HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-12-PMPC-min�ws MORN/
o� 1775
m p Town o Lexi
x
Q Z ~ D Police Department
3 � z a �� 1575 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA 02420
APRIL 19
� FX I N 6
Mark J. Corr TEL: (781) 862 -1212
Chief of Police FAX: (781) 863-1291
Police Manual Policy Committee
Meeting Minutes — July 12, 2011
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Location: Lexington Police Guard Room
In Attendance: Chief Mark Corr (Chair) Peter Kelley, Selectman Liaison
William Hays Captain Joseph O'Leary
Gerald McLeod Sgt. Christopher Barry
Dr. Edith Flynn
1. Meeting called at 4:05 p.m.
2. Minutes for May 24, 2011 approved unanimously.
3. Open Comments: After this meeting, the Police Department intends to consolidate and
assess all the policies finalized to date. The break between meetings will be longer.
4. Policy Review.
73B — Prosecution
- -Page 1. Should there be an MPI cite as to where this policy came from, or is this an
LPD original. {I doubt Page 4 is from LPD original language. }
- -Page 1. Under general guidelines, should PD state that child abuse cases will be given a
priority?
- -Page 2, B. Police Prosecutor is subordinate to the Detective Commander. There should
be language that the Prosecutor and /or Bureau Commander have an obligation to bring
unusual or important dispositions to the attention of the Chief of Police.
- -Page 2, B2. Term "Chief' and "Chief of Police" being used interchangeably. Should
be "Chief of Police."
- -Page 2, B5. Clarify. It is the Framingham Juvenile Court.
- -Page 3, D. The language "due to the alleged mishandling" is harsh language. Soften
language to represent errors due to procedural error.
- -Page 4. Chapter 271, section 36 and Chapter 272, section 61 are confusing or odd
examples.
- -Look for where "he /she" should be used in policy.
1575 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA 02420
73C --Legal Process Handling
- -Page 1. Should there be an MPI cite as to where this policy came from.
- -Page 1. First sentence "execution of legal process in support of the judicial function" is
not a good sentence. The Department has specific responsibilities in the service of legal
processes as established by the law.
- -Page 2. Last paragraph at top. "Strict adherence to these guidelines is required of all
Department personnel, particularly when another agency is involved and the
effectiveness of the agency's record system is in question." Not a good sentence.
- -Page 3. C. Lb. Spell out LEAPS, NCIC.
- -Page 3. C.2.b. Shorten sentence to "entry of abuse orders will be done by the Desk
Officer or a designee."
- -Page 5. F.3.c. Take second half of sentence and make it first half.
- -Page 6. B. La. Correct to: "each attempt to serve and /or a successful service will be
recorded. The primary location for this is a log entry....."
- -Page 7. The form for the "Record of Service" should not be in policy, but should be an
addendum thereto.
- -Page 9. D.2.b. Amend to: An emergency or exigent circumstances exist (i.e. where the
subject is using deadly force or poses an imminent threat to use deadly force.)
- -Page 12. 3.a. Needs to be clearer. Presently, the court mails notice to individuals when
a warrant is issued. Lexington may, in some situations, mail warning letters or ma
telephone individuals to alert them to outstanding warrants.
- -Page 12. H. This really needs to be separated into two sections. "Legacy Warrants"
which are very rare now, must be confirmed with the agency holding the warrant and
warrant must be in hand. These agencies should come and get their prisoner. Lexington
has purged or put on file in the WMS system all of our older warrants and no longer
keeps legacy warrants. The WMS system is different and Lexington will hold.
- -Page 14, B.1. Need policy number to Jurisdiction policy.
- -Page 15. VI Civil Process section needs to be added.
15C - -- Crime Analysis
- -Page 1. Is a MPI reference needed?
- -Page 1. Should this also include "crime and incident analysis "? Including incident
analysis is also inserting problem solving.
- -Page 2. A.3. Remove most of paragraph. "Crime Analysis shall be organized on five
primary levels."
- -Page 3, top of page 2. Add two commas "potential suspects, or persons of interest, no"
- -Page 3, C.2.c. "Temporal" .... We do mean time.
- -Page 4. Item 3. Change language to broaden options. The Department "when possible"
attend meetings. We should clarify that regional meetings will include, at a minimum,
the NEMLEC Detectives meeting held monthly.
- -Page 4. 3.a. Define what "hot sheet" is.
- -Page 5. 3. A written annual report "should" be done for annual police goal setting.
Page 2 of 4
17C — Agency Property
- -Page 1. Is a MPI reference needed?
-- Entire policy. Excessive use of Department "will" do this or that.
- -Page 2. C.1. Terms of Officers, Department Members and Employees are being used
interchangeably. Pick one or two, and use consistently.
- -Page 2. D.I.c. This paragraph is not clear.
32B — Background Investigations
- -Page 2, #2 at top. Screening out candidates with significant issues uses word "may"
and this may seems to be a weak policy. We will want to be more definitive that
background investigations occur with many positions, and not just police officers. The
criteria for screening someone out may vary, but individuals with drug problems, larceny,
fraud or mental illness will not be considered.
- -Page 2, #2 at top. Procedures for notifying folks when they are disqualified should be
identified. There are very specific procedures for HRD positions.
- -Page 2. B. Lb. Should clarify — will participate in specific background invest training
program when they are available, in addition to the familiarization with Lexington
protocols.
- -Page 2. B.2.b.i. "Should" be screened out, or do we mean will be.
- -Page 3, 3. at top. Replace "conduct" with "should undergo."
- -Page 3. #4. Appointing authority may petition CIS — this section does not make any
sense to the lay reader.
- -Page 4, #4. Shorten sentence to "For candidates not selected, background records will
be retained consistent with the Public Record Law.
- -Add section. The Police Department may, as directed by the Town Manager or a
designee, assist other Town Department's with background investigations. It is important
to state that this will be done consistent with the accessibility limitations (to records) that
non - police agencies must adhere to.
41C — Firearms
- -Page 1, Second paragraph, second sentence. Replace "himself' with "themselves."
- -Page 1, third paragraph. Identify source of training programs that will include the
Municipal Police Training Council and may other suitable training programs available
from public or private resources.
- -Page 1; no mention of training officers in "safe handling procedures" for firearms.
- -Page 8; last paragraph. This should be on first page, or a similar discussion should be
in front page policy discussion.
-- Include a section on safe handling of firearms. These should be readily available from
one or more resources.
Page 3 of 4
41B -- Use of Force — Defensive Actions
- -Page 1, second paragraph. Not as clear as it might be. We are able to define an
escalation of force.
- -Page 1 — should a statement that officers must bear in mind that "once used, one cannot
undo the actions taken" and that sometimes, officers having done everything a reasonable
person would expect, may have actually used force on an innocent person.
- -Page 4. III -A -6. The presence of weapons should be clarified about weapons in
someone's hand, within reach, or if someone is trying to take a weapon from an officer.
5. Next meeting is scheduled for October 4, 20114:00 p.m.
6. Adjourn at 6:06 p.m.
Page 4 of 4