East Windsor Police Commission
Regular Meeting - April 12, 2006
Minutes
CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE
The meeting was called to order at 7:04p.m. by Chairman Sherman. Commissioners Devanney, Barton, and Sinsigallo were present along with Chief DeMarco and Maria Diana Root, Administrative Assistant to the Chief. Commissioner Simmons was not present.
ADDED AGENDA ITEMS
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Barton to add the following items to the agenda:
Under Unfinished Business
Item D - EMS Response Letter
Under Traffic Authority
Stop Sign on Rockville Road
Sinisgallo/Barton Unanimous
PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES
Regular Meeting - March 8, 2006
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Devanney to accept the minutes of the regular meeting of March 8, 2006 as presented.
Sinsigallo/Devanney Devanney - Aye
Sinsigallo - Aye
Barton - Abstention due to absence from meeting
BUDGET AND EXPENDITURES
A) Police Department - Monthly Billing
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Devanney to approve the East Windsor Police Department monthly billing dated April 7, 2006 in the amount if $13862.43 for the fiscal year 2005/2006
Sinsigallo/Devanney Unanimous
B) Police Department Financial Statement
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner
Devanney to approve the East Windsor Police Department Financial Statement dated April 7, 2006 for the fiscal year 2005/2006.
Sinsigallo/Devanney Unanimous
C) Police Commission - Monthly Billing
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Devanney to approve the East Windsor Police Commission Monthly Billing for the fiscal year 2005/2006 dated March 31, 2006 in the amount of $231.41
Sinsigallo/Devanney Unanimous
D) Police Commission Financial Statement
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Devanney to approve the East Windsor Police Commission Financial Statement for the fiscal year 2005/2006 dated March 31, 2006 as presented.
Sinsigallo/Devanney Unanimous
E) Animal Control Monthly Billing
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner
Decvanney to approve the East Windsor Animal Control Monthly Billing for the fiscal year 2005/2006 dated April 7, 2006 in the amount of $294.18
Sinsigallo/Devanney Unanimous
F) Animal Control - Financial Statement
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner
Devanney to approve the East Windsor Animal Control Financial Statement for the fiscal year 2005/2006 dated April 7, 2006 as presented.
Sinsigallo/Devanney Unanimous
G) Legal Billing
The legal billing from the firm of Penny, Botticello, O’Brien & Higgins, P.C. for the month of March, 2006 was reviewed by all commissioners present. No action necessary as this is informational only.
PUBLIC INPUT
There was no Public Input
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A) Police Station Renovations update
Work on the renovations has been stopped due to a lack of funding. As of the present time, we are working on a plan to finish the work that needs to be done to bring the building up to code (i.e. fire codes and emergency exits). The building department is scheduled to take a tour of the premises on April 24th. When any additional information is forthcoming it will be brought to the attention of the commission.
B) Alarm Reduction Ordinance
Officers Fahey and Crespo have been working diligently on the Alarm Reduction Ordinance by way of sending out approximately 3,000 letters notifying the respective parties of their failure to comply with the ordinance and the subsequent fines that they now must pay. So far, no money from these fines have been received. When there is anything additional to report it will be brought to the attention of the Commission,
C) New Officer Update
The new officer (lateral transfer) has completed all phases of the training. She is scheduled to begin work on May 7th and will continue the training process for a possible 8 weeks. If there is anything additional to report it will be brought to the attention of the commission.
D) EMS Response Letter
The meeting was turned over to Chief DeMarco who explained to all commissioners present that the reason for the proposed lapse of the R1 license was to try and reduce calls for service and only respond to an immediate emergency, and to cut costs from the 2006/2007 budget by not having to maintain the emergency equipment. It has been discovered that the cost is not as drastic as originally thought, there have been 850 calls so far and we have been able to triage the minor calls.
The Chief then asked Officer McNiece to address the commission regarding this issue. Officer McNiece told the commission that he was personally against the lapsing of this license and the first responder status as MRT’s are not the best trained people to respond to an emergency, how do you determine what is an actual emergency and what medical calls should be responded to, and the most valid point of all (beyond the point of saving lives) was that there are many instances where emergency medical teams have been put in jeopardy and to have a police officer also present during these emergencies could possibly diffuse a dangerous situation.
After the comments made by Chief DeMarco and Officer McNiece, there was a rather lengthy discussion among the commissioners present.
A motion was made by Commissioner Barton, seconded by Commissioner Sinsigallo to reverse the decision of March 8, 2006 to let the R1 license lapse and to stay on as first responder.
Barton/Sinsigallo Unanimous
TRAFFIC AUTHORITY
A request has been received from Max and Lea Silva of 114 Rockville Road to increase the lighting on Rockville Road and to erect a stop sign at the intersection of Rockville and Griffin Road. The request was turned over to Chief DeMarco for investigation and/or action.
PUBLIC INPUT #2 (Comments only - no discussion)
There was no public input.
NEW BUSINESS
A) Review of specs for repair of police vehicles
The current specifications for repair of police vehicles were reviewed by all commissioners present. It was a consensus of all commissioners present to continue with the same specifications; names and address of prospective garages will be presented at the May meeting at which time letters will be sent out with a return date prior to the June 14th meeting.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
A) Personnel Matter
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinisgallo, seconded by Commissioner Devanney to go into Executive Session regarding the above mentioned personnel matter at 7:41 p.m. to include Chief DeMarco.
Sinsigallo/Devanney Unanimous
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Devanney to come out of Executive Session at 7:57 p.m.
Sinsgallo/Devanney Unanimous
No action taken.
B) Hearing of Grievance 134 per Connecticut General Statutes, Section 1- 200(9) - (open)
Deliberation of Grievance 134 (closed)
Decision of Grievance 134 ( open)
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Devanney to go into the Hearing of Grievance 134 at 8:00 p.m.
Sinsigallo/Devanney Unanimous
HEARING OF GRIEVANCE 134
Sgt. Johnson, Union President, spoke on behalf of Sgt. Drolett, the grievant in this matter.
Sgt. Johnson explained that the reason for this grievance was that as far as the union was concerned there was a violation of the union contract and the East Windsor Police Department DOD’s regarding Internal Investigation 05-13-1A and the continuing investigation.
Sgt. Johnson went on further to state that the union and Sgt. Drolett feels that the internal investigation 05-13-1A has not been completed in a timely manner, i.e there is a 30 day time limit during which any internal investigation is to be completed and if necessary an additional 30 day extension can be requested for a total of 60 days, and is, therefore, a violation of the union contract and East Windsor Police Department DOD.
Sgt. Johnson also stated that he felt that the request for additional phone records, over and above the ones provided by Sgt. Drolett, was part of the continuing investigation and therefore, an additional violation.
At this point, Chairman Sherman, Commissioner Barton and Commissioner Sinsigallo responded to Sgt. Johnson’s comments by stating unequivocally that the Police Department investigation 05-13-1A was completed in a timely manner and turned over to the Police Commission for their review and/or action.
The Chairman, Commissioner Barton and Commissioner Sinsigallo further stated that although the Police Department investigation was completed and a special meeting was called on November 2, 2005 for the purpose of hearing of Internal Investigation 05-13-1A there were unanswered questions regarding phone calls that had been made by Sgt. Drolett. The phone records were subpoenaed in November of 2005 and in January of 2006 an injunction was placed against the Police Commission in which they were denied access to the requested phone records. This injunction has since been lifted and the phone records have once again been requested. When the Police Commission receives the requested phone records, at that time, they will be able to close their part of the fact
finding.
Sgt. Johnson attempted to refute what has transpired since the institution of Internal Investigation 05-13-1A and was once again informed of the aforementioned facts.
After further discussion, a motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Barton to move to the deliberations portion of Grievance 134 at 8:19 p.m. to include the Police Commissioners only.
Sinsigallo/Barton Unanimous
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Barton to come out of Executive Session at 8:28 p.m.
DECISION: A motion was made by Commissioner Barton, seconded by Commissioner Devanney to deny grievance 134. The reason for the denial is that the Investigation of 05-13-1A by the East Windsor Police Department was completed in accordance with the time frames delineated in the contract.
Barton/Devanney Unanimous
The grievant will be notified of this decision.
C) Section C of the Executive Session was postponed per an agreement between the Town Attorney and the attorney for the Police Union. The Special Meeting of November 2, 2005 will therefore remain open until further notice.
COMMUNICATIONS
There were no communications
MONTHLY REPORTS
A) Chief of Police
There was nothing additional to report.
B) Commission Members
At this time, Commissioner Barton thanked the Chief for his clarification of the phrase “calls for service” at the Budget presentation. Commissioner Barton feels that the phrase “calls for service” is too broad and that there should be more specificity as to what these “calls for service” are and suggested using another phrase such as “police activity”. Commissioner Barton also stated that since the number of “calls for service” is so high it may look to the Finance Board and to the citizens of the Town of East Windsor that we are in dire need of additional staffing. Commissioner Barton also said that he was uncomfortable with the broad spectrum of “calls for service” and would appreciate a
different terminology be used in the future.
Chief DeMarco responded to Commissioner Barton by stating that he agreed that the phrase “calls for service” can be misunderstood, but that is the way the computer system is set up. He will look into changing the phrase from “calls for service” to “police activity”.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Devanney to adjourn the regular meeting of the East Windsor Police Commission at 8:37 p.m.
Sinsigallo/Devanney Unanimous
Respectfully submitted,
Darlene H. Kelly
Recording Secretary
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