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,
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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
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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 Due to the background conditions not being satisfied the offer was withdrawn.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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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