Police Department
Monthly Report
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Police Department |
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James L. Cetran
Chief of Police
On Thursday March 26, 2009 officers from the Wethersfield Police Department, in cooperation with the Wethersfield Board of Education, conducted a narcotics sweep at the Wethersfield High School, 411 Wolcott Hill Road. Officers and nine canine teams from several area police departments, including Rocky Hill, Manchester, New Britain, Berlin and East Windsor assisted the Wethersfield Police Department at the High School. Officers and canine teams were able to perform an exterior canine sniff on approximately 120 cars in the student parking lot and the entire school within four hours, after school let out for the day. The search yielded several alerts but no substantial seizures and only one arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia. This arrest happened as a result of the canine sniff in the student parking lot.
On Sunday, March 8, 2009, at about 5:20 AM a patrol officer was dispatched to a local residence on the report of a carjacking. Officers met with the victim who reported that when he came home from work he pulled his car into his driveway. While still sitting in the car, an acquaintance jumped into his car and put what the victim believed was a knife up against his neck. The victim was able to jump out of the vehicle and run into his house where he called the police. The vehicle, a 2009 Cadillac, was located a short time later in Hartford. The Hartford Police Department stopped the vehicle and detained the operator. Wethersfield officers went to the scene of the motor vehicle stop with the victim who was able to identify the operator as the person who had taken the vehicle. The operator was arrested for the carjacking. The operator was also wanted by warrant for Violation of Probation.
On Monday, March 30, 2009 at about 2:25 AM a patrol officer was traveling on the Berlin Turnpike when he saw a vehicle parked in the parking lot of a convenience store. This car had its driver's door ajar and was parked in a manner so that the convenience store clerk could not see it. The officer believed that the occupants could be planning or currently committing a robbery or larceny based on the time of night, suspicious location and condition of the vehicle. As the officer pulled into the parking lot, the officer saw a male sitting in the driver's seat. A check of the vehicle's registration showed that the license plate was reported stolen. The operator told the officer that he was just cleaning out his car. The officer placed the operator under arrest for being in possession of a stolen license plate. While searching the car, the officer found a BB gun and a holster for the BB gun. The BB gun that was seized had no markings on it to distinguish it as a BB gun and looked like a real gun. The operator was also wanted on a warrant for Failure to Appear in Court and arrested on these additional charges.
In March, 2009 members of the Detective Bureau initiated or were assigned follow-up to twenty-one new cases. Major case investigations include three robberies, one burglary, two identity thefts, three larcenies and two fraud cases. Detectives also continue to perform background investigations and backgrounds for pistol permit applicants.
On March 7, 2009 officers responded to a reported robbery at an apartment complex near the Silas Deane Highway. Responding officers learned that a female was approached at her vehicle by an unknown male who attempted to grab her purse. While trying to grab her purse, the female reacted quickly and threw her hot coffee at the suspect's face, kicked him, and set off her car remote panic alarm. Immediately after the suspect ran off. Detectives continue to investigate this case.
In March, 2009 the Wethersfield Police Department Juvenile Unit handled thirty incidents involving fifty juveniles. In these incidents, five juveniles were arrested for criminal violations, two were diverted to school punishment and twenty-four were diverted to parental punishment.
In March, 2009 the School Resource Officer (SRO) assigned to the Wethersfield High School reported twenty-four incidents that were entered into the School Cop Database. These twenty-four incidents resulted in eleven incident reports. These twenty-four incidents included one narcotics complaint, three disorderly conduct complaints, one trespassing complaint, one vandalism complaint, three larceny complaints and one tobacco complaint. The SRO also handled an incident in which an intoxicated underage student brought alcohol onto school property and delivered it to other underage students. This student was arrested and charged accordingly.
The SRO also reported handling bullying mediations, numerous truancy incidents and instructed in several classes during the Values lessons and Civics lessons.
In the month of March, 2009 Wethersfield Dispatchers received and handled 823 E-911 emergency phone calls. During the first quarter of 2009, Wethersfield Dispatchers handled 2361 E-911 emergency phone calls. Per State regulations, this activity was reported to the State of Connecticut, Office of Statewide Telecommunications.
In March, 2009 Wethersfield dispatchers dispatched the Wethersfield Volunteer Ambulance to sixty-seven medical emergencies and Aetna Ambulance to 215 medical emergencies for a total of 282 medical emergencies.
In March, 2009 there were twenty-seven calls involving animal control issues. Of those calls, fourteen were handled by an animal control officer and thirteen were handled by police officers.
In March, 2009 sixteen persons were taken into custody and held requiring 289 hours of incarceration. Of the persons held, ten were arrested by warrant. Support Services personnel transported sixteen prisoners to court to include fourteen males and two females.
The Support Services Bureau Commander continues to receive requests for added or replacement street signs. Some of the completed work orders for March, 2009 include installing two Object Marker/End of Roadway Marker signs at the of Back Lane, installing one Object Marker/End of Roadway Marker sign at the west end of Kenwood Road, Fernwood Street and Hubbard Road. Finally, nine "NO PARKING ANYTIME" signs were installed at the north end of Main Street near the entrance to the Cove.
On Monday, March 2, 2009 two officers began attending a five day training class entitled "Accident Investigation Training - Crash Zone." This training was hosted by the Capital Region Chiefs of Police Association and held at the Newington Police Department, Newington, CT. Both officers are trained accident investigators. Training will assist both officers, in cooperation with other departments on a regional team, to conduct measurements at serious and fatal motor vehicle accidents.
On Tuesday, March 3, 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 Monday, March 9, 2009 an officer began attending a three day training class entitled "Basic Crime Scene Processing." Training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy in Meriden, CT. Training topics included evaluation of the crime scene, protection of the crime scene, recording the crime scene via notes, sketches and photography and techniques for latent fingerprint location and collection.
On Monday, March 16, 2009 an officer began attending a five day training class entitled "DWI Enforcement." This class was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. This forty hour class covered topics such as identifying driver behavior associated with DWI operation, understanding and conducting NHTSA approved field sobriety tests and understanding state statutes and case law dealing with DWI enforcement.
On Thursday, March 19, 2009 a sergeant attended a one day course entitled "Legal Issues for the First Line Supervisor." Training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Course objectives included theories of supervisory liability, federal and state statutes, personal liability and high risk liability areas.
On Monday, March 23, 2009 an officer began attending a five day course entitled "CREST (Capitol Region Emergency Services Team) Basic SWAT Training." This training was held at various venues throughout South Windsor, Manchester and Glastonbury, CT. This officer recently was added to the CREST team. This course is a basic introduction to the team and SWAT tactics.
On Tuesday, March 31, 2009 a sergeant and officer attended a one day "CREST - Dive Team" training. This training was held in Glastonbury, 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 training dive.
On Tuesday, March 31, 2009 a lieutenant and an officer attended a one day conference entitled "The Pain Behind the Badge." This training was held at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT. Topics included law enforcement stress and suicide.
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 ten hours doing selective enforcement on various town streets.
Annual CPR/ AED, Airborne/ Bloodborne Pathogen and First Aid training is scheduled for April, 2009.
The Police Adventures Crossroads program will begin again at the Silas Deane Middle School on April 6, 2009.
The School Resource Officer assigned to the Wethersfield High School will be participating in the Freshman Experience on April 20, 2009.
The Wethersfield Police Explorers will participate in their last two training sessions for the stations day competition. They will also assist with a bicycle rodeo on Heritage Trail Day at the Wethersfield Community center on April 25, 2009.
The Wethersfield Police Department continues to prepare for an on-site inspection conducted by members of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) scheduled for May 2, 2009 through May 5, 2009.
In March, 2009 police and fire personnel responded to eighty alarms to include seventy-five burglar alarms, three fire alarms and one hold-up alarm. Locations included twenty-nine non-residential locations, forty-four residential alarms and seven state/ town-owned locations. A total of 1,219 alarm permits are currently on file with the Police Department. During the month seventy-one locations experienced a false alarm resulting in a 94% compliance rate. Three-hundred and thirty-six items of correspondence were sent in connection with billing, registration and false alarm violations. During this month $ 3,800 was collected for current and previous month's false alarm billing.
The following are the burglary and robbery statistics for the month of March, 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 | March 2008 | March 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Burglaries | 1 (0) | 1 (0) |
| Commercial Burglaries | 1 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Armed Robberies | 1 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Strong-arm Robberies | 0 (0) | 2 (1) |
