SPD scores high marks in KLC Safety and Liability Review
The Kentucky League of Cities is giving high praise to the Somerset Police Department, as well as high marks in a 'report card' that measures the department's safety.
John Clark, law enforcement consultant for KLC, presented SPD Chief Josh Wesley with a plaque in commemoration of the department scoring 100% during a Safety and Liability Review of the department.
The presentation took place during Monday's City Council meeting.
Clark told the council that the review examines 60 areas for SPD personnel, such as driving, firearms training, response to resistance, and keeping track of evidence.
'That is a comprehensive look at an agency's leadership, training, policies, and best practices for law enforcement to see how they're doing. It's almost kind of like a report card that goes back to the League of Cities,' Clark said.
The areas looked at are related to situations that could either get officers hurt or get the department sued—both of which could cause insurance premiums to rise.
And because the city is insured through KLC, there is an incentive for both the city and KLC to measure law enforcement liability.
A high score during this review translates into lower insurance premiums, Clark said, which means the city spends less money to insure the department.
'KLC, as you can imagine, has extremely high standards when it comes to these reviews,' Clark said. 'But the Somerset Police Department has demonstrated a 100% score in all of those areas. And that doesn't happen very often. They exceed professional standards in every area that we measured.
'… This is an accomplishment for the police department, but it's also an accomplishment for the city and for you all,' he said to council members, 'because as you all are well aware, these things are not cheap. These things are not just put forth by effort, but many times they have to come to you all, and you have to fund the very things that keep them on the cutting edge of what keeps law enforcement and your community safe.'
Somerset Mayor Alan Keck said that he believed this was only the second time the city has received this distinction.
'Chief Wesley, we're grateful for you and your team for your continued hard work,' Keck said.
Also, at Monday's meeting, the council approved an ordinance that would update the city's tourism tax requirements to include short-term rental operators, such as Airbnb and Vrbo, to pay the same 4% transient tax that hotels and motels pay.
Keck explained in a previous meeting – and City Attorney John Adams reiterated for the second reading – that when the original ordinance was passed in 2013, brand-name house rental services weren't as prevalent in the market as they are now. Therefore, short-term rentals weren't covered in the language used in that 2013 ordinance.
The new ordinance will also place short-term rental operators in a category for membership in the local Tourism Commission.
Council members also heard the first reading for two new ordinances. One would bring three new streets into the city street system: Innovation Avenue, United Drive, and Progress Lane.
These three streets are part of the SPEDA Commerce Park industrial development area, located in the Barnesburg area.
The second first reading was for a potential zone change for 100 Mardis St. The owner has requested a change from an industrial designation to Residential-3, or a multi-family residential area.
Both items will receive a second reading and vote at a later date.
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Providence police did eventually respond to the bomb and shooting threats on Nov. 7, 2021. However, the city police incident report notes the call was received at 5:21 p.m., three-and-a-half hours after the initial 1:50 p.m. call to Brown University police noted in Greco's report. There were no arrests. Brown University Department of Public Safety is also required to collect and report crime statistics to the U.S. Department of Education under The Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act. The university maintains an electronic log of daily incidents, dating back to 2018, noting the date and time of each incident, its classification — larceny, burglary, extortion, etc — and whether the investigation is open, closed or turned over to Providence police. The single-line entries offer little detail, and without a formal arrest or transfer to Providence police, most of the specific information remains out of public reach. If the primary function of Brown's police department is to take what should be public record and make it private, they are not prioritizing the safety of officers. – Michael Greco, a former Brown University patrol officer who left in August 2024 Greco also alleged police would routinely doctor incident reports to avoid federal reporting requirements — vandalism became 'property damage with malicious intent,' for example. 'I don't think that there's anything more troubling than the notion that an agency that has the power to arrest somebody can keep that information about those arrests secret,' Brown said. 'That should concern anyone who cares about transparency and accountability, when any entity is given such incredible power over information.' The lawsuit asks the court to issue a judgment determining that Brown's campus police department is a public body, subject to compliance with public records laws. It also seeks court intervention to force Brown University to hand over the arrest documents requested by Bilow and Brigham within 10 days. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
