City of Yorkville Public Safety Committee met Nov. 18.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
Note: This meeting was held in accordance with Public Act 101-0640 and Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation issued by Governor Pritzker pursuant to the powers vested in the Governor under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, The United City of Yorkville is encouraging social distancing by allowing remote attendance at the Public Safety Committee meeting.
NOTE: All attendees were in-person unless otherwise noted.
In Attendance:
Chairman Dan Transier Alderman Matt Marek/electronic attendance Alderman Seaver Tarulis
Other City Officials in Attendance:
Police Chief Jim Jensen Deputy Chief Ray Mikolasek
Alderman Chris Funkhouser
Others in Attendance: None
The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm by Chairman Dan Transier. Citizen Comments: None
Minutes for Correction/Approval: August 12, 2021
The minutes were approved as presented.
Chairman Transier asked to amend the agenda by moving item #3 forward.
New Business:
3. PS 2021-25 Body Cameras
Chief Jensen offered a few comments before the presentation and said the body camera program will become statutory and the officers are all in favor of this. The cameras are for protection and can be used in court as well. He turned the presentation over to Deputy Chief Mikolasek who said the program would be necessary by January 1, 2025.
He provided a Fact Sheet and covered the highlights of the body cameras. He said the cameras can record up to 25 hours and it must be on at all times when exiting the car. Recordings are retained for at least 90 days and for at least 2 years if something is “flagged” as important. FOIA requests for recordings and the camera policy draft were also discussed. Deputy Chief Mikolasek said a person has the opportunity to ask an officer to turn off the camera for an expectation of privacy.
He then opened up the discussion for questions. Chairman Transier raised the question of privacy in schools and hospitals regarding camera usage. An agreement with the schools would likely be made. Police Administrators are not required to wear a camera unless involved in law-enforcement activity. Special events were also discussed and it was noted that all officers must be ready for unplanned events. Alderman Tarulis asked about off-duty officers becoming involved in an incident. The law will not hold him/her responsible and they are not required to have a camera.
The Deputy Chief then described the Watchguard system for cameras and said in-car cameras and body cameras are all synched together. Based on recommendations from other law enforcement agencies, he said the same vendor should be used for both in-car and body cameras. He then covered some of the features of the body camera systems and comparisons were made. Alderman Funkhouser questioned the durability of the equipment. The cloud-based storage is recommended by the IT person. Pricing was discussed and it was noted that grants only cover hardware. The final costs will be forthcoming and this will be brought back to the January committee meeting. Chief Jensen said $50,000 is already available in FY 22 for the cameras. He said his choice would be the Watchguard “pay as you go” system. The presentation concluded at 7:19pm.
1. PS 2021-23 Monthly Report Review for July – September 2021 Chief Jensen said much of the overtime was reimbursed for July, there were many community events and the Records Supervisor left the department. In August the CIT special event was held at the dome and there were many hours of training. He also reported on the crime data. He noted community service officers monitored areas of specific complaints and letters were sent to offenders who were speeding or ignoring stop signs in those areas. He also reported on the Part I and II crimes and noted they had decreased. Gas costs increased sharply in September, which will be considered in the next budgeting process.
2. PS 2021-24 Adjudication Reports for August – November 2021 Chief Jensen reported impounded vehicle citations, cannabis charges, curfew violations and invalid licenses following curfew as well as alcohol violations.
4. PS 2021-26 Commander Carlyle (Introduction, Assignment & Responsibility) Commander Carlyle was recently promoted and will be working a flex/later schedule. He will be assuming many of the duties that Deputy Chief Mikolasek now has, to free him up for another project. Commander Carlyle will continue his work with the Crisis Intervention Program.
5. PS 2021-27 Meeting Schedule for 2022
The committee will continue with the same meeting schedule as this year.
Old Business: None
Additional Business: None
There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 7:35pm
https://www.yorkville.il.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4381
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