing. He attended the celebration of Robert Harrington at Sunrise Towers commemorating his 50 years of service to the Laconia Housing Board of Commissioners and they dedicated the campus to him with a really nice sign on the side of the building. It was a really nice event. He met with Congressman Chris Pappas during the course of the month about policing and current events in Laconia as far as policing goes, as well as National policing events. He has been a real supporter of this department in particular, but certainly law enforcement throughout the State. As follow-up up on our request for $25,000.00 in county ARPA funds, he gave a presentation to the entire County Delegation on the E-bikes. After discussion, they agreed to approve the transfer of $25,000.00 in County ARPA funds to us. There is still some more to do in the approval process and it still needs to be accepted by the City Council. He attended a day-long meeting with the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the U.S. Attorney's Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council at the Federal Building in Concord. Today we participated in an event for the Belknap Mill at Rotary Park called "Kids in the Park". The turnout was not what we hoped, but there were certainly a number of kids down there and they were able to tour the command post and see the motorcycle and drone, as well some other police equipment. For the monthly overview of Spidr Tech, which will be distributed to the Commission, essentially 4.4 out of 5 people are satisfied with the professionalism of the Communications personnel and 4.7 out of 5 people are satisfied with the police department's response time. There are some really good numbers here. He reviewed the Overdose statistics year to date. There have been 58 line of duty deaths across the Nation year to date. 11. OLD BUSINESS 12. NEW BUSINESS Chief Canfield advised we have one Out-of-State training request for Detective Steve Orton and Detective Eric Adams to attend the 2023 COSSUP National Forum: Championing the Power of Recovery and Hope. The COSSUP Grant funds Eric's position to bring the program statewide, as well as a couple of other positions. As part of that grant program, Detective Adams and Detective Orton were requested to attend this training program being held in Arlington, Virginia from August 28th to September 1st. There is no cost for them to attend, as all costs are being picked up by the COSSUP Grant. On a Motion by Commissioner Davis, seconded by Commissioner Mello, and passed unanimously. the above school was approved unanimously. 13. OTHER BUSINESS No discussion. 14. CITIZEN COMMENTS  No discussion. 14. CITIZEN COMMENTS No citizens in attendance. 15. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE The next Regular meeting date of August 16, 2023 was confirmed. 16. ADJOURNMENT On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 3:19 p.m.