Police Department
Monthly Report
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Police Department |
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James L. Cetran
Chief of Police
The Wethersfield Police Department, Training Unit, hosted one day of the Capital Region Police Recertification - Supervisor Program on Thursday, April 16, 2009. This course was held in the WPD Community Room.
On April 4, 2009 at about 5:15 PM a patrol officer saw a vehicle drive past a "Road Closed" barricade in the area of the Wethersfield Cove. The vehicle then drove past two other police barricades that were meant to prevent vehicles from driving into the high water at the Wethersfield Cove. The vehicle operator then turned around and began to drive out of the Wethersfield Cove area. The officer pulled behind this vehicle and attempted to conduct a motor vehicle stop. The vehicle drove slowly but did not stop. The vehicle then sped up and attempted to elude the officer. In the area of the Silas Deane Highway, the officer saw the passenger door open and a female attempt to get out of the vehicle while it was still moving. The woman got caught on the running board and was dragged for a short distance. As she freed herself from the vehicle, the vehicle accelerated and drove away. The officer stopped and assisted the female. The female did not have significant injuries besides scrapes and bruises. A short time later, the officer heard that this same vehicle had been involved in a second motor vehicle pursuit in another town, but those officers terminated the pursuit. A short time later, members of the Hartford Police Department located the vehicle with the operator inside. A Wethersfield Police detective went to Hartford and arrested the operator for the crimes that occurred in Wethersfield. The operator, whose license was under suspension, declined to speak about the incident.
On Sunday, April 19, 2009 at about 4:45 PM two officers were dispatched to a Wethersfield residence on a medical call. The dispatcher reported that the victim was having a diabetic emergency. When the officers arrived, they found the male victim and the victim's girlfriend in the house. The male was breathing and conscious but was sweaty, pale and appeared despondent. The male's sugar level was checked by his girlfriend and found to be within the normal range. The male attempted to stand up but was unsteady on his feet. The officer tried getting the male to sit down but he refused and began fighting with the officers. The male punched and kicked at the officers. While one officer was attempting to restrain the victim, the victim bit the other officer on the arm leaving bite makes and an abrasion. The victim continued to kick and swing at the officers. Ambulance personnel arrived and attempted to restrain the victim. The victim then bit a paramedic on the arm. The victim continued to struggle and spat on the ambulance personnel. The victim was eventually placed into an ambulance and transported to the hospital. The victim appeared to be suffering from some type of illegal drug overdose and not a problem associated with diabetes.
In April, 2009 members of the Detective Bureau initiated or were assigned follow-up to twenty-eight new cases. Major case investigations include one robbery, four burglaries, two identity thefts, two larcenies and two frauds. Detectives also continue to perform town background investigations and backgrounds for pistol permits applicants.
In April, 2009 officers responded to a reported robbery at a bank located on the Silas Deane Highway. It was reported that a lone white male handed the teller a note and left with an undetermined amount of cash. Through information obtained by detectives, a suspect was identified. Within two weeks of the robbery, detectives received information that the suspect had registered at a motel located on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington, CT. With assistance from the FBI Fugitive Task Force, officers raided the suspect's motel room and arrested the suspect. Detectives were able to interview the suspect in which he confessed to the Wethersfield bank robbery.
In April, 2009 the Wethersfield Police Department Juvenile Unit handled twenty-eight incidents involving thirty-eight juveniles. In these incidents, three juveniles were arrested for criminal violations, eight were diverted to school punishment and twelve were diverted to parental punishment.
In April, 2009 the Wethersfield Police Explorers participated in Heritage Trail Day. The Juvenile Unit was tasked with running a bike rodeo while the Police Explorers kept track of results. The Police Explorers also monitored pedestrian traffic near the event.
In April, 2009 the Police Adventures Crossroads program engaged in motor vehicle stops training as well as team building exercises at the Newington ROPE course.
In April, 2009 the School Resource Officer (SRO) assigned to the Wethersfield High School reported fifteen incidents that were entered into the School Cop Database. These fifteen incidents resulted in five incident reports. These fifteen incidents included three disorderly conduct complaints, one trespassing complaint and one weapons complaint. On April 27, 2009 the SRO also attended the Community of Concern meeting discussing the SRO's involvement with youth and how he represents the Police Department as a liaison to the schools.
In the month of April, 2009 Wethersfield Dispatchers received and handled 758 E-911 emergency phone calls.
In April, 2009 Wethersfield dispatchers dispatched the Wethersfield Volunteer Ambulance to sixty-two medical emergencies and Aetna Ambulance to 202 medical emergencies for a total of 264 medical emergencies.
In April, 2009 there were forty-six calls involving animal control issues. Of those calls, eight were handled by an animal control officer and thirty-eight were handled by police officers.
In April, 2009 twenty-three persons were taken into custody and held requiring 308 hours of incarceration. Of the persons held, thirteen were arrested by warrant. Support Services personnel transported twenty-two prisoners to court to include seventeen males and five females.
The Support Services Bureau Commander continues to receive requests for added or replacement street signs. Some of the completed work orders for April, 2009 include installing two "No Parking School Days 7AM - 4PM" signs on Hurlburt Road, south of the intersection with Cottwell Road and attaching a small "No Outlet" placard on top of the existing street sign for Holly Lane at its intersection with Church Street.
On Wednesday, April 1, 2009 members of the Capitol Region Emergency Services Team (CREST) including a lieutenant, a detective and three officers began attending monthly two-day training.
On Monday, April 6, 2009 a training sergeant attended a one day training class entitled "Pursuit Policy Train-the-Trainer." This training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Objectives of this course included providing guidance for officers from the initiation of the vehicle pursuit through its conclusion. This program enables the training sergeant, who is a POSTC certified police instructor, to teach pursuit policy guidelines to other officers.
On Wednesday, April 8, 2009 the training sergeant and an officer attended a four hour training class entitled "DEP Annual Law Enforcement Seminar." Training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. This training class, sponsored by the Department of Environmental Protection, provides law enforcement officials with information on new and updated boating statutes.
On Wednesday, April 8, 2009 an officer attended a one day training class entitled "Medical Response Technician (MRT) Refresher." This training was held at the West Hartford Police Department, West Hartford, CT. This class enables this officer to maintain her State of Connecticut MRT certification, which is good for two years. On Wednesday, April 22, 2009 a second officer attended this same training class.
On Monday, April 13, 2009 three dispatchers attended the one day "2009 Telecommunicator Conference." This conference was held at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell, CT. Training objectives included new ideas and positive steps to enhance customer service and how to handle dispatcher stress.
On Monday, April 13, 2009 two officers began attending a seven day training class entitled "Public Safety Telecommunicator Training." This training was held at the Colchester Fire Department, Colchester, 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 Monday, April 13, 2009 an officer began attending a ten day training class entitled "North American Standard Driver-Vehicle Inspection." This class was held at the Massachusetts State Police Academy, New Braintree, MA. Objectives included driver and vehicle inspections for commercial motor vehicles. This officer attended as part of the regional traffic team.
During the weeks of April 13th, 20th and 27th, 2009 sworn personnel, dispatchers, animal control officers and matrons of the Police Department completed their annual CPR, AED and Bloodborne/ Airborne Pathogens training. CPR certification is for a period of two years. Also, ten officers received First Aid training. First Aid training certification is current for a period of three years. These training classes were instructed by a certified instructor.
On Monday, April 20, 2009 two officers began attending the five day "Capitol Region Police Officer Recertification Training." This training was held at the Manchester Police Department, Manchester, CT. This forty hour class is mandatory every three years to keep officers certified in the State of Connecticut. The training encompasses a wide variety of topics including ICS training, PRAWN training, legal updates, bias crimes, patrol procedures, juvenile law and domestic violence laws.
On Monday, April 20, 2009 an officer began attending a ten day training class entitled "Advanced (Technical) Traffic Crash Investigation." This training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. This course is the second of three courses officers must attend to receive certification as an Accident Reconstructionist. This course prepares officers to be able to recognize, interpret and prepare physical evidence in crash reconstruction.
On Tuesday, April 21, 2009 the training sergeant attended a one day training class entitled "Special Legal Issues and Topics." This training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Objectives included off-duty actions of police officers, training issues, emerging issues in law enforcement technologies, liability issues and ethics.
On Tuesday, April 28, 2009 a detective began attending a seven day training class entitled "Advanced Fire Investigation School." This training was held at the Connecticut Fire Academy, Windsor Locks, CT. Objectives included arson investigation and case preparation. This detective assists the Fire Marshal's Office with criminal investigations. This course continues through May 8, 2009.
On Wednesday, April 29, 2009 two officers attended a one day training class entitled "The Bulletproof Mind- Psychological Preparation for Combat." This class was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. The instructor for this class was Lt. Col. (ret.) Dave Grossman. Grossman is a nationally known speaker and was a consultant in the Paducah school shooting and other major murder cases. The objective of this training program is to help understand officers' actions and behaviors prior to, during and after crisis incidents.
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 thirty-five times and spent approximately fifteen hours doing selective enforcement on various town streets.
In April, 2009 the Wethersfield Police Department Child Seat Technician inspected/installed four child seats. The Support Services Bureau receives requests for this service via the WPD web site as phone requests.
Officers from the Wethersfield Police Department will be participating in the upcoming Annual "Click It or Ticket" enforcement period from May 18, 2009 through May 31, 2009. Officers will be actively enforcing car seatbelt and child car seat violations.
In April, 2009 police personnel responded to forty alarms to include thirty-eight burglar alarms and two hold-up/ panic alarms. Locations included seventeen non-residential locations, nineteen residential alarms and four state/ town-owned locations. A total of 1,230 alarm permits are currently on file with the Police Department. During the month, thirty-nine locations experienced a false alarm resulting in a 96% compliance rate. This month there were 263 items of correspondence sent in connection with billing, registration and false alarm violations. During this month, $ 6,950 was collected for registration renewals as well as current and previous month's false alarm billing. At the request of the Fire Chief, the Fire Marshal will now be responsible for the classification and processing of all fire alarms.
The following are the burglary and robbery statistics for the month of April, 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 | April 2008 | April 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Burglaries | 6 (4) | 1 (0) |
| Commercial Burglaries | 0 (0) | 3 (0) |
| Armed Robberies | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
| Strong-arm Robberies | 0 (0) | 1 (1) |
