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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-08-17-PDMC-min.pdf MINUTES OF LEXINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT MANUAL COMMITTEE rt DATE 8/17/76 TIME 7 30 - 9 30 PLACE Selectmen 's Office, Town Office Bldg MEMBERS PRESENT Kent, Cella, Corr, Hays, Keith, Mabee , Chapin Distributed to Members "Standards Related to the Urban Police Function" (American Bar Association and International Association of Chiefs of Police In discussion of the promulgating authority of rules/regula- tions and any changes thereto, it was generally agreed to defer any further discussions or conjecture until a later time Although reference may very well be made in our final report, the need to know the promulgating authority is not of vital importance to us in addressing ourselves to the primary charge of the committee We reached a general understanding that the present rules and regulations are a compendium of manuals over the years from such references as "Model Rules and Regulations" , previously used "Blue Books" and Civil Service study manuals , and manuals of many police departments The present rules and regulations were amended by Chief Corr and approved by the selectmen and Town Manager in January 1972 These rules/regulations are very specific in some areas of organization and operation so that violation of them by members of the department are grounds for disciplinary action As such, they serve a legitimate and useful purpose and are of great value to the Chief accordingly Al- though some sections contain more verbiage than we would think necessary, these sections have been there for many years, and are evidently known and understood by all members of the depart- ment It would appear that those sections (principally Rules 1 through 16, Pages 13 - 40 and Rules 25 through 28 , Pages 48 - 57) meet the needs of running the department and any excess words are not doing any harm In addition to the rules and regulations, the Chief has available, has developed and uses, policies and procedures in carrying out his responsibilities It is those policies and procedures and those rules and regulations (Rules 17 - 24 , Pages 40 - 48) and those general orders/directives and other forms of depart- mental communications that touch on public policy that are most germane to the work of this committee At the next meeting, we agreed to divide the Mass Police Institute monographs into 3 basic categories using the "Mabee" categories Extremely Sensitive Sensitive Routine We feel we have an obligation to review those matters of public stress or unrest as they relate to high speed pursuits , use of dogs , handcuffs , service of arrest warrants , and any other items a �?J -2- that touch on matters of public policy as differentiated from those matters that are operational in nature We wondered if there were some items in the present rules and regulations that were of such a routine nature that they di- luted the effectiveness or import of the rules This will be discussed at future meetings Another source document available Police Manual, Rules and Regulations, Duties by Rank and Assignment, Policies and Procedures (prepared with the technical assistance of the Mass Police Institute) Next meetings Monday, August 30 Tuesday, September 14 Tuesday, September 28 Save Tuesday, September 21 for possible meeting Important Place of meetings - Room G15 , Basement - Town Office Building Adjourned 9 30 PM Hugh Chapil4