HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-11-14 Government Operations Committee Minutes • GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
NOVEMBER 14, 2001
MINUTES
Councilors Attending: Nichi Farnham, Anne Allen, Joe Baldacci
Staff Attending: Bob Farrar, Don Winslow, Ron Gastia, Jim Hodges
Others Attending: Fred Hartstone
The meeting convened at 5:05 p.m. -
Councilor Farnham acknowledged there were four items on the agenda but said the
Committee would take item 3 frst out of order because a member of the public was
present.
3. Council Ordinance 02-18, Amending Schedule I of Chapter 291, Article 111 of
the Code of the City of Bangor -- Parking Prohibited at all Times -- York Street
� Congregation Beth Abraham has requested a small `�no parking zone" to accommodate
the walkway leading from the street to the synagogue.
Sgt. Hodges from the Police Department indicated that cars parking at the main
walkway to the front of the synagogue hinder people who are just dropping people off
and letting them walk in, and that Mr. Hartstone was present to address the Committee
on the issue. Fred Hartstone, 143 DeWitt Avenue, introduced himself and said he
represented the Beth.Abraham Synagogue. He said one of the reasons for asking for
the no parking area in front of the main entrance to the synagogue is because The
Learning Center is nearby and all their cars park along from the corner all the way
down to St. John's Church. These cars block both sides and this also happens during
the evening hours. He stated that the Synagogue is only asking this area be kept clear
for the elderly and/or handicapped so they can walk easily into the building. Sgt.
Hodges added that this would also keep the area clear in the winter months as the
snowbanks prohibit access. There is an entrance on the side but there is no parking
allowed on the Essex Street side. It was understood that they wouldn't be able to park
there themselves, as it would be strictly for dropoffs.
Councilor Baldacci moved to direct stafF to recommend to the full Council the adoption
of Council Ordinance 02-18, and his motion was seconded by Councilor Allen.
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� 1. 2001 Local Law Enforcement Block Grant - (Public Hearing� (R. Gastia�
Chief Winslow stated that this is an annual block grant whereby the City gets allocated
monies between $28,000 and $33,000, and part of the obligation is that a public
hearing be conducted to give the community an opportunity to speak on how the funds
should be spent. This not only meets our obligations, but more importantly lets the
Council know what the funds will be used for. Chief Winslow indicated there were
materials in the packet previously distributed to the Council as to how they would like to
allocate the funds.
Councilor Farnham asked if any of these items appeared on other lists that were
submitted at budget time. Chief Winslow indicated they were all new requests. He said
that when a grant is received, input is solicited within all divisions of his department.
Some of these items might have appeared in next spring's budget request if not for the
grant at this time. '
Lt. Gastia highlighted the items. The first item is $15,000 for the purchase of a new
vehicle for the criminal division. Because of promotions and other personnel changes
this would improve the current situation of not having enough vehicles for current staff. �
Another item is $2,250 for the purchase of five digital cameras. The department -
purchased one digital camera earlier this year. A lot of money is spent on film
� developing. The ofFice of the District Attorney is going to start using digital cameras in
some cases, and if the Bangor Police Department,started using them it would save a lot .
of money. There still will be costs on major investigations, such as homicides, but
digital photography will be used for the patrol division. $2,500 is for the purchase of an
EOD Communications System for the bomb team. Although new suits were recently
purchased for the bomb team, once the officer goes in to look at the suspicious item he
is totally out of communication with anyone else on the team. This hardwire system is
made for the suit that we have.
Other items including $800 for refurbishing and upgrading of two portable alarm
systems and $1,100 for the purchase of a laser printer for CID appeared in last year's
block grant but the funds ran out.
Another requested item is $2,400 for the purchase of patrol flashlights. Lt. Gastia said
that flashlights used to be issued to every patrol ofFicer and this became very costly
because we were �uying batteries for everyone. The department then went to
rechargeable flashlights which are expensive. Unfortunately, with a limited number of
rechargeable flashlights; they don't recharge fast enough. They're put back in the
charger and within a short period of time, someone else has need for it and they never
seem to have enough time to completely recharge. This is something an officer needs
and the purpose of this request is to purchase as many flashlights as we can. It would
� cost about $3,500 to buy rechargeable flashlights for all patrolmen but $2,400 would
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• give the department a good head start. Chief Winslow interjected that a similar thing
was done with drug forfeiture money to purchase portable radios for every officer.
There is also $2,400 for the purchase of a video presenter to be used for training and
for court presentations. It's like an overhead projector but the difFerence is you can
take a picture, your hand, or whatever and set it on it and it's on the screen just as you
see it. He gave an example when presenting a court case on a homicide or robbery or
whatever and they want the jury to see a particular small item, they will be able to see
it just as we see it.
The last item is $5,000 for the purchase of H&K .40 Cal. firearms for use by the Special
Response Team. The firearms they are currently using are not .40 Cal. and are getting
old. They have been checked and are still in operating condition but with the number
of rounds that are put through them, even in training, it won't be long before they start
to depreciate. Lt. Gastia stated that these particular firearms will use the same rounds
. that are used in the department so they're consistent. He concluded by saying that
although this is something that is not needed at this moment, this will soon be a
replacement item. It seemed logical to include them in the current grant request.
Chief Winslow indicated that he does not need Council approval, only an endorsement
from the Committee. Councilor Baldacci moved that the Committee approve stafF's
• recommendation on how to spend the block grant monies, and Councilor Allen
seconded the motion. The Committee approved stafF's recommendation.
2. Review of 2000 Department of Justice Uniform Crime Statistics (D. Winslow)
Chief Winslow felt it important to come back to the Council in view of the annual report
recently issued by the FBI because he was at a conference in Toronto at the time it was
released and his Deputy was not totally familiar with the report statistics. The report
indicated Bangor as having the worst crime rate in the state, and when you look at raw
numbers this is in fact true. However, it is driven by our property crime theft rate.
Chief Winslow referred to the crime report previously distributed with the agenda and
noted the national crime rate. Violent crime is defined as murder, rape, aggravated
assault and robbery and does not include domestic assaults, simple assaults, assaults
on police off'icers and the like. These figures in the package have been adjusted to
reflect for a population of 100,000 people. He told the Committee they would see that
the violent crime rate nationally is 506.1 and Bangor crime rate is 165.5, which is three
times better than.the national average. Bangor is a very safe community to live in.
The Chief said he looked at cities with populations of 25,000 to 50,000 which comprise
� 656 cities reported that fall into this category, and Bangor's violent crime rate is 2.4
times less than those cities. Going to the second page of the report, he compared
� Bangor's violent crime rate and property crime rates with communities that are
identified as metropolitan areas with 100,000 people or less. Seventeen communities
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• meet that category. However, Bangor's region includes part of Waldo County and most
of Penobscot County, which consists of about 70,000 people. In this regard, Bangor
ranked second in the nation. Bangor has been first in the nation before with the safest
crime rate in the three years that Winslow has been chief. On the property crime rate
per 100,000 people Bangor ranks eighth, and last year we were tenth. So, he said,
although we fell one position on the violent crime rate we gained two positions on the
property crime rate.
The bottom of the second page of the report is a ten-year history. Chief Winslow
stated that Bangor does a lot of other things that do not get reported to the FBI. Such
things include criminal mischief and simple assaults which do not elevate to the point of
an aggravated assault which is defined as one that results in or has the potential to
result in serious bodily injury or death.
Chief Winslow, on a good note, stated that we haven`t had a I�omicide in Bangor since
1997 and we historically had two a year, or an average of 1.8, for the 20 years that he
has been on the department. Technically, the cab driver homicide is not attributable to
Bangor because the driver's death occurred out of town. Chief Winslow contributed this
to the work his department has done with domestic violence. It is a known fact that 2
or 3 homicides are the direct result or are caused by an intimate partner or a family
member, and Bangor's police department has been able to recognize the significance of
. domestic violence and to respond appropriately. The department has a good working
relationship with Spruce Run and all of the other agencies that are involved.
On the final page of the report, the Chief compared Bangor's crime rates with other
communities in Maine and referred to the Index Total of 1875 which is the total of the
seven reported categories. He stated that his department works very hard to keep the
community informed about reporting stolen bicycles so they would know what is going
on in all of the neighborhoods. In the larger cities, if you call the police department
and want to report a theft, many communities by policy will put a minimum threshold
on the loss. Bangor will report everything, including something like $3 worth of
returnable� soda cans from someone's garage. The Chief went on to say that the
national average for reported theft is $735. For Bangor, our average loss is $304.66.
Of the 1480+ thefts we had, 388 of those thefts involved properry worth $200 or more;
366 of those thefts involved property with a value between $50 and $200; and 731 of
those thefts involved property with a value of less than $50, most of which are
shoplifting crimes. �
Councilor Baldacci asked about residential burglaries and Chief Winslow said that in
2000 there were 68 and non-residential burglaries there were 259. Councilor Baldacci
then asked if there were things the Chief thought they should be doing with the vehicle
thefts. Chief Winslow responded that more could be done from a public relations
• standpoint through education. He gave an example of how people leave keys in their
cars and in some instances leave them running at convenience stores. In their homes,
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• people leave their doors and windows unlocked so a lot of burglaries are not through
forced entry. Chief Winslow added that in their crime prevention program they try to
get the word out for people to lock their windows and doors. Councilor Baldacci asked
how Bangor's residential burglaries compare with other towns, and the Chief responded
the numbers were not readily available but he probably could get them. Through
education people can prevent becoming victims of theft, but a significant portion of
those thefts are going to be shoplifting. For commercial properties, he said that one of
the most effective ways to prevent shoplifting is to have a policy in your store that you
prosecute shoplifters so they are encouraged to report. A lot of stores by their own
policy will not prosecute They'll get the item back if they can, let the person go and tell
them not to come back to their store. The police department discourages that.
Chief Winslow referring to the drug and opiate problems said that a lot of the property
crimes are driven by a person's need to feed their addiction, and extensive public
education doesn't always help. Councilor Baldacci asked if there had been any
problems in the area of the methadone clinic and Chief Winslow said he has heard
nothing from anyone in the neighborhood. The clinic is currently serving between 85
and 90 clients. �
The Committee thanked Chief Winslow for his review of the crime report.
. 4. Municipal Review Committee -- Ballot for Board of Directors (R. Farrar)
Annually, Charter Communities of the Municipal Review Committee have an opportunity
to vote for three openings on the Board of Directors. The MRC provides municipal
oversight to the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company (PERC) waste-to-energy facility
�in Orrington. As of this time, Charter Municipalities collectively own approximately 17%
of the facility, and thus have a financial stake in its sound operation. Bob Farrar
recommended that Bangor cast its ballot for Gerry Kempen, who is currently Chairman
of the Board of Directors and Town Manager of Orono.
For the benefit of Councilor Allen, Farrar gave a brief summary of the purpose and
duties of the Board, and a brief background of how the Board came to be. He stated
that the Board represents all of the communities and once a year there is an
opportunity to cast a ballot for three openings on the Board. This year there are 7
candidates for three positions. Farrar recommends that a ballot be cast for Gerry
Kempen, who is not only Orono's Town Manager, but also the Chair of the Board of
Directors. He said that Gerry did call last week and ask for Bangor's support, and is the
only candidate who has solicited interest from the City. And, Bob went on to say, based
on his interest and good leadership over the past several years, he would endorse his
request. Bangor would get 28 votes which is based on our 28,000 guaranteed annual
tons that we contribute to the plant. Bob commented that this organization has
� benefited all of our communities by keeping the tipping fees at a stable rate of about
$45 net. In southern Maine and other parts of the State, municipal tipping fees are
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. running anywhere from $60 to over $100 a ton. With all of the communities working
together, the efFort has really paid off and will continue to do so until 2018 when the
contract for electricity will terminate. .
Councilor Baldacci moved to approve staff recommendation to cast a ballot for Gerry
Kempen and the motion was seconded by Councilor Allen. The Committee approved
staff recommendation.
Meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m.
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