Board of Police Commissioners

REGULAR MEETING WEST HAVEN BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS March 07, 2017 The regular meeting of the West Haven Board of Police Commissioners was held on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 at 7:00PM at the Police Headquarters, 200 Saw Mill Rd. West Haven. Present were Commissioner Raymond Collins, Paul Butler, Jr., Peter BonTempo, Deborah Wright, and Keith Sweeney. Also present were Chief John Karajanis, Jr. and Deputy Chief Joseph Perno. Absent was Dave Russell, City Liaison. After the Pledge of Allegiance, Chairperson Collins called the meeting to order at 7:00PM 1. Minutes of February 21, 2017 A motion was presented by Commissioner Sweeney to accept the Minutes of February 21, 2017. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Butler and approved unanimously. 2. Public Input Since no one from the public came forth, public session was closed at 7:02. 3. Communication 3.1 Monthly Attendance Report – February 2017 3.2 Animal Control Division Monthly Reports – February 2017 3.3 Support Service Monthly Report – February 2017 3.4 Letter of Appreciation – Chief Karajanis & WHPD – Chief James O’Brien WSFD 3.5 Letter of Appreciation – Chief Karajanis – Teresa Rieger 3.6 Letter of Appreciation – Chief Karajanis, Ofc Hernandez & Ofc Riehl-Anita Groballi Social Work Supervisor DCF 3.7 Letter of Appreciation – Det Vinci – Maureen O’Connor and the family of Harry Brown 4. Report of the Chief Marcus Tavares was recognized at the black heritage committee celebration and Chief Karajanis was also in attendance. Chief Karajanis also attended the Mayor’s department head meeting and talked to the Mayor about the body work cameras. He got the mayor up to speed on everything and explained the pros and cons as well as the research for the body work cameras. The mayor was in favor of it and said that he was going to speak with the finance director to get things going. Chief Karajanis established a meeting through John Lewis with agencies like zoning, building, and health department regarding putting together a small-scale task force with police department regrading different establishments in the city. Chief Karajanis said that he will have a follow up meetings regarding that and see if a taskforce can be established. Chief Karajanis also mentioned that he is working with their EAP provider right now and developing a peer support group, that is in their beginning stages. Chief Karajanis also set up a meeting on March 22, with the church leaders, here at the police department, at either 6 or 6:30. Chief Karajanis will let the Board know about the exact time for the event Commissioner Sweeney asked Chief Karajanis a question about the taskforce. He wanted to know if they were thinking about assigning one of the officers to the building department on a part time basis to end the confusion and miscommunication with blight issues. Commissioner Sweeney wanted to know if the taskforce will help to alleviate this issue of miscommunication. Chief Karajanis addressed Commissioner Sweeney’s concern. He said they use to have 5 resource officers at one time, but not anymore. And the resource officers are working for the entire city in addition to the blight issues, and then turned it over to Officer Buturla to help answer Commissioner Sweeney’s question. Officer Buturla answered Commissioner Sweeney’s concern by saying that the team has been meeting with the blight officers at City Hall every Tuesday. We bring all our issues and what we want to address and so do the blight officers and then we agree on extension and how much time to give to each person with a blight issue. Officer Buturla added that they have been communicating with the blight officers now and the communication has gotten better. Commissioner Sweeney was satisfied with the answer and the meeting continued. 5. Old Business None 6. New Business 6.1 Closer to Free Ride – Saturday, 9/917 A motion was presented by Commissioner Sweeney to accept; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Butler and approved unanimously. 7. Pension Board None 8. Report of Committees – Personal Committee None 9. Commissioner Reports Commission Wright had three things on her agenda to talk about: First, Commissioner Wright wanted to thank the Chief and the Deputy Chief for their support for the black heritage program. She thanked them for attending as well as the officers that attended the event. Second, Commissioner Wright wanted to mention to the Board about the Award Dinner for Connecticut Police Association which will be held on the Wednesday March 29 at 6:00 at Aria Banquet Facility on Prospect. She needed to know who was going so she can put in an RSVP. She also asked the new commissioner, Commissioner Peter BonTempo to be there, as he would be sworn in by the State at that banquet. Third, Commissioner Wright wanted to let everyone know that she will be putting together an event for International Women’s Month. The event will be about recognizing the hard work that the female police officers put in, and the event will be before March 31st. Commission Wright will let the Board know when the exact date and time for the event will be. Executive Session Commissioner Sweeney motioned to go into executive session, seconded by Commissioner Butler, and approved unanimously at 7:12PM. Minutes Recorded by: M. Sumra