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2023 04 25 BPAC Minutes MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BAYTOWN POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN April 25, 2023 The Baytown Police Advisory Committee (BPAC) met in a Meeting on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at 6:03 P.M. in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City Hall, located at 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas, with the following in attendance: Sgt. Steve Jones Committee Member Kirk Russell Committee Member Michael Springer Vice Chairperson Dr. June Stansky Committee Member Richard Hunsinger Committee Member Natalie Robinson Committee Member Dr. Marissa Moreno Chairperson Raquel Martinez Deputy Secretary John Stringer Police Chief Chairperson Dr. Moreno convened the April 25, 2023, Baytown Police Advisory Committee (BPAC) Meeting with a quorum present at 6:03 P.M., and with all members present. 1. MINUTES a. Consider approving the minutes of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting held on March 28, 2023. A motion was made by Committee Member Dr. June Stansky and seconded by Vice Chairperson Michael Springer to approve the minutes of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting held on March 28, 2023, as submitted. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Chairperson Dr. Marissa Moreno, Vice Chairperson Michael Springer, Committee Member Sgt. Steve Jones, Committee Member Kirk Russell, Committee Member Dr. June Stansky, Committee Member Richard Hun- singer, and Committee Member Natalie Robinson Nays: None Approved 2. CITIZEN INPUT a. Receive citizen input concerning police outreach, community policing, officer train- ing, as well as policies and procedures. Vice Chairperson Springer announced Mr. Matt Hollis had signed up to speak on the item. Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes April 25,2023 Page 2 of 7 Mr. Hollis introduced himself as the Assistant Managing Editor of the Baytown Sun. First, he thanked Police Chief John Stringer and police officers for handling a break-in at his house earlier that morning. Mr. Hollis then addressed the question asked at the BPAC Meeting in February over there being any way to prevent information from the Public Information Officer(PIO)being given about Baytown. Was there a way to handle those problems before it hit the news? Mr. Hollis stressed it was important that the truth be told and that people know what was going on in Baytown. However, he understood the times when he was asked by police chiefs, not Chief Stringer, to not print something because it would compromise an investigation. While he loved to write about good news, it was important that people in Baytown and surrounding areas know what was going on— even if it were crime. Mr. Hollis expressed they should not suppress information from people. 3. COMMUNITY INPUT a. Receive community input obtained by the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Mem- bers. Committee Member Dr. Stansky shared the input of several African Americans that expressed concern over Patrol Officer Nathaniel Brown being back on the streets. They had thought they were free of him last year and were concerned that he was back out patrolling Garth Road. In a meeting between Lee College and the Bridge Over Troubled Waters,Chairperson Dr. Moreno shared the organization voiced wanting to get with the Baytown Police Department (BPD). They had an interest in having a collaboration with BPD since they were a domestic violence shelter. 4. DISCUSSION a. Discuss concerns about school safety and shootings. Chairperson Dr. Moreno announced a citizen, Ms. Priscilla Guerra, had signed up to speak. Ms. Guerra was concerned over the lack of full-time officers at Goose Creek Consolidated Inde- pendent School District (GCCISD) schools. Specifically, the lack of officers at IMPACT Early College High School. She informed the BPAC that they had only one (1) officer that they shared with Robert E. Lee High School. As the officer went back and forth between schools, that raised concerns amongst students and faculty. Recently, a threat had been made at Lee College and their officer was not on campus at the time of the threat. Students had felt unsafe in public areas and in walking over to the College. She also made note of the lack of surveillance of those areas. Ms. Guerra further relayed that the GCCISD Police Department reacted to problems instead of being proactive. With fights or drug use on campus, the problems are addressed after the fact. She believed there were proactive measures they could adopt and that the Baytown Police Department (BPD) could help them with trainings or resources. She also commented on BPD building rela- tionships with students as discussed at their last BPAC meeting. Stopping school fights or drug use started at a young age. Curating students would help the relationship the community had with their police department, especially when they see them from a young age out in the community. Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes April 25,2023 Page 3 of 7 Police Chiefs Comments Police Chief John Stringer thanked Ms. Guerra and noted that he had invited GCCISD Police Chief Davis Smith to attend that night. While Chief Stringer believed he would be in attendance, Chief Smith was not present.Nevertheless, Chief Stringer agreed with what Ms. Guerra had to say. BPD had regular communications with the schools and regularly shared intelligence. He noted there was a meeting scheduled in the next week for a small-scale field training exercise between BPD, the Baytown Fire Department, and GCCISD PD. It would be an active shooter response where they would not only test their physical response,but also to set up a Unified Command System. In addition, BPD was working on a program with their Fire Department called the Rescue Task Force. Chief Stringer further relayed the details of that program and its function with the BPAC. Once that was done, the plan was to initiate a full-scale drill where they would use the entire school. Multiple agencies would be invited to participate, including the Sheriffs Department and the Constable's Office. Chief Stringer would ask the media to come in and track what they would do. He further discussed the ways that would help them exercise their Unified Command System. Furthermore,Chief Stringer stated that they do their best in assisting the patrolling of school zones, especially when the schools opened up and let students out. As far as the role of GCCISD PD,that was their jurisdiction. It would not be appropriate for Chief Stringer to speak on how they ran their operations. However, BPD would always be standing by to assist. The police departments had open lines of communication and there were BPD officers at the schools with the D.A.R.E. pro- gram. Of which, Committee Member Sgt. Jones ran that unit. Chief Stringer ended his comments discussing the value of their police department developing relationships with high school students. BPAC Members' Comments Committee Member Sgt. Jones then addressed and thanked Ms. Priscilla Guerra for her comments. He confirmed their goal was to improve relations with students so they were not afraid of the police. In their crime-stoppers meeting, he shared that the majority of tips came from schools. Students were speaking up, and Committee Member Sgt. Jones identified and related to their fears about school shootings. He assured BPD would continue to improve their relationships with the community and students. Chief Stringer lastly added that Assistant Police Chief David Alford had reached out to the high school students that attended their last meeting. The intent was for them to be their first group of students to sit down on an informal basis and have a two-way conversation. In regards to the active shooter training mentioned, Committee Member Hunsinger inquired if that would be a closed training. As the media would be invited,he wondered if it were possible to bring in some students as observers. Chief Stringer replied he would feel more comfortable doing that with the full-scale drills. Prior to his appoint as Police Chief, he was not aware of any ongoing trainings with the groups he mentioned. For that reason, they wanted to do something smaller to test everything out and see how that would work first. As far as inviting the media, Chief Stringer wanted parents to know what they were doing with the schools and that they were prepared. The first training would give them the opportunity to iron any bugs out. A"hot wash"would follow immediately after for them to discuss everything they noticed. Chief Stringer estimated they would do a debrief within twenty-four (24) to seventy-two (72) hours of the training. From there, they would organize the lessons they learned to build that full-scale drill. Nevertheless, Committee Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes April 25,2023 Page 4 of 7 Member Hunsinger wished to see citizen participation,especially from the high school level. Chief Stringer assured they would and discussed over the drills that were performed at his former de- partment. He also briefly mentioned a few ideas off the top of his head to apply to their future drill. Committee Member Dr. Stansky then commented over the school board debate for the District Three(3) and Six(6) candidates. She was concerned over the fact that students were not receiving a proper response from GCCISD PD and had to reach out to BPD. In addition, it had been sug- gested to put lockboxes in every classroom with firearms in them.Committee Member Dr. Stansky was concerned with that and wished to inform Chief Stringer on what the candidates were thinking. 5. BUSINESS ITEMS a. Discuss the presentation of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee's quarterly re- port to the City Council on April 27, 2023. Chairperson Dr. Moreno discussed the topics and contents of their BPAC's quarterly report presen- tation to Council. The topics were as follows: their committee focus, a two (2) year recap, accom- plishments, commitments for 2023, community involvement, acknowledgements, and questions/ concerns. At their last meeting, Deputy Secretary Raquel Martinez noted the BPAC discussed adding a youth ex-officio position to their committee. She suggested that be brought to Council. The BPAC Members agreed to add that request under the acknowledgments slide. 6. REPORTS a. Receive an update regarding the status of police outreach, community policing, of- ficer training and policies and procedures. Apartments Police Chief John Stringer first reported over Assistant Police Chief David Alford's bureau. They worked directly with property managers and owners to assist them in maintaining good safety practices, rental policies, and maintenance. Chief Alford had been asked to assist in identifying properties where the BPAC may hold their meetings. The top six (6)were listed as follows: 1) Village Apartments at 4601 Village Lane 2) Bay Oaks Harbor at 1700 Bob Smith Road 3) Northwood Properties around 925 Northwood Street 4) The Marina Club Apartments at 1200 Missouri Street 5) Watermark at Baytown Apartments at 2700 Ward Road 6) Park at Aviano Apartments at 2500 East James Street The full list would be provided to the BPAC Members. Chief Stringer advised the BPAC to reach out to Chief Alford, Committee Member Sgt. Jones, and another fellow officer to assist them with the venues. Committee Member Sgt. Jones complimented the new management of the Village Apartments and spoke on their renovation efforts. Committee Member Dr. Stansky was concerned with the Village's communication abilities due to her past experiences. Committee Member Sgt. Jones noted there was new management and suggested they wait until they started the renovations. Committee Member Dr. Stansky recommended, in the meantime, they go with Bay Oaks Harbor. Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes April 25,2023 Page 5 of 7 Cultural Diversity Trainings In continuation of the report, Chief Stringer discussed BPD's cultural diversity training. At that time, they were working on establishing a Basic Peace Officer course for new police officers. The updated version of the current course would be included in that new course. Also, for the current year, all BPD personnel received a two (2) hour supplemental training on cultural diversity titled Anti-Bias Training. The training were new Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) courses that they were all required to take. Chief Stringer proceeded to share his personal experi- ence and takeaways from the trainings, such as cultural humility and the science of bias. In recog- nizing common biases, he noted that there had been an emphasis on the LGBTQ community. Furthermore, BPD was engaged in a heavy training cycle to reduce the use of force. They were training all sworn personnel in a court-defensible defensive tactics program. It was scheduled to be a nearly year-long process and it was about a forty (40) hour class. Chief Stringer suggested that use-of-force incidents occurred when people were not competent and confident. Thus, he be- lieved there needed to be something where officers were trained and recertified on an annual basis. BPD had not been doing that in recent years, so Chief Stringer spoke on behalf of the new system. At his previous agency, when they did the program, they had seen use-of-force incidents drop. Chairperson Dr. Moreno complimented Chief Stringer on the cultural diversity trainings. Her only question was how officers were being evaluated on those trainings.As a frontline supervisor,Com- mittee Member Sgt. Jones responded that supervisors were tasked every month to view in-car videos and body cameras. If they were to see anything that lead them to believe an officer was not following their trainings, they would call that officer in for a coaching session. Chairperson Dr. Moreno assumed the supervisors document those interactions in the coaching session. Committee Member Sgt. Jones confirmed that was correct and noted that was turned over to their lieutenants. Committee Member Dr. Stansky questioned if the infractions went on officers' records. Chief Stringer answered, yes, BPD had mechanisms for recordings. In fact, BPD had a performance management system that they were currently building out. The system would allow the chain of command, all the way up to the Chief of Police, to view officers' coachings, counselings, written reprimands,and training documents.The officer and the chain of command would receive an email on what had been entered in to their file. Committee Member Dr. Stansky asked if there was a "three-strikes and you are out" rule to remove an officer. Chief Stringer replied they had an early warning system that could be triggered by multiple incidents before it became a termination issue. Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Chief Stringer then turned the floor over to Lieutenant Steve Dorris to provide an update on the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). The numbers provided to the BPAC were as follows: Calendar Year 2022 • Total Mental Health Related Calls: 409 • Average: 34 calls per month First Quarter of 2023 Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes April 25,2023 Page 6 of 7 • Total Mental Health Related Calls: 99 • Emergency Detention Orders (EDO) Filed: 70 of those 99 • Total Clinician and Officer Remote Evaluation(CORE) Deployments: 18 • EDOs Filed from CORE Deployments: 6 out of those 18 (about 33%) April 2023, thus far • Total Mental Health Related Calls: 24 • Emergency Detention Orders (EDO) Filed: 12 of those 24 Lt. Dorris further shared that he had partnered with the Bay Area Council on Drugs and Alcohol (BACODA)to produce resource cards. Since last year,the CIT had handed out about three hundred (300) of those cards. They had also handed out about sixty (60) mental health decals. Lt. Dorris informed the BPAC that not everybody wanted those decals as mental health had a stigma to it. Some people were resistant to that, but the CIT offered the decals to them anyways. To highlight and put in to perspective what the CIT folks did, Lt. Dorris shared an incident that occurred on January 6, 2023, at about 1:42 A.M. Dispatch took a call on the Fred Hartman Bridge over a gentleman riding a bike in and out of the lanes of traffic. He was almost hit by an eighteen- wheeler and the driver had called 9-1-1. Once the officers arrived, they found a thirty-one (31) year old male standing on the rail of the bridge. The man was in distress and threatened to jump if the officers got any closer to him. A short time later, a CIT officer arrived on the scene. The CIT officer spent about four(4)hours talking to the gentleman. He developed a good rapport with the individual and ultimately convinced him to come back on their side of the railing. The officers did not handcuff the individual, but embraced him and let him know that everything would be okay. They assured him he would get the help he needed, but the CIT officer was the only one he said he would ride with. The CIT officer, who was set to get off work at 6:00 A.M., stayed with the gentleman until he got him to the NeuroPsychiatric Center (NPC) and was pro- cessed in. Lt. Dorris described the incident as a first responder success story. From the caller, to dispatch, to the officers, to the Fire Department, and even the Coast Guard in the event the indi- vidual had jumped. Lt.Dorris conveyed it had been a huge collaboration for that one(1)gentleman. Committee Member Russell questioned if there were any follow-ups to those cases. Lt. Dorris answered yes. Generally, if somebody got hospitalized or taken under an EDO, there were mech- anisms in place that created a follow-up on the backend. Once individuals were introduced to the CORE program, Harris Health had a Mobile Crisis Outreach Team that would circle back with the consumer within twenty-four(24)hours. In the particular case provided, Committee Member Rus- sell wondered if that CIT officer would go back to the induvial to talk and reassure that it was a onetime thing. Lt. Dorris replied yes; however, not in every case were they able to do that. 7. NEXT MEETING a. Consider setting date, time and location for the next Baytown Police Advisory Com- mittee meeting, along with any related tasks and processes. Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes April 25,2023 Page 7 of 7 Chairperson Dr. Moreno noted the next meeting was set for May 23, 2023, at 6:00 P.M. Former BPAC Chairperson Eric Bolenbaucher had offered his church for them to meet. Thus,Chairperson Dr.Moreno inquired if the BPAC Members were opposed to that.Mr.Bolenbaucher was the pastor of the Pentecostals of Baytown at 5303 North Highway 146, and no Committee Member opposed. A motion was made by Committee Member Dr. June Stansky and seconded by Vice Chairperson Michael Springer to approve Tuesday, May 23,2023, at 6:00 P.M.,in the Pentecostals of Baytown Church located at 5303 North Highway 146 as the next Baytown Police Advisory Committee meeting date, time, and location. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Chairperson Dr. Marissa Moreno, Vice Chairperson Michael Springer, Committee Member Sgt. Steve Jones, Committee Member Kirk Russell, Committee Member Dr. June Stansky, Committee Member Richard Hun- singer, and Committee Member Natalie Robinson Nays: None Approved 8. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, a motion was made by Committee Member Dr. June Stansky and seconded by Vice Chairperson Michael Springer to adjourn the April 25, 2023, Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting at 7:06 P.M. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Chairperson Dr. Marissa Moreno, Vice Chairperson Michael Springer, Committee Member Sgt. 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