1.   Approve Minutes of July 29, 2021

John Spier moved to approve the minutes of July 29, 2021 as amended, Andy Transue seconded the motion. All were favor and the motion carried.

5 Ayes (Collins, Hinthorn, O’Neill, Transue, Spier)           0 Nays        0 Absent

2.   Election of Officers

Election of Officers are as follows:

Chair: Jim Hinthorn

Vice Chair: Andy Transue

John Spier moved to approve the Election of officers, Carolyn Collins seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried.

            5 Ayes (Collins, Hinthorn, O’Neill, Transue, Spier)           0 Nays        0 Absent

3.   Quarterly meeting with the Chief of Police to discuss any challenges faced by the Department and community related to law enforcement and community issues

Chief Moynihan advised the commission that he had no update at the moment. Jim Hinthorn raised the question as to how the commission receive updates. Chief Moynihan explained that he will provide number of arrests etc, to the paper weekly. He also advised that when the website is up and running, the arrest log will be posted.

John Spier asked how often the chief reports to the Town Council, Town Manager Marianne Crawford explained that she typically gets reports from the chief and reports to the Town Council monthly at their interim meetings.  Ms. Crawford volunteered to forward all PowerPoint presentations received from the Chief to the Police Advisory Commission.

John Spier recommended that a Mission be defined for the Commission outlining its role and the chain of command when reporting to the Police or Town Manager.

4.   Discuss Community needs survey

Jim Hinthorn presented a document addressed to the community, outlining the challenges we are currently facing and requesting the help of the public in resolving these challenges. Discussion ensued. Molly O’Neill suggested that the survey should be vaguer than it currently is, encouraging persons to raise their own concerns.

Andy Transue suggested putting an article in the Block Island Times that included a cutout survey asking the public to list their three (3) main concerns. Carolyn Collins agreed and added that it would be a good medium to introduce the Commission. Molly O’Neill suggested using free mediums of communication like email, BIBB or the Town’s PO Box. Ms. O’Neill also suggested creating an email address that the clerk will have access to, to garner public input.

Jim Hinthorn suggested making a list of the current issues and asking people to identify their top five issues, along with recommendations on how to rectify them.

Town Manager Maryanne Crawford suggested that community policing be added to the survey.

It was decided that John Spier would put together a survey, forward it to clerk Keisha Phillips-Brown, after which Jim Hinthorn, Maryanne Crawford and Matthew Moynihan will meet and finalize the survey.

Jim Hinthorn moved to adjourn the meeting as 5:05 p.m.  The motion was seconded by Andy Transue and carried

            5 Ayes (Collins, Hinthorn, O’Neill, Transue, Spier)       0 Nays        0 Absent

Keisha Phillips-Brown

Minutes Approved: