Police Department
Monthly Report
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Police Department |
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James L. Cetran
Chief of Police
A Wethersfield Police Department Probationary Police Officer has completed seventeen weeks of basic training at the Connecticut Police Academy. Graduation is expected in March, 2008.
On Wednesday, February 27, 2008 patrol officers were dispatched to Fairway Drive on the report of two males possibly breaking into vehicles in the apartment complex parking lot. The first arriving officer saw two males wearing dark clothes who appeared to be rummaging through parked cars. The second officer arrived shortly thereafter. The two males spotted one of the officers and began to run away. One male was quickly caught with the second male caught a short time later hiding in some bushes in the complex. The two males admitted to breaking into cars in the Fairway Drive and Folly Brook Boulevard apartment complexes. They admitted to entering unlocked vehicles and taking anything of value including laundry detergent. The males were placed under arrest and charged with several crimes including simple trespass, larceny sixth degree and conspiracy to larceny sixth degree.
During the month of February, 2008 members of the Detective Bureau initiated or were assigned follow up to twenty-six new cases. Major case investigations include four burglaries, one larceny, one identity theft, five frauds and three sexual assaults.
On February 9, 2008 the Department was advised of a past tense burglary at two adjoining Silas Deane Highway businesses. Video surveillance at the first business showed a male party enter through the rear door of the business and go directly to the cash register. The suspect is seen stealing the cash located in the cash register.
At about the same time on the same date an alarm was also received for the adjoining business. At the time of the initial investigation, it was believed that entry was not gained. However, upon the opening of the business employees determined that entry was indeed gained into the business.
During the month of February, 2008 the School Resource Officer (SRO) handled several incidents to include a trespass complaint, a disorderly complaint, a lost property complaint, two theft complaints, a mediation, and several student referrals to the STAR team. It should be noted that all the property involved in the lost property and theft complaints was recovered.
In February, 2008 the SRO issued a juvenile summons from a January complaint for possession of alcohol by a minor and providing alcohol to minors. This case has been recommended for diversion through Town Social and Youth Services.
The SRO also assisted in the active shooter training held at the High School during the week of February 18, 2008. Additionally, the SRO also attended Firearm Training Simulator (FATS) training for a school shooting scenario.
The Wethersfield Police Department Juvenile Unit investigated twenty-four incidents involving thirty-one juveniles. In these incidents, no juveniles were arrested for criminal violations. Among the involved juveniles, one juvenile was diverted for school punishment, ten were diverted to their parents, and one was diverted to the Department of Social & Youth Services.
The Wethersfield Police Explorers aided the Wethersfield Police Department in active shooter training at Wethersfield High School during the week of February 18-22, 2008. The Explorers were role players for the active shooter scenarios. The Explorers also assisted training staff in cleaning the school areas used during training.
Finally, the WPD Explorers also assisted with the DARE program graduations. As a result of their assistance, all three recent DARE graduations occurred without problems.
In February, 2008 Wethersfield Dispatchers received and handled 798 E-911 emergency phone calls.
Wethersfield Dispatchers dispatched the Wethersfield Volunteer Ambulance to twenty-one medical emergencies and Aetna Ambulance to 233 medical emergencies for a total of 254 medical emergencies.
In February, 2008 the WPD Child Seat Technician inspected/installed eleven child seats. The Support Services Bureau continues to receive requests via the Department web site as well as phone messages.
During February 2008, twelve persons were taken into custody and held requiring 240 hours of incarceration. Of the persons held, four were arrested by warrant. Support Services personnel transported twelve prisoners to court. Transported to court were nine males and three females. The three females incarcerated by the Department required 105 hours of matron coverage.
Support Service Bureau officers continue to address citizen complaints involving traffic, parking violations and other motor vehicle violations. Citizens regularly complain of a variety of different violations on various town streets and several town schools. To address these complaints, officers performed selective enforcement at numerous locations throughout town. Officers performed selective enforcement sixty-one (61) times and spent a total of forty-five (45) hours doing selective enforcement on various roads in town.
On Tuesday, February 5, 2008 a WPD canine officer, along with his canine, Hunter, attended a one day training class entitled "Police Canine/ Police Canine Handler Training." The canine officer and Hunter participated in this monthly canine training with several other area law enforcement canine teams. Training included evidence recovery and tracking.
On Thursday, February 7, 2008 the WPD training sergeant and a WPD training instructor began attending a two day class entitled "Civil Liability for Police Trainers and Agency Training Officers." Instruction topics include recent court decisions and legislative actions regarding training and policy issues, hiring and retention, legal standards applicable to liability for failure to train and methods of training to avoid liability.
On Thursday, February 7, 2008 two officers attended a one day recertification class entitled "NCIC/ COLLECT Recertification Training." Training was held at the Connecticut State Police Complex, Meriden, CT. This class is a recertification class for persons presently certified on the NCIC/ COLLECT computer system. Recertification is for a period of two years.
On Monday, February 11, 2008 an officer began attending a four day training class entitled "Field Training Officer Program." This training was held at the Manchester Police Department, Manchester, CT. This training allows students to become certified Field Training Officers. Training areas included FTO liability, standardized evaluation guidelines, remedial training and completion of daily observation reports.
On Wednesday, February 13, 2008 an officer attended a one-day training class entitled "Intoxilyzer 5000EN Instructor." Training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. This training class enables the officer to renew Department member certification on the Intoxilyzer 5000EN. This machine is used to determine the breath blood alcohol content (BAC) of suspected DUI arrestees. The Department has three Intoxilyzer Instructors.
During the week of February 18, 2008 the WPD Training Unit conducted "Active Shooter Response" training. Thirty-seven (37) officers participated in this training which was conducted at the Wethersfield High School during their school vacation week. Officers were given forty-five (45) minutes of classroom lecture/discussion regarding Active Shooter Response. Officers then responded to a variety of scenarios inside the High School using Simunition FX marking cartridges.
On Tuesday, February 26, 2008 a sergeant and three officers attended one day "CREST - Dive Team" training. This training is conducted on a monthly basis with several other area law enforcement agencies that comprise CREST. This month's activities included ice diving on Coventry Lake.
On Friday, February 29, 2008 two lieutenants, two sergeants and two officers attended a one day class entitled "Emotional Survival or Malcontent Cops." Training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Topics include the events that impact an officer over the course of a career that potentially change the way officers view their agency, community and society in general. Presented are strategies for maintaining a focused, ethical, and committed orientation towards the law enforcement career and ideas to assist individuals from falling into situations that can potentially destroy both personal and professional lives. The goal of the training is to help in the maintenance of effective law enforcement employees and families.
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 March 20, 2008.
In February, 2008 police personnel were dispatched to a total of seventy-two alarms. Fifty-three were deemed to be chargeable alarms and nineteen were classified as non-chargeable. Three locations were billed this month for violating the false alarm ordinance. Twenty-two new alarm registrations were received from residents / businesses in the month. To date, there are a total of 1,014 locations with active alarm systems registered with the Police Department.
The following are the burglary and robbery statistics for the month of February, 2008 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 | February 2007 | February 2008 |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Burglaries | 2 (0) | 3 (0) |
| Commercial Burglaries | 1 (0) | 3 (0) |
| Armed Robberies | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Strong-arm Robberies | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
