Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025 05-02 Police Merit Board Meeting Minutes MAY 02, 2025 1 I. REGULAR MEETING The Police Merit Board met at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 02, 2025 with Board Members Dan Jones, Pam Claeys, Gene Eyster, Ray Owens, and Brantley Taylor present. Also, Assistant City Attorney Adam Taylor, Assistant City Attorney Kylie Connell and Board Clerk Theresa Heffner were present. The meeting was held at the Board of Public Works Conference Room, 13th Floor of the County City Building, 227 W. Jefferson Blvd., South Bend, Indiana and virtually via Microsoft Teams at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/PoliceMerit5225 A. INTRODUCTION The meeting was introduced by the assistant city attorney, Adam Taylor who welcomed everyone and explained his role in advising the board. He also mentioned that there would be a brief orientation for members after the meeting. B. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS Board members introduced themselves, sharing their names and community involvement. Participants included Dan Jones, Brantley Taylor, Ray Owens, Pam Claeys, and Gene Eyster. Attorney Taylor called roll and confirmed the presence of the Board Members. Agenda Overview: Attorney Taylor provided a quick read-through of the agenda, which included items such as electing officers, setting the schedule of meetings, and discussing proposed bylaws and rules. C. ELECT PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, AND SECRETARY Gene Eyster nominated Dan Jones to be president, seconded by Brantley Taylor. Dan Jones accepted the nomination. Brantley Taylor nominated Pam Claeys to be Vice President, seconded by Dan Jones. Pam Claeys accepted the nomination. Ray Owens nominated Brantley Taylor to be Secretary, seconded by Pam Claeys. Brantley Taylor accepted the nomination. Attorney Taylor advised that city staff will assist the Secretary with drafting and preparing minutes. All were accepted and carried by roll call. D. SET SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS The board discussed and agreed on scheduling meetings on the second Thursday of each month at 10:00 AM. The first meeting is set for June 12th. A location for the meetings is to be determined. Attorney Connell noted that the police department would prefer business hours Tuesday through Thursday, because they alternate shift, 4 on and three off, so the Chief’s work Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday. MAY 02, 2025 2 E. PROPOSED BYLAWS Attorney Taylor explained that this document was prepared by the city to assist with the board coming to its own set of bylaws. It is a document that's changeable, but it some of it does follow statutory requirements, so he will provide advice and guidance on that. Ultimately, it's the board's responsibility to do the adoption of its own bylaws. It's a generic document as far as the board is concerned, but he’s happy to provide any further guidance on that. He asked that the board to review it for acceptance at a future meeting. If the board has any feedback, please feel free to e-mail or reach out to Attorney Taylor. Brantly Taylor asked if the collective Bargaining agreement was included. Attorney Taylor noted that he would provide that to all of them. F. PROPOSED RULES Attorney Taylor referred to Attorney Connell for an explanation of the rules. Attorney Connell advised that it's important to note that the ordinance is the governing document and lays out quite a few things. When reviewing the rules, please be conscious to refer back to the ordinance for things that can and can't change because a lot of this can't change and it's not really updating. There may be some things that can kind of fluctuate, but there are things that have already been set into a process that's clear in the ordinance, so just make sure that you refer back to the ordinance when reviewing the rules and just reflect what the Police Department is doing in their processes. Pam Claeys asked if they received a copy of the ordinance. Attorney Connell noted that there is a publicly available copy for sure on the city's website website but will get that to board directly. The commissioners will review the rules and regulations and discuss them further at the next meeting, with copies to be sent out for review and edits. G. PROPOSED ELECTRONIC MEETING RESOLUTION 01-2025 Attorney Taylor stated that the electronic monitoring meeting resolution is statutory under Indiana law. There's allowances for meetings to be held electronically, but before you start thinking you can do everything by teams or zoom, the law says you have to have a quorum in person and that when you have a quorum in person, this allows there to be other members on occasion to appear by teams or zoom, but you still have to have that in person quorum. Without this policy recognized as the law requires, the local board must adopt a resolution that codifies it. Until you adopt a policy like this, you can't have people here electronically. If you’re voting on anything in particular, we have to see you’re your face and hear you for you to vote electronically. Because of the size of this board, there would have to be no less than three board members in person. Brantley Taylor asked if they are just having a regular meeting that does not require any vote, can they log in via zoom or teams, if they choose to do so, but if they’re having a discussion regarding conduct or voting or something, then they would need to be in person. MAY 02, 2025 3 Attorney Taylor advised that they will talk more about what constitutes a meeting in the training after the meeting. Basically, any time you're receiving information that might eventually be voted on and for quorum you will need three or more board members to be in person. Theresa Heffner asked that if a board member is unable to make it to a meeting that they let her know, so she can be sure that they have quorum. H.PROPOSED SBPD DISCIPLINE MATRIXDan Jones asked if this is the same matrix that they have been using. Attorney Connell advised that it did not change, but on the second page we added the executive summary sentence at the very bottom, so the very last bullet point was the only thing that has been changed. Other than like names of Board of Public Safety versus Merit Board. Attorney Taylor advised that once the board members have had a chance to review it, they can have further discussion at the next meeting. I.OTHER BUSINESS – TRANSITION TO MERIT BOARD Attorney Taylor explained that both the Police Department and the fire department are going through this right now taking on the current responsibilities over hiring personnel, termination, discipline and promotion that used to be vested solely in the authority of the Board of Public Safety, and as it is currently, the Board of Public Safety is still exercising that authority waiting for the point at which the Merit Board has its rules in place and is ready to accept those responsibilities. Basically, the Board of Public Safety is still going to be handling those duties until the rules are approved and everything is in place here. He didn’t know if that would happen by the next meeting, but he assumed that if the board approved the rules, although it may take longer than that depending on how that discussion goes, but hypothetically if they did approve all the relevant rules and bylaws at the next meeting, they would still be waiting until a subsequent meeting to that to exercise any responsibility. J. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission, upon a motion by Pam Claeys, seconded by Brantley Taylor, and carried by roll call, the meeting was adjourned at 3:33 p.m. After the meeting there will be a brief orientation for the members only. This will be an orientation on their role and responsibilities. This orientation is not a public meeting pursuant to I.C. § 5-14- 1.5-2 (c)(6). POLICE MERIT BOARD Daniel Jones, President MAY 02, 2025 4 ATTEST: ___________________________ Theresa Heffner, Board Clerk June 3, 2025