Police Commission

LACONIA POLICE COMMISSION MEETING MARCH 27, 2024 Meeting took place at 2:00 p.m. in the Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber, Laconia City Hall, 45 Beacon Street East, Laconia, New Hampshire 1. CALL TO ORDER F T 3/27/2024 - Minutes Chairman Whittum called the meeting to Order at the above date and time. A 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chairman Whittum led the Pledge of Allegiance. R 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Executive Assistant Lori Marsh. 4. ROLL CALL D 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 the Annual Awards Ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Lakeport Opera House on May 16th beginning at 4:30 pm and followed by the awards presentations at 6:00 pm. 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 re-applied for a grant through Senator Shaheen's office, as well as Congressman Pappas' office. A couple of years ago we received $98,000.00 in funding T for a storage building. This is another application to seek more money in order to complete that project. This would be for a storage building in the back left corner of the police station lot where the impound lot is currently located. It would provide for storage of some of the equipment left outdoors, such as the electronic sign boards, trailers, F command post vehicle, and similar items that take a beating from the weather by sitting outside. Chairman Whittum inquired if this is something that will go out to bid and Chief Canfield advised it will eventually once we secure funding. A Chief Canfield also advised they have been busy doing other grant maintenance, to include the JAG Grant where we were awarded $11,000.00 to be used to purchase ballistic helmets. Each officer will be issued a ballistic rated helmet assigned to them. The new server is in place and running. Most of the old computer system has been R switched over to the new server; however, they are still working on some licenses to fully transfer the old system to the new system. They have also been doing maintenance on the budget anticipating the budget presentation in late May or early June. D 6.A.i. Orders and Bulletins No discussion. 6.A.ii. 2023 Attrition Summary Chief Canfield reviewed the 2023 Attrition Summary. He note that he spoke with all four of the employees who resigned to go to other law enforcement agencies and they left for personal reasons and not due to our agency itself. Two left for better schedules, not having to work nights, weekends or holidays, by going to the Police Academy, one went to Concord Police Department and another one went to Londonderry Police Department because their family was closer to them down there. 6.A.iii. 2023 IPC Summary Chief Canfield reviewed the 2023 IPC Summary. He noted we police ourselves very well. The vast majority of the complaints initiated are initiated internally in the department by supervisors. So it shows we hold our staff accountable and take action to correct poor behavior when necessary. Commissioner Davis inquired if this report covers all of 2023 and Chief Canfield advised it does. 6.A.iv. 2023 Use of Force Summary  necessary. Commissioner Davis inquired if this report covers all of 2023 and Chief Canfield advised it does. 6.A.iv. 2023 Use of Force Summary Chief Canfield reviewed the 2023 Use of Force Summary. He noted we have always had a good restraint when it comes to use as force, not using it unless absolutely necessary, and when that force has been used, our officers use it in the appropriate manner and only to the point where it is necessary to take someone into custody. This report shows the quality of officers we have, as well as their training and their restraint. 6.B. Chief - Operations Division T Chief Canfield reported the following: They have been busy coming into Spring time. Motorcycle Week is a high priority for this F time of year. We have an upcoming meeting with some of our local partners that we work closely with, as well as the annual Motorcycle Week briefing with all of the partner agencies scheduled for May 26th at 10:00 am, at the Beane Center. The bid schedule for Motorcycle Week is out and completed. They are working on the A summer schedule, as well as a number of different special events for the summer, including 4th of July. 6.B.i. Hirings R Chief Canfield advised we do have a couple in backgrounds, but nothing to present at this time. 7. COMMISSION ACTION 7.A. Acceptance of minutes from previous meeting D On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the meeting minutes of March 6, 2024 were accepted as distributed. 8. REVIEW OF MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS 8.A. Department Monthly Activity Highlights Chief Canfield reviewed the Department Monthly Activity Highlights report. No further discussion. 8.B. Criminal Investigative Unit Monthly Activity Report Chief Canfield reviewed the Criminal Investigative Unit Monthly Activity report. He is happy to report that the two Detectives who have been on light duty will hopefully be coming back to full duty soon. They have been working while on light duty, but can't leave the building. They have certainly still been contributing, but it will be nice to have them fully back and operational. Another officer on light duty is assisting in the Detective Unit to assist with the case load. 8.C. Budget Reports Chief Canfield advised we are currently 65.38% of the way through the budget year and trending at 60.46%, quite a bit under budget at this point.  8.C. Budget Reports Chief Canfield advised we are currently 65.38% of the way through the budget year and trending at 60.46%, quite a bit under budget at this point. 8.D. Monthly Traffic Report Chief Canfield reviewed the Monthly Traffic Report. Chairman Whittum inquired if there is one particular spot on Union Avenue that seems to be the issue and Chief Canfield advised it's just Union Avenue where the statistic is pulled T from and it's a busy street, so it gets a lot of the crashes. 8.E. Monthly Fleet Report No discussion. 9. CORRESPONDENCE TO/FROM THE DEPARTMENT F Chief Canfield advised we received a nice thank you letter from a person in Vista, California acknowledging the work we do. A Chairman Whittum inquired if the person has a relationship with Laconia and Chief Canfield advised he does not know and didn't get that sense and believes it was probably sent to a number of agencies. R 10. CHIEF'S REPORT Chief Canfield advised the following: Officers participated in the Special Olympic Winni Dip at the Margate as part of a fundraiser for D the organization. He would like to give a shout out to Officer Bassett, who does some incredible work with Special Olympics and volunteers a lot of his time. He assisted in the Winter Games in Waterville Valley this month, assisting with a cruiser parade on a Sunday and then helped hand out medals to the athletes. He has a nice niche in his heart for this organization. He attended the Lakes Region Children's Auction awards to local charities. The Laconia Police Relief Association Family Fund was awarded $7,500.00 from that organization, another nice organization that does a lot for the community and this enables our Family Fund to help out as well. As discussed previously, Kurt and Polly Brundgardt made a $15,000.00 donation toward the development of a firearms range. That money was formally accepted at the last City Council meeting on March 2nd. The Jensen Benevolent Foundation offered a $25,000.00 donation toward the same development of the police firearms range. That is in the current process with the City Council to accept that donation. Both donations are really appreciated, as it will help us get this project off the ground without taxpayer money. It was very generous of them. He has been working very closely with the City Manager and Mayor with regards to the unhoused population. In particular, there have been a couple of meetings, with another scheduled for tomorrow morning. Isaiah's will be closing April 1st, so we will be looking for ideas on how to assist them and deal with that going forward after April 1st. We also had a meeting with the Department of Transportation for the Hounsell Avenue property, which is State owned, and they were in favor of working together with the City regarding that problem.  He has been working very closely with the City Manager and Mayor with regards to the unhoused population. In particular, there have been a couple of meetings, with another scheduled for tomorrow morning. Isaiah's will be closing April 1st, so we will be looking for ideas on how to assist them and deal with that going forward after April 1st. We also had a meeting with the Department of Transportation for the Hounsell Avenue property, which is State owned, and they were in favor of working together with the City regarding that problem. Detective Adams did a talk for Rotary, which was very well received. Our CALEA Accreditation has annual reviews and every four years there is an on-site. This year is our fourth year, which is our four year accreditation. They will be coming out here August 5th through August 8th. Primarily they do all of the file reviews ahead of time and most of their visit T will entail interviews with employees, community members and City leaders, and kind of delve into what we do. He advised they will be looking to speak with the Commission at some point. National Night Out is scheduled for August 6th at Opechee Park. This location works reallly well with all of the groups we have been bringing in. F SPIDR Tech, the next notification system for when people call the police department for service, sent a total of 1331 message for the month of February, which was up 10.7%. The survey completion rate was at 20.2%, which was down 4.4%; however, a 20% survey completion rate is still very high. A The 2024 Overdose Statistics are currently at 8 overdoses and 2 suspected overdose deaths. Line of duty deaths are at 27 across the Nation year to date. Most recently we saw a NYPD officer who was gunned down on a traffic stop late Monday. R We just received word that our Honor Guard has been invited to attend the August 10th Boston Red Sox baseball game at 4:10 pm at Fenway Park and present the colors as a Police Honor Guard. D 11. OLD BUSINESS No discussion. 12. NEW BUSINESS No discussion. 13. OTHER BUSINESS No discussion. 14. CITIZEN COMMENTS No citizens in attendance. 15. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE The next Regular meeting date of April 17, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. was confirmed. 16. NON-PUBLIC SESSION (According To RSA 91-A:3, II (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 a right to a public meeting, and (2) requests that the meeting be open, in which case the request shall be granted. 16. NON-PUBLIC SESSION (According To RSA 91-A:3, II (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 a right to a public 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:3,II(a), the Laconia Police Commission entered into Non-Public Session at 2:20 pm. Roll Call Vote to enter Non-Public Session: T Chairman Douglas Whittum - Yes Commissioner Frank Mello - Yes F Commissioner Scott Davis - Yes At 2:33 pm., the Non-Public Session ended on a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, with a unanimous vote. A Public Session reconvened at 2:34 pm. R 17. ADJOURNMENT On a Motion by Commissioner Mello, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 2:34 pm. D