HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-03-17-PDMC-min.pdf 41)
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Police Manual Committee N,
Date 3/17/77 7 35 P M
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Place Estabrook Hall
Members Present Kent, Corr, Mabee, Hays, Cella, Chapin
Also Present 9 members from the general public and Ms Greenleaf
and Officer Cox
A notation was made to correct the copy of the minutes of 2/22/77
to record that Leroy Keith was present
Monograph 7 - Family Disputes
No additions were made by the Police Department A discussion
ensued relating to the use of the word, "parties" on Page 2 ,
Section 3 b (i) , and was this word broad enough to encompass
all possible combinations of involved persons From the public
a request was made that we should include instructions to all
citizens such as the one used by the Cambridge Police Department,
a copy of which is attached Furthermore, there was considerable
discussion about the victim of family disputes , e g battered
wife, and abused child, and should the present monograph include
sections relating thereto In response to the question raised
about the need for trained personnel within the department , Chief
Corr reviewed the crisis training required of every officer within
the department, and the availability of the Mystic Valley Health
Crisis Intervention Team The committee reached the conclusion
that we should make a strong suggestion for a new monograph on
the subject of the victims of family disputes and the many serious
problems related thereto The discussion on this monograph lasted
approximately 1 hour The monograph, without any changes, was
adopted unanimously by the committee
Monograph 8 - Rape Investigation
Ms Greenleaf and Officer Cox were introduced and made themselves
available throughout the discussion on this monograph The
following corrections to the monograph were suggested by the
Police Department
Page 2 , Procedure 1 g Eliminate in its entirety and substi-
tute the following
"Furnish this information to the commanding officer so that
it may be brought to the attention of all other on -duty
officers and so that the rape counselor may be contacted
forthwith "
-2-
3/17/77 Minutes of Police Manual Committee (cont 'd)
Page 2 and 3, Procedure 3 a, delete the first sentence so
that the new paragraph 3 a, will read as follows
"If a policewoman is available , have her and the rape
counselor brought to the scene; and, if possible, obtain
a female relative or friend of the victim to provide com-
fort and reassurance Victims must be treated on an
individualized basis and the officer must be sensitive
to the victim' s needs If the victim is juvenile, parents
or guardian will be notified immediately "
Page 4, Procedure 7 a Delete this paragraph in its entirety
and insert a new 7 a, as follows
"This interview should be in the presence of a policewoman,
rape counselor, or a nurse, if available, otherwise obtain,
if possible, the services of an impartial responsible woman
for this purpose "
Page 1, under General Considerations and Guidelines , delete
the word, "forcible" in Paragraphs 1 and 2 so that they will
now read as follows
Paragraph 1 - "The crime of rape "
Paragraph 2 - "By its very nature, rape
The remainder of each one of these paragraphs will remain the
same as is presently printed
Page 1, Statement 4, have the word , "prevention" eliminated
and add in its place the word, "education" so that line 4
will now read, "To cooperate with local social agencies,
hospital personnel and community groups in rape eduction
programs; "
All of these changes were accepted unanimously by the committee
Made available to the committee prior to the meeting was a Report
of the Rape Task Force, Lexington Area N 0 W to the Lexington
Manual Review Committee dated 3/17/77 This provided the basis
of further discussion with members of the general public There
seemed to be general agreement that many of the points that they
had made were covered by the changes made to the monograph by
the police department as noted above It was also noted that
this report would be of assistance and general education to the
personnel concerned with all of the problems related to rape
By committee vote of 4 to 2 , it was agreed to insert as a foot-
note on Page 1, the following
-3-
3/17/77 Minutes of Police Manual Committee (cont 'd)
"Rape is defined in Chapter GLc 277 , S 39 of the laws
of Massachusetts of 1974 as 'Sexual intercourse or
unnatural sexual intercourse by a person who is com-
pelled to submit by force and against his will or by
threat of bodily injury or sexual intercourse or unnatural
sexual intercourse with a child under sixteen years of
age '"
Taking into consideration all of the changes as noted above,
this Monograph 8 was passed unanimously by the committee
The general discussion of this monograph was approximately
1 and 1/2 hours
The next scheduled meetings of the committee to be held at
Estabrook Hall are as follows 3/29/77 at 7 30 PM 4/12/77
at 7 30 PM; 4/26/77 at 7 30 PM
For the meeting of 3/29/77 , the primary consideration will be
to review Sections I and II, being the proposed rules and
regulations and proposed duties by rank and assignment
Meeting adjourned 10 25 PM
Respectfully submitted,7
Hug ' M Chao •n
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