Last week City Councilors addressed exceptionally major issues, including an audit by the consulting firm Municipal Resources Inc. on the functioning of the Police Department and the announcement by City Councilor and chamber President Todd McGee that he will not run for another term after serving the city for 17 years.

Last Tuesday’s City Council meeting began with the traditional bagpipes to kick off St. Patrick’s Day season in the city. It was also a time for a sad farewell from  Councilor McGee, who announced his departure from public service, a fulfillment of his love of helping people and the city he loves. He thanked the many people who helped him along the way, starting with Patricia Devine, herself a former city councilor in the 1990s and 2000s – and this year’s St. Patrick’s Parade Marshall — who urged him to run years ago.

Councilor McGee was consumed with gratitude to Brenna Murphy McGee, the city clerk and registrar of voters, with whom they have three children. It is his goal to see them grow up and be there for all their special occasions, he said.

Councilors and others present gave Councilor a standing ovation.

The local elections are on Nov. 7 and the last day to register to vote is Oct. 28, according to the registrar of voters page.

Earlier in the week, the Public Safety Committee reviewed a 100-plus page report filed by Municipal Resources, the company contracted by the city to review the Police Department. It includes a common analytical methodology of parsing out Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to form its conclusions.

Strengths
• Small department with big city problems, officers are skilled in multiple areas
• Skilled detectives have solved 5 of 6 murders on the day of the occurrence. This solution rate was anecdotal and not verified by MRI (Municipal Resources Inc.)
• Surrounded by good officers
• Diverse staff, represents community
• Despite violent crimes, low incidents of use of force.
• Injuries of cops and suspects are on a downward slope…since taser adoption is an
alternative use of force
•Interaction with the public, current social sentiment that cops are not wanted in the community is NOT happening in Holyoke
• Do more with less. Recognized by area agencies and State Police for that ability and willingness
Pride in organization

Weaknesses:

Weaknesses (“things” that are already being done but should be enhanced)
• Not properly funded
• Anti-crime monitoring cameras in the city are outdated, not maintained, and not
functioning. No evidentiary value is possible
• We receive training that can’t cost overtime. Often is not relevant and doesn’t make sense
for Holyoke. Defensive training tactics or “force on force” training doesn’t exist anymore
(MRI notes that, if this is true, this represents significant liability to the city)
• There is no Field Training for new officers. “They just go on the street after the academy”
(MRI notes that, if this is true, this represents significant liability to the city)
• First thing that gets cut is training. Training budget is so small that nothing can be done.
There is not enough ammunition to complete annual mandatory firearms training as
existing ammunition is set aside for new hires
• Firearms training is  conducted only during the day, not night conditions training (MRI
notes that, if this is true, the practice is inconsistent/not compliant with US Supreme
Court decisions mandating certain deadly force training conditions)
•Equipment is out of date and is often the cheapest quality due to low bid
• One defensive tactics instructor, who just qualified, for the entire department
• Vehicle maintenance is an issue
• How we hire supervisors is a joke as very junior officers can make rank too quickly. Civil service regulations allow officers to take the promotional test as soon as an officer has completed probation. The test is the only requirement and does not consider other necessary skill sets required for promotion• Massachusetts Civil Service has no teeth. Conversation has been that all parties want to get out, but the City is afraid of the cost impacts associated with the change
•Officers want body worn cameras (BWC), but the city can’t afford it or is unwilling to focus resources on these items
• Building maintenance is little or non-existent. Air filters have not been changed since building was constructed in 1997
• Agency technology is out of date. Holyoke technology is far behind other area agencies as well as the various Task Forces in the area
• Detectives don’t have cell phones
•Cameras that are designed to monitor prisoners are not functioning
• The 15-minute checks of prisoners are often not accomplished because officers assigned to the “house” are also responsible for taking reports in the lobby (MRI notes that, if this
is true, this represents significant liability to the city)
• O n l y technology that the agency receives originates through grants. There are no funds
earmarked to keep them in operational readiness condition after purchase • New cameras and access card system on hold
• T h e firearm system of the agency, currently Glock 21, have not been replaced in 12 years • Department policies and procedures are not updated to reflect what is occurring in reality

Opportunities
• Body cameras
• Cell phones
• City monitoring cameras
• Detective Bureau cameras
• Detective Bureau fleet is aged
• Staffing levels… It all comes down to
staffing”.
Have not been fully staffed in ten years and then the staffing levels have been reduced over time
• Police officer schedule. Patrol is four days on, two days of (4/2). Detectives are Monday through Friday during the day
• Recruitment is non-existent
• Union contract has expired
• Added space needed for evidence storage. Myriad of court issues is not allowing evidence to be expunged. Evidence vehicles have been stored for years in
maintenance garage consuming valuable and limited space

Threats
• City Hall. One City Councilor is a convicted felon and is chair of public safety sub-
committee. Another councilor si on bail release from Rhode Island for allegations of child
pornography. Yet another City Councilor called the department a “gang”
• Parking for personal vehicles
•There are many guns in the community
• Future funding will be a challenge
•Equipment in cruisers is inconsistently equipped from one cruiser to the next. There is
never any money to replenish used equipment

A vehicle fleet rotation plan doesn’t exist. It appears we have the attitude to “run’ em into the ground”
• Personal information such as name, DOB, and social security numbers were published ni the local newspaper by City Hall approximately 2 years ago resulting ni officers being exposed to financial scams. City was supposed to pay for credit fraud prevention
• Ransomware attacks on the agency technology
• City purchasing agent resigned, resulted in delays for purchasing
•Bills are not being paid at City Hal such as EZ Pass bills to use the highway.
multiple examples
•Meditrol delays is causing officers not to return to work in a timely way
•Morale is a significant problem. There was a consensus that the agency is not supported
by Police Department management and City Hall. There have been eight employees
suffering heart attacks in last two years
• There is no temperature control in the prisoner transport van resulting in multiple patrol
cars being used to fil this transportation need thereby removing the cars and officers from responding to calls for service

In response to the report, Chief David Pratt wrote, in part: “As the chief executive of the organization, it is important to me that officers be highly trained and fully prepared for any challenge that they might encounter while performing their jobs. Although it is often unrealistic to make large changes overnight, some of the areas outlined for improvement in the Risk Assessment had already been identified and a plan has been put into place to rectify or improve them. I’m grateful to see some of these
areas brought to light and am excited about developing a cooperative strategic plan to improve existing or when applicable implement completely new practices.”

Mayor Joshua García responded in writing as well, saying: “Other suggestions in the report have the ring of common sense and may not be surprising. Suggestions like more training, bringing in civilians to perform jobs that don’t require sworn officers, improving
evidence storage practices, developing a maintenance plan, strengthening communication, managing  overtime, and more.”

Also last week, the Development and Government Relations Committee met and took up the disbursement of federally funded by taxpayers Community Development Block Grants. Alicia M. Zoeller, the administrator of the Office of Community Development, reported to the committee the projects that will receive funding. The CDBG budget this year was $1.2M.