MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2008, 7:30 P.M.=
PRESENT: = &nb= sp; Robert LeBlanc
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Judy Sprano, Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mark Tedesco
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Jack
Walton
ABSENT: &nb= sp; = Patricia Kropp, Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT: Robert Desena, Deputy Police Chief
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; John Gavallas, Police Chief
1.&nb= sp; Convene Regular Meeting - 7:30 P.M.
Ms. Sprano, Chairman, Called the Meeting to Order at 7:30 p.m.
2.&nb= sp; Roll Call
Ms. Sprano, Chairman, executed the Roll Call.
3.&nb=
sp; Public
Participation
&=
nbsp; Dave LeBlanc,
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: Maybe the Minutes Secretary could turn her hearing aid up and document my comments verbatim if she would.
&= nbsp; First I’d like to say the Police Chief and the Deputy Police Chief are doin= g a phenomenal job with the police department since they both started and my is= sues here are strictly with the Police Commission, they have absolutely nothing = to do with the Police Department.
&= nbsp; Secondly I had a comment on Atty. Jessell’s legal opinion dated June 11, 2008 which has to do with the election of Chairman and the conflict of interest = with a police officer’s wife being on the Commission. Atty. Jessell states a review of t= he record clearly demonstrates that Judy Pilicy received 3 votes for and was d= uly elected chairman. It’s = obvious Atty. Jessell did not perform due diligence. It’s unfortunate for the Town that’s how our legal opinions go but if he did he would have known th= at at May 14th Police Commission meeting Ms. Pilicy was questioned about that very issue and she stated that she transcribed a document herself verbatim, she was allowed to put a document into the minutes which she transcribed herself “verbatim”.
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 2
&= nbsp; Ms. Pilicy was also then asked why did this document contain information that w= as not on the tape. Ms. Pilicy a= cknowledges adding her own information and replied “just because it’s not on the tape doesn’t mean I didn’t say it.” The legal opinion also goes on to = state that in order to be a conflict there has to be a monetary gain or a monetary loss, which the Town could have saved whatever Atty. Jessell charged and we= nt on line click, there was the State Statute there. The mere appearance of a police officer’s wife on this commission is a conflict of interest, period.<= /p>
&= nbsp; Third, prior to the election of officers did you, Ms. Policy, contact any members = of this Commission in regards to how they were going to vote that night? And by contact I mean, email, voic= email, any type of contact covered under the F.O.I. laws.
&= nbsp; Ms. Pilicy: Dave, because of = what you’ve been doing as far as this is concerned, what I’m going to ask you to = do is to put any of your questions for me in writing and I’d be happy to answer them for you.
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: Okay, and second= ly do you perform any paid work for any member of this Commission?
&= nbsp; Ms. Pilicy: I don’t kno= w what that would have to do with anything.
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: Do you perform a= ny paid work for any member of this Commission?
&= nbsp; Ms. Sprano: As I said, Dave, = if you have any questions for me I’m going to ask that you put them in writi= ng and I’ll answer them in the appropriate way, how I feel they need to = be answered.
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: Okay, buy you won’t answer do you perform any paid work (inaudible)?
&= nbsp; Ms. Sprano: I’m not going to answer any personal questions about myself. It’s not appropriate.
&= nbsp; Mr. Leblanc: It’s not, as Chairman of the Police Commission?
&= nbsp; Ms. Sprano: It has nothing to do with the Poli= ce Commission.
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: It doesn’t= ?
&= nbsp; Ms. Sprano: No, it does not.
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: Okay, that’= ;s it, thanks.
&= nbsp; Ms. Sprano, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at this time.
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 3
4. =
Minutes
A. Regular Meeting – June 11, 2008
= M= OTION: (Mr. = LeBlanc, sec. Mr. Walton) to Approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of June 11, 2008.
= D= iscussion: None<= /p>
= M= OTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
5. =
Correspondence
None
6. =
New
Business
None
7. =
Old
Business
A.&n= bsp; = ; Civilian Complaint Policy/Town Attorney - Legal Opi= nion
Ms. Sprano: Did everybody have a chance to rev= iew this information? It’s = kind of a work in progress so we need to have some discussion on ideas, what we = want to do with this.
Mr. LeBlanc: I think under the Civilian Complai= nt form as it’s said, although it’s not approved, I think #1 add something to it stating that the minority (inaudible) civilian complaint (inaudible) and also I think we have to approve this policy that was set up= May 7th last year or the year before, whatever it was, because I don= ’t believe it was every approved. I don’t want to take the Police Commission out of the loop. We have to be in the loop somehow = or another. With all this brainp= ower we have walking around these attorneys, there should be some way that we ca= n be added to the loop. That’= ;s the only problem that I have. But= the way it’s set, realizing they have Miranda Rights and the Garrity Righ= ts and all that, it’s very difficult, but somehow or another we have to squeeze, if they’re not satisfied with the complaint as it goes to the Chief, it can come to us or something like that where they have an alternat= ive.
Chief Gavallas: I would agree with that. When we give them our final respon= se (inaudible) if you’re not satisfied you can go before the Police Commission.
Mr. LeBlanc: I think that would be fantastic, I= think we were being left out of the loop for too long.
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 4
Ms. Sprano: Do you have a copy, this is the on=
e that
was done by
Mr. Tedesco: I agree with Bob’s comment, = the first comment. The second one= maybe I’m out of the loop a little bit, Bob can you explain to me what that= is.
Mr. LeBlanc: If you read the civilian complaint= it has no mention of the Police Commission.
Mr. Tedesco: I agree with you on that, if they aren’t happy with these guys, they can come to us. I agree with that. But you said there was another thi= ng there from May 5th?
Mr. LeBlanc: Well this policy was put in on May= 7, 07 I think and I don’t believe it was ever approved by this commission in any form, and my point it’s either let’s approve it, get off th= is and get this thing done, add to it or let it go like it is, but approve or disapprove it, the one that’s in there. One of the regulations that we had= as part of the Charter, we make policy, and policy was being made and we had nothing to do with it. So that’s taken another right that we have under the Charter.
Ms. Sprano: This was a suggestion that was mad=
e at
the time when
Mr. LeBlanc: Yea, 2002.
Ms. Sprano: Yea, I think so maybe we could get= a copy of that just to work off of for an idea, but we need something.
Mr. Walton: You’re talking about us being aware of the complaints, even though we’re not doing any, the Police Chief gets first shot.
Mr. LeBlanc: Right, we’re not aware #1, a= nd they don’t have an avenue after they finish with the Chief, and he sa= ys there’s no case, where do they go.
Mr. Walton: Yea, but I’m talking about w= hen the complaint is made, we should be aware of that.
Mr. LeBlanc: Not really. I don’t know if you read the= Garrity ruling, it’s tough, they have all kinds of rights and we can’t violate those rights.
Mr. Walton: That’s a complaint about a policeman, not a civilian complaint. That’s what I’m talking about. When a civilian complaint comes in= , that doesn’t apply.
Mr. LeBlanc: A civilian complaint about a civil= ian?
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 5
Mr. Walton: Yea, if you have an internal compl= aint about a policeman, that we don’t have to be notified about, but if a civili= an makes a complaint against a police officer, we should be aware of that.
= Mr. Leblanc: To a point. They have rights. Before I say that the Chief is a j= erk or he’s stealing, I mean I have to have some base. I’m besmirching his reputati= on right off the bat.
= ; Mr. Walton: We’re not going to do that, we’re just going to read the complaint.
= Mr. LeBlanc: But the civilian is going to do it= , and once we accept it it becomes record, it’s written somewhere, there= 217;s a paper trail. If I went ther= e (inaudible) and said what happens at this meeting, and said the Chief is a thief or something, well now I can get that record and I can say later on according = to the record it says this. That= ’s what I’m afraid of I’m afraid of their reputation.
= Mr. Walton: I don’t think complaints sho= uld be kept quiet anyway. I don̵= 7;t (inaudible) completely out of the loop.
= Chief Gavallas: I think the complaints should come= to me, it should be investigated, and I get the personal review of my investigation whatever it may be. If they are not satisfied with it, come see you.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Tedesco: So you don’= ;t think we should be privy to the Chairman’s Report of all these complaints. In other words do= we want to be inundated with a list of complaints?= Is that really our thing?
= Chief Gavallas: You wouldn’t be inundated, there’s really very few.
= Mr. LeBlanc: 2 in 31 years.
= Mr. Tedesco: Oh, you mean against a policeman?<= /p>
= ; &n= bsp; Chief Gavallas: Yes.
= Mr. Walton: Many times we end up knowing about= the complaint anyway.
= Mr. Tedesco: So you’re saying just regular residents who have a complaint about anything.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Walton: Yes.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Sprano: Like if someone g= ets stopped for speeding.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Tedesco: Do we really wan= t to know that?
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 6
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Walton: Yea, because it m= ay be something that we deal with, it may be a traffic matter or something like t= hat that we deal with.
= Mr. LeBlanc: My complaint is police personnel, = is what I’m worried about its their reputation.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Walton: Absolutely, I don’t think that should be. . . .
= Ms. Sprano: So technically, could you provide = a list obviously you can’t name a policeman’s name, you can just say a complaint was made for such and such.
= ; Chief Gavallas: If we get into discussions here about complaints involving individuals, we really need som= e (inaudible) from a lawyer. I mean I don&#= 8217;t know what can I say. If we= 217;re in executive session and I’m talking about someone, don’t they = have the right to be there? I need= a lot of guidance before I open my mouth at a commission meeting to talk about a complaint. I think you would = agree that we all should have guidance.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. LeBlanc: Everybody thinks= that Executive Session is sacra sancta, where you can’t talk about it out = of the session, but you most certainly can, cause it’s a he said, she sa= id.
= Chief Gavallas: Issue.
= ; &= nbsp; Mr. Leblanc: That’s rig= ht, it’s an issue, but you can’t take notes and you can’t rec= ord it, but as far as saying oh, I was in executive session last night and you = said this, I can do that, that’s legal.
= Chief Gavallas: I feel once a complaint is investi= gated and I give a conclusion and that person isn’t happy, you’re wro= ng, (inaudible) then you come here, fine.
= Mr. Tedesco: Then it will be writing somewhere = on a complaint form.
= Chief Gavallas: Then everyone should have a right = to come to sort of an appeal process.
= Mr. LeBlanc: And also be here to hear what is be= ing said.
= Chief Gavallas: Exactly, yea. At that point you bring the office= r in, you have an executive session, I investigated it, the person is unhappy and openly discuss it.
&= nbsp; Mr. LeBlanc: When you say executive session, th= at police officer has the right to have a public session, not just an executive session.
=
Mr. Tedesco: Okay, so what are we going to do?<=
/p>
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 7
&=
nbsp; Ms. Sprano: He’s making a copy of
= Mr. LeBlanc: The only beef I had was being take= n out of the loop.
= ; Ms. Sprano: Any person that i= s not a member of the police department may file a complaint against any member of the police department. Any complaint filed verbally with the Police Commission shall not be subject of= a commission investigation and shall be referred to the Chief of Police for further action at the discretion of the Chief of Police. If you want to add . . . .
= Mr. Tedesco: So #2 is saying basically any comp= laint filed verbally with the Commission shall not be the subject of a commission investigation, so we don’t have the right to investigate this . . . .=
= Chief Gavallas: No, this is just a suggested . . .= . (inaudible).
= Ms. Sprano: Like a worksheet, and actually they’re written, cause they have a form, I just wrote it in myself because they are written, #2. Generally they’re not verbal, right?
= Mr. LeBlanc: Because of all the rulings that the= y be written and signed.
= Chief Gavallas: Sometimes someone will come in and = want to speak to a supervisor and say listen this is what happened, I don’t want to make a big deal about it, but I wanted you to know abut it. Then the supervisor will go to the officer and say hey, what happened here.
= Ms. Sprano: (Inaudible) required to give a writ= ten complaint, if they’re going to file a complaint, it should be written= and signed.
=
Chief Gavallas: Well Garrity says that you have to =
warn
the officer prior to questioning him that if he lies, his conduct would be
subject to termination. but if he does admit some criminality it can’=
t be
used against him (inaudible). Under
Miranda if you’re a civilian and you get arrested you don’t hav=
e to
say anything. Under Garrity if
you’re a police officer and you’re being questioned, you
don’t have the right to remain silent, you have to answer the questio=
ns, however
if you admit criminality in that interview, we can’t use it against y=
ou. We can fire you for your conduct.
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 8
= Mr. Tedesco: Who wrote this?
= Ms. Sprano: (Inaudible.)
= Mr. Tedesco: Way back when or recently?
= Ms. Sprano: 2002 I believe it was.
= Mr. LeBlanc: #5, you must maintain a record of a= ll civilian complaints, even if proved untrue. So supposing I came in and said th= e sky is grey and you have to keep a record that I said the sky is grey?
= Chief Gavallas: As a commissioner?
= Mr. LeBlanc: No, as a civilian. In other words if I put in a ridic= ulous complaint, and they prove I’m totally wrong, you have to keep a recor= d of that, right?
= Chief Gavallas: Yea, actually we would keep a recor= d of that, yes. Now this says shal= l be available for the commission to inspect at any duly constituted commission meeting. I don’t have a problem with that but I need some guidance before we start passing out complaints. Once I completed = the investigation, get back to the complainant, he’s satisfied, I’m satisfied, and you say I’d like to see that, (inaudible) but I think = we all need to (inaudible).
= Mr. LeBlanc: Yea (inaudible) I want to knowing t= he last 5 years how many complaints were put against all officers, just to find some gossip or whatever.
= Chief Gavallas: Yea, I think we need some guidance.= I don’t have any problem sha= ring information, we have nothing to hide, you don’t and I don’t, I = just want to make sure we’re following the appropriate protocol so we don’t get ourselves as a commission into a bind.
= Ms. Sprano: We can put instead of that meetings= , at the request of a police commissioner.
= Chief Gavallas: Okay, now what type of guidelines a= re we going to use? A commissioner = says I want to see the complaint. I don’t care, but if those get passed around . . . .
= Ms. Sprano: A police officer has to be present = (inaudible).
= M= any people talking at once (inaudible).
= Ms. Sprano: It makes it very difficult to do anything.
=
Chief Gavallas: Yea, we really need some guidance.<=
/p>
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 9
= Mr. LeBlanc: I would like to say on #5 by the fu= ll commission shall be available for inspection if you’re going to let i= t be available for inspection, on #5, I would like to see it by the full commiss= ion, not just the commission. Do y= ou know what I’m trying to say? <= /span>So either one of us won’t go on some kind of a tangent.
= Chief Gavallas: Right.
= Mr. LeBlanc: Say those 3 people decide they want= to do it and I don’t think it’s right , I think it should be the full commission.
= Ms. Sprano: It should be upon an appeal process= or I mean can we put something in there we would be required to take the next st= ep?
= Chief Gavallas: If I investigated a complaint and t= he person is not satisfied, I have no problem with them coming here, go to the Police Commission.
= Ms. Sprano: In other words you can’t just= bring him here, you’ve got to make sure that the police officer has the rig= ht . . . .
= Chief Gavallas: Well yea, (inaudible).
= Mr. Walton: What is your average complaints per= year, 3?
= Chief Gavallas: Well maybe a couple a year, most of= them are frivolous.
= M= any people talking at once (inaudible).
= Deputy Chief Desena: What is a complaint? I talked to commissioner Tedesco a= bout that a few weeks ago. What is a complaint?= Is a complaint every time somebody gets a parking ticket during a Wi= nter storm, they write a letter and complain they shouldn’t have gotten a parking ticket because of certain reasons, I have no place to park, it wasn’t during a snow ban duration, so basically they’re complai= ning about the officer who wrote out the ticket, so is that a written complaint?=
= Chief Gavallas: No.
=
Deputy Chief Desena: Or if somebody gets a speeding tick=
et and
they don’t like the officer’s attitude, we call that an attitude
complaint. Was the officer ve=
rbally
abusive? No. Was he physically
abusive? No. If somebody could come in and say =
I want
to make a complaint I want to see who is in charge of that officer in Car #7
down in
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 10
= Chief Gavallas: We always tell a person if you choo= se, there is a written complaint form, you can fill it out, we always given them that opportunity, or if it’s something I can handle, tell me what happened and most of the time these people I just handle it. Sometimes a person will come in and (inaudible) someone comes in and sits down and sometimes it’s just verbal, it’s done, we talk about it, okay I’m satisfied, they leave, or do this and that and I’ll be happy. It may not get to writing. I think we should be concerned wit= h the ones that are actually put in writing.&nbs= p; They’re the ones that we’re . . . . .
= Mr. LeBlanc: That’s right, that’s wh= y I have difficulty with someone coming here and standing up without it being in wri= ting and saying whatever, the patrolman is a jerk, he’s stealing, without = putting it in writing I have a problem with that.
= Mr. Tedesco: But what happens if, let’s ju= st say this gentleman over here in public participation has a complaint about a po= lice officer, what do we do then?
= Mr. LeBlanc: Put it in writing.
= Ms. Sprano: We can actually stop it because we = have a policy in place.
= Mr. LeBlanc: As the Chairman I would call a rece= ss and I’d go out and get a form and say sir, this is the procedure, put in a complaint, you have every right to do it.
= Ms. Sprano: Something has to be added for public participation.
= Mr. LeBlanc: Public official, they can get up an= d say anything they want about us.
= Mr. Tedesco: So are we going to put in here in l= ike bold print, like this (inaudible) commission power to investigate morale wi= thin police department, a small paragraph saying if you’re not happy with = . . . .
= Ms. Sprano: Some kind of appeal process.
= Mr. LeBlanc: Then the complaint would be if the = Deputy Chief isn’t doing their job by not fulfilling the complaint.
= Chief Gavallas: I think it should go on the actual citizen’ s complaint form.
= Mr. LeBlanc: Yes.
= Mr. Tedesco: And not in fine print, either.
= Chief Gavallas: No, and it should be in the letter = that we send to the complainant at the conclusion of our investigation, this is = the result, however if you’re not happy with this, maybe that’s whe= re it should be, on the letter were sent the (inaudible).
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July 9, 2008
Page 11
= Mr. Tedesco: I’d like to see it right on t= he complaint form.
= Mr. LeBlanc: Yes.
= Mr. Tedesco: No excuses, they can’t say th= ey didn’t know.
= Chief Gavallas: Yea, we can do that. Right on the complaint.
= Mr. LeBlanc: We’ve been working on this si= nce the year 2000.
= Ms. Sprano: Did you guys finish reading the end= of this, because what I can do is for the next meeting I can kind of add in the information and . . . .
= Chief Gavallas: I’ll work on the compliant fo= rm.
= Ms. Sprano: And then we can attach the complain= t form to this.
= Mr. Walton: You’re going to rewrite this = thing, we’ll get it before our next meeting?
= Ms. Sprano: Yes.
= Mr. LeBlanc: On the bottom of this, Judy, you h= ave (inaudible) moral.
= Ms. Sprano: That’s just something else, that’s part of the document.
8. =
Chairman's
Report
&= nbsp; No= ne
9. =
Chief's
Report
&= nbsp; A.= June, 2008 - Police Department Activity
&n= bsp; Chief Gavallas: 2 new recruits graduated July 2, 2008. They’re working w= ith the (inaudible) now for 14 weeks, then they’ll be assigned a regular = shift and will be out on their own.
&n= bsp; Our detective division was active this month with some drug activity. They seized 21 marijuana plants and arrested the person growing it. In an unrelated case they seized a half pound of marijuana plus $4,500 in cash= plus some other drugs.
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 12
&n=
bsp; Our
budget went down and I’ve got a meeting with the Finance Director and=
the
Town Manager on Friday and they’ve asked me for suggested cuts. There is a hiring freeze on now, a=
nd we
have a vacancy so by deferring the hiring of that officer until January 1
&n= bsp; I&#= 8217;m working with the Department of Public Safety and the State Police to get a gran= t to train one of our officers in computer forensics. We’re getting much more acti= ve with computer crime now and to go to the State it takes 12 to 18 months to = get our computer data analyzed, so if we can train one of our officers and get = (inaudible) equipment is a great benefit to us.
&n= bsp; We have a (inaudible) canine and the officer, Kevin Conard will begin training= in September with the State Police, and once he graduates we’ll get him = out on the road again and have him trained in tracking, (inaudible).
= Mr. Walton: Is there something in the budget to= take care of that?
= Chief Gavallas: I have someone that has offered to purchase all of the equipment and supplies for us, a Town resident, and the= dog I didn’t have to pay for, and the school is free, so there really are limited costs associated with it.
= Mr. LeBlanc: How long is a dog good for?
= Chief Gavallas: About 5 years.
= Mr. Walton: This dog is assigned to?
= Chief Gavallas: The dog will be assigned to Kevin C= onard, I’ve already selected him as the handler. He has the dog now at home and he’s bonding with the dog which means (inaudible).
= Mr. Walton: Now he works a regular shift?
= Chief Gavallas: Yes. And hopefully the dog will (inaudible). He currently works 2:00 p.m. to 10= :00 p.m.
= Mr. Walton: So if you need the dog 12:00 at nig= ht . . . .
= Chief Gavallas: We’d call him out.
= Mr. Walton: So that’s an overtime factor?=
= Chief Gavallas: Yes.
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 13
= Mr. Walton: Do you have detectives that work on= ly day shifts?
= Chief Gavallas: Days and they work up until 8:00 p.m. I’ve got guys on Saturdays now.
= Mr. Walton: Do you ever have a need for one on = the third shift?
= Chief Gavallas: No, it wouldn’t be a good use= of their time.
= Mr. Walton: Doesn’t happen?
= Chief Gavallas: (Inaudible).
= Mr. Walton: I was wondering because you said yo= u were going after overtime.
= Chief Gavallas: Well with the 2 officers coming abo= ard, that’s going to help the overtime issue and we’re just going to= cut back as much as we can on the overtime.&nb= sp; When we’re up to full staff, the overtime will improve. And we are also shifting the priso= ner watch responsibility to the dispatchers from the officers; that’s goi= ng to be a significant savings in overtime, rough estimate $35,000 on prisoner watch.
= Mr. Walton: Does it make any difference in the staffing in the . . . .
= Chief Gavallas: Dispatch? No. There are 2 there all the time, 24/7. They just look at the big screen r= ight in front of them.
= Mr. Walton: So that’s not a problem?
= Chief Gavallas: No, it saved us a lot of money.
= Mr. LeBlanc: What if it’s a woman?
= Chief Gavallas: Most of the dispatchers are female,= if it’s a woman and she has to use the bathroom, we shut the screen off,= or we call a matron in, but most times we shut the screen off and turn it back= on.
Regular Meeting
July 9, 2008
Page 14
10. Adjou=
rnment
= MOTION:= (Mr. LeBlanc, sec. Mr. Walton) to Adjourn the Regular Meeting at 8:04 p.m.
= D= iscussion: None<= /p>
= M= OTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
= R= egular Meeting Adjourned at 8:04 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Sprano, Chairman
= Approved: _________________= ______________
= Lynn M. LaForme, Clerk