10-21-2009 POLMHutchinson Police Commission Minutes
The Hutchinson Police Commission held a meeting on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, at the
Hutchinson Emergency Operation Center. Present at the meeting were Mark Jelkin, Julie
Jensen, Steve Sherman and Chief Dan Hatten.
The meeting was called to order at 5:32p.m.
th
Chairperson Jelkin asked if there were any changes to the minutes from the September 8
meeting. With there being no changes, a motion was made by Steve Sherman, seconded by
Julie Jensen, to approve the minutes from the September meeting. Motion carried.
Chief Hatten then updated the Commission with regard to the status of the communication
specialist hiring process. He stated conditional offers were made to three individuals – 2 full-
time and 1 part-time positions. The backgrounds on the candidates are currently being
conducted and should be done soon. Once these are completed the candidates will move to
the psychological and physical phase. Commissioner Jensen asked where the eligibility roster
stood. Hatten stated that from the six on the roster one individual withdrew by declining the
conditional offer, three were given conditional offers and there are two individuals left.
Chief Hatten then presented to the commissioners a memorandum from Sgt. Nagel dated
October 21, 2009 that explained the steps that had been taken so far with regard to the hiring
process for peace officer and also included summary sheets for the individuals contained in the
eligibility roster. Hatten stated that there were approximately 240 candidates that took the
written examination offered by Stanard and Associates. The top 77 individuals were granted an
initial interview. From these interviews 16 candidates moved forward to the second interview
panel and 8 names are contained on the roster. It was asked if the department was looking for
three individuals. Chief Hatten stated that the department was approved to hire three.
Commissioner Jensen inquired as to when the commission would not consider certifying a list.
Chief Hatten explained that if the commission felt that the hiring process was not adhered to by
the department the commissioners would then consider not accepted the roster as presented.
A motion was then made by Julie Jensen, seconded by Steve Sherman, to approve the
st
eligibility roster of eight candidates as outlined in Sgt. Nagel’s October 21 memorandum.
Motion carried.
Discussion was then held to determine when the final interviews would be conducted for the
peace officer positions. It was determined that Commissioner Sherman would represent the
commission on this interview panel. The interviews for the top six candidates will be held
th
sometime the week of October 26.
The next item on the agenda was to address the status of the promotion process for sergeant.
Chief Hatten stated that the process was set and a date determined for the written examination
and the external panel interviews. He stated that the nine candidates would begin the process
on Thursday, November 19, 2009. The areas in which the candidates would be evaluated is as
follows: last 3 evaluations, written examination, two practical exercises with the external panel,
interview with the external panel and final interview with Chief Hatten, Human Resource Director
Brenda Ewing and a Police Commissioner. Hatten stated that the external panel would consist
of individuals from outside agencies with the rank of sergeant or higher. He stated that he had
spoken with all the candidates and given them the information they would need with regard to
studying for the written examination. Commissioner Jelkin stated that he felt the commission
should review and approve the questions for each of the interviews prior to the candidates going
before the panels. It was determined that the questions would be forwarded to each of the
commissioners prior to the next meeting so that they could review them and come to the
Police Commission Meeting
October 21, 2009
Page 2
meeting with any questions or changes they felt were necessary. The date for the final
interview panel was also discussed and it was determined that the interviews would be
th
accomplished in one or two days and this would occur sometime between November 20 and
th
November 25.
The next item for discussion was the certification of the lieutenant position opening. Chief
Hatten handed out a packet to each commissioner that outlined the scoring results from each of
the phases of the process. He stated that the first page contained a summary of all the scores,
the next page was the evaluation scores, then the written examination scores. The next pages
were the first practical and then the second practical that were both administered by the panel of
external chiefs as well as the interview scores from this same panel. The final page was the
results from the last interview panel that had consisted of himself, Human Resource Director
Brenda Ewing and Commissioner Jelkin. Time was then taken to allow the commissioners to
review the information presented. Commissioner Jensen asked Chief Hatten to give a brief
background on the four candidates for the position. Hatten then stated how long each of the
sergeants had been in the position, how many years they had been in law enforcement and if
they had worked for other departments. It was then asked of Chief Hatten what the primary
functions are for the lieutenant. He stated that the lieutenant is the second in command and
that the daily operation of the department is there responsibility. He stated that this includes
scheduling and training for all personnel, overseeing communications and records personnel,
and uniform and equipment procurement and distribution.
Chief Hatten stated that a large issue was to create a procedure that tested the skills and
abilities of the candidates that is fair and equitable for the position. He stated that all parts of
the process needed to be factored in to the final outcome. Commissioner Sherman asked if
Chief Hatten felt he needed to go with the individual with the top score as opposed to someone
else on the list. Chief Hatten stated that he did not feel he had to go with the top score. He said
that if he did not think the individual could do the job and that he would not be able to work
productively with the individual he would express those concerns. A motion was made by Julie
Jensen, seconded by Steve Sherman, to approve all the candidates for the final interview panel.
Motion carried.
Chief Hatten then recommended to the commission to promote Sgt. Tom Gifferson to the
lieutenant position. He stated he made this recommendation based on Sgt. Gifferson’s years of
experience, his education, and his level of performance over the years with the department. He
added that the extensive testing process that all the candidates went through he scored the
highest. A motion was made by Mark Jelkin, seconded by Steve Sherman, to accept Chief
Hattens recommendation to promote Sgt. Gifferson to the lieutenant position and to move
ahead with a conditional offer. Chairperson Jelkin asked for any discussion, questions or
concerns. After a brief discussion it was asked of Chief Hatten for his opinion regarding his
recommendation. Chief Hatten stated that he believed Sgt. Gifferson would be good for the
department and community as a whole, that he would work well with the sergeants, officers,
communications and support staff. He stated that he believed that they would be able to work
well together and accomplish the goals of the department. With there being no further
discussion a vote was called for. Motion carried.
Chairperson Jelkin asked if there were any items from the floor. Commissioner Jensen asked
for an update with regard to the two disciplinary actions that had occurred earlier this month.
Chief Hatten stated that he had met with Shelley Schmidt on two occasions to answer her
questions. He stated that he felt Officer Pederson was being very professional with regard to
Police Commission Meeting
October 21, 2009
Page 3
the matter. It was asked if he had served his suspension yet to which Chief Hatten stated that
he had not but it was scheduled to occur during the month of November.
With there being no further business to discuss, a motion was made by Julie Jensen, seconded
by Steve Sherman, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.
Time of adjournment was 7:06 p.m.
Next Meeting to be held on November 10, 2009 at 5:30 pm
.
_______________________________