Police Department
Monthly Report
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Police Department |
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James L. Cetran
Chief of Police
A Probationary Officer has completed the first of four Field Training phases and began Phase Two training. This Field Training is under the supervision of Department Field Training Officers. During the Field Training Program, the Probationary Officer is observed and evaluated on a daily basis while he is expected to perform more duties with each phase.
The Capitol Region Emergency Services Team (C.R.E.S.T.) participated in the 3rd Annual Connecticut SWAT Challenge. After two days of grueling competition, culminating in a six mile run through the MDC Reservoir, which included eighteen physical stations, the CREST team finished in sixth place out of twenty-six participating teams. The ten-member CREST SWAT Challenge team was comprised of three Wethersfield Police Officers.
The Wethersfield Police Department entry-level hiring process continues with members of the Detective Bureau having completed their respective background investigations on the entry-level candidates. It is expected that the Department will make full offers of employment to two candidates in October, 2007.
On Saturday, September 29, 2007 at about 7:00 PM a WPD Patrol Sergeant saw a vehicle traveling on the Silas Deane Highway with equipment violations. Upon stopping the vehicle, the operator was unable to produce the registration and insurance cards. As the operator looked for them in the glove box, the Sergeant saw a small prescription bottle with what he believed to be marijuana inside. He asked to see the bottle which the operator agreed to. The Sergeant saw that the bottle contained marijuana and a marijuana cigarette. The operator reported that the vehicle was not registered nor was it insured. A subsequent search of the vehicle and the operator revealed more marijuana. The operator was arrested for Possession of Marijuana and the motor vehicle violations.
In September, 2007 members of the Detective Bureau initiated or were assigned follow up to thirty- two new cases. Major case investigations include six fraud cases, four burglaries, five identity thefts, and one narcotic case.
In September, 2007 WPD officers and detectives responded to a reported burglary at a Goodwin Park Road residence. Members of the Detective Bureau developed a suspect in the burglary later that same day. Approximately two days later, WPD detectives located the suspect on the Silas Deane Hwy. The suspect was interviewed and he soon confessed to the Goodwin Park Road burglary. The suspect also confessed to a burglary he committed in Hartford, CT. The Hartford Police Department was notified of the confession.
During the month of September, 2007 the School Resource Officer (SRO) investigated nine incidents in the month resulting in nine incident reports. These incidents include five larcenies, one assault, one trespassing/interfering/criminal impersonation and one public disturbance. The SRO also served two arrest warrants, (Larceny Six Degree, Larceny Fifth Degree) on the same student for incidents occurring in June, 2007.
The SRO, with the assistance of the WHS administration, also conducted a number of mediations between students with issues occurring outside the school, the High School's Open House and unintentional damage that occurred in the School.
The SRO also spoke at the Freshman Experience regarding the most common laws that students might be concerned with in regards to their activities. Finally, the SRO was also requested to speak to multiple English classes regarding their Values segment.
The Wethersfield Police Department, Juvenile Unit, handled approximately forty-four incidents involving approximately seventy-six juveniles. In these incidents, four juveniles were arrested for criminal violations with one juvenile being referred to the Town Youth Services Diversion Program. The remainder of the juveniles were diverted to their parents or other authorities without any further police investigation. Many of the incidents that were handled by the Juvenile Unit this month involved perceived suspicious activity or trespassing complaints. In these cases, the juveniles were identified and then turned over to their parents.
In August, 2007 The Department Explorer program conducted a promotional examination process in order to fill expected vacancies in the near future. The examination consisted of a written and oral exam modeled after police based promotional exams. As a result of this promotional process, four Explorers were promoted this month to include a lieutenant, two sergeants, and a corporal.
On September 15, 2007 the Wethersfield Police Explorers participated in the Wethersfield Corn Fest. The Explorers patrolled the event grounds and assisted the Wethersfield Chamber of Commerce at the entrance points by maintaining a uniform presence. The Explorers also controlled a booth assigned to Wethersfield Police Department where they offered child identification kits (fingerprinting), informational brochures and free bicycle helmets to children that needed them. The Wethersfield Corn Fest also provided the Explorers with their first opportunity to deploy their new Motorola radios. The radios are low frequency "talk about" style radios that greatly enhanced Explorer based communication at the event.
The Wethersfield Police Explorers will be attending the Craft Fair on October 6, 2007 and the Mikey's Place 5K on October 14, 2007.
Wethersfield dispatchers dispatched the Wethersfield Volunteer Ambulance and Aetna Ambulance to a total of 262 medical emergencies.
During September, 2007 twenty-seven persons were taken into custody and held requiring 511 hours of incarceration. Of the persons held, twenty-one were arrested by warrant. Support Services personnel transported twenty-seven prisoners to court. Transported to court were nineteen males and eight females. The eight females incarcerated by the Department required 172 hours of matron coverage.
In May, 2007 the Support Services Commander received a complaint from a resident of Ridge Road of speeding vehicles on this road. A traffic study was initiated and completed in September. A speed monitoring device was placed on Ridge Road for approximately two weeks in August/September. The findings were forwarded to the Police Chief and Town Manager. As with almost all streets in Wethersfield, there were sporadic spikes in speed most likely caused by one car at a given time. It appears that the maximum speeds listed were caused by only a few cars. This spike in speed will be addressed by both the Patrol Bureau and Support Services with radar enforcement at a targeted time.
The Support Services Bureau Commander continues to receive requests for added or replacement road signs. Several work orders were completed for new or replacement signs throughout Wethersfield. Some of these work orders included modifications to the existing "No Parking" signs on Dale Road adjacent to the Bliss Market area, repositioning the stop sign pole on Boardman Terrace at Tobler Terrace and adding a "Beyond This Sign" placard to the existing "No Parking" sign on Main Street just north of the Keeney Center.
On Wednesday, September 5, 2007 two lieutenants attended a two hour training class in Meriden, CT entitled "New Legal Developments Concerning Police Policies and Practices." This training class briefs attendees on the new Public Acts adopted by the State of Connecticut and other recent case law developments affecting law enforcement. On Wednesday, September 19, 2007 two additional lieutenants and the training sergeant attended the second session of this training class.
On Wednesday, September 5, 2007 five members of the Capitol Region Emergency Services Team (CREST) began attending monthly two-day training.
On Monday, September 10, 2007 nine members of the Department attended a four hour class entitled "NCIC/ COLLECT for the MDT User." Training was held at the Wethersfield Police Department Community Room and was instructed by a certified instructor. This training is specifically for sworn personnel who access-only NCIC and COLLECT information on Department Mobile Data terminals. Certification is for a two-year period.
On Tuesday, September 11, 2007 Chief James Cetran, four lieutenants, the training sergeant and one dispatcher attended a one day training class entitled "ICS/EOC-191 Interface Workshop" This course was held in the Wethersfield Police Department Community Room. Objectives of this course included when to open the Town Emergency Operation Center during various levels of emergencies.
On Monday, September 17, 2007 a WPD officer began attending a two-week class entitled "D.A.R.E. Officer Training." This training was held at the Owego Treadway Inn & Conference Center, Owego, NY. This intensive two week training program is required for officers beginning to teach in the D.A.R.E. program. Training topics included teaching and presentation preparation, D.A.R.E. guidelines and programs and dealing with youth and schools.
On Monday, September 24, 2007 a WPD officer began attending a two week training class entitled "At Scene Traffic Crash Investigation." This class was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Some of the course objectives were to measure, diagram and photograph physical evidence from the crash scene, make reliable speed estimates of crash vehicles by skid mark and scuffmark evidence and measuring/recording the positions of vehicles and other objects at the crash scene.
On Monday, September 24, 2007 a WPD canine officer and Canine Hunter attended a one day training class entitled "CPWDA (CT Police Work Dog Association) Verlighten Seminar." This training was held in New Milford, CT. The objective of this training was to teach the police dogs to effectively work in situations where distractions are present.
Annual Arrest & Control, ASP, Handcuffing, Taser, Use of Force and Pursuit Policy review training is scheduled for October, 2007.
Classroom and range qualifications under provisions of the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 (HR218) for WPD Retirees is scheduled for October 11, 2007.
The Wethersfield Police Department, Training Unit, will be hosting a three day course entitled ICS-300. This course will be held consecutive Wednesdays for three weeks beginning on October 17, 2007. This course will be held in the WPD Community Room.
The Wethersfield Police Department, Training Unit, will be hosting one day of the Capital Region Police Recertification - Supervisor Program. This course will be held in the WPD Community Room on October 18, 2007.
Emergency personnel were dispatched to a total of eighty-eight alarms during the month of September, 2007 of which fifty-three were deemed to be chargeable alarms. Twenty-five locations were billed this month for violating the false alarm ordinance. Fifteen new alarm registrations were received from residents / businesses in the month of September, 2007. To date there are a total of 930 locations with active alarm systems registered with the Police Department.
The following are the burglary and robbery statistics for the month of September, 2007 along with comparative statistics for the same period of last year. The figures in the parenthesis represent the number of cases cleared by arrest or in which the perpetrators have been identified.
| Criminal Activity | September 2006 | September 2007 |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Burglaries | 3 (0) | 4 (1) |
| Commercial Burglaries | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Armed Robberies | 2 (1) | 0 (0) |
| Strong-arm Robberies | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
