Police Department
Monthly Report
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Police Department |
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James L. Cetran
Chief of Police
In January, 2010 the State of Connecticut, Police Officer Standards and Training Council approved the Wethersfield Police Department for Tier-3 re-accreditation. Tier 3 is the highest of all levels of accreditation awarded by the State of Connecticut. The Wethersfield Police Department is only one of thirteen Tier-3 State accredited law enforcement agencies in the State of Connecticut. State accreditation is a process through which law enforcement agencies demonstrate excellence in management and service delivery by complying with state accreditation standards. This is a no-cost, voluntary, self-directed process accessible to all Connecticut departments regardless of size or resources.
A recently hired dispatcher has successfully completed her Division telecommunicator training and has been assigned to solo telecommunicator duties as of Monday, January 4, 2010.
Two probationary police officers have successfully completed all four Field Training phases and have been assigned to solo patrol duties as of Monday, January 18, 2010.
On Tuesday, January 19, 2010, two probationary police officers graduated from the 326th session of basic training at the Connecticut Police Academy and have begun their first phase of the twelve week Field Training program.
On Friday, January 15, 2010 at approximately 8:45 PM a patrol officer was traveling east on Elm Street conducting a check of the privately owned farm land between Elm Street and Great Meadow Road. The officer observed two all terrain vehicles (ATVs) operating on Elm Street towards his patrol vehicle. The ATVs then stopped and turned east now traveling away from his patrol vehicle. Once on Second Lane, the officer activated his vehicle's Noptic Thermal Imager in an attempt to locate the ATVs. The officer was able to see the ATVs hiding in a field with all their lights off. The ATVs saw that they were spotted and drove to one of the operator's residence. The officer arrested the two ATV operators for motor vehicle related offenses including Reckless Driving and Operating an Unregistered ATV.
On Saturday, January 23, 2010 at approximately 10:10 PM a patrol officer saw a vehicle traveling on the Silas Deane Highway with no headlights illuminated. Upon stopping the vehicle, the officer smelled marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. The operator of the vehicle had a suspended operator's license. A search of the vehicle revealed marijuana and numerous cartons of cigarettes without a state tax stamp. Also found was a loaded .25 caliber handgun. The operator of the vehicle was charged with Operating under Suspension, Possession of Marijuana and Weapon in a Motor Vehicle. The illegal cigarettes were seized and the proper state agencies were notified.
In January, 2010 members of the Detective Division initiated or were assigned follow-up to twenty-two new cases. Major case investigations included one bank robbery, three burglaries, three narcotic cases, one weapons/firearms violation, one harassment, two identity thefts, one larceny, one fraud, and one sexual assault case.
On Friday, January 15, 2010 members of this Department responded to an alarm at a bank located on the Berlin Turnpike. Detectives responded and determined that the suspect was an Hispanic male, approximately 40 years of age, about 5'8" tall, medium build and wearing a white Kankol hat, blue winter jacket, dark grey hooded sweatshirt and grey sneakers. On Saturday, January 16, 2009 the Department developed information identifying the suspect. Detectives immediately recognized the name and photo due to previously arresting this same suspect in 2002 for numerous area bank robberies. Detectives applied for and were granted an arrest warrant for the suspect. The suspect was arrested on Sunday, January 17, 2010 in New Britain and subsequently admitted to the bank robbery.
In January, 2010 the Wethersfield Police Department Juvenile Unit handled fifty incidents involving seventy-six juveniles. In these incidents, eight juveniles were arrested for criminal violations, fifteen were diverted to parental discipline, and eight were diverted to school discipline.
On January 1, 2010 the law requiring sixteen year olds to be treated as juveniles took effect. The Wethersfield Police Department will continue to monitor the effect this change will have on the Department, specifically the workload of the Department Juvenile Unit.
In January, 2010 the School Resource Officer (SRO) assigned to the Wethersfield High School covered twelve incidents and activities at the school. These twelve incidents and activities resulted in two incident reports. These reports include one arrest for Possession of Less Than 4 Ounces of Marijuana and an incident report for criminal mischief.
The SRO handled four mediations during the month regarding issues such as bullying, harassment and disorderly behavior. The SRO continued to instruct in WHS Civics classes on topics such as the practical application of the United States Constitution's Fourth Amendment, motor vehicle laws, as well as criminal laws.
The SRO also assisted in two trespassing complaints involving WHS students at the Silas Deane Middle School and the Wethersfield Public Library.
In January, 2010 Wethersfield Police dispatchers handled 719 E-911 emergency phone calls.
In January, 2010 Wethersfield Communications Unit personnel dispatched the Wethersfield Volunteer Ambulance to forty-five medical emergencies and Aetna Ambulance to 202 medical emergencies for a total of 247 medical emergencies.
In January, 2010 there were eighteen calls involving animal control issues. Of those calls, three were handled by an animal control officer and fifteen were handled by police officers.
In January, 2010 eleven persons were taken into custody and held requiring 234 hours of incarceration. Of the persons held, ten were arrested by warrant. Support Services personnel transported eleven prisoners to court to include nine males and two females.
On Monday, January 4, 2010 a detective began attending a five day training class entitled "Interview and Interrogation Techniques for the Investigator." Training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Course objectives included ability to analyze verbal and written statements, identifying the most common interviewing pitfalls, identifying evasive verbal responses, and non-verbal body language.
On Wednesday, January 6, 2010 four Department members of the Capitol Region Emergency Services Team (CREST) began attending monthly two-day training.
On Monday, January 11, 2010 the Wethersfield High School (WHS) School Resource Officer attended a one day training class entitled "Teaching Play By the Rules." Training was held in Cromwell, CT. This is a program designed to teach Connecticut laws to youth. It covers over 200 laws in specific areas including criminal and civil law, drugs and alcohol, weapons, juvenile justice and family and school law.
On Monday, January 11, 2010 a dispatcher attended a "Regional Incident Dispatch (RID) Meeting." This meeting was held at the Simsbury Police Department, Simsbury, CT. The RID Team is a group of approximately twelve telecommunicators comprised from local law enforcement agencies. The RID Team is designed to supplement area Dispatch Centers in the event of a large crisis, man-made/natural disaster etc.
On Monday, January 11, 2010 an officer began attending a five day training class entitled "Basic Survival Spanish for Law Enforcement." Training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. Course objectives included understanding Hispanic culture and ethnicities, phrases for gathering information, verbal commands and simple interviewing and key phrases for officer safety.
On Monday, January 11, 2010 an officer began attending a two-week class entitled "D.A.R.E. Officer Training." This training was held at the New Hampshire Regional Training Institute in Center Strafford, New Hampshire. This intensive two week training program is required for officers beginning to teach in the D.A.R.E. program. Training topics included teaching and presentation preparation, D.A.R.E. guidelines, and programs and dealing with youth and schools.
On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 an officer, who is a member of the CREST team, attended a monthly one day training class entitled "Explosive Breaching School." Training was held at the West Hartford Police Department and the New Britain Police Range. This training included updates to explosives used by SWAT teams in breaching buildings.
On Thursday, January 21, 2010 a lieutenant attended a two hour class entitled "Accident Investigation Techniques for Supervisors." This training, which was sponsored by CIRMA, was held at the Ledyard Town Hall, Ledyard, CT. Objectives included teaching supervisors the proper techniques and investigations for CIRMA accident investigation claims.
On Thursday, January 21, 2010 a D.A.R.E. officer and the school resource officer attended a four hour class entitled "The Many Faces of Bullying." Training was held at the Timothy Edwards Middle School, South Windsor, CT. This class was designed specifically for officers who are working within the school systems, giving strategies on how to deal with bullying problems.
On Thursday, January 21, 2010 a sergeant attended the "Capital Region Police Recertification - Supervisor Program." This training was held in the Wethersfield Police Department Community Room. This training is mandatory every three years and is open only to supervisory personnel. The training this month was on the topics of Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence and Criminal Law Update. This training is held once per month concluding in May, 2010.
On Monday, January 25, 2010 five members of the Department attended a four hour "Firearms Training." Training was held at the Glastonbury Police Range, Glastonbury, CT. Training consisted of two courses, the first course consisted of multiple shooter improvement exercises using training rounds, the second was a Qualification course. All five officers participated in the shooter improvement exercises, two officers participated in the qualification course.
On Tuesday, January 26, 2010 six members of the Department attended a four hour class entitled "NCIC/ COLLECT for the MDT User." Training was held at the Wethersfield Police Department Community Room. This training is specifically for sworn personnel who access-only NCIC and COLLECT information on Department Mobile Data terminals. Certification is for a two-year period.
On Tuesday, January 26, 2010 a canine officer and narcotic canine Elaine began attending a three day training class entitled "Narcotics Detection Canine In-Service Training." The canine officer and canine Elaine attended training at the Connecticut State Police Training Unit, Meriden, CT. This in-service training is conducted quarterly in order to maintain certification through the Connecticut State Police.
On Thursday, January 28, 2010 four dispatchers began attending a two day training class entitled "Everbridge Emergency Notification System Training." Training was held at the Connecticut Police Academy, Meriden, CT. This system, which is being implemented in various police departments throughout the State of Connecticut which will allow the Department to send out notifications throughout the Town in event of an emergency.
In January, 2010 the Wethersfield Police Department Child Seat Technician inspected/installed six child seats. In addition, two persons called the officer with questions about car seat installations. The Support Services Division receives requests for this service via the Wethersfield Police Department web site as well as phone requests.
On January 13, 2010 detectives performed a robbery presentation at a bank located on the Silas Deane Highway. The presentation was requested by the bank for new employees. Employees were advised of police policy regarding responding to reported robberies and given guidance what to look for and what information is needed by police upon arrival.
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 several town schools. To address these complaints, officers performed selective enforcement at several locations throughout town. In January, 2010 officers performed selective enforcement twenty-two times and spent a total of fifteen hours doing selective enforcement on various roads in town.
The Wethersfield Police Department, Training Unit, will be hosting a three day course entitled Powerphone's Emergency Medical Dispatch beginning on Wednesday, February 3, 2010. This course will be held in the WPD Community Room.
The Wethersfield Police Explorers will attend a stations day at the Manchester Police Department on February 6, 2010.
Use of Force Scenario-Based training is scheduled for sworn department personnel for February, 2010.
In January, 2010 police personnel responded to fifty-eight alarms to include fifty-seven burglar alarms and one hold-up/ panic alarm. Locations included thirty-five residential locations, twenty-two non-residential alarms and one state/ town-owned location. A total of 1,326 alarm permits are currently on file with the Police Department. During the month, forty-nine locations experienced a false alarm resulting in a 96% compliance rate. This month there were 97 items of correspondence sent in connection with billing, registration and false alarm violations with $ 1,925.00 in alarm billing.
The following are the burglary and robbery statistics for the month of January, 2010 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 perpetrator(s) have been identified.
| Criminal Activity | January 2009 | January 2010 |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Burglaries | 6 (0) | 3 (0) |
| Commercial Burglaries | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Armed Robberies | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Strong-arm Robberies | 0 (0) | 1 (1) |
