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Police chief says new state rules require policies online; unexpected training and vehicle bills strain budget
Summary
The police chief told the Select Board that LB 1784 requires public posting of department policies by July 28; the town contracted with PowerDMS to host 129 policies and integrate officer training. The department also reported a $4,800 cruiser repair and a $48,000 invoice from the state for a former employee's training.
Monmouth's police chief told the Select Board the department is working to meet new state requirements that will mandate public posting of department policies and annualized officer training.
"One of the things I was notified of last week was LB 1784, which mandates certain things on police departments. One of them being that all of our policies and procedures have to be made public... It goes into effect July 28th," the chief said, adding that the town has contracted with PowerDMS to host the department's policies and connect training records to the platform.
The chief said the PowerDMS contract will bring the department into compliance and allow a direct link from the town website so residents can access policies. He said officers already do mandated training through the Dergo system and that PowerDMS will centralize training and policy records: "Now any training they do goes onto the PowerDMS site. So I can see what everybody's been trained in over the year and make sure that they've met the requirements necessary."
The report also detailed immediate budget pressures: a cruiser with about 140,000 miles required a wiring-harness replacement costing about $4,800. The chief described a separate, larger unexpected invoice: "We just got a received bill from Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for Rose and Dell's training... for the amount of $48,000," he said, explaining the town was billed under state law even after an employee was separated from service.
Staff warned that the staffing pattern will be affected while the town makes up the cost: some shifts will go uncovered and officers will take calls on those open shifts until the bill is addressed. The chief said the department also incurred additional IT security work to comply with the criminal justice information systems audit, which added five policy requirements and associated IT costs.
The town manager said a monthly report on staffing and operations will be prepared by the fiscal year end and presented at the next meeting. The Select Board thanked residents for supporting public safety budgets that fund some of the department's needs.
No formal action was taken at this meeting on policing budgets beyond informational updates and the plan to centralize policy and training records.
