Police Department
Monthly Report
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Police Department |
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James L. Cetran
Chief of Police
The week of January 12, 2009 the Wethersfield Police Department conducted oral board examinations for the position of Probationary Police Officer. This was the second phase of the hiring process. Forty-five applicants took part in these examinations. The oral board examination consisted of the applicant answering a series of questions as presented by a panel of raters, a police lieutenant, a police sergeant and a field training officer. During the week of January 19, 2009 Conditional Offers of Employment were extended to twelve candidates. These twelve candidates had the highest weighted combined written and oral board examination scores. The next portion of this hiring process, background examinations, will be conducted by members of the Detective Division beginning February, 2009.
On January 12, 2009 the Department began accepting applications for the position of Public Safety Dispatcher. Applications were accepted for a period of two weeks with a January 26, 2009 closing date. Three-hundred and sixty (360) applications were received. This hiring process will continue into February, 2009 with selected candidates taking an oral board examination as well as a practical examination.
On Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 2:45 AM Wethersfield patrol officers responded to a reported motor vehicle crash on the Berlin Turnpike. Responding officers located the crash near the southbound lane of the Berlin Turnpike, just north of Nott Street. Officers located a single vehicle off the side of the road. Officers found the lone occupant and operator inside the vehicle suffering from serious injuries. Members of the Wethersfield Volunteer Fire Department were summoned to the scene to perform extrication. The operator was extricated from the vehicle and transported to a local hospital by Aetna Ambulance. A preliminary investigation by officers at the scene showed that the single vehicle had left the roadway and struck a utility pole. Later that same day the Wethersfield Police Department was advised that the victim, a thirty year old female Newington resident, had succumbed to her injuries and died. Members of the Wethersfield Police Department Accident Reconstruction Team continue to investigate the crash.
On January 31, 2009 a patrol officer saw a vehicle traveling on the Berlin Turnpike with an equipment violation. The officer checked the status of the registration and found that the car was reported stolen out of Manchester, CT. After getting behind the stolen vehicle, the officer activated his emergency lights and siren. The stolen vehicle accelerated and the officer believed it was trying to elude him. The operator of the stolen car traveled into Hartford with the officer still in pursuit. After a short distance in Hartford, the stolen vehicle struck a snow bank coming to a stop. Three males exited and ran from the vehicle. The officer chased after the three persons and was able to catch and arrest one of the juvenile passengers.
In January, 2009 members of the Detective Bureau initiated or were assigned follow-up to twenty-eight new cases. Major case investigations include six burglaries, three larcenies and seven fraud cases. Detectives also continue to perform background investigations and backgrounds for pistol permits applicants.
In January, 2009 detectives assisted the patrol division in the arrest of a shoplifter from a local store. During the processing of the suspect, a detective recognized the arrestee as a suspect in several local burglaries and larcenies. After processing the shoplifter, the detective interviewed the suspect about his possible involvement in area burglaries. The detective obtained a confession from the suspect regarding his involvement in two unsolved burglaries and an unsolved larceny. Arrest warrants for the suspect are pending.
In January, 2009 the Wethersfield Police Department Juvenile Unit handled twenty-three incidents involving twenty-eight juveniles. In these incidents, two juveniles were arrested for criminal violations, two were diverted to school punishment and five were diverted to parental punishment and one was diverted to counseling through the Division of Social and Youth Services.
In January, 2009 the Wethersfield Police Explorers completed training regarding building and room searches. The training consisted of practical training involving simmunition at the Police Department. Several officers volunteered to assist with the training on their personal time.
In January, 2009 the School Resource Officer (SRO) reported six incidents that were entered into the School Cop Database. These six incidents resulted in five incident reports. These incidents included two disorderly conduct incidents, one assault incident, one trespass situation and one larceny. The SRO reported four mediations regarding bullying, past dating situations and a disorderly situation. Finally, the SRO instructed a WHS Civics class regarding the practical application of the 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution.
In the month of January, 2009 Wethersfield Dispatchers received and handled 793 E-911 emergency phone calls.
In January, 2009 Wethersfield dispatchers dispatched the Wethersfield Volunteer Ambulance to thirty-seven medical emergencies and Aetna Ambulance to 248 medical emergencies for a total of 285 medical emergencies.
In January, 2009 there were eighteen calls involving animal control issues. Of those calls, nine were handled by an animal control officer and nine were handled by police officers.
In January, 2009 eighteen persons were taken into custody and held requiring 203 hours of incarceration. Of the persons held, fourteen were arrested by warrant. Support Services personnel transported eighteen prisoners to court to include eleven males and seven females.
On Monday, January 5, 2009 an officer began attending a seven day training class entitled "Public Safety Telecommunicator Training." This training was held at the Connecticut Department of Public Safety in Middletown, CT. Training topics included interpersonal communications, stress management, basics of radio broadcasting, telephone techniques and telecommunicator liability issues. This class is one of several mandated training classes in order to be certified as a telecommunicator by the State of Connecticut.
On Tuesday, January 13, 2009 a lieutenant attended a one day class entitled "Assessing Threats of Targeted School Violence." This training was held at Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT. Training topics included targeted violence, threats, pathway to violence, risk factors and assessments.
On Friday, January 16, 2009 two dispatchers attended a one day class entitled "Domestic Violence Intervention." This training was held at Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT. Training topics included talking to abusers, spotting red flags from callers, creating a safe environment for victims and protecting responders who will be on the scene.
On Tuesday, January 20, 2009 a 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 Tuesday, January 27, 2009 a sergeant and an officer attended a one day "CREST- Dive Team" training. This training was held at the Rocky Hill High School, Rocky Hill, CT. This training is conducted on a monthly basis with several other area law enforcement agencies that comprise CREST. This month's activities included a swim test and diving test.
On Tuesday, January 27, 2009 two officers 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.
Support Service Bureau officers continue to address citizen complaints involving traffic, parking violations and other motor vehicle violations. Citizens regularly complain about a variety of different violations on various city streets and several public schools. To address these complaints, officers performed selective enforcement at several locations throughout town. Officers performed selective enforcement fifteen times and spent approximately nine hours doing selective enforcement on various city streets.
A mock On-Site inspection of accreditation files in anticipation of the Department's May, 2009 CALEA accreditation on-site inspection is being scheduled for late February 9, 2009. This mock On-Site inspection will be conducted by members of other CALEA accredited agencies from the capitol region.
The Wethersfield Police Department, Training Unit, will be hosting a three day course entitled "Colt Rifle Armorer" beginning on February 10, 2009. 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 five day course, which began in January, will be held in the WPD Community Room on February 19, 2009 and continue one day per month until May, 2009.
The Wethersfield Police Department, Training Unit, will be hosting a three day course entitled Powerphone's Emergency Medical Dispatch beginning on Monday, February 23rd, 2009. This course will be held in the WPD Community Room.
In January, 2009 police and fire personnel responded to seventy-eight alarms to include sixty-three burglar alarms, eleven fire alarms and four panic alarms. Locations included thirty-seven non-residential locations, thirty-six residential alarms and five state/ town-owned locations. A total of 1,215 alarm permits are currently on file with the Police Department. During the month sixty-two locations experienced a false alarm resulting in a 94% compliance rate. One-hundred twenty-two items of correspondence were sent in connection with billing, registration and false alarm violations. During this month $ 5,900 was collected for current and previous month's false alarm billing.
The following are the burglary and robbery statistics for the month of January, 2009 along with comparative statistics for the same period 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 | January 2008 | January 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Burglaries | 4 (0) | 6 (0) |
| Commercial Burglaries | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Armed Robberies | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Strong-arm Robberies | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
