Lynn cops host seminar

Lynn Police Chief John Suslak, Deputy Chief Kenneth Santoro and Lt. Dave Brown recently attended the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Internal Affairs, Legal and Operational Issues Training.The IACP is a professional organization consisting of law enforcement executives from the United States and other nations. The IACP facilitates the exchange of information among police administrators and promotes the highest possible standards in policing.The Lynn Police Department Training Center played host to the three-day seminar. It was the first such IACP training held at the department. Law enforcement officials from as far away as Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Ontario, Canada were in attendance.The IACP instructors were, Attorney Richard Courtemanche who is the Assistant City Attorney and Police Legal Advisor for the Tallahassee, Florida Police Department, and Chief Russell Fischer of the Miami-Dade Police Department.Courtemanche serves as the police legal advisor for the Tallahassee Police Department, which consists of 350 sworn officers. He provides personnel training on legal and administrative issues, and counsel to the chief. Courtemanche has a 15-year legal career, and lectures on behalf of the IACP.Fischer has been employed with the Miami-Dade Police Department for 30 years and commands over 1,000 employees, including the Police Operations Bureau, Community Affairs Bureau, Miami International Airport and Special Patrol Bureau. He is also the departments Hurricane Coordinator and was the Event Commander for last year’s Super Bowl, held in Miami.The seminar provided several informative lectures and power point presentations pertaining to the effective management of police internal affairs and administrative issues. A sampling of the topics discussed included: the difference between criminal and administrative interviews of law enforcement personnel, a law enforcement bill of rights, disciplinary matters, employee drug testing issues, sexual harassment in the workplace, administrative searches and a use of resistance reporting system. Additionally, there was a lecture on The United States Supreme Court Garrity Decision, as it applies to compelling employee interviews. There was also a discussion on the implementation of an early identification system, in order to help identify problem employees, as well as a uniform citizen complaint intake process.”This training was excellent,” Suslak said. “I would like to thank Captain Mark O’Toole of our Professional Standards Division for all his efforts in making this possible. This is the first of several IACP trainings that the captain has arranged for us to host this year. The fact that officers traveled from as far away as Arizona, Colorado and Canada to attend this training, gives you some indication of the reputation IACP training has in the law enforcement community.”