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2022 03 22 BPAC Minutes MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BAYTOWN POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN March 22, 2022 The Baytown Police Advisory Committee(BPAC)met in a Meeting on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, at 6:01 P.M. in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City Hall, located at 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance: Eric Bolenbaucher Vice Chairperson Yulanda Braxton Committee Member Dr. Marissa Moreno Committee Member Dr. June Stansky Committee Member Richard Hunsinger Committee Member Cpl. Steve Ocanas Committee Member Raquel Martinez Deputy Assistant Secretary John Stringer Police Chief Jerris Mapes Legal Counsel Vice Chairperson Eric Bolenbaucher convened the March 22, 2022, Baytown Police Advisory Committee (BPAC) Meeting with a quorum present at 6:01 P.M., all members were present with the exception Chairperson Raphael D. Montgomery and Committee Member Lt. Rodney Evans, who were absent. Committee Member Yulanda Braxton arrived at 6:03 P.M. 1. MINUTES a. Consider approving the minutes of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting held on November 16, 2021. A motion was made by Committee Member Dr. June Stansky and seconded by Committee Member Dr. Marissa Moreno to approve the meeting minutes of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting held on November 16, 2021, as submitted. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Vice Chairperson Eric Bolenbaucher, Committee Member Dr. Marissa Moreno, Committee Member Dr. June Stansky, Committee Member Richard Hunsinger, and Committee Member Cpl. Steve Ocanas Nays: None Other: Chairperson Raphael D. Montgomery (Absent), Committee Member Lt. Rodney Evans (Absent) and Committee Member Yulanda Braxton (Not Present) Approved Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 22,2022 Page 2 of 8 b. Consider approving the minutes of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting held on December 14, 2021. A motion was made by Committee Member Dr. Marissa Moreno and seconded by Committee Member Richard Hunsinger to approve the meeting minutes of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting held on December 14, 2021, as submitted. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Vice Chairperson Eric Bolenbaucher, Committee Member Dr. Marissa Moreno, Committee Member Dr. June Stansky, Committee Member Richard Hunsinger, and Committee Member Cpl. Steve Ocanas Nays: None Other: Chairperson Raphael D. Montgomery (Absent), Committee Member Lt. Rodney Evans (Absent) and Committee Member Yulanda Braxton (Not Present) Approved 2. CITIZEN INPUT a. Receive citizen input concerning police outreach, community policing, officer training, as well as policies and procedures. There was no one registered to speak on this item. 3. BUSINESS ITEMS a. Receive a report and discuss the status of police outreach,community policing, officer training and policies and procedures. Police Chief John Stringer gave the report to the Committee and began by highlighting on the fact that the Baytown Police Department ("BPD") had established a Hispanic Outreach Team. The team was being led by Lieutenant Rene Hinojosa and consisted of seven other officers. Their first meeting had taken place two weeks ago where Chief Stringer discussed his vision of developing a relationship and rapport with Baytown's Hispanic community. Chief Stringer emphasized the outreach's importance by noting that over 51% of Baytown's population was estimated to be of Hispanic citizens. He believed it was important to make sure they were reaching out to that segment of their society. Chief Stringer noted the Hispanic Outreach Team had some ideas. One idea included working with the Community Services Bureau that was under Assistant Chief David Alford. The Bureau was comprised of patrol officers that would help merge a gap. Chief Stinger hoped that would create an atmosphere of trust where Baytown's citizens would feel more comfortable talking to police officers—whether they were bilingual or not; however, all of the officers were bilingual. Chief Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 22,2022 Page 3 of 8 Stringer commented that he himself had been studying Spanish and would be taking Spanish classes at their Police Academy. In continuation of the discussion of community outreach, Chief Stringer touched on his goal of establishing a Mental Health Coalition for Western Harris County and Eastern Chambers County. The Coalition's first meeting had been three weeks prior to the current BPAC Meeting with the Coalition's next meeting taking place in two weeks. Chief Stringer relayed they would invite the Chambers County Sheriffs Department along with the Police Chief of Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District(GCCISD).The idea was for the Coalition to identify all the resources out there for citizens in mental health crises to not fall through the cracks and receive some sort of follow-up. Chief Stringer announced a lofty goal of the Coalition was to establish a true Mental Health Court and perhaps a Crisis Transfer Center. He stated it would be for individuals identified needing an on-site assessment and such individuals would be transferred to the nursing staff so the officers could go out to the streets and continue to serve the public. Committee Member Dr. Moreno inquired if there were doctors on the commission and Chief Stringer replied not yet,but they were looking for doctors who would be willing to participate. He reminded the BPAC there had only been one meeting and that the Coalition was still being established. Chief Stringer commented he had done something similar in his home jurisdiction and discussed how he managed to meet with various resources between veteran organizations and mental help for seniors, teens, and children. The Hispanic Outreach Team and Mental Heal Coalition were the two biggest items on Chief Stringer's community outreach. He further reported they had another Bicycle School Certification coming up to get more officers out on bikes. Committee Member Cpl. Ocanas added they had GCCISD collaborating on that as well and believed the date to be June 2nd Regarding GCCISD,Chief Stringer noted he had been meeting on a regular basis with their Police Chief Davis Smith. Chief Stringer and Chief Smith not only shared information on criminal activity,but also discussed bringing together a group of high school students with a group of police officers from both BPD and GCCISD to have a sit-down conversation about the students' concerns. Chief Stringer relayed he hoped to learn of those concerns and to identify if there were officers they needed to approach for further evaluation. Chief Stringer conveyed concern on whether they were treating kids differently because they were kids and wanted them to have the correct impression of the Police Department. He would rather have the relationship where the kids felt like the police were there for them as a service organization. BPD ran the gambit of public safety services and mostly tried to prevent crime from happening in the first place and Chief Stringer believed Baytown's teenagers were not getting that proper attention. In conclusion, Chief Stringer noted that they were continuing trainings, such as Spanish classes for law enforcement would begin that next day. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher proceeded to open the floor to questions. Committee Member Dr. Stansky inquired over the new academy and requested what would be the breakdown of the curriculum. Chief Stringer clarified BPD did not have a new Police Academy coming up as BPD had not run its own Basic Police Academy in approximately twenty years. Chief Stringer did note Baytown Police Advisory Conunittee Meeting Minutes March 22,2022 Page 4 of 8 one of his goals,within the next three years,was for Baytown to run its own Basic Police Academy to teach officers as BPD had a new mission statement and Chief Stringer wanted that to be the way officers were trained from day one—not by somebody else—so the officers could understand Baytown standards. In doing so, Chief Stringer relayed they could reduce the time it took to put an officer in a car by four to six months. Furthermore, Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher requested updates regarding the deployment of the Clinician and Officer Remote Evaluation (CORE)program. Chief Stringer noted that if not daily, then every other day,officers were using the tablets. BPD had a meeting with a judge that previous week regarding how they should be handling mental health consumers that were coming into their jail. Chief Stringer noted they were looking in to the possibility of getting supervisors at their jail certified in the CORE program as well and get them tablets for individuals in or on the verge of a mental health crisis while in custody. Chief Stringer additionally noted they were looking at expanding the CORE program. There was the possibility of expanding the CORE program in Chambers County;however, Chief Stringer did not have all the specifics. He stated it was best to speak with Lieutenant Steve Dorris. Chief Stringer continued to discuss how the initial twenty iPads had been a kind of arbitrary number as they had begun to realize there was a need for more iPads out on the streets. Nonetheless, BPD had been seeing successes on a regular basis. Committee Member Dr. Stansky requested an update on the decals for autism and mental health. Chief Stringer responded he did not have the specifics, but did know officers were continuing to offer them. Decals continued to be available to citizens and the forms could be found in the lobby of the Police Station; however, the expert on the matter would be Lt. Dorris. Lastly, Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher probed for the number of the Police Department if fully staffed and of what percentage they were at now. Chief Stringer answered 175 officers and that BPD was currently 16 officers short. In closing Item 3.a., Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher reverted back to Item 2.a. due to a citizen that arrived wishing to speak. 2. CITIZEN INPUT a. Receive citizen input concerning police outreach, community policing, officer training, as well as policies and procedures. Mr. Michael Springer stated he wanted to volunteer and shared a few concerns he had as a citizen since he had a recent interaction with the police and referred to a video for further information. Mr. Springer believed there were some training issues that could have been addressed, but he did not want to gripe about the specifics. Another concern Mr. Springer discussed was on officer response times for traffic incidents. On a different interaction with the police, Mr. Springer's wife was involved in a car accident. His wife had called 911; however, Mr. Springer was at their residence about two miles away. He stated he Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 22,2022 Page 5 of 8 beat the police to the scene by thirty minutes. In that time, Mr. Springer almost had to restrain the other man and cleared the roadway. Police Chief John Stringer inquired where the incident occurred to which Mr. Springer responded the Spur 330 Feeder and Baker Road. Mr. Springer referred back to his recent interaction with the police that Friday over a license plate violation. Five patrol cars had sat there for 45 minutes to deal with his one case. It was a Friday night, and he was surprised there were no other calls the officers could have handled. Mr. Springer relayed he only dealt with one officer while the others did nothing. He spoke to Sergeant Gonzalez about the incident who informed him that it was all protocol for officers to back each other up. Mr. Springer did not understand why they needed five as there could have been other incidents to redirect the officers to handle those other calls. Mr. Springer ended on the note that he would be happy to meet with Chief Stringer to further discuss anything he mentioned and again offered to volunteer for the Citizens Advisory Board. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher thanked Mr. Springer for his input as the Committee did want to hear what was happening and the concerns of the citizens. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher returned to the regular order of the agenda with Item 3.b. b. Consider setting any tasks and processes for future meetings. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher first noted it had been several months since their last meeting. He explained that as Vice Chairperson he had filled the spot to chair the meeting since Chairperson Raphael Montgomery's term on the committee had ended. There was work in progress to get other Committee Members; however, the BPAC were still somewhat hampered until they got those appointments. One item Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher wished to address was for the Committee to not meet every month until they had that full panel. He relayed that would give them time to go to their communities and receive input from people that may not have the opportunity to come to their meetings. He recommended meeting bimonthly and then inquired from the committee if there were any other items they wished to consider. Committee Member Dr. Moreno clarified they would further discuss the topic of not meeting monthly at their next meeting as they were considering setting tasks for future meetings and Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher confirmed that was correct. Committee Member Dr. Stansky requested a list of which City Council Members had not made their appointments yet and Deputy Assistant Secretary Raquel Martinez replied it was only the Mayor's appointment and Council District 6's appointment. Committee Member Dr. Stansky proceeded to address the citizen who had spoken on item 2.a., Mr. Michael Springer. Mr. Springer had volunteered to be on the Citizen's Advisory Board and so she suggested he speak with Council Member Mike Lester or the Mayor as they were all appointed by Council. In regards to setting items for next month's meeting, Committee Member Dr. Moreno wished to review the buckets of concern again. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher requested Ms. Martinez to see that Chief Stringer receive a copy of the Committee's buckets of concern and additionally questioned if there were an item that needed to be considered on that. Regarding the Chief Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 22,2022 Page 6 of 8 receiving their buckets of concern, Committee Member Dr. Moreno requested they include the two or three City Council presentations so the Chief would know what they had presented thus far. Committee Member Dr. Moreno elaborated that the PowerPoint presentations were super helpful because it showed the direction and progress of the buckets. She reiterated the buckets were exactly what Chief Stringer had addressed, but that there were some things that had not yet been touched upon. Committee Member Hunsinger requested an item to discuss how they could take their BPAC Meetings someplace else with good visibility and accessibility. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher then addressed Committee Member Cpl. Ocanas, and asked in regards to the community outreach through the Police Department, if he had any item to consider. Committee Member Cpl. Ocanas informed the Committee that the Baytown Police Department (BPD) were almost finished with the D.A.R.E. program. BPD was also trying to get with Lee College again for their Workforce program, as well as partner with the Explorer program. There were discussions on how to improve the programs and Committee Member Cpl. Ocanas believed they currently had about six or seven students in that class. Chief Stringer noted they had included them in the budget. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher asked if there was anything on that program to bring it to the Committee's attention as that would further the Committee's purpose and help bridge police outreach and community policing. Committee Member Cpl. Ocanas added that Lieutenant Rene Hinojosa had also reached out about helping with the Hispanic Outreach program. Committee Member Dr. Moreno requested if anyone could give the parameters of what that Hispanic Outreach program looked like. Chief Stringer explained that in regards to the strategic plan, that was one of the things he identified in the community outreach portion. He had a vision that BPD needed to establish an outreach to Baytown's Hispanic community and their bilingual police officers, which became apparent when Chief Stringer began attending meetings in Council Member Laura Alvarado's District 1. As far as an agenda for the Hispanic Outreach, Chief Stringer relayed they did not have one at that moment. He explained that the idea was that rather than Chief Stringer telling them what to do,he would give them commander's intent. Commander's intent said BPD wanted to establish a better relationship with the Hispanic community. A better relationship involved building rapport and trust which could not happen until having face-to-face interaction with the citizens. Chief Stringer relayed that the Hispanic Outreach already had their first meeting and were in the process of planning events such as getting out to the parks. Committee Member Dr. Moreno stated that was exactly what she had previously asked about and would like a brief on what that would be. She expressed excitement on the fact that something was brought up at the meeting that the Committee had never discussed before. Lastly, Committee Member Dr. Moreno wanted to discuss that Chief Stringer's predecessor, Assistant Chief Mike Holden, had sent her a cultural diversity training that officers had gone through before and noted that the training was from 2009. Chief Stringer responded that the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) set the basics on that training. Based on their last discussion, Chief Stringer acknowledged Committee Member Dr. Moreno had brought up some good points and agreed there may be some things that BPD could expand on. He believed one of Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 22,2022 Page 7 of 8 the best things BPD could do—not as a training program, but more of an on-the-job real-life experience—was that Hispanic Outreach Team. It was noted that the name of that outreach was still up in the air. Chief Stringer stated once that was up and running, the idea was to draw other patrol officers out there with the team and expose them to the culture. Thus, the officer would get on-the-job training. Committee Member Dr. Moreno appreciated that, given her own Latin ethnicity,but noted the city also had a huge Caribbean population, African American population, etc. She discussed her profession at Lee Collage involved diversity and inclusion work, and looked at how to change institutional systems. With that, Committee Member Dr. Moreno wanted to know that those outside of the Hispanic population would be considered. She appreciated that Chief Stringer recognized the need to go outside of TCOLE and have further conversations on additional training. Committee Member Dr. Moreno noted they were currently in a system where all eyes were on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work. She was sure that BPD could find a presenter or trainer to come in to provide training. Chief Stringer noted they had other online trainings; however,Committee Member Dr. Moreno began expressing her uncertainty of the online trainings. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher then asked Committee Member Braxton if there were any items she wished to consider for the future. Committee Member Braxton replied they needed to address reaching out more to the public. Committee Member Dr. Stansky added they needed officers out of police cars and interacting with the people. There was further discussion on suggestions for community outreach. The citizen speaker, Mr. Springer, participated in the discussion and gave a suggestion from the audience and Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher requested Mr. Springer submit those suggestions. 4. NEXT MEETING a. The next Baytown Police Advisory Committee Regular Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at 6:00 P.M., in the Council Chamber at Baytown City Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown,Texas 77520. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher recited that the next BPAC Meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at 6:00 P.M., in the Council Chamber at Baytown City Hall. 5. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, a motion was made by Committee Member Richard Hunsinger and seconded by Committee Member Yulanda Braxton to adjourn the March 22, 2022, BPAC Board Meeting at 6:37 P.M. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Vice Chairperson Eric Bolenbaucher, Committee Member Yulanda Braxton,Committee Member Dr. Marissa Moreno,Committee Member Dr. June Stansky, Committee Member Richard Hunsinger, and Committee Member Cpl. Steve Ocanas Nays: None Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 22,2022 Page 8 of 8 • Other: Chairperson Raphael D. Montgomery(Absent)and Committee Member Lt. Rodney Evans (Absent) Approved sAYTo Ne� tot eer ', Angela Jac on, Assistant Secret sue._. `� ;� City of Baytown F e4; 141 •sa sev CO hY