HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-01-05 Work Session Minutes Item#1.
Meridian City Council Work Session January 5, 2021.
A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:32 p.m., Tuesday,
January 5, 2021, by Mayor Robert Simison.
Members Present: Robert Simison, Joe Borton, Treg Bernt, Jessica Perreault, Brad
Hoaglun and Liz Strader.
Members Absent: Luke Cavener.
Also present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Tracy Basterrechea, Joe Bongiorno, Mike
Barton, Kendall Nagy and Dean Willis.
ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE
Liz Strader _X_ Joe Borton
_X_ Brad Hoaglun _X_Treg Bernt
_X_ Jessica Perreault Luke Cavener
_X_ Mayor Robert E. Simison
Simison: Council, I will call this meeting to order. For the record it is January 5th, 2021 ,
4:32 p.m. We will begin this afternoon's work session with roll call attendance.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Simison: Next item is the adoption of the agenda.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I move that we adopt the agenda as presented.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, I second the motion.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as published. Is there any
discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it
and the agenda is adopted.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item]
1. Approve Minutes of the December 15, 2020 City Council Work
Session
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2. Approve Minutes of the December 15, 2020 City Council Regular
Meeting
3. Approve Minutes of the December 22, 2020 City Council Work
Session
4. Approve Minutes of the December 22, 2020 City Council Regular
Meeting
5. FedEX BOIA Van Station Water Main Easement
6. Pearson Subdivision Pedestrian Pathway Easement
7. Final Order for Chukar Ridge (FP-2020-0012) by Kristen McNeil of
The Land Group, Located at 4005 N. McDermott Rd.
8. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for 2810 E. Franklin Rd. (H-
2020-0097) by KM Engineering, Located at 2810 E. Franklin Rd.
9. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Oakwind Estates
Subdivision (H-2020-0093) by Engineering Solutions, Located at 5685
N. Black Cat Rd.
10. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Paramount Point (H-2020-
0098) by Brighton Development, Inc., Located at the Southwest
Corner of N. Fox Run Way and W. Chinden Blvd.
11. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Southridge Apartments (H-
2020-0109) by The Land Group, Located on the South Side of W.
Overland Rd. Midway Between S. Ten Mile Rd. and S. Linder Rd.
12. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Wadsworth Meridian
Subdivision (H-2020-0104) by Wadsworth Development, Located at
3085 E. Ustick Rd.
13. Development Agreement Between the City of Meridian and Charles
and Vickie Richardson (Owners) and Bruce Hessing, HessComm
Corp. (Developer) for Teakwood Place Subdivision (H-2020-0006)
14. Approval of ACHD Bid Results for the Eagle Road, Amity Road to
Victory Road Project, and Authorization for the Procurement
Manager to Issue a Purchase Order in the Amount of $286,536.70 for
Utility Improvements
15. Approval of Grantee Agreements for the Meridian Small Business
Grant Program
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16. Water Sewer Improvements - East State Ave. Construction
Contract to Blue Sky Construction
17. Resolution No. 20-2252: A Resolution of the Mayor and the City
Council of the City of Meridian Authorizing the Tenth
Continuance of A Local Disaster Emergency Declaration And
Its Terms For An Additional Thirty (30) Days; Authorizing The
Continued Immediate Expenditure Of Public Money To
Safeguard Life, Health And Property.
Simison: Next item is the Consent Agenda.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I move that we approve the Consent Agenda. For the Mayor to sign and for the
Clerk to attest.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, I second the motion.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to adopt the Consent Agenda. Is -- or approve
the Consent Agenda. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, all in favor signify
by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it and the Consent Agenda is approved.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
ITEMS MOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item]
Simison: There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda.
DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item]
18. Parks and Recreation Department: Fiscal Year 2021 Net-Zero Budget
Amendment for Downtown Banners and Site Furnishing Maintenance
Simison: So, we will go right into Department/Commission Reports. First up on Item 18
is the Parks and Recreation Department fiscal year FY-21 net zero budget amendment
in the amount of 5,112 dollars and I will turn this over to Mr. Barton.
Barton: Good afternoon, Mayor and Council Members. On the -- at the meeting on
December 22nd the Council approved two different memorandums of contribution
between the city and MDC. One of those is to replace a bench, a litter receptacle and,
then, some miscellaneous maintenance parts for 3,541 dollars and the other MOA was
to purchase a set of banners for downtown. That total of that was 1,571 dollars. So, we
are bringing forward this budget amendment to place the money in our budget so we
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can make these purchases and with that I will be happy to answer any questions you
might have.
Simison: Thank you. Council, any questions for Mr. Barton?
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: No questions, but a comment. Whoever makes the motion just make sure that
we use the right amount of 5,112 dollars.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, I move approval of a fiscal year 2021 net zero budget amendment
for Parks and Recreation Department in the amount of 5,112 dollars for downtown
banners and site furnishing maintenance.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I second that motion.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve the budget amendment. Is there
any discussion on the motion? If not, Clerk will call the roll.
Roll call: Bernt, yea; Borton, yea; Cavener, absent; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea;
Perreault, yea.
Simison: All ayes. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
19. Police Department: Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Amendment in the
amount of $1,500.00 for Idaho State Liquor Division Mini Grant
Simison: Next item on the agenda is No. 19, which is a Police Department budget
amendment for fiscal year 2020. It's a net zero in the amount of 1 ,500 dollars. I will
turn this over to Kendall Nagy.
Nagy: Can you hear me now? Thumbs up? Okay. So, Mr. Mayor, Members of the
Council, Happy New Year. Thank you for hearing me present today. I just am
requesting a budget neutral -- revenue neutral budget amendment for 1 ,500 dollars.
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That is for grant funds that MADC applied for through the liquor division -- state liquor
division and that will fund five all school middle school school assemblies during Red
Ribbon Week. That's it. Clear and simple. Any questions?
Simison: Council, any questions?
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: Not a question, but a quick comment, Kendall. Thank you for this and all the
other work that you are doing with MADC, but I remember back -- both my boys going
through middle school here, both spoke a lot about Red Ribbon Week. It had an
impact. It certainly sparks conversations amongst the middle schoolers and their
families amongst other things. Just there is so much good in our community and these
grant funds go a long way to continuing that process and you are a big part of that. So,
thank you for that continued effort and being successful in this grant once again.
Nagy: Thank you, Councilman Borton. It's good to hear the feedback and that it comes
full circle and I will certainly pass that along to the big team that works on prevention for
the city.
Simison: Thank you.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: I would be glad to make a motion to approve the budget amendment in the
amount of 1,500 dollars for the Idaho State liquor division mini grant for Red Ribbon
Week.
Strader: I will second the motion.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve the budget amendment in the
amount of 1 ,500 dollars. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, Clerk will call
the roll.
Roll call: Bernt, yea; Borton, yea; Cavener, absent; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea;
Perreault, yea.
Simison: All ayes. Motion carries and the amendment is agreed to.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
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20. Police Department: Overview of Policy, Practice, and Culture
Simison: Next item up, Item 20, is a Police Department overview of policy, practice and
culture. I will turn this over to Interim Chief Tracy Basterrechea.
Basterrechea: Thank you, Honorable Mayor Simpson, President Bernt, and Members
of the City Council. It is an honor to represent the men and women of the Meridian
Police department and our -- and our community tonight. Thank you for having me here
to speak about some of my passions, the Meridian Police Department, its culture, hiring
the right people and proper police use of force. I have been asked a lot of questions
lately and so I will try to cover all of those as we go through this tonight. The first area I
will address is police use of force in general and the eight can't wait policy
recommendations. But before I start I would like to point out I was one of the first, if not
the first, law enforcement leader in the state of Idaho to speak out reference the George
Floyd incident. I rarely speak out publicly when it comes to use of force videos when
they go viral. Most use of force instructors worth their salt do not. The reason why is
we rarely have the whole context of the -- from the video. For example, we don't know
what happened prior and unlike many pundits we wait to base our judgment on the
evidence. This incident was different. I had over eight minutes of context. George
Floyd was laid prone in handcuffs with two police officers controlling his torso, while a
third knelt on the side of his neck. Floyd told the officers he could not breathe multiple
times and begged them for help, with civilians begging the officer to get off of his neck.
So, what happened prior to this video would not and could not change my opinion of
what I was witnessing. You see, the most basic rule of police use of force is excessive
force begins when resistance ends. In other words, when a suspect quits resisting we
should end our application of force. George Floyd was clearly falling into a medical
emergency before he was removed from the patrol vehicle and placed on the ground. A
medical emergency known as excited delirium or sudden in-custody death, which I am
happy to speak with you about at another time, but due to time constraints we will focus
on the eight can't wait policy recommendations moving forward. These came out
immediately after the Floyd incident. I will address each policy recommendation one by
one and, please, feel free to interject or ask any questions as I go. The number one
policy recommendation was a ban on chokeholds or strangleholds. When the George
Floyd protest erupted one of the first things activists wanted was a ban on police use of
neck restraints, demanding a ban on chokeholds and strangleholds restraining
suspects. First, I think it is important to differentiate between the two. A chokehold cuts
off the airway on a subject. Let me point out chokeholds have been banned by police
agencies throughout the United States for well over 30 years. Stranglehold or carotid
vascular neck restraints slows oxygenated blood flow to the brain and can lead to
unconsciousness anywhere from three to 11 seconds, with the subject or suspect
recovering within 30 seconds. I will also point out the hold used on George Floyd was
not a carotid restraint, at least not one I am familiar with and I have been a use of force
arrest and control techniques instructor for over 20 years. I hold a black belt in Brazilian
Jujitsu and a black belt in Kodokan Judo. We do in the police world and at the Meridian
Police Department specifically utilized carotid or vascular neck restraints. These types
of restraints are used every day throughout the world in Judo and Jiujitsu gyms and
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competitions with no serious injuries or deaths. In 2007 the Canadian Research --
Police Research Center conducted a thorough study of various uses of force and their
effectiveness. They stated in their study: This report finds that while no restraint
methodology is completely risk free, there is not medical reason to routinely expect
grievous bodily harm or death following the correct application for the vascular neck
restraint in the general population by professional police officers with standardized
training and technique. Another study which was published in the Journal of Applied
Physiology in November 2011 states: We conclude the vascular neck restraint is a safe
and effective force intervention. However, outcomes could vary in different populations.
For instance, unhealthy or older subjects. No use of force is risk free, as is no
technique. Use of force in law enforcement has been greatly criticized and in many
cases rightfully so, which is one of the reasons I have been working with USA Judo in
developing a police Judo program to better protect our citizens and our officers. It is
also why I have been involved as a member of a focus group working on a Department
of Justice grant called ADAPT or Adaptive Defensive And Protective Tactics, which will
be the most comprehensive research project to develop a new police defensive tactics
training model to date. In addition, we are working on a project at the Meridian Police
Department with the Washington State University to better evaluate our uses of force
and our interactions with our citizens. We are working to find better and more efficient
ways to deliver arrest and control training to our officers with the goal of making them
more proficient when it comes to controlling combative subjects. We are always
working to improve and searching for ways to make policing safer for everyone
involved. But changes must be evaluated and well thought out. We cannot change
based on emotion. We must change based on facts and science. The second
recommendation for the eight can't wait was required de-escalation. Provide our
officers with de-escalation training. This is something we currently do and our emphasis
is actually on nonescalation training to begin an encounter. Therefore, reducing the
need for de-escalation or force. We also employ officers from different backgrounds,
cultures, and races. We utilize them as resources when discussing bias, because, yes,
we realize racism and prejudice does exist in every community. The third
recommendation was require a warning before shooting. We have policy in place
directing our officers to give warnings before shooting when possible. Use of force
situations are very fluid and dynamic. Giving a warning is not always possible and may
put an officer's life at risk. The fourth recommendation -- recommendation requires
officers to exhaust all alternatives before shooting. It is impossible to require officers to
exhaust all alternatives before using their firearm for the same reason I mentioned
above. The requirement would put officers' lives at more risk. When faced with deadly
force it is unfair to require an officer to respond with less than deadly force, putting their
lives more at risk. This doesn't mean officers are automatically allowed to resort to
deadly force. They are required to take precaution to avoid these types of escalations,
but in the end the suspect is the main driver of these decisions. Number five. They ask
for -- require the use of force continuum. The quote, unquote, return to the traditional
force continuum is unrealistic for a variety of reasons. These continuums were
abandoned by most agencies ten to 15 years ago as they were ineffective in guiding
use of force due to their rigidity. A use of force is dynamic and fluid. It needs to be
judged by the totality of the circumstances, which is what we do. Using the
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constitutional standard provided by Graham v. Connor to guide our use of force training
and reviews. Graham v. Connor was decided by the United States Supreme Court
using the Fourth Amendment to judge police use of force. We do provide training on the
types of situations where the various tools or techniques are best utilized. Ban shooting
at a moving vehicle. We have this policy which bans shooting at moving vehicles,
except in the most extreme circumstances and we have had this policy for many many
years. Number seven. The duty to intervene. We have a policy in place covering duty
to intervene, not only during the use of force, but we also emphasize the importance of
intervening if our officers recognize another officer is getting frustrated while dealing
with the subject and/or they recognize that the subject is getting under the officer's
proverbial skin. Require extensive use of force reporting. We do require officers to
report all uses of force and pursuit, including the pointing of a firearm. We are one of
the only agencies in the valley to report pointing of a firearm as a use of force and the
only agency I know of which records a felony stop as a use of force, even though a
firearm may have not been pointed at anyone during this stop. Each of these uses of
force and pursuits are reviewed by several layers of supervision. It starts with the
immediate supervisor, which is usually a corporal or a sergeant, then, it goes to a
lieutenant for review. Then it comes to my desk if it is a use of force and I do that
review and, then, it is sent to our office of professional standards where a final review is
conducted. In closing on this discussion about eight can't wait, we must realize policies
do not fix all of our problems. Many agencies who have been put under consent
decrees have implemented many of these policies, if not all, and they still have
problems. Why? These agencies have an institutional and cultural problem that
policies don't fix. Agencies who lower their hiring standards and accountability continue
to face these same shortfalls, yet they continue to look for the quick fix, instead of
embracing the discipline, resilience, and prolonged pressure needed to provide our
communities the policing they deserve. Amongst all the screaming and the white noise
we must not forget in 99 percent of these incidents had the suspect complied with the
officer's lawful orders we would have never been engaged in a use of force. The most
recent presidential task force uses the term comply, then, complain and I couldn't agree
more, other than to say at MPD we strive for cooperation before having to move to
compliance. There are many avenues for complaints to address after complying with
the officer on scene. Does anybody have any questions on the eight can't wait policies?
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: I just wanted to maybe comment a little bit. First of all, just to thank you very
much, Interim -- I will just call you Interim Chief for this moment, but, you know, we have
had a lot of success over the years, but this has been in the national spotlight and I
think we don't want to take our success for granted and so I -- I just very much
appreciated having you come before us in a public meeting, you know, to talk about this,
to have an open conversation and especially for members of the public that may have
moved here or that have questions or may -- or may have not had a good interaction, so
that they can have these resources and understand what our policies are today, the
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reason why we have the policies that we have and, then, the most important piece that
you touched on is this culture piece and I wanted -- I wanted to dig a little bit into the -- it
looks like, if I'm characterizing this correctly, we meet most of these policies and we
have for years already and that we have been a leader in a lot of these areas. Do you
think that there is anything in particular that we are not doing that we need to take a look
at along these recommendations? I heard a lot of good -- you and I have talked a lot
about it and I have heard a lot of good discussion and dialogue on why we are doing the
things that we are doing. Is there anything along these eight that we need to take a look
at or evaluate further?
Basterrechea: I think as I go on in the presentation I believe I will cover some of that. I
hope. And if I don't, please, bring me back to it.
Strader: Thank you.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Question, Chief Basterrechea. The vascular neck restraint, we know that --
that through the academy that police officer recruits, they come through and they are
trained and they learn all of this. Can you describe to me the follow-up training or the
continual training that might happen if they are in the Meridian Police Department how
that unfolds in their career?
Basterrechea: Yes. Every year they go through repeated training on use of force in
general and neck restraints in particular and arrest and control tactics. That is one of
the things where I talked about we are trying to find an even more efficient way to
deliver defensive tactics training to our officers. I'm working with one of our defensive
tactics instructors right now trying to find a way to bring actually monthly training to
them, so that our officers are much more proficient than the average officer in the United
States.
Hoaglun: Thank you.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Maybe a quick follow up. No one -- we are human and police officers are
human and they are going to make mistakes sometimes, even with the best training.
How do we ensure that when we are supervising our officers we are giving them
feedback about how to improve or if -- you know, let's say that a body camera shows
something that -- that's not the textbook way that we train or that there is a problem,
how do we continuously review and try to help improve?
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Basterrechea: Very good question. One thing I will tell you is you will never see a
textbook technique in an actual use of force. Anybody in here who has ever been
involved in a struggle, a fight, or anything like that, it doesn't look like it does on TV. It's
ugly and it's messy. I will tell you that every time we review body worn camera footage
if we see something that is a training issue we address that with our training staff when
we provide remedial training. If it turns out to be a policy issue, then, we deal with that
through our office of professional standards. But we are -- at the end of each year, as
well as the constant review of all of those things, we review all of our use of force and
we have try to shape our training around that. So, for instance, if we see that officers
are using more two officer techniques while trying to maintain control of a violent
subject, then, we focus on those areas for the upcoming year to provide our officers the
best type of training in those situations. So, we try to, quite frankly, play the odds. What
are the resistance, what are the types of attacks that we are most likely to face and we
focus on those.
Strader: Thank you.
Basterrechea: Okay. Moving on one of the other questions that has come up is policing
as a profession has been under incredible stress in recent years. How can we hire the
right officers that uphold our values and, again, let me say policy certainly helps guide
our officers in their daily duties, but with policy the need for training is even more
important. We have a very extensive training program and we are constantly reviewing
our training policies and our uses of force to better prepare our officers for the situations
they may face. Along with this we also review use of force incidents and trends
nationwide in order to learn from other agencies successes and their failures. Meridian
deserves to have the men and women of the MPD meet the highest standards for
training, education, ethics and dedication while serving the entire community. Meridian
Police Department has been very progressive in our training and policies for many
years, including being one of the first to equip all of our patrol officers with body worn
cameras pre-Ferguson. We have also entered into this study as I mentioned with
Washington State University, which will help us evaluate our uses of force and our
interactions with our community through the evaluation of body worn camera footage
and the language we use during these interactions. With this said, we have to
remember that the most important thing we can do is hire good people. We understand
one wrong hire can hurt the entire agency. We also understand officers are human and
humans make mistakes. Unfortunately for a police officer, a mistake in our profession
has the potential for the loss of life and the loss of the trust we work so diligently to build
with our community. Many times hiring for culture is much more important than hiring
for a skill set. Yes, we need skilled police officers, but we need those officers to
understand the importance of treating everyone we come into contact with with dignity
and respect. Hire for character, train for skill. The Meridian Police Department
understands and stresses the value of human life. We do not take this or our
responsibility to our community lightly. We stress our CARE values, which stand for
Customer Service, Accountability, Respect and Excellence. We stress doing things the
Meridian Way and how that means to go above and beyond in all of our citizen
interactions. Another question that was posed was please tell us about the threats and
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challenges you believe we face in Meridian in the future and how we can face -- face
them. Certainly growth is a challenge and a potential threat to our city and our
department's delivery of service. With growth comes good people. It also brings with it
some people who maybe aren't moving here with the best of intentions or sometimes
they are moving here with good intentions, but naive and believing that a change of
scenery is going to change their behavior or their child's behavior. The kid who is the
small fish in the big pond oftentimes becomes the big fish in the small pond when they
make these moves and the behavior they were fleeing is brought with them into our
community. I think we may have a bit of a head start on this by looking at the build out
of the precincts, which should help with the delivery of service. Maintaining a strong
student -- or school resource officer program is another way to help alleviate the second
part of this growth problem, along with creating and maintaining more opportunities for
our community to mentor our youth and create opportunities for them. Those of you in
this room who have been involved in coaching or some other sort of mentoring program
know exactly what I am talking about. The impact a mentor can have on someone
else's child is immeasurable. Two, we need to look at a different policing model for
serving those in mental and substance abuse crisis. These types of calls have
increased probably more than any other calls we have gone to over the years. They
take up a ton of resources and we have to find a better way. A civilian led crisis
intervention team program moves us in the right direction and feeds what the public and
research has shown to be a more effective way forward. Unfortunately, we know when
society has a problem they cannot solve they more than likely turn to the police for help.
We understand we will probably never be out of the business of responding to people in
crisis, but we have to look at the long term solutions as a city, state, and nation and I will
put this caveat on the end. If you think that legalization is the key, trust me, you are
mistaken. The states who have began legalizing marijuana and decriminalizing harder
drugs have proven to be a miserable failure for the health of their communities. The
third challenge we face is with upcoming retirements many people are sounding the
alarm of doom and gloom. We constantly hear nobody wants to do this job in the
current environment. I see this as an opportunity to find people who truly want to do this
job for the right reasons, especially when you have people who want to come to work
for our department specifically. This shows they have done their research and
understand our demand for ethical, constitutional, and respectful policing. We cannot
lower our standards or shortcut our processes. Every entry level candidate takes a
written test. If they pass that test they, then, move on to an oral board that is made up
of non-sworn personnel and sworn personnel, including at least one person from our
command. They, then, provide an initial background screen. If there are no
disqualifiers discovered, they, then, go into full background investigation. Our
investigators interview friends, neighbors, family, and coworkers. We send our
investigators to where our applicant lives and works. We do not conduct phone
interviews. If things look good after this they meet with me one on one and if all goes
well they receive a conditional job offer. They, then, need to pass a polygraph test, a
drug screen, and a psychological exam. After all of this they attend a 20 week joint
police academy we run with the Nampa Police Department. Once they are finished with
that academy they, then, go through a 14 week field training program and once the
candidate has successfully completed all of this they are finally put out on the road by
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themselves. We cannot shortcut our processes. A fourth challenge that we face I would
say this: Don't get caught up in the national rhetoric and let a group of activists hijack
our conversations in our community. As I mentioned earlier, unfortunately, prejudice and
racism exists in every community. Having acknowledged this, realize that every time a
police officer uses force against a person of color does not mean that officer is racist.
We shouldn't allow this rhetoric. If the situation was reversed we wouldn't and we
shouldn't jump to this conclusion because police officers are involved. It is dangerous,
inappropriate, and irresponsible. We should not be discussing who quote, unquote,
controls the narrative. The narrative should be based on fact after a thorough
investigation has been conducted. Far too often this is not the case and it puts our
communities and officers at risk. The fifth challenge that we face I would say are
extremist groups from the far left and the far right. Both groups thrive on anti-
government rhetoric and on tactics designed to intimidate public elected officials. Talk
about a job no one would want to do. Who wants to be an elected official only to have
people terrorize you and your family at your own home. These groups point their
fingers at one another, but they both use the same tactics. Do not let the extremes
drive your decision making. Just a couple more questions that I was asked to answer
and we will wrap up. How do we try to measure or assess how we are doing when we
interact with the public? We use both qualitative and quantitative data to do this. The
City of Meridian conducts citizen surveys to evaluate how each department and their
service is perceived by the citizens. As a department we also evaluate the types and
numbers of complaints that come into the department, as well as doing random checks
of our interactions by reviewing body worn camera footage. This is another area where
we expect the partnership with WSU to assist us. Moving forward we are also working
on a spot on our website where people can provide feedback, which includes the good
things our officers do and the ability to file complaints. The other thing I like to do is
randomly ask people in the community how we are doing. I like to do this when I'm off
duty and out of uniform, so nobody recognizes me. I usually tell them I'm new to the
area or moving to the area and I start to ask them about their satisfaction with different
city services and specifically the police department. This has proven to be extremely
invaluable to me. How do we allocate our resources for non-urgent calls. We have an
amazing group of community service officers and code enforcement officers, both of
which are non-sworn, who handle many of the calls not requiring a sworn police officer.
Our code officers enforce many of the city ordinances dealing with signs, property use,
weeds, abandoned vehicles, et cetera. Our community service officers handle many
calls that officers used to handle, such as lost or found property. Many times cold case
burglaries, frauds, and certain types of accidents. Both of these groups do an excellent
job and take a lot of calls for service freeing up our sworn officers. These are both
programs which will need to be expanded in the future. We work diligently in the area of
crime -- preventing crimes in our community through our crime prevention unit, which
provides many resources through neighborhood watch and crime prevention through
environmental design or CPTED surveys and a variety of classes. The Meridian Anti-
Drug Coalition provides many free resources and educational opportunities to our youth
and our adult population. Is there anything we need to keep our eyes on during this
transition in particular or any additional support you think that you need from City
Council at this time? The main thing I would ask all of you you have already been
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doing, but, please, continue to ask us questions if you have them. Don't let a hashtag
driven by people who have no idea what policing or police work is drive your decision
making. Instead, ask questions and consider the facts to make your decisions. Ask
yourself what is the agenda behind -- behind this. I would also ask you to empathize
with our officers who stumble from time to time. We are all humans and they are trying
to do their best each day. Policing isn't easy. It is a hard job and I like to use myself as
an example when I first became a police officer. I remember being 26 years old, having
been married a whopping six months and going to my first domestic situation. Here I
am dealing with people quite a bit older than me, who have been married for probably
20 plus years, and I'm explaining to them with all of my experience of being married how
they are supposed to interact with one another as a married couple and, then, I get
dispatched to a juvenile beyond control call where I go to parents who are having
trouble disciplining their child. Here I am -- and no children in sight -- and I'm explaining
to them how to be proper parents and how to discipline their child appropriately. The
next call you may go to is a mental health call where our officers are expected to be
mental health professionals and, then, the next call may be a use of force call -- or a call
involving the use of force where everybody expects them to be Chuck Norris. It's a
tough job. We can't be experts in everything. We tend to forget the almost unattainable
expectations we have for our officers at times. We expect them to be perfect every time
when dealing with people during their most imperfect moments and remember policing
is so much bigger than law enforcement. We have the ability to positively or
transversely negatively affect someone's view with every interaction. At the Meridian
Police Department we strive for those interactions to be positive. We know we are not
perfect, but I can tell you we are an agency who values our relationship with our
community more than most and the men and women of MPD continue to evaluate our
policies and training to provide the best service possible. Lastly, remember policing is a
community effort. To paraphrase Sir Robert Peel, the police are the community and the
community are the police. We have to work together, not against each other. And with
that I will stand for anymore questions.
Simison: Thank you, Chief. Council, any additional questions?
Basterrechea: Okay. Thank you.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: I thought that the -- the crisis intervention concept is intriguing. My fear, not
knowing much about it, is a lot of mental health situations are also very dangerous I
would imagine. Is that something that we are looking at and is that a model we are
thinking of building out, like how we have the community service officers, but like with a
more specialty in mental health or how would we start looking at that?
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Basterrechea: So, first off, all of our officers are trained in crisis intervention to begin
with. However, I actually had this discussion with the Mayor prior to Council and we
discussed that 40 hours isn't enough and reoccurring training really isn't enough all the
time for our officers. The idea behind having civilian mental health coordinators and
mental health professionals working hand in hand with our police officers is making sure
that they can follow up with these people who have been in crisis or people who have
been put on mental hold and direct them and help them find the resources that they
need to find, so that we are not continually going back to these calls time after time,
which is very very common with some of our people in the community who do suffer
from mental health issues, we are constantly getting called back to that residence, that
house or apartment, to deal with them when they are in crisis, because they don't have
the long-term ability, an officer doesn't have the ability to follow up with them and
provide them with the direction and resources that are needed. We truly believe that
using civilian coordinators and civilian mental health personnel will help with this greatly
and, hopefully, we will -- we do plan on expanding it in the future, but we got it -- we
have got to get it started first.
Simison: And if I could add onto that, I think if you look at your CFP that will be on
display next week you will see at least one position -- I think the question that Tracy and
I talked about earlier is one enough at this point in time and I think that's part of what --
not just getting off the ground, but also looking at the evaluation of the types of calls and
what the impacts would have been or could be in terms -- because it's a lot -- I'm not
going to say easier or cost effective, but we might be able to get two -- two of those
positions for every one officer. What's the -- how does that offload look from that
standpoint.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Council Woman Strader asked one of my two questions that I had for the
chief and I appreciate that. That's very helpful to understand that a little deeper. My
other question, though, does deal with crisis intervention and whatnot, but it's on the
other side of the table. That is how are we handling dealing with our officers with these
stressful situations that they are involved with. I mean over time that can build up.
There are situations that they make decisions every day and they are difficult decisions
and how are we supporting them through possible crisis?
Basterrechea: So, depending on two different factors here. One is the cumulative
effect of policing and the second would be what happens after -- immediately after a --
say, for instance, a critical incident where an officer is involved in a shooting or
something like that. The first thing that we do is we make sure that those officers
involved in those critical incidents are seen by a mental health professional and make
sure that they are doing okay. The other thing we do is we have a debriefing amongst
the team that was involved in that incident, where we have officers from our peer
support group and -- that have been trained, they come in and they meet with the team,
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Meridian City Council Work Session
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so to speak, and they talk about the call. They discuss exactly how they felt or what
they are feeling and, then, if they need follow up after that, if an officer does, we do
provide them with follow up with a mental health professional after that.
Simison: Council, any additional questions? Okay.
Basterrechea: Okay. Thank you very much.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
21. Per Idaho Code 74-206A(1)(a) To deliberate on a labor contract offer
or to formulate a counteroffer, 74-206(1)(c) To acquire an interest in
real property not owned by a public agency, and 74-206(1)(d) To
consider records that are exempt from disclosure as provided in
Chapter 1, Title 74, Idaho Code.
Simison: Council, we have reached Item 21 on our agenda.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I move that we go into Executive Session per Idaho Code 74-206A(1)(a), 74-
206(1)(c) and 74-206(1)(d).
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, second the motion.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to enter Executive Session. Is there any
discussion on the motion? If not, Clerk will call the roll.
Roll call: Bernt, yea; Borton, yea; Cavener, absent; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea;
Perreault, yea.
Simison: All ayes. We will adjourn into Executive Session.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (5.14 p.m. to 6.02 p.m.)
Simison: Council, do I have a motion?
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I move that we come out of Executive Session.
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Meridian City Council Work Session
Item#1. January 5,2021
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Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, I second the motion.
Simison: Motion and second to come out of Executive Session. All those in favor
signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I move that we adjourn the meeting.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, second the motion.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to adjourn the meeting. All in favor signify by
saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it and we are adjourned.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6:02 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
1 / 19 2021
MAYOR ROBERT E.SIMISON DATE APPROVED
ATTEST:
CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK
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