The City of Brookhaven has adopted new policies and procedures for its police department.

In 2023, consultant William “Bill” Harmening was contracted by the City to evaluate the Brookhaven Police Department’s current policies and procedures, and subsequently to write new policies and procedures to be implemented. Tuesday, the board voted to put those new guidelines into practice.

At 12:01 a.m., April 1, 2024, the current BPD Polices and Procedures will be “totally redacted and … no longer valid.” At that same time, the new Policies and Procedures will be adopted — as prepared by Harmening, Dr. Francis D. Boateng and Dr. Charles Scheer — “and will remain effective until they shall become amended or redacted in whole or in part.”

The new guidelines will be given to each PD employee and any new hires, each of whom must sign they have received a copy of the policies and reviewed them.

 

In other business, the board:

• Approved to hire Torra Hill as a Street Department laborer at $10.55 per hour, pending drug test and physical.
• Approved to award the lowest bid to BDM Enterprises for the lawn maintenance of exit 42 at $791 per cutting, in a two-year contract.
• Approved to award the lowest bid to The Mac Corporation/Edward McArthur for the lawn maintenance of city-owned cemeteries at $104,000 annually, in a three-year contract.
• Approved to extend the STAR Services agreement for the HVAC maintenance of city-owned facilities for an additional three years, as allowed in the original contract.
• Approved to award demolition and removal of the following structures at the specified costs:
  • To Harveston — 904 Independence St. $2,000; 118 Short St. $2,000
  • To Tip Toe — 912 E. Cherokee St. $2,000; 709 Swalm $2,000; 240 Gullidge $2,000
  • To 3D — 706 Hines St. $4,000; 110 S MLK $3,100; 315 E. Minnesota $2,900; 645 Beauregard $5,400; 213 Rogers Circle $3,900
  • To Southern Enviro — 906 Independence $2,750; 213 Lottie $1,700

 

All of the items were taken together, as a group, and passed with a vote of 6-1. The dissenting vote came from Ward 5 Alderman Fletcher Grice. The only item voted on separately was the Street Department hire, which passed 7-0.