Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee January 25, 2018 [LB831 LB997 CONFIRMATION] The Committee on Government, Military and Veterans Affairs met at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, 2018, in Room 1507 of the State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska, for the purpose of conducting a public hearing on LB831, LB997, and a gubernatorial appointment. Senators present: John Murante, Chairperson; Tom Brewer, Vice Chairperson; Carol Blood; Tom Briese; Mike Hilgers; John Lowe; Theresa Thibodeau; and Justin Wayne. Senators absent: None. SENATOR MURANTE: (Recorder malfunction)...and Veterans Affairs Committee. My name is John Murante. I'm the state senator for District 49 which includes Gretna and western Sarpy County, and I'm the Chairman of this committee. We are here today for the purposes of conducting three public hearings. We'll be taking those matters up in the order in which they appear on the agenda outside of this room. If you are here and wish to testify on any of the matters before us, we ask that you fill out one of these green sheets of paper. The green sheets are located on either side of the room. If you are here and you wish to express support or opposition for any of the matters before us but you do not wish to testify, we ask that you sign in and indicate your support or opposition. I can assure you that your opinion will be given the same weight as if you had testified. If you do testify, we ask that you begin by stating and spelling your name for the record, which is very important for our Transcribers Office. Our order of proceedings is that the introducer of the legislation will be given an opportunity to make opening remarks. Then we will listen to proponent testimony, followed by opponent testimony, then neutral testimony, and the introducer will be given an opportunity to close. In the case of our gubernatorial appointee, the appointee will be given an opportunity to open but will not be afforded an opportunity to close. We ask that you listen very carefully and to try not to be repetitive. We do use the light system in the Government Committee. Each testifier is allotted three minutes to testify. When the yellow light comes on, we ask that you begin concluding your remarks because you have one minute remaining. When the red light comes on, we ask that you conclude your remarks and we will open the committee up for any questions they may have of you. At this point, I'd like to ask everyone to turn off or silence any cell phones or other electronic devices, anything that makes noise. If you have a statement, an exhibit, or anything you would like distributed to the committee, we ask that you provide 12 copies to our page. If you don't have 12 copies, don't worry; provide what you have to our page and he will make copies for you. Our page for the day is Joe Gruber from Omaha. For introductions, to my immediate right is Andrew La Grone. Mr. La Grone is the Government Committee's legal counsel. To my far left is Sherry Shaffer. Sherry is the Government Committee Clerk. For self- introductions of members, we'll start with Senator Lowe. SENATOR LOWE: John Lowe, District 37. 1 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee January 25, 2018 SENATOR BRIESE: Tom Briese, District 41. SENATOR HILGERS: Mike Hilgers, District 21, northwest Lincoln and Lancaster County. SENATOR BREWER: Tom Brewer, District 43. SENATOR WAYNE: Justin Wayne, District 13, the "Mighty District 13." SENATOR BLOOD: Senator Carol Blood, District 3. SENATOR MURANTE: And Senator Thibodeau will be with us momentarily. I'd like to remind everyone that Senator Brewer is the Vice Chairman of this committee. So with that, we will welcome to the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, Colonel. Welcome. JOHN BOLDUC: Thank you. [CONFIRMATION] SENATOR MURANTE: No problem. When you're ready. [CONFIRMATION] JOHN BOLDUC: (Exhibits 1, 2, and 3) Good afternoon, Chairman Murante, members of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. My name is John Bolduc, J-o-h-n B-o-l- d-u-c, and I've been appointed by Governor Ricketts to serve as superintendent of law enforcement and public safety in command of the Nebraska State Patrol. Thank you for having me here today to discuss the future of the Nebraska State Patrol and my experiences and qualifications for the role of superintendent. I'd like to thank each of you for taking the time to meet with me over the last few months. I'm originally from Maple Grove, Minnesota, which is a suburb of Minneapolis. I attended and graduated from Bemidji State University in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. I attended the basic police academy at Alexandria Technical College in Minnesota. I became a police officer in 1986 with the Maple Grove Police Department. In that capacity, I served as both a police officer, training officer, detective, sergeant, and SWAT team commander. I was appointed chief of police for the city of Mora, Minnesota, in 1998 where I served until 2001. In 2001, I had the honor of being appointed by the late mayor of Brainerd, James Wallin, to the position of chief of police for the city of Brainerd. I served there until 2010. In May of 2010, I accepted the position of chief of police and vice president of public safety at the Port of San Diego. There I oversaw a staff of over 140 sworn officers and 25 civilian employees with an annual budget of $38 million. I served at the Port until I came here at the Nebraska State Patrol in October of 2017. During my career, I had the opportunity to further my education by attending the FBI National Academy in 1999. I later completed a degree, a master's degree in organizational leadership at National University in California. Some aspects of my 2 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee January 25, 2018 career that I believe translate well into this position include my commitment to professionalism and leadership development. In 2005 I was appointed to the Minnesota POST Board, which is the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board. I was named chair of that board in 2008. At the POST Board, the task of that board is to oversee the development and training, hiring, and retention standards of Minnesota's 10,000-plus peace officers. I've had the honor of receiving several community service awards from the Blandin Community Foundation, the National Latino Police Officers Association, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, and several other community groups. I would submit to the committee that my experience meets the four-year law enforcement qualification as required by Nebraska Revised Statute 81-2001 for this position. I believe a notable point of my experience, which I believe will serve me well here in Nebraska, is that I have worked in both rural and urban environments; from a town of roughly 3,000 people in Mora, Minnesota, to the 17th largest metropolitan area in the country, with over 3 million people in San Diego County. I believe my experience in both urban and rural settings equips me well to lead an agency that serves the diversity of communities throughout our great state, from small villages to metro areas. The Nebraska State Patrol is Nebraska's only statewide, full-service law enforcement agency. Our responsibilities are many: primarily enforcement and investigative functions, but we have an equally important responsibility to support public safety partners and Nebraska's local law enforcement agencies. We have continued that work, even during a period of time during which our agency came under great scrutiny. I will address the events that led to that scrutiny as well as the progress our team has made in adopting new policies and holding employees accountable for misconduct. But first let me detail some of the fantastic work by our troopers and civilian employees that I've been able to witness firsthand. In the four months that I've been in this position, I've seen great police work happening all across our state from major drug seizures to diligent criminal investigations to dedicated work on Nebraska's roads during treacherous weather conditions. I have heard from the public about many instances in which a trooper has stopped along the side of the road to help someone in need. Our troopers go into schools to educate kids on safe driving. Our crime lab technicians are on the cutting edge of law enforcement technology. Our civilian employees work with the same dedication that you see from those in uniform. The Nebraska State Patrol is more than 700 members of one team, striving toward one goal. The State Patrol was put under a microscope in 2017, stemming from two high-profile cases that occurred in 2016. Those cases resulted in a review of the State Patrol and its policies by the Governor's Office. That review recommended internal policy changes, many of which I can report to you are already complete. The review also triggered an internal investigation into the actions of seven sworn personnel following those two high-profile cases. Let me emphasize, this investigation was focused on the actions in response to the incidents. Those incidents involved a tactical vehicle intervention and a separate use-of-force incident.