Hurley PD updates policies

By TOM LAVENTURE

tlaventure@yourdailyglobe.com

Hurley — The Hurley Police Department is looking to complete a year-long policy and procedure update in the spring, according to reports at the Police, Fire and License Committee on Wednesday.

Earlier this year, the department embarked on a project to update policies and procedures with Lexipol, a law enforcement policies and training agency, according to Chief of Police Chris Colassaco with members Steve Lombardo, chair, Joanne Bruneau and Stephanie Smith all present. The work is to make the department function with standardized policing policies and will also reduce the city’s administrative vulnerability.

“The policy procedure manual is coming along very well,” Colassaco said. “By the early springtime, I want it to be completed and that will be a really big step for us to have that all updated and it will add to our progress.”

The department has been relatively busy for the past month, he said. The winter recreation season is approaching and the department is prepared.

“I’m happy to have the department back at full staff, so that we can start to move forward on some other stuff that we’ve been working on,” Colassaco said. 

Chris Edyvean was hired by the police department earlier this summer and completed the Law Enforcement Recruit Academy at Nicolet College in Rhinelander in October, he said. The new officer has nearly completed on-the-job supervised training and will be working his own shifts by the end of the month, he said.

The department is going to move a seldom-used 2014 police pickup into rotation more frequently with the anticipated arrival of a 2022 Dodge Durango that is currently on order, Colassaco said. The 2014 truck was previously used in winter, during bad weather or out of town travel which has resulted in low mileage for the seven-year-old truck.

With the 2014 truck in rotation, the service life of the more expensive Durango could be extended to three years before the mileage reaches 100,000 to 120,000 miles, he said. Typically, after two years the maintenance of police vehicles used primarily for city driving will become too taxing on the budget.

The other reason for adding the 2014 truck into the rotation was to avoid having a truck more than 10 years old, he said. Even with low miles, a truck of that age will have issues, he said.

The department will purchase a cage for the 2014 truck and enter it into rotation early in 2022.

In other business, the committee approved a recommendation for the full city council to approve three bartender licenses. The committee also approved a recommendation to grant a change of agent of Edward A. Alvey Jr. for Krist Oil Company, doing business as Krist Food Mart No. 60 at 200 Silver St.