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03-25-2008 POLMHutchinson Police Commission Minutes The Hutchinson Police Commission held a meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2008, at the Hutchinson City Center. Present at the meeting were Barry Anderson, Mark Jelkin, Steve Sherman and Chief Daniel Hatten. The Commissioners first convened at the Hutchinson City Council meeting in the council chambers to observe Chief Hatten present two citizens with certificates of appreciation for their actions taken with regard to a domestic assault that occurred within the city. The meeting was called to order at 5:38 p.m. in the conference room at city center. Chairperson Jelkin asked is there was anything that needed to be added to the agenda. There was none. Chairperson Jelkin asked if there were any changes to the minutes from the last meeting. With there being no changes, a motion was made by Steve Sherman, seconded by Barry Anderson, th to approve the minutes from the February 4 meeting. Motion carried. Chief Hatten then updated the Commissioners on the hiring process for the communication specialist positions. He stated that Ms. Soderquist had accepted the conditional offer for the full-time position. She successfully completed the physical and psychological exams. With the th conditions being met she accepted the offer and her start date is scheduled for April 7. He then stated that the part-time position and been conditionally offered to Ms. Clobes who accepted. Due to the background conditions not being satisfied the offer was withdrawn. Chief Hatten then stated the department still has a part-time opening in this area as well as a full-time position in the near future with the pending resignation of Communication Specialist Sheryl Delaney-Smith. He informed the commission that there were two options for them to consider. The first is to go through the full process with advertising. The second option is through open enrollment. He stated that two individuals have turned in applications for this position and the department could proceed with the hiring process and have them go before the interview panels. The advantage to the open enrollment is that it could begin immediately and if the applicants achieve passing scores in the process it would cut down on the length of time to fill the position. The disadvantage is if neither applicant is successful the department would still need to go through the advertising. The question was raised as to what the main difference is between the two processes and Chief Hatten stated the only thing that is different is that the position is not advertised. A motion was made by Barry Anderson, seconded by Steve Sherman, to move forward with open enrollment and interview the two individuals that have applied. Motion carried. Chief Hatten then updated the Commissioners on the hiring process for the police officer positions. He stated that two conditional offers had been made for the openings. The first offer was made to the applicant making a lateral move. This applicant failed the meet the requirements of the conditional offer. A letter was prepared to rescind the offer; however the Chief stated that before the letter was mailed to the applicant he received a letter from them with drawing from the process. The second conditional offer was made to a candidate who recently graduated is law enforcement. During the process of the background concerns were raised by incidents in his recent past as well as comments made by individuals contacted during this process. Chief Hatten stated that he withdrew the offer. Chief Hatten stated that he went back to the beginning of the hiring process and the position is th currently being advertised with a closing date of April 18. One aspect that is different with this advertisement is that applicants must be eligible to be licensed by August 31, 2008. The reason Police Commission Meeting March 25, 2008 Page 2 for the longer time frame is to try to get a larger candidate pool with the individuals who will be just graduating or just finishing skills. Hatten stated that the written examination for the thstrd applicants is scheduled for April 29, May 1 and 3. At this point in the meeting Chief Hatten excused himself so that he could address an issue that was being discussed at the city council meeting. During Chief Hatten’s absence the commission moved to Item 8 on the agenda. They reviewed the sample “Applicant Summary Sheet” that had been requested at the February meeting. It was agreed that they would like to begin using this summary sheet for the individuals that are placed on the eligibility roster. Chief Hatten returned to the meeting and discussion was continued with regard to the officer position. A request was made by Chief Hatten for the commissioners to consider allowing the initial interview panel for this particular hiring process be a panel of three instead of the usual five members. He stated the reason for the request is due to the shortage of staff and the difficulty in maintaining the same five members on the panel for the lengthen of time it will require to complete this phase of the process. Commissioner Anderson inquired as to who would be on the smaller panel. He stated he would like to see Sgt. Nagel and Communication Specialist Redetzke on the panel due to their knowledge of the process. After a short discussion a motion was made by Steve Sherman, seconded by Barry Anderson, to allow the initial interview panel for this hiring process to comprise of three members with the condition that Sgt. Nagel and CS Redetzke be two of the panel members. Motion carried. Discussion then focused on a letter that was mailed to each of the commissioners as well as the city administrator from one of the police officer candidate’s husband with regard to the selection process. Chief Hatten asked if there were any questions with regard to comments made in the letter. Commissioner Anderson asked with regard to the comment made that the candidate did not receive responses to any of her inquiries. He also stated that he understands that some items that are obtained during the background process cannot be discussed at an open meeting due to privacy issues. It was asked what standards are being used for the medical and physical. Chief Hatten stated that for the physical fitness test are the Cooper’s Standards that are gauged on age and gender. The psychological is a standard test that is completed and evaluated by the doctor as to the ability to perform a certain job. With regard to the comments concerning not getting responses back Chief Hatten stated that each applicant is given one individual in the department to contact for any questions. All inquiries made to the various department employees were forwarded to that one individual. The chief stated that this applicant had left a voice mail message on a Friday late afternoon. He did not receive it message until Monday morning at which time he forwarded the request to the department contact. This information was not included in the letter. The question was raised if any type of packet is sent to applicants that have been given a conditional offer that includes information on the city, benefits, etc. Chief Hatten stated that at this time there is no set packet that is given out. Commissioner Jelkin stated that something should be done in the future to better sell the City of Hutchinson to potential employees. It was also asked if was going to be any follow up response from the city with regard to this letter. Chief Hatten stated that he did not believe the city administrator intended to respond and there was no request made by the individual writing the letter for a response. Chief Hatten then turned the discussion to the summer park patrol positions. He stated that the police department is budgeted for two individuals and that the Park & Recreation Department is Police Commission Meeting March 25, 2008 Page 3 budgeted for one individual. By partnering it allows the city to have three individuals to cover the hours necessary to patrol the parks in the summer. Chief Hatten then informed the Commissioner’s that he had been approached with regard to a summer internship. He stated the internship would be for 400 hours. This individual will be able to cover some of the park patrol hours but would also observe in dispatch was well as ride along with officers on patrol. Chairperson Jelkin asked if there were any items from the floor. Chief Hatten stated he would like to present Commissioner Sherman with his Citizens Police Academy certificate of participation due to the fact he was unable to be at the graduation. With there being no further business to discuss, a motion was made by Barry Anderson, seconded by Steve Sherman, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Time of adjournment was 7:27 p.m. April 15 Next Meeting to be held on , 2008. _______________________________