Skip Navigation
This table is used for column layout.
Minutes, February 22, 2010 Regular Meeting



OLD SAYBROOK POLICE COMMISSION
Regular Meeting
February 22, 2010
MINUTES


A regular meeting of the Old Saybrook Police Commission was held on Monday, February 22, 2010 at the Old Saybrook Town Hall.  PRESENT:    Chairman Burnham, Commissioners Gallicchio, Sparaco, Metsack and Zemienieski. Chief Spera was also present. ABSENT: Vice Chairman Conklin, Secretary Winkler

I.  Call to Order
Chairman Burnham called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

Commissioner Gallicchio asked for a moment of silence in honor of Ray Dobratz.

II. Minutes
  • January 25, 2010 Special Meeting – Chairman Burnham asked for discussion or approval of the January 25, 2010 Special Meeting. After discussion, motion was made by Commissioner Gallicchio to approve the minutes with the following correction: Page 6, Item Number G, 1 Bid/Request for Proposals, 8th line, change “new” to “trade in”. Motion seconded by Commissioner Zemienieski. Motion Passed by unanimous vote.
III. Comments from the public:
No comments were offered.

IV. Executive Reports
  • Financial:
  • 09-10 Operating Budget: Chief Spera asked if there were any questions on the Operating Budget, there were none.
  • Asset Forfeiture: Chief Spera reported the balance to be $16,176.12.  
  • Capital Sinking Fund: Chief Spera reported the balance of $43,104.84. Chairman Burnham asked if the Capital Sinking fund was used for repairs in the past. The Chief advised that there was a capital line item for building improvements but it was removed two or three years ago. Now there is a separate line item in department’s operating budget in the expenses and supplies category for building maintenance.
  • 10-11 Budget:  The budget meeting with the Board of Selectmen went well, Chairman Burnham, Commissioners Winkler and Sparaco as well as the Chief attended. During this meeting the budget request was reviewed and questions were answered.  Selectman Peace raised questions about emergency communications and the cost to operate the center.  It was explained in detail the reasons to maintain funding for the center and its importance to the community and all municipal public safety agencies.  The Chief pointed out that even if regionalizing communications occurred, the Town would only be able to regionalize fire and ESM dispatching services.  Therefore the need for dispatchers would still be present as they would have to continue to dispatch police and field walk in complaints at the station.  Additionally, the town would then have to pay someone else to do the fire and EMS dispatching from another location therefore not saving the town any money, but instead adding costs. The Board of Selectmen had good questions and is basically supportive of our budget. The Board of Selectmen are moving forward with a final budget meeting on March 1, 2010, this is the last day that budgets can be sent to the Board of Finance and they will be acting on the total budget that day.  They have forewarned that next year will be a very tough budget year and departments should plan accordingly. They are appreciative of the fact that the department did a good job of prioritizing direct service delivery with the reorganization without increasing the bottom line. The first public hearing will be on March 9, 2010; this will be the first meeting to hear questions from the public. The Board of Selectmen has chosen to send our budget to the Board of Finance without making any changes. Chief Spera spoke with Selectman Manning explaining our budget prior to the formal meeting with the Selectmen as this is her first year going through the process. He was able to guide her through our budget so she would understand it prior to the meeting, she was appreciative of this. The Chief reminded all that there is no “fluff “ in the budget and it is a true representation of what it costs to run an agency of our size effectively and safely. Commissioner Sparaco mentioned that the questions about communications are due to the fact that people are not aware that other towns have a separate budget just for communications and ours is included in the police department budget. This is a town wide communications system, we not only dispatch for the police but also for the fire department, emergency medical services, town crew and other municipal departments. The Chief stated that he does get a lot of questions about this part of the budget because the public is not aware of the complicated operation it really is. Commissioner Metsack asked if in the future the department can be reimbursed for some of the services to other departments in town. Chief Spera stated that is a fair question but it is all the same tax dollars no matter how you break it up. The best way to remain transparent about the budget is to show the communication center’s costs as a whole.  Chairman Burnham agreed that we need to make people aware at public hearings that this is what it costs to run the entire town’s communication system, not just the police communications. Commissioner Zemienieski stated people have asked him about regionalizing the town’s communications and he feels people are missing the fact that you can have a dispatcher in another town answering the telephones but you still need someone at the front desk fielding complaints that come in to the lobby. Chief Spera agreed that it would be a total breakdown of what people are accustomed to in Old Saybrook for our public safety system; in addition we will still be paying our dispatchers the same amount of money to do less work. The Chief also pointed out that there is no regional police dispatch system in place; it is only fire and EMS. This would cause a breakdown in services as the police are the first responders to all medical calls in town, it would not make sense to have the call go to another location and then have that dispatcher call the department to have the officer dispatched. We are truly getting more for our money by not regionalizing.
  • Patrolman Hiring Process – The Chief has scheduled the oral boards that the patrol sergeants will be delivering on March 2 and March 3, 2010. The Chief stated the original plan was to present the candidates to the commission at the next regular meeting. The Chief would like to change this to the following week to allow more time for the background checks and polygraphs to be completed. Chairman Burnham agrees that it would work to keep the regular meeting and hold a special meeting for the interviews as it is a lengthy process. All commissioners were in favor of this. There are still fifty people in the process right now, the Chief reminded the commission that they still have to pass the polygraph exam and he is hopeful there will be four or five candidates for the commission to interview.
  • Patrol Sergeant Promotion Process Update – The process was posted on Sunday, February 20, 2010 and people are signing a receipt for that now, we should know in the next couple of weeks how many people will be entering the process. The Chief will officially enter into a contract with Standards and Associates after he knows how many people respond. He will get the study guides for the officers to use and the library of books for the department to lend out again. The Chief will be looking at the calendar to see what the best date for testing will be, it may make more sense to offer the test in September due to vacations and summer being the department’s busy season. Chairman Burnham asked when the current list expires, Chief Spera stated it expires in June and therefore will not be an issue. Commissioner Gallicchio asked if people who are on the current list would have to take the test again. The Chief stated that they would.
  • Personnel
  • Extended Sick Leave – Officer Larry Smith was injured at home and required surgery on his hand. He has been out for the last three weeks and will be out for another couple of weeks before the doctor will approve his return to work. The Chief is working on arranging some transitional duty to allow him to return to work doing administrative work prior to the doctor approving him to return to full duty. Sergeant Rankin has completed his back to work program and returned to full duty on his own February 1, 2010. He is very happy to be back to work and is doing great.
  • Leadership Team Meeting: The first meeting of the Leadership Team was the day after the award ceremony at 8 a.m.; it was very productive and lasted for 2.5 hours. It was a nice united team approach and they are confronting issues not only with our department but with the town’s public safety system. They had a meeting with another public safety association to voice concerns about how they are responding or not responding to incidents. Positive things are happening because of this team approach and leadership model. They will be meeting on a monthly basis from now on. Chairman Burnham asked who was on the team. The Chief stated anyone with the rank of patrol sergeant and above are a part of the team. The Chief said that some assignments were handed out and expectations were detailed. Everyone knows that they need to perform to a certain level and what is expected of them to succeed. Commissioner Gallicchio asked if the Chief had implemented the rotation of the evaluation of the sergeants. The Chief explained that will be a part of a future meeting and he is planning on this taking place in the spring.
  • New Weapon Purchase / Implementation Plan Update- The Chief advised that only one bid came in and it was from Jurek Brothers. The Chief eliminated the bid because the purchase price was $449.00 per weapon and we have already bought them for the three recruits for $410.00 each. The other issue was the trade in price. They only offered $190.00 per weapon, and part of our bid specification was that if an officer wanted to purchase their current weapon it had to be for the same price as the trade in. Jurek Brothers was going to charge the officer $230.00. The Chief contacted them and discussed it but they did not want to meet the factory pricing and would not increase their trade in value so the bid was discarded. The Chief called the manufacturer and purchased the weapons for $410.00 a piece and the trade in value they gave was $246.51 per gun. The order was placed and the weapons have arrived. The ammunition was purchased off of State contract as well and the Chief is now shopping around for holsters. The holsters are made by Safariland and the retail value is $179.00.  The lowest competitive pricing he has found so far is $89.00 showing that it pays to shop around for the best price. The Chief is still waiting to hear from the academy to schedule range time for our officers to transition to their new weapons before the recruits graduate on March 30, 2010. Commissioner Gallicchio asked if we have a lot of 9mm ammunition in stock. The Chief advised that we do not as we have reduced purchasing anticipating the new weapon purchase. The Chief is not going to trade in all of the weapons as some of them have been outfitted with Simunition conversion devices so he will be keeping four or five to use during Simunition training.
V. Field Operations Report
  • Professional Development Activities
  • Patrolman Trainee Status: The trainees are doing well; they all passed their EMR exam with flying colors. They are on target for the March 30, 2010 graduation. They start pursuit and shooting training this month. The Chief has confidence that they will all do well. The Chief will keep the commissioners posted on graduation information as it becomes available.
  • Uniform Committee Progress Report
  • Class A Uniforms/Uniform Regulations: The department is still in need of new Class A uniforms, the Chief is hoping to have funding available in the near future. Patrol Sergeant Roche will be working on uniform regulations after he completes training in April. Commissioner Metsack asked what the cost will be per officer. The Chief advised that we do not have a definitive price but with the blazer, pants, dress shirt, leather strap and duty belt the cost will be around $1000.00 per officer. The Chief advised that this will be for all uniformed personnel including dispatchers and community service officers.
  • Awards Committee Report
  • Awards / Promotional Ceremony – January 31, 2010: Chairman Burnham commented that the ceremony was wonderful and very well done. Patrol Sergeant Roche presented Marine Officer Westerson with his awards as he was unable to attend the ceremony. He was presented with two Unit Commendation Medals and one Distinguished Service Medal. He thanked the Chief and stated that working with the department is a proud part of his daily life. He has enjoyed working with the administration over the last thirty years and looks forward to working with the department in the future. Chairman Burnham thanked the committee for all the hard work they did to put together such a wonderful ceremony. The Chief stated Patrol Sergeant Roche is still working very hard to get all the medals ordered correctly. The Chief was impressed with all the families that attended the ceremony and the party after. The union paid for a very nice party that all the family members attended.  The Chief pointed out that it was really nice to see the families interacting knowing they are there for each other; which is exactly the way a police department family should be.  He commended the department’s employees for fostering such a positive workplace atmosphere.

  • Traffic
  • Valley Shore Assembly of God – Valley Shore Assembly of God is looking to put on a small addition and add additional parking. The Chief advised that it does not affect traffic in any way and he will be giving approval to go ahead with the project. This does not require any action by the legal traffic authority but the Chief wants the Commission to be aware that he is making a judgment on their behalf.
  • Activity Report
  • January 20 – February 17, 2010: The Chief advised that the department had a very busy month as shown in the activity report provided adding that it only takes one major incident to destroy an operating budget.  The department has had a yearlong investigation that resulted in a search warrant involving multiple state agencies followed by another major incident resulting in another search warrant. From an administrative aspect any time you have to call in half the department to work 16 or more hours on an incident it really devastates the operating budget.
VI. Support Operations – Reports
  • Emergency Communications Division
  • New System Status: The first two patrol cars are being outfitted with the new equipment. They started on them today and anticipate the installation on all vehicles will be complete in the next two to three weeks. The coverage testing will take place sometime in the spring. The Chief reports everything seems to be going very well.
  • Records Division
  • “New” Records Office: The new records window opened today and the Chief is having signage made to help direct the public. The records room is officially open now. Jeanmarie’s office is complete and looks great; she is very pleased with it. The last room is Donna’s old office that is being converted into a small conference room; this should be complete in the next week and a half.
VII. Correspondence
No Comments.

VIII. Police Facility Study / Building Committee
Building Committee Chairman Conklin in not here to give a report as he was called out of state on business. The Chief believes that the committee is planning another meeting this week but it was tentative and he is unsure Chairman Conklin will be back in time. Julie Pendleton and Dan Moran have been working with the Chief to come up with draft language for the RFQ for the person who will come out and actually analyze the building and do the study. Dan and Julie have been instrumental in giving the committee the language that is appropriate for the town of Old Saybrook, meets our charter and ordinance requirements and unique issues. The next step is to send it out and hopefully have people interested in coming out to do the study. All members of the committee have been given individual tours of the building and are all convinced of the need for a new facility. They could not believe the condition of the building with all of the mold and leaks as well as the tightness and issues with prisoners being able to interact with visitors to the building.  They are also aware of the issues with juveniles and not having a location to conduct interviews. They all agree that they need to convince the public of the need for a new facility and are considering holding an open house to show the public the deteriorating building. The Chief is concerned with safety issues and is thinking about making a video and posting it on our department web site rather than have the public at risk in the event an officer needs to bring a prisoner into the building during a tour.

IX. Comments from the Public
No comments were offered.

X. Comments and/or Concerns from Commissioners
Commissioner Gallicchio asked what is going on in terms of the MAC fund and who is providing oversight to it. Chairman Burnham stated that the Attorney General’s office is taking a long time to decide how they want to resolve it and they have come up with a plan to go to the Old Saybrook Probate Court. The Attorney General has come up with a proposed stipulated judgment for the probate court to enter which basically says that the monies that Reid and Riege, P.C. are holding and the monies in the local bank accounts will be consolidated into a town fund and there will be an oversight committee made up of a police commissioner, a union member and a member of the public. Once the probate court approves this and we pay Reid and Riege, P.C. their fees we will be able to appoint the committee. The Attorney General’s office will have some oversight with checks and balances for three years or until the fund is expended. Additionally, there will be a new, separate, non Mac Fund related fund set up through the treasurer’s office that is audited by the town auditors for all those times that people for various reasons give gifts to the police department. The commission will be able to set up the guidelines for the new account. Commissioner Gallicchio asked if they separated the Mac fund from the Kirkland fund. Chairman Burnham stated that no it was put together several years ago and that is how it has remained. Commissioner Gallicchio asked if the money in the fund was specifically for the police department to use. Chairman Burnham stated it is because the Attorney General in his capacity has the right to make rulings about charitable funds that cannot accomplish the original or stated charitable purpose and he has determined that turning the fund over to this group of three people for the use of the police department would satisfy the charitable intent. Chairman Burnham is hopeful it will be resolved in the next couple of months. The Chief stated that when the Mac fund is resolved the commission should set up guidelines for the new fund. Commissioner Metsack believes there is a state statute that sets up guidelines for charitable funds. This will be a municipal fund, not a private fund. Chairman Burnham stated the statute is very broad and they would have to get more specific than that.

Chairman Burnham wanted to publicly acknowledge all that Ray Dobratz did serving on the commission for thirteen years and it was a very sad day when the commission learned that he had been killed. He was already missed on the commission but now he will be truly missed by the community he has served in so many ways.

XI. Adjournment
Motion made by Commissioner Gallicchio and seconded by Commissioner Metsack to adjourn at 8:15 pm.  Motion carried by unanimous vote.  

Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

                                                        Jeanmarie Harvey
                                                        Records Specialist

These Minutes are subject to approval at
the next regular Police Commission meeting.