Police Department
Monthly Report
|
Police Department |
|
James L. Cetran
Chief of Police
On Tuesday, October 20, 2009, two probationary police officers graduated from the 325th session of basic training at the Connecticut Police Academy and have begun their first phase of the twelve week Field Training program. Two other probationary police officers have completed eleven weeks of basic training at the Connecticut Police Academy. Graduation is expected in January, 2010.
On Thursday, October 15, 2009 at about 12:45 AM a patrol officer saw a vehicle speeding on the Silas Deane Highway. Additionally, the vehicle was swerving in and out of its proper lane. The officer stopped the vehicle and believed the female operator was under the influence of alcohol. The officer asked the operator to perform field sobriety tests which she failed. In the car, with the operator were her two small children. The operator was arrested and the children turned over to a family member. The operator was placed under arrest and later took two breath tests. Her test results were almost four times the legal limit.
On Friday, October 30, 2009 at about 12:30 AM, a patrol officer saw a vehicle speeding on the Silas Deane Highway. Upon stopping the vehicle and speaking to the operator, the officer believed the operator might be intoxicated. The officer also smelled marijuana coming from inside the car. The operator admitted that there was a marijuana cigarette in the car. The officer took the operator out of the car and found that he was carrying "brass knuckles." The operator was later placed under arrest for carrying this weapon. The officer entered the car and found the marijuana cigarette. Also located in the vehicle was another small quantity of marijuana for which a passenger in the car was arrested. Later, while processing the occupants of the vehicle, officers found 50 packets of powdered cocaine in the vehicle. The occupants were charged with possession of narcotics and possession of narcotics with intent to sell.
In October, 2009 members of the Detective Bureau initiated or were assigned follow-up to twenty new cases. Major case investigations include two sexual assaults, three burglaries, four larcenies, three wanted persons and one robbery. Detectives also continue to perform employee background investigations and backgrounds for pistol permit applicants.
In October, 2009 detectives learned of a Wethersfield resident that had failed to return his elderly mother's vehicle after days of use. Family members also reported that they believed that the resident in question was also using his mother's ATM card without her permission. Detectives placed the mother's vehicle in the CT On-Line Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (COLLECT) and took her complaint of the stolen money from her bank account. The Connecticut State Police later located the vehicle and the suspect was later arrested by warrant for the larceny of the money.
In October, 2009, the Wethersfield Police Department handled thirty-seven incidents involving fifty-seven juveniles. In these incidents, five juveniles were arrested for criminal violations, twenty-two were diverted to parental discipline and two were diverted to school discipline.
In October, 2009 the School Resource Officer (SRO) assigned to Wethersfield High School covered twenty-six incidents and activities at the school. These twenty-six incidents and activities resulted in fourteen case numbers and nine incident reports and one motor vehicle accident report. These reports include two arrests for Assault 3rd Degree and Breach of Peace, one arrest for Larceny 6th Degree and finally another arrest for Assault 3rd Degree. The SRO also issued an infractions ticket for Creating a Public Disturbance and a written warning for Unsafe Backing. Finally, the SRO also investigated a public accident incident as well a vandalism complaint.
The SRO also covered numerous mediations regarding bullying, sexual harassment, anger management issues, disputes between students and trespassing issues. The SRO taught in a Civics Class regarding the 4th Amendment and attended STARS meetings on Fridays in regards to at risk students.
In October, 2009 Wethersfield Police dispatchers received and handled 905 E-911 emergency phone calls.
In October, 2009 Wethersfield Communications Unit personnel dispatched the Wethersfield Volunteer Ambulance to forty-six medical emergencies and Aetna Ambulance to 267 medical emergencies for a total of 313 medical emergencies.
In October, 2009 there were thirty-three calls involving animal control issues. Of those calls, ten were handled by an animal control officer and twenty-three were handled by police officers.
In October, 2009 nine persons were taken into custody and held requiring 303 hours of incarceration. Of the persons held, five were arrested by warrant. Support Services personnel transported nine prisoners to court to include eight males and one female.
On Monday, October 5, 2009 a field training officer (FTO) assisted the Connecticut Police Academy with "Practical Skills Day" for the 325th Training Session. The FTO served as a role player in exercises that put into practice the knowledge recruits have gained in the classroom under controlled conditions.
On Monday, October 5, 2009 a dispatcher attended a one day training class entitled "Protecting Law Enforcement Responders." This training was held at the Hartford Fire Training Academy, Hartford, CT. Course topics included felonious line of duty deaths, high-risk crimes and incidents in progress, dispatcher tactics to protect officers, radio dispatch procedures and etiquette and critical incident stress debriefing.
On Tuesday, October 6, 2009 an officer began attending a two day training class entitled "Vericom Training." This training was held at the Enfield Police Department, Enfield, CT. The Vericom device assists officers with traffic crash measurements and reconstruction.
On Wednesday, October 14, 2009 a sergeant and two officers attended a one day training class entitled "Statewide Crisis Intervention Team Symposium." This training was held at Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT. This training served as an update for officers who are already certified in crisis intervention strategies and included de-escalation and negotiation strategies.
On Monday, October 19, 2009 the training sergeant began attending a two week training class entitled "Basic Police Firearms Instructor." This training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Topics included handgun and shotgun qualifications, low-light shooting, use of force and use of deadly force, liability issues, tactical qualification and correcting problem shooters. As a result of this class, the training sergeant is able to train and give credit hours to other police officers in mandated firearms training for both handgun and shotgun training.
On Tuesday, October 20, 2009 a sergeant attended a one day training class entitled "Line of Duty Deaths Seminar." This training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Topics included issues for the officer's surviving family, department and community, the role and involvement of the employee assistance program, protocols and policies and issues of duty deaths and police officer suicide.
On Wednesday, October 21, 2009 Chief James Cetran attended a three hour training course entitled "Forensic Issues for Chief Executive Officers." This training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Topics included updates on technology to further investigations, cold case reviews, new breathalyzers and computer crime assistance and initiatives. On Wednesday, October 28, 2009 a lieutenant attended a second session of this training class.
On Thursday, October 22, 2009 a sergeant attended a one day training class entitled "Legal Training on Housing Matters." This training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Topics included lockouts and self-help evictions, unlawful entry, no-heat and termination of essential services and criminal damage to a landlord's property.
On Tuesday, October 27, 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.
The Support Services Bureau continues 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 a several town schools. To address these complaints, officers performed selective enforcement at several locations throughout town. In October, 2009 officers performed selective enforcement twenty-four times and spent approximately thirteen hours doing selective enforcement on various roads in town.
Some of these complaints include the report of unauthorized vehicles entering the driveway to the Wethersfield High School from Wolcott Hill Road during the start of school in the morning. This driveway is posted to allow only school buses and staff to enter this driveway. The complaint was that parents were using this driveway to drop off students. Officers from the Support Services Bureau went to the High School in October, 2009 to monitor this situation. Numerous parents were observed entering this driveway to drop off students. Each of these motorists were stopped and advised not to use this driveway for student drop off. They were told of alternative places to drop off the students.
The Support Services Bureau also received a complaint of speeding vehicles on Wells Road near Emerson Williams School during the morning and afternoon hours. The SMART machine was placed on Wells Road in the area of Emerson Williams School two times in late October. The normal posted speed limit in this area is 40 MPH. During the morning arrival time and the afternoon dismissal time the speed limit is 25 MPH. The SMART machine was set with a speed limit of 25 MPH. At the conclusion of the day, the SMART machine reported that the average speed was 35 MPH.
The Support Services Bureau Commander continues to receive requests for added or replacement street signs. Some of the completed work orders for October, 2009 include installing two "No Parking School Buses Only Beyond This Sign" on the traffic circle in front of Emerson Williams School, 461 Wells Road and placing numerous traffic signs in Old Wethersfield in support of the annual Cove Park Craft Fair, 375th Anniversary Parade, Keane Foundation's Cove Side Carnival and 11th Annual Mikey's Place 5K Road Race.
In October, 2009 the Wethersfield Police Department Child Seat Technician inspected/installed two child seats. The Support Services Bureau receives requests for this service via the Wethersfield Police Department web site as well as phone requests.
Fall Firearms training for all Department personnel is scheduled for the week of November 16, 2009.
In October, 2009 police personnel responded to forty-nine alarms to include forty-four burglar alarms and five hold-up/ panic alarms. Locations included twenty non-residential locations, twenty-four residential alarms and five state/ town-owned locations. A total of 1,324 alarm permits are currently on file with the Police Department. During the month, forty-six locations experienced a false alarm resulting in a 96% compliance rate. This month there were 99 items of correspondence sent in connection with billing, registration and false alarm violations with $ 2,750 in alarm billing.
The following are the burglary and robbery statistics for the month of October, 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 | October 2008 | October 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Burglaries | 6 (0) | 3 (0) |
| Commercial Burglaries | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Armed Robberies | 1 (0) | 1 (0) |
| Strong-arm Robberies | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
