NH police budget and employment data (Merrimack County) (Sutton Police Department)

Granite State News Collaborative filed this request with the Sutton Police Department of Sutton, NH.
Multi Request NH police budget and employment data (Merrimack County)
Status
Completed

Communications

From: Granite State News Collaborative

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New Hampshire Right to Know Law, I respectfully request the following records related to this municipality's police department hiring, employment, and funding for the budget years 2000 through 2020:

BUDGET and FUNDING DATA - Records sufficient to show funding for municipal law enforcement offices and activities for the years 2000 through 2020.

If possible, please provide the itemized budget allocated for public safety and police department activities for each year, as well as records sufficient to show any additional funding received through other means, including but not limited to:
• funds for capital expenditures
• grants
• donations

HIRING and EMPLOYMENT DATA - Records sufficient to show the following data regarding police department employment for the years 2000 through 2020.
• The number of employed law enforcement officers (as defined by RSA 105-D:1). Please provide the date on which the provided numbers were accurate.
• Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of law enforcement officers employed by this municipality
• Annual demographic information (age, race, gender) of any individual employed in a position of leadership within this municipality’s public safety or law enforcement department

If any of the requested information is available in aggregate form, provision of this aggregate information by year would likely satisfy this request. If there are any known caveats involved with the data and information your office is able to provide, I would really appreciate it if you could share them with me.

*Please note* that if any of the requested information is held by another office or agency, direction to the appropriate office would be greatly appreciated.

This request is being made on behalf of the Concord Monitor through the statewide nonprofit Granite State News Collaborative. This request is not being made for commercial purposes. It is being made as part of a journalistic data collection effort to benefit news organizations and the public good throughout the State of New Hampshire.

If your office anticipates that fees associated with the processing of this request, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request be filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Please call 603-224-5301 with any questions about this request. If your call is not answered, please leave a message and your call will be returned as soon as possible.

I look forward to receiving your response to this request within five business days, as required by law.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I really appreciate your time and help.

Sincerely,

Cassidy Jensen, The Concord Monitor

From: Sutton Police Department

Dear Ms. Jensen,

1. In regard to your request for Budget and Funding Data:

Attached please find a summary of Police Department Appropriations and Expenditures 2000-2020. For additional details including the itemized budget allocation for public safety and police activities as well as capital reserve reports, please refer to Sutton Annual Reports which are available at the following link: Sutton, NH Annual Reports | New Hampshire City and Town Annual Reports | University of New Hampshire (unh.edu)<https://scholars.unh.edu/sutton_nh_reports/>. The Sutton Police Department does not accept donations. The all-volunteer rescue squad and fire department do not provide the Town with revenue detail.
2. In regard to your request for Hiring and Employment Data:

The Town does not maintain a document that identifies specifically the number of employees in any Department at any given time. However, each Annual Report contains a synopsis of the year from each Department Head and it is possible that additions and departures from the Department are contained therein. Additionally, as an employer with fewer than 100 employees we are not required to file an EEO-1 form and therefore do not have documents for the period 2000 - 2020 which would be responsive to your request for annual demographic data. To the best of the Town's knowledge and information, the Town does not maintain any documents reflecting the demographic profile of any individual employed "in a position of leadership", and as such, there are no records in our procession responsive to your request.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.

Be well,

Elly

Elly Phillips, Town Administrator
Town of Sutton
93 Main Street
Sutton Mills, NH 03221
(603) 927-2403
townadmin@sutton-nh.org<mailto:townadmin@sutton-nh.org>
[Town of Sutton Selectmen Meeting Minutes]

From: Granite State News Collaborative

Hi Elly,

Thanks so much for your help with this request. I really appreciate it. Are there any other records that contain even limited demographic information (for example, age or gender)? I understand that the department does not file an EEO-1 form, but I've found that some other small departments have been able to provide us with some demographic information from other records.

Thanks again for your assistance with this request.

Sincerely,
Cassidy Jensen, The Concord Monitor

From: Sutton Police Department

Cassidy,

I’ll give you some institutional memory information, since I’ve been here forever. Sutton is a really small police department. Ideally, the town is staffed with 3 full-time police officers. Currently we have two: One has been employed by the Town since 2003 (18 years) is 43 years old and male. The other has been employed by the Town since 2007 (14 years) and is a 35 years old female. The officer that resigned this year was employed by the Town since 2010 and was a 50 year old mail. Prior to that, there were only three other full-time officers employed by the town – all male, all between the ages of 50 and 70 when they retired. ages in a position of leadership ranged from 31 – 70.

I apologize for the delay in responding to your R-T-K request. It was forwarded to me last Friday. GEEZ.

I hope this helps. Out of curiosity what is your story about?

Elly

Elly Phillips, Town Administrator
Town of Sutton
93 Main Street
Sutton Mills, NH 03221
(603) 927-2403
townadmin@sutton-nh.org<mailto:townadmin@sutton-nh.org>
[Town of Sutton Selectmen Meeting Minutes]

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