07-21-2009 POLMHutchinson Police Commission Minutes
The Hutchinson Police Commission held a meeting on Tuesday, July 21, 2009, at the
Hutchinson Emergency Operation Center. Present at the meeting were Mark Jelkin, Julie
Jensen, Steve Sherman and Chief Daniel Hatten.
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.
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Chairperson Jelkin asked if there were any changes to the minutes from the May 19 meeting.
With there being two corrections noted, a motion was made by Julie Jensen, seconded by Steve
Sherman, to approve the minutes with the changes made from the May meeting. Motion
carried.
Chief Hatten then updated the Commission with regard to personnel staffing. He stated that
Officer Schuette took a medical retirement – permanent disability that was authorized by the
State Retirement Board. This creates a vacancy at the patrol level. The department is still
down one sergeant position that was vacated by Sgt. Chris Dobratz a year ago. He stated that
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as of July 1 the department has a vacant lieutenant position with the retirement of Lt. Dave
Erlandson. Chief Hatten stated that as of today Communication Specialist Heather Daves
submitted her letter of resignation. He stated that her fiancé had accepted a position in Duluth
as a contracted civilian with the military. It is anticipated that she will remain with the
department until the end of September. Hatten informed the Commission that he had presented
a written request to the city administrator to fill the vacant position and begin the hiring process
for each. He stated that in his request he stated that it takes approximately five months to
complete the hiring process for each position. Mark Jelkin stated that he was expecting some
direction by now from the city with regard to hiring and was disappointed that the authorization
to proceed had not been granted. Jelkin stated that he felt the Commission and police
department had lost three months of time due to lack of decision making by the city
administrator and council. Chief Hatten stated that he felt some of the delay was due to the fact
that the budget process was taking longer than expected. Hatten stated that next week there
was a budget meeting scheduled and a balanced budget would be proposed that included the
expense for these positions. Steve Sherman stated that he was also concerned that the
authorization had not been granted. Chief Hatten stated that he was cautiously optimistic that
by the end of next week there would be some direction.
Chief Hatten informed the Commission that once authorization had been granted by the City
and Commission that it was his intention to start the process with the promotion to lieutenant,
followed by the promotion to sergeant and then the hiring of an officer. Hatten stated that with
the lieutenant position being filled first that individual would then be able to participate in
sergeant promotion process. Mark Jelkin state that, although he understood the reasoning
behind this, he disagreed and felt the hiring of an officer should be the first position filled. He
stated that the officers position needed to be advertised and once the eligibility roster was
approved it could be used later to fill the position that would become available after an officer
was promoted to sergeant. Chief Hatten stated that the promotion processes and hiring
process would all be started fairly close together. His concern with the eligibility roster was that
the longer we have the list the more likely it is to have some of the candidates take employment
elsewhere and not be available. He stated that he felt that by the end of the year the
department would be up to speed. Julie Jensen asked what the Commission’s immediate
responsibility would be once the authorization was granted from the city and inquired if the
Commission should meet sooner than the next scheduled meeting. Chief Hatten responded
that the Commission would need to grant authorization to proceed with the hiring and promotion
processes. He stated that the Commission could have a special meeting or they could
authorize the processes now. Mark Jelkin stated that he did not like the idea of the existing
Police Commission Meeting
July 21, 2009
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patrol staff to have to continue picking up the slack due to the shortage of patrol. Chief Hatten
stated that the department has had to accomplish this before and that the processes would be
overlapped. Steve Sherman asked if the staff was feeling stress over the shortage. Chief
Hatten stated that he felt the stress was not coming from the shortage but due to not knowing
what was going to occur – fill the positions, not fill the positions or lose positions. A motion was
made by Mark Jelkin, seconded by Steve Sherman, to authorize the start of the hiring and
promotion processes pending the approval by the City. Motion carried.
The meeting then proceeded to the final review of the hiring procedures and procedures for
promotion. A motion was made by Julie Jensen, seconded by Steve Sherman to approve all
the hiring and promotion procedures as presented. Mark Jelkin pointed out that the hiring
procedure for the chief position had not finalized. Julie Jensen then retracted her motion to
approve the procedures. Discussion was then held with regard to the questions that remained
with regard to the hiring of a chief. A motion was then made by Julie Jensen, seconded by
Steve Sherman, to approve the hiring procedures for peace officer, communication specialist,
records specialist and community service officer as well as the promotional procedures for
lieutenant and sergeant. Motion carried.
Chairperson Jelkin asked if there were any items from the floor. Chief Hatten stated that an
internal investigation within the police department had been conducted and wanted to inform the
Commission that an employee may come to them to ask for a review of the disciplinary action
taken.
Mark Jelkin wanted the minutes to reflect their thanks and appreciation to Lt. Erlandson for his
years of service with the department.
With there being no further business to discuss, a motion was made by Steve Sherman,
seconded by Julie Jensen, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.
Time of adjournment was 6:32 p.m.
Next Meeting to be held on August 18, 2009 at 5:30 pm
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