Town of Hinesburg
Police Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes
September 26, 2011
Committee Members: Ellen (Chair), Maggie, Lynn, Victor (arrived at 6:15), Diane, Carl, Brad
Staff: Joe Colangelo
Public: Doug Olufsen, Frank Koss, Al Barber, Fred Silber, Chris Bataille, Mike Bissonette
1. Ellen called the meeting to Order at 6:00 p.m.
2. Chief Silber presented an update of the Strategic Plan (SP). The SP was done in 2008 by an outside firm hired by the Town of Hinesburg – Municipal Resources, Inc. – before the Chief Silber was Chief of Police for the Town of Hinesburg.
Silber explained to the Committee that the #1 concern identified, at that time, by a town-wide questionnaire was Traffic Safety. To meet that concern the Police Department made it a goal to increase time spent on the street v. time spent in the office. To reach said goal, the department inserted a T-1 line & hired a 20-hr per week administrative assistant to help ease the administrative time burden placed on the officers. As a result, patrol time increased, administrative time decreased, and violations decreased from 2008 - 2010 because of the increased visibility of more patrolling hours.
Furthermore, from the same town-wide questionnair, citizens expressed the desire for the Hinesburg PD to respond to medical calls. The Police Department is currently made up of EMT-B trained police officers who are able to act as first-responders.
Silber went on to discuss the five (5) objectives from the SP.
1 – Reduce Crime
2 – Increase Quality of Service/Customer Satisfaction
3 – Equipment and New Facility
4 – Provide High Quality Training
5 – Maintain Acceptable Workload for Officers
Reduce Crime
Silber showed a chart that indicated Criminal Incidents decreased in Hinesburg from 11.7% in 2008 to 9.3% in 2011; he also showed that Criminal Case Closure Rates went from 48.8 % to 37.6% to 49.3% during the same time period
Increase Quality of Service
Chief said that the department has taken a three (3) step approach to address this. 1) Increase interaction at both schools; 2) Public notifications through emails, Front Porch Forum, and Hinesburg Record; 3) Implementing Restorative Justice Program.
Equipment Replacement and New Facility
The department has done 5-yr lease to own plans on two(2) new vehicles; obtained grants for Mobile Device Computers, dash Cams, and radios, and working towards a new co-located facility with the Fire Department
High Level of Training
The SP calls for 400 total training hours for the department. These hours are met with the EMS training and the mandatory yearly training for all officers.
Maintain Acceptable Workload for Officers
SP recommendation is 300 cases per officer (Max). The department reduced the caseload from 410 in 2009 not 312 in 2010. Because of the reduction in caseload, the response time for both non-serious calls has decreased from about 11 minutes to just under 8 minutes. The serious call response time has stayed level at 8minutes since 2008.
The presentation slides are attached to these Minutes.
3. Upon completion of the presentation, Ellen (Chair) opened the meet up to Q & A between the Committee members and the Chief. The committee and the Chief spent time focusing on the following questions:
1) Nighttime Coverage – Currently the Hinesburg Police Department is off from 11p – 7a. Chief Silber has submitted a proposal to the Hinesburg Selectboard for ‘on-call’ 24 hr service. This would be similar in nature to the way a volunteer fire figher responds in the middle of the night when a tone goes out. Chief estimates the cost at around $10,000 annually.
2) Staffing Levels – Silber explained that he has a policy of 2 on at all times. It was noted that some of the departments the Town Administrator visited allowed for solo shifts. Silber said he feels it is unsafe to have only one officer on duty (especially at night). At times, during the week, 2 officers are on duty plus the police chief. Chief reported that his balance between patrolling and administrative tasks varies each week depending on the amount of administrative work needing attention. As of 2011 the department has 6-full time equivalents (5 FTE + 3 PTE). In 2008 the department has 5-full time equivalent officers made up of 4 FTE and the rest part-time.
3) Town Public Safety – Al Barber, Fire Chief, and Silber, reported that both police and fire department personnel go to fire calls. Police are often needed to make sure the scene is safe and possibly for EMS services. It was noted that Hinesburg police and fire appear to work more closely than some of the other towns the Town Administrator visited during his trip.
4. The next meeting was set for October 4, 2011 at 6 p.m. Lynn Gardner will Chair that meeting. Committee members are supposed to come with their thoughts on the data gathered thus far and with ideas for how a final report to the Selectboard might be structured and what it may say.
5. The meeting adjourned at 8 p.m.