The meeting was called to order at 7:32 p.m. In attendance were Chairman Gene Ege, Commissioner Robert Johnston, and Commissioner George Beasley. Police Lt. Darrell Johnson sat in for Police Chief Don Thomas. Fire Chief Bill Riddle was absent.

A motion to approve the minutes of the March 4, 2003 meeting, as presented, was made by Commissioner Johnston and was seconded by Commissioner Beasley. No discussion.

Ayes: 3

Nays 0

Abstain: 0

Chairman Ege reported that he had received information about the Fire and Police Commissioners seminar that will be held in Decatur in May. He suggested that one of the Commissioners should try to attend this seminar. He also suggested that whoever the Mayor appoints to replace him on the Commission on May 1 be given this information as well.

OLD BUSINESS

 

Chairman Ege said that he had received a letter from Police Chief Thomas dated March 14, 2003. This letter states that Officer Lozeau had passed the power test administered to him by Mobile Training Unit 2 in Rockford. Therefore, Officer Lozeau will be returned to full paid status in the Field Training Program on March 18, 2003. He will be assigned to Field Training Officer Michael Anderson. He will follow Officer Anderson’s work schedule until he begins training at the Illinois State Police Training Academy on April 6, 2003. Commissioner Beasley asked if it was necessary to take any action to approve Officer Lozeau’s reinstatement. Chairman Ege verified that the Commissioners had previously taken action at the March 4, 2003 meeting to accept putting Officer Lozeau on an unpaid administrative leave until his completion of the power test.

Motion

A motion to reinstate Officer Patrick Lozeau to full pay probationary status was made by Commissioner Beasley and was seconded by Commissioner Johnston.

Ayes: 3

Nays 0

Abstain: 0

No new business

• Police Chief

Items will be addressed in closed session.

A motion to go to closed session to discuss personnel issues was made by Commissioner Beasley and seconded by Commissioner Johnston.

A motion to reconvene the open session was made by Commissioner Johnston and was seconded by Commissioner Beasley.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Open session reconvened at 8:00 p.m.

A motion to no longer consider the application of Munyuka Ngoyi for further processing for the position of entry-level Police Officer, based upon the results of his polygraph and psychological exams, was made by Commissioner Johnston and was seconded by Commissioner Beasley.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

Chairman Ege stated that an entry level Police Officer still needed to be hired. He said that he and Chief Thomas had looked through the applications of the remaining candidates on the eligibility list in order to see if any of them have already had law enforcement training. He said that, by Ordinance, they had the authority to skip over any candidates who did not already have training in order to expedite the process. He reported that the next certified candidate on the list is Candidate #11, Jeffrey Ackland. When contacted by phone by Lt. Johnson, Candidate Ackland stated that he was no longer interested in working for the Sycamore Police Department. Since there are no other certified officers on the list, we will go back to the next eligible candidate on the list – Candidate #7, Christopher Harris. Lt. Johnson said that he had spoken with Candidate Harris. He is currently working as a correctional officer for DuPage County, but indicated that he is still interested in the position. Since no background checks have been done to date on the remaining candidates, Chairman Ege suggested that the Commission send Candidate Harris a conditional letter of employment, which states that a background investigation will begin on him. If this background examination is successful, he will be scheduled to take the polygraph, psychological, and physical exams. Upon the successful completion of these examinations, he will then be scheduled for a final interview with the Commissioners. Chairman Ege said that there is no reason to be in a hurry with this candidate, as it will not be possible to have him processed by the time the next training session begins at the Academy on April 6^th, although a successful candidate could come on board as early as 4 –6 weeks prior to starting at the Academy and work with the Field Training Officer. He said that the testing process needs to be spread out over several weeks, so that the Commission has the time to take action, if necessary, before the candidate moves on to the next step in the testing process. Commissioner Johnston recommended that the candidate only be informed that we will begin his background check; he should not be sent a conditional job offer at this point. The conditional letter of employment should be sent after the background check and polygraph test are completed; then the psychological and medical examinations can be scheduled. Commissioner Johnston also wondered if a letter should be sent to the other remaining candidates as well, so that their background checks can be completed. Lt. Johnson said that he already has a signed release from each candidate to commence their preliminary background checks, but wanted guidance from the Commissioners on how they wanted this done - one at a time or all at once? He also wondered if written confirmation should be received from the candidates who are no longer interested in the position. He said that he had already spoken with a few of the candidates who told him verbally that they are no longer interested. Chairman Ege agreed the candidates should be contacted and that a written confirmation should be receive. Commissioner Beasley suggested that the Commission send a letter to all of the remaining candidates asking them to let us know if they are still interested in working for the department. Lt. Johnson agreed with this idea, and also suggested that we give the candidates a specific date by which we should receive their response. That way, if they do not respond, they are automatically taken off of the list. The Commissioners all agreed with this. Chairman Ege recommended that the letters be sent out to each candidate one at a time. Commissioner Johnston recommended that we give them the option of e-mailing or faxing their response to speed up the process. The sequence in which the examinations are to be administered was also discussed. Chairman Ege said that, according to the Rules and Regulations, the testing sequence is written, oral, polygraph, background, final oral, psychological, and medical exam. Chairman Ege said he disagreed with the psychological exam following the final oral exam, since the results of the psychological are used in the final interview. Commissioner Johnston said that it makes sense to him that the polygraph precedes the background examination, because the polygraph does not consume any City resources to conduct. If the candidate fails the polygraph, the Police Department has not spent their time and resources on doing a lengthy background check. Commissioner Johnston further explained that a conditional offer of employment is not needed to conduct a polygraph exam; it is only needed to conduct the psychological and medical exams, per ADA rules. Commissioner Johnston recommended that, going forward, the polygraph should precede the background investigation for the above reasons. Lt. Johnson said that doing the polygraph first would also be helpful to the investigators when they do the background examinations. Chairman Ege said he agreed as well, as he remembers that past practice was to have the first five Police Officer candidates on an eligibility list take the polygraph exam so that they would be ready to have the background check completed, should the need arise. Chairman Ege also wondered if the Commission should find someone else to do the polygraph tests, since there were some problems encountered with Ken Frankenberry and his testing process. Commissioner Beasley said that he felt Mr. Frankenberry did an excellent job. Lt. Johnson disagreed, as he had some problems with him in the past. He said that he has the names of some other polygraphists that the Commission could use. Commissioner Johnston said that he also has a source in Rockford that can be used. It was decided that a letter would be sent to the next candidate on the list, explaining that a polygraph test would be scheduled if he were still interested in the position.

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Commissioner Beasley and was seconded by Commissioner Johnston.

Ayes: 3

Nays: 0

Abstain: 0

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Minutes accepted by:

 

 

________________________________________

Gene Ege, Chairman Date

Attest:

________________________________________

Jean Tritle Recording Secretary Date