Police Commission

Police & Fire Commission Meeting Minutes – March 1, 2021 Chairman Krauski called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm and the Deputy Clerk confirmed appropriate meeting notice had been given. Members present: Wiemer, Miller, Schmidt, Barry, Krauski and Non-Voting Council Representative Schellpeper Staff present: Pfister, Timm, Schrang, Ald. Rosek, Duffy and Wallace 2. Approve minutes from December 14, 2020: Motion by Wiemer to approve the December 14, 2020 minutes as written; second by Miller. Motion carried 5-0. 3.a. Establish an eligibility list for the patrol officer positions: Pfister stated the process has continued for the hiring of 3 new officers. He stated fifty-five applications were received and seventeen passed the written test. He stated seventeen applicants participated in the physical aptitude test and twelve passed, four no shows and one failed. The no shows were offered jobs at other departments. Oral interviews were held. Twelve applicants participated and five applicants passed. Pfister stated he is requesting that the Commission certify the five candidates on the eligibility list. The five names are: Corie R. Richardson, Alexander P. Hale, Justin W Hutter, Andrew M. Bahr and Joshua M. Mosher. Background investigations are being done and the candidates still need to interview with himself, HR and with the City Administrator. Pfister will bring the candidates to the Committee once the background and interview process is done. b. Commission to certify five names to the Chief to fill three positions: Motion by Miller that the Commission certify the names submitted and establish an eligibility list of the candidates that will be held until December 31, 2021 or this Commission deems there are no further viable candidates; second by Schmidt. Motion carried 5-0. c. Chief to appoint Police Sergeant’s: Pfister stated currently the department has two open Police Sergeant positions. The 2nd shift Sgt retired, and the 3rd shift Sgt was promoted to Lieutenant. The hiring process started with a letter of intent from any officer’s that were interested in applying for the Sgt. Position. A memo was put out internally to 14 officer’s that were eligible. Pfister stated he received 6 submissions. Five qualified and one did not. They went through the interview process. Two candidates were offered a conditional offer for Sgt. pending approval from the Commission: Matthew Rynders graduated from the UW-Whitewater in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Criminal Justice. He also completed the WCTC Law Enforcement Academy in 2014. He worked for a short time with the Village of Oconomowoc Lake and then was hired by the City of Oconomowoc Police Department in 2015. He was the officer in charge on 3rd shift for five years. He was a field training officer and he has done outstanding volunteer work for the community and the Police Department. He volunteered by being involved with Crime Stoppers Cookout, invented the Coffee with the Cop, Facebook Administrator and he took the initiative to design and implement the new Police Department Patch. Pfister stated he ranked 1st with his leadership during the interview process. Pfister recommends the promotion of Officer Matthew Rynders to the position of Police Sergeant. Pat Hogan graduated from the UW-Whitewater in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Criminal Justice. In 1995 he completed the WCTC Law Enforcement Academy. In 1997 he started with the City of Columbus Police Department and then moved to the Town of Summit Police Department until 2001. In 2001 he started with the City of Oconomowoc and has been here for almost 20 years. He has a total of 24 years of law enforcement experience. During his career with the City he has been an Officer in Charge on 3rd shift and on 1st Shift. He is currently working the day shift. He is a Field Training Officer and was a School Resource Officer. He has attended the Active Shooter/ALERRT training. He is a Taser Instructor, a drone pilot and has received a Merit Award. His years of experience really shined during the interview process. He has done a great job working with the young officers in the Department. During the interview process the candidates were all asked about the other candidates and everyone in the interview stated Hogan is doing an outstanding job. Pfister recommends the promotion of Officer Pat Hogan to the position of Police Sergeant. d. Consider/act on confirmation of Chief’s appointments for Police Sergeants: Motion by Schmidt to confirm Chief Jim Pfister’s appointment of Matthew Rynders to the position of Sergeant of Police; second by Wiemer. Motion carried 5-0. S:\Committees - Commissions\Police Commission\Minutes\2021\pcmin3-1-21.doc  Motion by Wiemer to confirm Chief Jim Pfister’s appointment of Patrick Hogan to the position of Sergeant of Police; second by Schmidt. Motion carried 5-0. e. Introduction of Police Sergeant’s and Swearing in: Rynders and Hogan thanked everyone for the opportunity. The members congratulated them on their promotion. Wallace gave the oath of office to Matthew Rynders and Patrick Hogan. f. Comments from the Chief of Police: Pfister reported the Citizens Academy will be starting on March 11, 2021. There were more applications than slots available. He offered the Commissioner’s to attend a certain day or an event. Also, the department is starting “Chat with the Chief”. He took questions online and answered them. The questions and answers will be put out on the website within the next week. 4. Comments from Police Commissioners: Krauski stated she is interested in having a meeting where the Commissioners can review in detail what the Commissions responsibilities are in overseeing the Police Department as laid out in the handbook from the State of WI and to discuss any concerns. She would like to invite the Commissions attorney, Atty Stadler. Wiemer questioned if there is anything in the City records, a manual for the Police & Fire Commission. He stated it would be a good idea to review and tweak or solidify what the Commission is already been doing. Schmidt asked the Chief to provide the Commission with the hiring process guidelines. Schellpeper suggested looking at new procedures for promotions/new hires as the Commission, a Standardized Flow Chart for ranking and evaluating applicants, supporting documentation that provides an objective account for why we are choosing the applicants, a Scoring Chart that includes the following categories: technical skills, oral interview skills, education, physical strength, experience, etc, Objective Base Grading System increases transparency and there should be a closed session prior to any meeting to have the opportunity to discuss personal sensitive matters and to ask critical questions to the chief or the applicant. The Commission needs to know the Chief’s selection for promotion but also who applied for the promotion, who did not get selected and why qualified officers didn’t apply. He stated this could all be discussed discreetly in a closed session and then the Commission can verify the decisions from the Chief by being provided the supporting documentation. Krauski stated this is all important information to be discussed at the closed session workshop without being too involved in the hiring process. Commissioners all agreed to a closed session workshop. Also, the Commissioners thanked the two new Sgts and congratulated Sgt Wheeler on his retirement and thanked him for his years of service. Miller thanked the Chief for surrounding the department with good officers. Motion by Wiemer to adjourn; second by Miller. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 5:53 p.m. Minutes taken by Tina Wallace, Deputy City Clerk Don Wiemer, Secretary S:\Committees - Commissions\Police Commission\Minutes\2021\pcmin3-1-21.doc