Police Committee Minutes 8-2-2021

Police Committee 8-2-2021

RUTLAND TOWN SELECT BOARD

POLICE COMMITTEE MEETING

THURSDAY AUGUST 2^nd, 2021

The Police Committee of the Rutland Town Select Board met at 9:00 AM on Monday August 2^nd at the Rutland Town Municipal Town Hall. Present was Board Chair Mary Ashcroft, Board Member Sharon Russell, Board Member John Paul Faignant, Town Police Chief Ed Dumas, Town Deputy Police Chief Ted Washburn, and Town Administrative Assistant Bill Sweet. There was a conference call line with a publicly accessible and warned phone number in use.

• The committee discussed the current status of the Police Department.
  1. Mary Ashcroft said they are approximately $70,000 down in the budget, due to the Selectboard pulling Chief Dumas out of his CFAC role.
  2. The K9 program is expected to begin within this budget year. Some additional training and time away will be needed for Deputy Chief Washburn.
  3. Discussed the upcoming work on the new Public Safety Building.
• The website needs to be update, no articles have been published in The Circle, and the Police do not have their own Facebook page.
  1. Discussed the department being more visible by attending various town evens, like the senior luncheon.
  2. Discussed establishing a department Facebook page. There may be some rules that apply to Police Department Facebook accounts. This will have to be checked.
  3. The Police webpage is the next one planned for an overhaul.
• Discussed the admin time. Lynn is already working as much time as the budget allows. If she were to work additional time, this would further bring the budget into deficit.
  1. Discussed the hiring of an officer for the open position. The candidate is currently completing their background paperwork. It is anticipated they would be able to start in 10 to 12 weeks.
• Chief Dumas said they are looking at purchasing a handheld radar unit for his cruiser. Stalker radar is where all the recent units have been purchased from. They will investigate pricing.
• Discussed having a cruiser at the school during the drop off and pick up time windows when the school is in session.
• Officer Schermerhorn will be taking a DARE class soon to be able to teach this course.
• Chief Dumas asked for board members to reach out to him directly with specifics of issues they hear about so they can be addressed.
  1. The anonymous complaints are difficult to investigate and follow up on.
  2. Discussed the benefits of marked and unmarked cars on the road.

1. Deputy Chief Washburn will work to adjust his administrative tasks to allow more time for him to be out on the road.

• Discussed the recent accidents on Route 7 South.
  1. There has not been much information to get from the State Police yet. Chief Dumas said he is waiting to her back from them on the reports.
• The K9 for our program should be with us in the next few weeks.
  1. A training slot will be available in the spring.

The meeting adjourned at 9:50 AM.

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet