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2021 08 10 BPAC MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BAYTOWN POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN August 10, 2021 The Baytown Police Advisory Committee of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in a Regular Meeting on Tuesday, August 10, 2021, at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chamber at Baytown City Hall, located at 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance: Eric Bolenbaucher Richard Hunsinger Dr. June Stansky Dr. Marissa Moreno Yulanda Braxton Lt. Rene Hinojosa Cpl. Steve Ocanas Nick Woolery Angela Jackson Karen Horner Mike Holden Vice -Chairperson Committee Member Committee Member Committee Member Committee Member Committee Member Committee Member Assistant City Manager Acting City Clerk City Attorney Interim Police Chief Vice -Chairperson Eric Bolenbaucher convened the August 10, 2021, Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting with a quorum present at 6:04 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Chairperson Raphael Montgomery, who was absent. 1. MINUTES a. Consider approving the minutes of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting held on June 22, 2021. A motion was made by Committee Member Dr. June Stansky and seconded by Committee Member Dr. Marissa Moreno to approve the minutes of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee Meeting held on June 221, 2021, as submitted. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Vice -Chairperson Eric Bolenbaucher, Committee Member Yulanda Braxton, Committee Member Dr. June Stansky, Committee Member Richard Hunsinger, Committee Member Dr. Marissa Moreno, Committee Member Lt. Rene Hinojosa, and Committee Member Cpl. Steve Ocanas Nays: None Other: Chairperson Raphael D. Montgomery (Absent) Approved Baytown Police Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes August 10, 2021 Page 2 of 2. CITIZEN INPUT a. Receive citizen input concerning police outreach, community policing, officer training, as well as policies and procedures. No one signed up to speak on this item. 3. BUSINESS ITEMS a. Receive and consider pamphlets and stickers for self -identification of potential mental health issues. Interim Chief Mike Holden presented the item and noted that he asked Lieutenant Steve Dorris to be present as well since he's the one that has put a lot of work into the pamphlet and stickers. A copy of the pamphlet was provided to the Committee members at their place at the dais. Although it is a full sheet, they will be fonnatting the information into a tri-fold or double -fold pamphlet. Chief Holden noted that basically, the pamphlet would let the citizens know that we are here to help them, and that it is okay to not to be okay, and believes it would be very beneficial to the citizens of Baytown. He opened it up for discussion from the Committee and asked if they had any suggestions in relation to it. Committee Member Dr. Stansky asked if they would be referring to the decal in the pamphlet, to inform the citizens that one is available to help identify if you have someone in your family with a mental illness, and they are able to post in their car or at their house. Chief Holden answered yes, and then referred to the artwork samples of the decals that he had provided the Committee. Chief Holden noted that the pamphlets would be distributed and available to the citizens at their clinician's office and on the back side of the pamphlet would be the self -reporting form that they would need to fill out and have signed by a mental health professional. They would then submit the form to the Police Department between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, in order to obtain a decal sticker. He noted that the green ribbon on the decal design is known internationally to encompass a vast majority of mental illnesses, whereas the puzzle piece design is known to distinguish autism. He would like to incorporate the Baytown Police patch on the decal in order to draw the attention of the officers when responding to a call or approaching a vehicle. The police officers would wear a green ribbon lapel pin, since they already wear a badge and that would help signify to the consumer and their family that the officer has been through the mental health specialized training. After a brief discussion, the committee members decided on the individual artwork sample of the green ribbon, but would replace the phrase "Mental Health" with "Baytown Cares" and place the Baytown Police patch on one end of the ribbon and the City of Baytown logo on the other end. Committee Member Dr. Moreno inquired on perhaps extending the hours to drop-off the self - reporting forms to the Police Department and Chief Holden noted that they do have community service officers that work around the clock 24/71, however, they would not be able to provide the decals to the family members. A crisis intervention officer or mental health officer would then have to follow-up with the family in order to provide them the decals they need. Electronic Baytown Police Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes August 10, 2021 Page 3 of 4 submissions would not be permissible as they do require a mental health professional to sign the self -reporting form before it can be accepted. Chief Holden indicated that they would need to educate the community service officer that will be receiving the forms so they can inform the citizens on the benefits of the program itself. b. Receive and discuss updates concerning the Clinician and Officer Remote Evaluation ("CORE") Program. Chief Holden informed the Committee that the City's Legal Department has received an interlocal agreement from Harris County as it pertains to the CORE Program; however, there were some changes that the City's legal counsel requested Harris County to make on the agreement and we are just waiting for them to send it back to us with the revisions. Lieutenant Dorris noted that the City of Baytown requested for twenty (20) iPads to be provided as part of the program and as of right now, they have five (5) mental health officers that are certified in mental health training, of which one to two are bilingual. They will disperse the iPads among the different shifts as you do not necessarily have to be a mental health officer to be able to utilize an Wad and take advantage of the CORE Program since they will simply need to log in and the consumer would then talk to a clinician directly. He noted they will also be equipping the Hostage Negotiation Team ("HNT") with one as well so they have the same capabilities if they encounter a situation that involves a citizen with a mental illness. They will be holding I to 2 iPads to keep as back-ups, if needed. Harris Health has funding available through a grant; therefore, it would not cost the City anything to participate in the CORE Program. However, Lieutenant Dorris indicated some of the hurdles involved with the program as the Mental Health Officer Program has a pretty extensive training piece to it and you obviously want the people involved to be passionate about it as well as patient, and that really want to do the program on top of everything else they have to do. He noted the ideally, he would want at least ten (10) mental health officers that are certified. Chief Holden noted that as of right now, there is not an incentive to get officers to participate in the program; however, they would like to look into the in the near future once the program is approved by Council. City Attorney Karen Horner provided the committee members with a copy of the Baytown Police Department Mental Health self -reporting form for them to review. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher noted that it had the known psychiatric diagnosis, prescribed medication, as well as family information on it, so he thinks it has very valuable information. Committee Member Dr. Stansky asked if they could include a place to have the clinician print their name and contact information under the signature and Chief Holden agreed. C. Discuss information received at the July 271" public hearing and formulate recommendations to present to the City Council. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher noted that they will be considering Items 3.c. and 3.d., together as they relate to the same subject matter, their quarterly report to City Council. d. Discuss and consider the presentation of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee's quarterly report to the City Council. Baytown Police Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes August 10, 2021 Page 4 of 4 The Committee proceeded to go through the PowerPoint draft presentation that was put together by City Attorney Horner, of which they are proposing for a final draft to be presented to City Council at their August 26" meeting. As it related to the slide on public hearing comments, Committee Member Dr. Stansky noted that based on what the three (3) speakers commented at the last meeting, they needed to include the issues as it relates to the hiring practices of the City as well as improving community relations and involvement with the Police Department. Committee Member Dr. Moreno also noted that they discussed the importance on educating the public on how to get more involved in the community. The Committee was also able to view a short three -minute video that was put together by the Harris County Sheriff s Department to educate the public on the CORE Program, which they will presenting at the Council meeting as well to help the Council to really see what the Committee is talking about, and how the program actually runs as well as the benefits of the program. e. Consider setting any tasks and processes for future meetings. Vice Chairperson Bolenbaucher indicated that the next regularly scheduled meeting for the Baytown Police Advisory Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, August 24th at 6:00 P.M., in the Council Chamber at Baytown City Hall. He also reminded the Committee that they would present the Committee's quarterly report to City Council on Thursday, August 26°1, at 6:30 P.M. When asked if they would like to meet on August 24"i, the Committee members stated yes, in order to not lose momentum and that way they could review a final draft of the PowerPoint presentation based on the input received at tonight's meeting and the recommended revisions. 4. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, a motion was made by Committee Member Dr. June Stansky, and seconded by Committee Member Dr. Marissa Moreno, to adjourn the August 10, 2021, Baytown Police Advisory Committee Regular Meeting at 6:58 P.M. U\ipF iapYT0W P r '� ° s Angela Jac on, Acting City Clerk r City of Baytown d'A •., °° °,° °-qC9 A�OFS�