DATE: January 13, 2005
The regular meeting of the Sauk County Law Enforcement Committee was held on Thursday, January 13, 2005, at 10:00 A.M., in the Community Room, D102A, 1300 Lange Court, Baraboo, Wisconsin.
The meeting was properly posted and all interested parties were notified.
Members Present: Montgomery, Carlson, Fordham, Tollaksen, Sinklair
Members Excused:
Members Absent:
Others Present: R. Stammen, B. Hinze, M. Hafemann, K. Fults, J. Prantner, R. Meister. E. Knull, D. Weinke, T. Gruber, M. Thome, B. Manning,
1. Call To Order and Certification of Open Meeting Law: The meeting was called to order and compliance with the Open Meeting Law was certified by Chair Charles Montgomery at 10:00 A.M.
2. Agenda: Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Sinklair, to adopt the agenda. Carried.
3. Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting(s): Motion by Carlson, seconded by Tollaksen, to approve the minutes of the regular Law Enforcement Committee meeting held on Thursday, December 9, 2004. Motion carried.
4. Communications: Chair Montgomery said that a recent decision by the State Attorney General Lautenschlager precludes reading communications unless they're listed on the agenda. No communications were read.
5. Appearances:
A. Telecommunicator Erik Knull was presented the Employee of the Month Award for November, 2004. He was nominated for his response to a 911 call concerning a choking adult. Knull instructed the caller on performing the Heimlich Maneuver, which resulted in the airway being cleared and breathing being restored. Chairman Montgomery and Sheriff Stammen presented the award.
6. Review and Approval of December, 2004, and January, 2005, bills for the Coroner and Sheriff's Department: Coroner Hinze reported that her December expenses included three autopsies. She stated that she's over budget in that account but still within her annual allocation overall.
Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Carlson, to approve payment of the December, 2004, bills for the Coroner in the amount of $4,493.15. The Coroner had no January, 2005, expenses.
Sheriff Stammen gave a brief overview of the revenue and expense accounts for December and it was noted that there are a number of December bills that will still be coming in through the month of January. There was also one January, 2005, expense included for a training course for Field Service Captain Meister. The leadership training classes started in the fall of 2004 and will continue until spring, 2005, and the cost of the class was split between 2004 and 2005.
Motion by Carlson, seconded by Tollaksen, to approve payment of the Sheriff's Department's December, 2004, and January, 2005, expenses in the amount of $124,330.78. Motion carried.
7. Discussion and Motion on Procedure for Purchase of 2005 Squad Cars and Transport Van: Captain Meister told the committee that in the past all squad cars have been purchased from local bidders with the exception of vehicles purchased to replace wrecked squad cars. There is a state bid price established and if the committee wishes to authorize purchase of marked squads, detective squads and a transport van at state bid price no bid procedure is needed. He reported that in 2004 the state bid price was $744 less per vehicle than that of the lowest bid of a local vendor. The squads were purchased locally.
The second issue to be determined was whether to seek bids for marked squad on vehicles other than the Ford Crown Victoria. Information from several state agencies, including county sheriffs, municipal agencies and the Wisconsin State Patrol, indicates a number of problems with the Chevrolet squad cars. None of the Chevrolet squads owned by Sauk County have been in service long enough to allow a complete comparison to that offered by other agencies. However, there is an indication that Sauk County's Chevrolet squads, at least those used as marked patrol units, are following the trends shown by records from other agencies for maintenance problems.
The committee decided because of maintenance and equipment issues to recommend that only Ford Crown Victoria vehicles be considered for use as marked patrol cars. And in the interest of making the best use of county funds, local vendors should be offered a chance to bid on the squad car purchases for 2005. Meister said that all dealers know what the state bid price is and they can decide if they can meet or better the state bid price. Fordham stated it would cover all options to let local vendors bid as well as considering the price offered by Kayser Ford of Madison, which has won the state bid for the second year running.
A discussion followed on options for vehicles purchased for use as detective squads. Sinklair asked that an hour meter be installed on a few of the fleet vehicles to broaden the picture for maintenance cost comparisons.
The committee was informed that the purchase of a detective squad this year should be for a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The detective car that's being replaced is a 1997 Ford Explorer assigned to Detective Sergeant Welsch. Welsch is the medic for the ERT team which requires his carrying medical equipment and supplies in addition to evidence processing gear he uses as a crime scene technician. Whatever vehicle is purchased as a replacement this year must include cargo space for all needed supplies and equipment and should be a four-wheel-drive vehicle so it can be driven to off-road crime scenes.
Coroner Betty Hinze said her 2005 budget includes an allocation for replacement of her 1999 Ford Expedition. Her vehicle requirements include all-wheel-drive to allow her to get to death scenes in all terrains and room in the rear for transport of a cot. Some four-wheel-drive vehicles don't have enough cargo space for the cot and body bags. The committee instructed Captain Meister to include the Coroner's replacement vehicle in the bidding process.
Motion by Fordham, seconded by Carlson, to authorize Captain Meister to solicit bids for the Ford Crown Victoria squad cars, the detective squad, a transport van and a vehicle for the coroner. Motion carried.
8. Discussion and Motion on Acceptance of Donated Armored Vehicle: Sheriff Stammen reminded the committee that our grant application for an armored crime scene vehicle was turned down a few months ago. However, the need remains. Lt. Jeff Spencer, the Team Leader of the Sauk County ERT Team, reported that during a standoff in Adams County a couple of years ago the armored vehicle from Columbia County was a big help. After the fatal shooting of an Adams County Deputy, the armored truck was used to get responding officers close to the house where the shooter was barricaded. An armored vehicle can be valuable in a number of scenarios.
Brinks has a program in place to donate used armored trucks to law enforcement agencies at no cost. The vehicle are usually in fairly good shape, requiring minimal work such as painting and signage. The only stipulation for the donation is the requirement that the vehicle will be given back to Brinks when it's usefulness is over rather than being offered for sale or salvage to an unauthorized vendor. Lt. Jeff Spencer said Brinks is willing to donate a 1993 armored truck to the Sheriff's Department. He had researched the cost of painting, installation of handrails and other minor equipment modifications and arrived at a rough estimate of $3,000 to get the vehicle ready for use if the committee agreed to allow acceptance of the armored truck.
Motion by Carlson, seconded by Fordham, to authorize acceptance of an armored truck from Brinks and to do the necessary painting and equipment installation needed to get it ready. Motion carried.
9. Sheriff's Report:
A. Inmate Meal Report
In December, 2004, 14,963 inmate meals were served, bringing the total for the year to 202,488.
B. Department Overtime Report
The December, 2004, overtime was 1,262 hours of paid overtime and 282 hours of banked compensatory time for a total of 1,544. The total for 2004 was 12,786 hours of paid overtime and 3,326 hours of compensatory time accrual for a total of 16,112 hours. Supervisory overtime for December was a total of 107 hours, which included investigation, holiday duty, an ERT callout and ERT training.
C. Prisoner Transport Program
There were 139 transports done in December, bringing the 2004 total to 1,440.
D. Jail Education Programs
Jail Programs Administrator Tiffani Gruber reported to the committee that MIS has installed two sound cards in the computers in the jail class room. Free CD ROM's were provided by the UW Extension which included training on parenting and nutrition.
Gruber also informed the committee that a new tracking program has been developed and put into place to provide better tracking on inmate mental health issues. The goal of the new program, for which a Policy & Procedure has also been completed, is to take inmate mental health issues beyond crisis management. A number of jailors have been trained to do the follow up work on mental health issues, while abiding by HEPA requirements and insuring compliance with the National Health Care Policy.
Two more inmates have graduated with their GEDs and five inmates are currently working on completion of their GED requirements. One inmate who was involved in the program while in jail and who is now in a state prison has requested that his educational credits be transferred to the prison so he can continue working on completion of his GED.
The Sauk County Jail has been approved by MATC as a test site which means that inmates who complete their course work can be tested on site making the final step in the process easier.
E. There were 417 inmate days in December electronic monitoring. The breakdown of expenditures and income are:
$6,699.00 collected from inmates for the use of the electronic equipment
$2,243.60 paid out for the lease of the electronic equipment
$4,455.40 net gain
The year-end totals for electronic monitoring are collections of $78,050.25, expenditures of $26,272.24 for equipment lease, leaving a net gain of $51,578.01. The net gain for 2003 was $40,921.
F. Boarding Out-of-County Inmates
The December, 2004, billings for housing out-of-county inmates were:
Dane County $36,059.06 for housing and medical expenses
Iowa County $ 5,674.45 for housing and medical expenses
TOTAL $41,733.51
The year-to-date out-of-county housing collections are $836,544.95
G. Department Personnel Issues:
New patrol persons Patrick Burroughs and Martin Ederer are scheduled to begin their Wisconsin law enforcement certification training in February, 2005. They'll be graduating in May, 2005.
Todd Reigard has been hired as a jailor and Jennifer Blau as a full time Huber clerk to replace Stephanie Hartman.
An arbitration hearing was held on January 12, 2004, in regard to the termination of Steve Johnson. A decision isn't anticipated soon.
H. Highway Safety Issues
Captain Meister said a number of fatalities late in the year prevented Sauk County from finishing the year with the low number of fatalities they had hoped. There were a total of 11 fatalities in the year, compared to 5 in 2003.
Lt. Jeff Spencer gave the committee the year-end totals for citations and violations. He stated there was an increase in speeding citations and he believed concerted efforts to work the grants had an overall beneficial effect on highway safety.
I. Triple III Reports
Deputy Vickie Boese was injured when her squad car, which was parked at an accident scene she was investigating, was struck by a truck that slid on ice covered roads. Boese was in her squad car when it was hit. Her vehicle received over $4,000 in damage and she was placed on light duty for a few days until the stiffness and soreness subsided.
One of the Security Clerks fell in the parking lot onto her back during the recent ice storm. She was not injured and didn't lose any work time.
J. Budget Matters
Sheriff Stammen mentioned to the committee that although booking fees have been listed as a revenue source for the past two years they still aren't being collected. He stated most Wisconsin sheriffs are collecting a booking fee. Stammen said that while statutes don't specifically give sheriffs the authority to collect a booking fee from inmates, neither do they prohibit it. He said it's a source of income that should be looked into.
At the end of the year, revenues are about $433,000 above anticipated levels even with the shortfalls in Huber fee collections and booking fees. Although some expense accounts are over spent, some have balances remaining in them and the Sheriff's Office will return approximately $500,000 to the general fund overall.
Sheriff Stammen reported that as of this date the jail/Huber population is 189; 13 on electronic monitoring; 78 in the Huber Center; 30 Dane County inmates; 8 Iowa County inmates and 60 Sauk County inmates.
Committee person Carlson reported that the Spring Green Lions Club donated $1,700 toward the purchase of a crime scene trailer. The Baraboo Rotary Club donated $2,000 toward the purchase of a second canine; and 30 defibrillators have been purchased with the money donated over the past couple of years. Donations by the family of former Sheriff Dolly Spencer has provided money to purchase two more.
A joint meeting between the Law Enforcement Committee, the Finance Committee and the Executive & Legislative Committee to discuss the opening of A Pod will be held on February 8, 2005, at the Law Enforcement Center.
10. Adjourn To Date Specified: The next regular meeting will be held on Thursday, February 10, 2005, at 10 AM and the committee will eat lunch from the jail kitchen after the meeting.
Motion by Carlson, seconded by Tollaksen, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.
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Joan Fordham, Secretary