DATE: April 14, 2005
The regular meeting of the Sauk County Law Enforcement Committee was held on Thursday, April 14, 2005, at 1:00 P.M., in the Community Room, D102A, 1300 Lange Court, Baraboo, Wisconsin.
The meeting was properly posted and all interested parties were notified.
Members Present: C. Montgomery, J. Fordham, R. Sinklair
Members Excused:
Members Absent: P. Tollaksen, A. Carlson
Others Present: R. Stammen; B. Hinze; M. Hafemann; K. Fults; J. Prantner; Christine Kortbein; Patty Mertz and Wendy Schneider, Sauk County Humane Society; Andy Schultz and Clinton Smith, Lake Delton Fire Department and Lake Delton Fire Department, Inc.; J. Bradley; D. Weinke; M. Bellis; S. Simonds; S. Pate; T. McCutchin; R. Meister; M. Thome;
C. Mears; B. Rupert
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 1:00 P.M.
2. Agenda: Motion by Fordham, seconded by Sinklair, to adopt the agenda as written and mailed. Motion carried unanimously.
3. Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting(s): Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Fordham, to approve the minutes of the regular Law Enforcement Committee meeting held on Thursday, March 10, 2005, and the special meeting held on Thursday, March 31, 2005. Motion carried unanimously.
4. Communications: Sheriff Stammen reported that the Baraboo Ambulance Service and the Sauk Prairie Ambulance Service have been doing rock rescue at Devils Lake State Park. The DNR is supposed to be paying for the training for the crew members involved but for the past several years they haven't reimbursed the ambulance services. Stammen said he had spoken to Rich Evans, the Park Warden at Devils Lake and Evans said he believed the DNR would cover the training costs. However, if they don't, the Baraboo Ambulance Service has indicated it will no longer continue to provide the rock rescue service. If they aren't doing it the statutory requirement for it to be provided will fall back on the Sheriff's Department. Should that happen it will definitely have a financial impact because deputies will have to be trained to provide the emergency rescue service.
Sheriff Stammen read a letter received from Detective Jeffrey Rooze of the LaFayette Police Department, LaFayette, Indiana. Rooze reported that as a result of careful investigation done by two Sauk County Jailors, Darick Krause and Dennis Anstett, to determine the true identity of a male Hispanic booked into the Sauk County Jail on March 2, 2004, the LaFayette Police Department was able to locate and arrest the suspect later for a six-year old homicide that happened in their jurisdiction. During the search to learn the true identify of the male, Krause and Anstett had contacted a number of police departments in several states. Their inquiries set in motion links that later led to matching up the male Hispanic to the man sought by the LaFayette Police Department. Krause and Anstett were commended for their dogged determination to correctly identify the arrested person.
Sheriff Stammen also read a letter from Deputy William Charlebois who has resigned to accept a job as an officer for the City of Portage Police Department. His last date of work will be April 17, 2005.
The 2004 boat patrol reimbursement from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to Sauk County was $11,037.29. Detective Sergeant Joe Welsch is in charge of the boat patrol program and the submission of the grant request.
A three-week Jail School is going on at the Sauk County Sheriff's Office. In addition to the new hires for Sauk County, there are jailors from other counties attending the training. There are 17 students in the classes.
Each year the labor union for the Sauk County Sheriff's Office, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, awards a $500 scholarship to a boy or girl whose parents or grandparents are law enforcement officers and who are planning on going into law enforcement or a related field. For the past several years the Law Enforcement Committee has been asked to judge the essays and choose the winner of the scholarship. Each committee member was given a packet of six essays and a score sheet. The members will rank the six essays in order of preference. The applicant with the highest score will be given the award. The packets for the two members absent from the meeting will be mailed. The results are due by the next Law Enforcement Meeting.
5. Appearances:
a. Presentation of the Officer of the Month Award for February, 2005
The co-winners for Officer of the Month Award for February are Mary Bellis and Jill Bradley. Bradley and Bellis were chosen for their work in keeping the Sheriff's Department's Remembrance Club going and for expanding it to include all department members. The Remembrance Club sends flowers or other remembrances to department members who've suffered the loss of a family member or a hospitalization. Bellis and Bradley have held bake sales, set up a program to save aluminum cans and recently held a silent auction at which over $1,400 was raised for the club.
b. Presentation of award to Sauk County Communication Center
Lake Delton Fire Chief Andy Schultz and Clinton Smith of the Lake Delton Fire Department, Inc., attended the meeting to present to Communication Supervisor Dena Weinke and the Communication Center an award for outstanding service to the Delton Fire Department. Schultz said each year they choose someone to honor for outstanding service and the Sauk County Communications Center was chosen this year. Schultz expressed appreciation to all the dispatchers for their help and service through the year.
Communication Supervisor Dena Weinke then presented to all the dispatchers who were present at the meeting a 911 key chain engraved with the dispatcher's name in recognition of National Telecommunicators week which is April 17th through the 23rd. The rest of the telecommunicators will be given their key chains later.
6. Review and Approval of March, 2005, Bills for Coroner and Sheriff's Office: The only expenses for the Coroner's office for March were squad fuel and maintenance. Motion by Montgomery, seconded by Fordham, to approve payment of the Coroner's March, 2005, bills in the amount of $370.45. Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Fordham, to approve payment of the Sheriff's March, 2005, bills in the amount of $110,165.95. Motion carried unanimously.
7. Discussion and Motion on Compensation for Sauk County Animal Shelter Director: Patty Mertz, Treasurer of the Sauk County Humane Society, reported that they have hired Wendy Schneider to be the Shelter Director, replacing Judy Johnson who resigned a couple of months ago. Wendy Schneider was introduced to the committee. Schneider has a background in agricultural training and animal sciences.
Mertz further reported that the leaving of Johnson had resulted in overtime being paid to shelter workers to do the duties Johnson had been performing. While the Humane Society Board was in the process of hiring a new director they had a number of very good candidates and their salary requests ranged from $25,000 to $40,000 annually. Schneider was hired for $28,000, which left a shortfall of $3,750 to cover her salary for the rest of the year. In addition it was determined that the Shelter needed a part-time kennel attendant to cope with the influx of animals at the shelter. The salary for the kennel worker was set at $3,000 for the remainder of 2005. The result of all these factors resulted in a request to the Finance Committee and the Law Enforcement Committee for an additional $7,775 to cover costs for the remainder of the year. The Finance Committee had already approved the resolution Emergency Funds Request For the Sauk County Animal Shelter Outside of the 2005 Budget Process.
Motion by Fordham, seconded by Sinklair, to approved the resolution Emergency Funds Request For the Sauk County Animal Shelter Outside of the 2005 Budget Process requesting transfer of $7,775 from the Sauk County contingency Fund, to the 2005 budget of the Sauk County Animal Shelter. Motion carried unanimously.
8. Discussion and Possible Approval of MIS Resolution to Replace VisionAIR Server Hardware, 2005 budgeted expenditure: Steve Pate of the MIS Department presented the committee with information on a resolution that had already been passed by the MIS committee. The resolution, Authorizing the Purchase of Hardware, Software and Services for the Upgrade of the VisionAIR/Law Enforcement System, was explained. Pate said that the present file servers and related hardware for the Sheriff's Department were purchased in 1999 and the vendor will no longer provide a maintenance contract on them and parts aren't available. The VisionAIR system is the backbone of entire operation of the Sheriff's department computer programs and it must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The replacement of the hardware, software and support services was budgeted in the 2005 Sheriff's MIS budget.
After bids were solicited the recommendation to the MIS Committee and the Law Enforcement Committee was to accept the bid of Dell (hardware), CDWG (software operating systems- state contract bid) and VisionAIR (migration services) for a total of $74,260. The amount budgeted in the 2005 budget for these items was $107,413 so the bid was well under budget.
Motion by Fordham, seconded by Sinklair, to approve the resolution Authorizing the Purchase of Hardware, Software and Services for the Upgrade of the VisionAIR/Law Enforcement System, and to take the resolution to the Sauk County Board of Supervisors at the April, 2005, meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
9. Discussion and Possible Approval of MIS Resolution to Replace IDENTIX Fingerprint Machine, 2005 Budget: Steve Pate addressed this item as well and the committee was provided with copies of the resolution Authorizing the Purchase of a Fingerprint System Upgrade and Interface for the Sauk County Sheriff's Department which was already approved by the MIS Committee. The Sheriff's Department has two separate fingerprint identification systems, one located in the Historic Courthouse at the remote booking site, and the other in the Sauk County Jail. The original IDENTIX fingerprint scanning system located within the Law Enforcement Center is no longer supported and must be replaced. After soliciting bids and researching the needs of the county, Pate was able to upgrade to a Cross Match system, which integrates with the fingerprint system located downtown at the remote booking site and is also recommended by VisionAIR, the Sheriff Department's main software provider. The upgrade will provide long term savings because it eliminates the need to license and support two separate system interfaces with the VisionAIR system.
The bids from Cross Match were $35,095.50 for the Live Scan upgrade and $22,333.10 for the interface with VisionAIR, a total of $57,428.60 which includes the maintenance cost. These expenditures were budgeted in the 2005 MIS/Sheriff's Department budget in the amount of $30,000 for the Cross Match interface, $50,000 for the LiveScan upgrade and a maintenance fee of $3,900. This project also came in considerably under budget. Sheriff Stammen commended Steve Pate and Toni McCutchin of the Sheriff's Department who worked hard on getting the bids done and finding the best possible deal for the necessary equipment and upgrades.
Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Fordham, to approve the resolution Authorizing the Purchase of a Fingerprint System Upgrade and Interface for the Sauk County Sheriff's Department and to take the resolution to the Sauk County Board of Supervisors at the April, 2005, meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
10. Discussion and Possible Approval of MIS Resolution to Purchase a Cross Match Interface to Interface the Existing Fingerprint Machine in the Historic Courthouse and the New Machine in the Sauk County Jail, 2005 Budgeted Expenditure: This item was covered under item 9 as the resolution Authorizing the Purchase of a Fingerprint System Upgrade and Interface for the Sauk County Sheriff's Department covered this need too.
11. Discussion and Motion on Combining Two Half Time Clerk Positions Back into one Full Time Position and Hours of Work: The committee received copies of a resolution prepared by the Personnel Department for this change. The Resolution to Eliminate Two (2) Half Time Clerk Positions and Create One (1) Full Time Clerk Position For the Sauk County Sheriff's Department Outside of the 2005 Budget Process has already been approved by the Personnel Committee and the Finance Committee. Sheriff Stammen said the hours of work for this position have been established for third shift, from 10 PM on Sunday evening through 6 AM on Friday morning. This will provide transcription coverage for reports needed by the District Attorney's Office so criminal complaints could be drafted for arrested persons. Fordham asked if there would be ramifications with the union from this change. Stammen said the position fit the language of the union contract by setting the hours of work for 40 hours a week. He stated he would have preferred to have the new position be a four-days-on/two-days-off rotation but that's outside of the union contract and has to be negotiated. The 4/2 schedule, which is uniform for all other members of the department would provide optimal coverage.
Motion by Fordham, seconded by Sinklair, to approve the Resolution to Eliminate Two (2) Half Time Clerk Positions and Create One (1) Full Time Clerk Position For the Sauk County Sheriff's Department Outside of the 2005 Budget Process and to take the resolution to the Sauk County Board of Supervisors at the April, 2005, meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
12. Consideration and Recommendation for Funding Art Therapy Classes for Jail Inmates: Christine Kortbein, certified Art Therapist, spoke to the committee on art therapy for inmates. Kortbein had conducted some classes in art therapy to eight inmates in the Sauk County jail as a pilot program a month or so ago and found it interesting. She said she's worked as an art therapist in mental health care facilities but this was her first experience with jail inmates. She explained some of the projects the students worked on and said the classes seemed to be beneficial to the students and Captain Hafemann agreed. He reported that one of the inmates who took the classes had been a chronic violator of jail rules. Reports were received almost daily about the inmate's attitude and actions. Since taking the art classes the inmate hasn't logged a single violation of jail rules nor been written up for his attitude. Hafemann said that inmates doing art therapy are working with colored pencils to draw instead of writing graffiti on the walls or damaging jail property. He confessed to having some reservations initially about the benefits of the program but has since found it to be a good thing. He said he believed Sauk County is the only jail in Wisconsin offering this program. Sinklair pointed out that art therapy is a recognized discipline within the therapy types and it's been proved to be of value in a number of situations.
Kortbein has agreed to give 16 sessions of art therapy to selected jail inmates for a cost of $640. Hafemann said if the committee agreed to it he would find the money to fund the classes within his present jail budget by cutting back in another area. He also said he might include funding for Art Therapy in the 2006 budget request for educational programs.
Motion by Fordham, seconded by Sinklair, to authorize the expenditure of $640 from the jail expense account to provide 16 sessions of art therapy for inmates of the Sauk County Jail. Motion carried unanimously.
13. Consideration and Possible Approval of Resolution to Contract with Consolidated Management for Provision of Inmate Meals: Sheriff Stammen said that the initial proposed contract from Consolidated required some changes. The contract with the agreed changes was supposed to be received in time for the meeting but to date is not ready. He asked to have the item tabled until the May meeting.
Motion by Montgomery, seconded by Sinklair, to table this item until the May Law Enforcement Committee meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
14. Sheriff's Report:
a. Jail Report
A total of 22,240 inmate meals were served in March.
Montgomery asked if the electronic monitoring program could be expanded. Sheriff Stammen said that in order to expand it an additional deputy would have to be assigned to the program. The criteria for inmates to be on electronic monitoring is narrow enough that there would be no guarantee enough inmates would qualify to keep a second deputy busy at all times. At this time it's not economically feasible to expand it.
In March, the Sauk County jail billed out the following expenses for housing and medical expenses:
Dane County $56,313.58
Iowa County $ 5,414.03
Rock County $14,331.71
Wood County $ 8,430.76
Total $84,490.08 with a year-to-date total of $253,733.52
b. Department Overtime Report
The total overtime hours for March were 1,055 hours of paid time and 310 hours of compensatory time banked, for a total of 1,365 hours.
There were 73 hours of supervisory overtime authorized. The hours were paid for working the highway safety grants, holiday pay and training and special team call outs.
c. Prisoner Transport Program
There were 125 transports in March, bringing the year-to-date total to 349.
d. Department Personnel Items
The Personnel Department is in the process of taking applications and testing to create eligibility lists for almost all divisions in the Sheriff's Department.
e. Highway Safety Issues
Thus far in 2005 there have been three fatal traffic crashes with a total of six fatalities. There have been no serious accidents recently.
f. Triple III Reports
Sergeant Julie Van Zeeland slipped on a wet floor in the jail and fell but wasn't injured and lost no work time
Deputy Joe Sabol backed into a building with his squad, doing only minor damage.
Deputy Jessica McLain hit one of the concrete traffic poles in the downtown security garage. There was minor damage to the jail's big prisoner van.
The windshield on Sheriff Stammen's squad car was damaged by a stone and had to be replaced. There were several vehicles on the road at the time of the incident and it was unknown which might have caused the stone to become airborne.
12. Adjournment to Date Specific: Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Fordham, to adjourn the meeting until May 12, 2005, at 9:30 AM. Motion carried.
_____________________
Joan Fordham, Secretary