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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-20-2009 Work SessionPublic Meeting Notice CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Date & Time: Place: Subject: Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. James P. Nix Center One Bayou Drive Interview Chief of Police Candidates Interviews will be open to the public , as room space will allow. However, the public must be in place before interviews begin. Once an interview begins , the doors will be closed until the interview is complete. Public and Media will not be allowed to ask questions , talk or make any noise or distractions during the interviews. If an effort to avoid any distraction to the candidates or the process , it is requested that all refrain from making any video , audio or photographic recordings during the interviews. Notice must be stamped, dated and initialed before posted on bulletin board. (at the direction of Council President Debbie Quinn) ,_ STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF BALDWIN )( )( The City Council, met in a Work Session (Interviews) at 8:30 a.m., James P. Nix Center, One Bayou Drive, Fairhope, Alabama 36532, on Saturday, 20 June 2009. Present were: Council President, Debbie Quinn Councilmember, Dan Stankoski Councilmember, Lonnie Mixon Councilmember, Mike Ford Councilmember, Rick Kingrea City Clerk, Lisa A. Hanks Human Resources, Rhonda White Mayor, Timothy M. Kant was absent. Council President Quinn began by saying thank you and that we are here to interview six wonderful candidates for the position of Chief of Police. We have a time schedule for the interviews. A matrix will be used which is similar to the one use by the Chief of Police Search Committee and will be tabulated by Rhonda and Lisa. We have six main questions to ask each candidate who will have five minutes to answer. Rhonda White explained to the City Council if they had additional questions for the candidates to make sure they were job related or related to the main questions. She told them to be consistent with all candidates and do not ask personal questions. The following are the Police Chief Interview Questions: 1. In your opinion, what is the most important function as the Chief of Police? A. Why do you want to be Fairhope 's Chief of Police? B. What kind of preparation did you do for this interview? 2. As a Supervisor, what is the most difficult task for you to perform? A. What has been the most rewarding position you have held so far in your career? B. What are you most proud of in your career? C. You have decided on a course of action , but your supervisor asks you to do something else . What will you do? 3 . What do you see as the greatest need of a police department? A. What experiences have you bad that you would like to emphasize in this position ? B. What would you care to minimize? Work Session Saturday, 20 June 2009 Page-2- 4. Certain groups from within the police department feel that the new Chief should have been promoted from within. How would you deal with this in order to form a strong, unified department and how will you win their confidence and respect? Be as specific as you can. A . How do you think your previous experience ties in with the Police Chief position here? B. If you could have made improvements in your last job, what would they have been? C. What is the largest difficulty you ever had with a supervisor? How did you resolve the conflict? 5. How do you see "policing" changing in the next few years? A. Describe a recent task or project you have had assigned to you. B . What would you like to accomplish if you had this job? 6. As Chief, how would you go about achieving these changes? A . What traits are needed by good law enforcement officers? B . What types of crime prevention measures do you believe are most effective for y our area of responsibility? Why? Curtis VanderKooi Question 1: Combination of leader and vision for the department. Leader -ethical and online for achieving mission for department and for the City. Vision -strategies and tactics to achieve mission. Question 1 A: To relocate in nice place and this City is one of the nicest places in the County. Professional goal is to be a Chief. Make a difference with the department. Question 1 B : Quite a bit -downloaded material about Fairhope and researched the community. The beauty of the City was impressive. Question 2: People you get to know well , the harder to reprimand . Supervisors can 't be friends with employees. Stop incident before going too far. For two years investigated complaints of officers and supervised over 400 employees. Should reprimand quickly and do not delay. How big of an area did you supervise over? 60,000 citizens in his area; the City was divided into four areas. Were you in charge of budgeting? For three years did a budget of $38 ,000 ,000. Question 2 A: Patrol officers respect him that worked for him . Received four different awards due to his officers. Leading by example . Work Session Saturday , 20 June 2009 Page -3- Have you seen our facilities? Yes and it is a new facility and I am not use to that. Question 3 : Public trust ; almost pure , but that is not practicable ; ethical and earn trust from citizens ; excellent service. Question 3 A: Neighborhood small with three break-ins during the day . Spoke with elderly ladies and could see fear in their eyes . Just talking to them motivated me. They stopped this from continuing and we caught two of the three men. Question 4: Have to win respect and prove to them you are a good leader. Bring in one at a time for a one-on-one interview. Get input -who they are and what they expect. Show professionalism; confident, and that you care. Opposition may not be pretty . If they keep disobeying , it may lead to progressive discipline . You must control your own emotions . Question 5: Technology -GPS and cash trackers , cameras, CAD , etc. Constantly changing . To be an officer , you just need a car and radio to do the job. Question 6 : Traits -great interpersonal skills ; honest ; background investigation; physically fit ; articulate literate (police reports); worldly background (diverse); warrior culture ( confidence to face things); FDO -field training which would measure should we keep or not keep. Did you do the field training on your own or send off? Brought trainers in to evaluate officers. Ending Statement: Can make a big difference in Fairhope ; change never happens overnight it is incremental; bring leadership ; am a good mentor ; continue to make department better; would like to live here and be here for a long time ; and thanked City Council for allowing him to interview. When could you relocate if hired ? August 1st . Charlie Sewell Question 1: Cheerleader for entire department ; make sure rules are follo wed ; sometimes there is a policy and a separate culture within the department; accepted practices followed you stay out of trouble. Work Session Saturday, 20 June 2009 Page-4- Question I A: Entire career based on improving law enforcement; very effective and positive changes ; take good department and go to the next step ; nice community ; share skills with affluent community; make a major impact on department. Question I B : Contacted APOST for Alabama certification; came a few days early to look at City ; talked to citizens. How big of an area did you supervise? Morrow had approximately 5,000 residents , but it is a part of metro Atlanta and at times had 75 ,000 to 100 ,000 citizens . McMinnville had approximately 40 ,000 citizens and was 10 square miles. We were the only police department in the County with 41 employees. You solve crime by talking to people. Question 2: Discipline; it is designed to correct a wrong. It is a challenge. Counseling people who do not want to be counseled. Want employees to leave office with an upbeat attitude . Question 2 A: Chief of Police position; must be a team player; when employees are successful , you are successful. Question 3: Read the book "Good to Great"; Get the right people in department and in the correct positions . Our citizens know the community best, so we need good relationships with these citizens . We need to talk to people. Question 3 A: Teaching at the College level helps with interaction with people . I am a people person and love to be in the community. Question 4: Don't totally disagree with the employees . We have a succession plan at my department. I ride with the officers and get to know them. I sit with dispatchers and get to know them . Question 4 A: Going from the City of Atlanta to McMinnville was a culture shock. From Metro to rural -learned to adjust and adapt. Gets along with everybody. Diversity in policies and laws . Challenge to learn laws of the City. Question 5 : Education getting larger; community policing is also getting larger; technology improving and changing; enhancement of relationship with the public. Question 5 A : Promoted from within for over 40 years until I was hired. Chair of a committee for the Accreditation process for State of Tennessee ; greatly enhanced the policy manual ; community policing; citizens help with policing neighborhoods ; identification program. Work Session Saturday , 20 June 2009 Page-5- Question 6: Young police officers ; self motivation; honesty ; no hidden agenda; have career and know what they want to do ; attend alumni and academy functions on their own time. College makes you more rounder not smarter; not afraid to work ; use problem solving and talking to public to help the community . When could you relocate ? Need to give them 30 days notice . Ending Statement: Like being a police officer ; Chief of Police is a mentor and a coach. I am methodical and top quality speaker and writer. Everything that goes out of department is a reflection of the entire department. I am computer literate and have strong people skills . Bill Press Question 1: Lead the department; set vision and strategic planning in concert with City laws ; guidance; someone to follow ; use position power and personal power (influence employees); live by integrity and honesty ; lead by example . Question 1 A: Retired after 35 years from Miami-Dade Police Department which was one of the saddest days of his life. I was in the DROP program and would have lost quite a bit of money ifl had not retired. Now I lust for police work. Love what you do , that 's what you should do . Want to reside in the City, be a strong influence , and li ve in a community that could improve. The flags down the entrance were memorable . I asked citizens and employees about the City . The City has a village atmosphere and seems family oriented. Ev eryone is friendly and it would be a great commission to work with . I would take a department with issues and take it to a higher level. Question 2 : Disciplinary actions ; dealt with these throughout my career, but still difficult to do. There are se veral actions that could be used: counseling , suspension, demotion , and termination. Hate when I have to do these ; feel like I failed someho w . However, I am not hesitant if it warrants this type of action. Question 2 A : Selected by the first African American Commander, who was a District Major, out of 50 captains to be her captain. This was one of the highe st crime areas . She said I was chosen based on my reputation. She was a mentor and compassionate. Question 3: Budgetary concerns ; good leadership which has to come from the top ; transparent organization. Work Session Saturday , 20 June 2009 Page-6- What type of areas and/or demographics did you supervise? Worked them all ; even agricultural areas; 16 .6 square miles basicall y black and 65 ,000 citizens ; areas with a 365 ,000 population; some strictly Hispanic areas ; others strictly Haitian ; diverse population and 94 different languages. Question 4: Ideally every government wants to promote within; should groom someone to be ready in the department. Take a clear and objective look at the issues ; have a mentoring program ; clear playing field; survey officers : short-term , middle-term , and long-term goals in department; allow employees to intertwine with other jobs within the department ; train emplo yees for those jobs; mentor leadership. Question 5: Smarter, more efficient and more effective ; technology ; CAD ; working with community; basic policing and good investigations. Question 5 A: Lead a mobile field of 200 people . We went from analog to digital : pilot program was successful and it took two years for the transition; bought digital cameras for each department; this transition saved the department hundreds of thousand dollars. Question 6: Honesty ; integrity ; loyalty; dedicated to service ; compassionate ; feel of trust ; trained well ; first line supervision; situational leadership. When could you relocate? Available as soon as possible ; movmg can be done m between. Ending Statement: Thanked the City Council and the Chief of Police Search Committee; I have excellent references and cherish what I do . All of what I have completed and have done could not be done without my department. CSI Miami -I proposed that my department actually do an episode and the producers did not go for it. Terry Sanders Question 1: Safeguard the City 's liability ; officers trained ; sound policy; look after the City 's interest. Question 1 A: Gre at Police Department; it is an honor for anyone to work or live here ; people make the City. Question 1 B: Looked at crime statistics here and other cities ; looked at department as a whole ; training ; polici es -the critical ones. Work Session Saturday, 20 June 2009 Page-7- Question 2 : Difficult personnel issues: impacts others (employees and families); I follow my heart and conscience ; and moral and ethical will follow . Question 2 B: Attending FBI academy; and Action Committee with the Alabama League of Municipalities: taught in the program, elevated Chiefs in the State, Certification of Police Chiefs which took their position up a notch. Question 3: Good procedures for hiring police officers: initial to hire good officers and critical to train officers. The requirement for officers is 12 continuing education units , but I like my officers to have 36 units. Question 3 A: Started out as a patrol officer; patrol sergeant ; Assistant Chief of Police ; internal affairs ; I bring my overall experience ; developing policies for the Police Department ; research is needed a great deal for making policies. Question 4: I understand that feeling. Don 't hold it against anyone who feels that way and you need to earn their trust. I only occupy the position of Chief of Police ; get officers executive level training and leave two or three for you to choose from when it is my time to leave ; National Academy -possibly sending one there ; build a person 's resume. Question 5: Technology; we are waiting on DEA money; met with vendor for system (Records Management); mobile data in police cars; e-ticketing ; training for certain situations/tasks; phy sically training in every school ; pistol training . Question 5 B: Records Management System with full blown CAD: run reports regarding response time and try to get reduce the time ; break City into sectors and assign officers to certain sectors ; explain the project and show the statistics; restructure the department. It will work and will be better. Question 6: One-on-one with officers ; formal board 's opinion for all new hires ; train, background investigation; internal investigation . Number one trait would be compassion and number two would be character. Good people make good police officers . Enhance the FDO program (field training). Ending Statement: I appreciate the opportunity and it has been an honor to work for the City of Fairhope. Little things meant the most to me . My passion is being a police officer and compassion was the people. I miss being a patrol officer. Work Session Saturday, 20 June 2009 Page-8- Richard Moss Question 1: Facilitate needs of personnel in department and externally; be bridge between community and police department and also bridge between emplo yees ; sounding board ; catalyst for improvement; create a sense of direction and vision in the department. Question 1 A: A great place to live; cultural opportunities ; part of progress and vision. I am Northern by birth and Southern by choice. Question 1 B: Spoke with Sheriff Mack and the District Attorne y's office ; internet search; articles ; crime trends; forecasts. It would be a pleasure to work her even with the issues. Question 2: Terminating an employee. There are emotional sides managing an organization. These affect others around employee (family and co-workers). Question 2 A: Mentoring and coaching employees ; others giving respect and recognition of what had been taught. Question 2 B: Woodstock; traditional to contemporary type of department. Records Management System ; changed uniforms and painted police cars (new image); expanded community programs ; citizens classes and domestic violence programs ; youth programs (diversionary); accountability program (RAPID); officers leading operations from bottom . Question 3: Emplo yees properly trained for that community ; recruit , hire and train the right individual ; "Best fit for Fairhope." How big of an area did you supervise? 25 ,000 residents and 1,700 businesses; 25 miles NW of Atlanta; community in transition; similar to Fairhope ; 65 to 70 on force: sworn and ci vilians. Question 4 : I had that experience in Woodstock ; Deputy Assistant refused to vacate the Chiefs office ; succession plan to prepare officers to be Chief if not here then other places . Officers are chronic complainers . Question 5: Technically oriented ; technology; types of crimes: domestic violence , robbery , etc . will increase ; identity theft ; education and awareness ; public and community oriented training (prevent being victimized); train officers to be able to teach these classes. Work Session Saturday, 20 June 2009 Page-9- Question 5 A: Hand writing reports and archive data entry ; Records Management System . Question 6 : Communication; open-mindedness (seeing people as people); problem solving; objective ; fle xible; sense of humor; send of humility ; integrity. When could you relocate ? My bags are in the car; just need to find a temporary place; 10 to 14 days ; eager to work. Ending Statement: I provided a package for y ou to get a sense of who I am. You are hiring a Chief of Police and getting a neighbor. The articles you hav e seen and read about me have been cleared. The reporter in deposition stated she gav e the side of the story based on employees in the department who did not like me. "Best for the City is public safety." It needs to be a safe and secure place to live. The best predictor of future behavior is past behav ior. My background and ex perience speaks for itself. Daniel Busken Question 1: Building relationships within department and outside ; Chief sets the tone like for how officers act in the community ; professional example ; interact with homeowners and businesses; approachable ; cannot solve problems on our own, so must work with community. Question 1 A: 26 years in law enforcement; 16 years as Chief; continue my career ; advance my education. This is a beautiful community and I am a yard geek. I could be comfortable here and a place to retire. Question 1 B: Research on internet; website information; read minutes ; familiar with other Police Chiefs in the area; issues posted in news articles . Question 2 : Discipline; try to foster a professional relationship with department and community. If something happens , we hav e to correct that with discipline, training , or whatever action to correct it. Question 2 B: (1) Kid 's Camp - 5 th Grade students ; started out as a one-w eek program in a tent. Now it takes 3 one-week programs for over 2 ,000 students who interact with officers. This is a positive experience and makes officers approachable as kids mature . (2) Madison Police Foundation -started after 911 ; police officers w ent to New York to help as needed ; people in community heard about this project and began to bring in donations; now pays for the Kid 's Camp and gi v es an additional $1 ,000 in life insurance for officers. Work Session Saturday, 20 June 2009 Page-IO- How large is the area you supervise? Well over 42 ,000 with a 25% increase since I was hired as Chief of Police. Question 3: Funding; technology -laptop computers; digital cameras; GPS devices in every police car; internal servers ; use Federal grants; even though times were less we could find funding. Example was appropriating funds for technology in Madison with an estimated cost of $1 ,000 ,000 -received an appropriation of $600,000 from Shelby and another appropriation of $400,000 from Cramer. Question 4: This is understandable. Promoting within is the City's first step if possible and look outside if someone is not available to promote within for particular reasons. SWOT will be used where consensus is within department; bridge between Mayor and City Council. I will tell my department a selection has been made and we need to move forward. Question 5: Illegal immigrant population -the Federal Government will give better direction how to handle this problem; equipment and resources need to be kept up-to- date; information department has to deal with technology being updated. Question 6: Professional appearance; speak clearly; understanding of what they want from their position; employee has to work at it ; a career that they want to do; continuous training. When could you relocate? As soon as I could (2 to 3 weeks)-within a month. Ending Statement: I am honored to be here; enjoy what I do; try to make sure people I work with enjoy their jobs. This is a beautiful community and I hope we get the chance to work together. The meeting was adjourned at 1 :20 p.m. Lisa A. Hanks City of Fairhope City Clerk