Police Department
As the Chief of Police, it is with great pride that I submit my second annual town report. Heading into 2010, the Northfield Police Department was faced with enormous challenges and a new vision for our department. We set early goals for ourselves and I am proud to say that we have taken positive steps and set a solid foundation for future success.
First, our department moved towards being more technology driven. We implemented a new computer system which focuses on improved record keeping and officer knowledge of day to day operations. We also implemented a new web site (www.northfieldpd.com) which we feel is more up to date, informative and user friendly for its visitors. Officers are also utilizing on-line training which provides more opportunities and cost efficient means of education than traditional classroom settings.
Second, community input and officer accessibility has improved. We have implemented an open door policy which literally means that the door to the police department is open to the public. We also have utilized a community survey to gauge citizen satisfaction and have welcomed people’s suggestions and comments. Outside of the department walls, our cruisers have become more uniform and visible due to a new cruiser design and we have implemented a bike patrol during special events.
Third, crime prevention and education has become a high priority for our department. We have made significant efforts to reach out to community groups and students through preventative education. We have also taken proactive measures to address community concerns such as a drug “take back”, which removed 9,362 dangerous doses of prescription medication from our homes. With proper staffing, we hope to take a more active role in providing our community the resources and knowledge they need to stay safe.
Moving forward, we will continue our community oriented policing philosophy and we recognize that we cannot be successful without the continued support of all town departments, boards, committees, schools, business owners and residents. Therefore, I owe you all sincere appreciation for your support and look forward to the year ahead.
Budget:
Over the past three years, available grant funding from the State and Federal government has significantly declined, having a severe impact on our department’s overall operating budget and placing the financial burden on the town. We have worked hard to find areas in which we could cut back without affecting police coverage to our town; however such a significant reduction in funding threatened our ability to provide full time police coverage. Due to our financial situation, we were forced to seek additional funding at the annual town meeting in May and at the special town meeting in September. Fortunately, the taxpayers voted to approve funding increases which brought our department to a more manageable level. Although our department has been forced to make many financial cuts, we feel that we are able to provide quality police services with the funding that we receive today. The following is a general breakdown of our funding sources.
FY2009 FY2010 FY2011
Town Appropriations 219,186 229,186 248,818
Community Policing Grant 19,745 10,783 0
Highway Safety Grant 8,954 7,925 1,855
Capital Expenses (Police Cruiser) 0 0 30,000
Total 247,885 247,849 280,673
Personnel:
The year 2010 proved once again to be a challenge for the Northfield Police Department, as we found ourselves without a third full time officer. Early in the year, our third full time officer left the department to pursue a new career opportunity. At this time, we did not have enough funding to fill the permanent vacancy with a full time academy trained officer so we elected to hire a full time temporary officer from our reserve staff. This officer also left this position earlier than anticipated to pursue a new, long-term career opportunity. For the following six months we operated with only two full time officers. Fortunately, we were able to adapt to this loss in man power by implementing new and unique ways to cover shifts and assure a police response.
Our first change was that we hired three additional part time reserve officers to help fill shifts at a lower cost. Second, we reached a memorandum of understanding with the Town of Bernardston, which enhanced our mutual aid agreement, permitting their officers to answer calls in Northfield when there was no Northfield officer on duty. Third, we increased our volunteer on-call hours. These changes made us more reactive than proactive to crime and crime prevention, but due to the dedication of our officers, our service to the community was only minimally affected.
Following the town vote in September to increase the department’s budget, our department was granted additional funding to hire another full time officer. After a lengthy and thorough hiring process, we were fortunate to attract an experienced officer who possessed full time academy certification and a college education.
Calls for Service:
Calls for emergency service through our regional dispatch center in Shelburne, remained fairly consistent with previous years as we recorded 1,076 calls for service through Shelburne Control. This year we implemented an in-house dispatch log which resulted in more accurate recording of police activities. In 2010, we recorded a total of 2,309 police services. The following is a general breakdown of the calls and activities that officers were dispatched to throughout the year.
2008 2009 2010
Alarm 118 107 63
Animals Complaint 38 42 52
Assist Other Agency 113 125 128
Assist Person 81 98 151
Disabled Motor Vehicle 40 32 33
General Service 546 406 957
House / Building Check n/a n/a 615
Medical Assist 89 103 77
Motor Vehicle Complaint 66 42 63
Other 911 Calls 30 62 92
Safety Hazard 42 59 41
Suspicious Activity 18 28 37
Total Dispatched Calls for Service 1,181 1,104 1,076
Total Police Services n/a n/a 2,309
Investigations:
Due to the hard work and dedication of our officers, 89 criminal cases were successfully closed and their offenders were prosecuted. The following information accurately reflects the number of investigations conducted in the past three years.
2008 2009 2010
Assault 37 9 9
Breaking & Entering 17 28 15
Disorderly Conduct 1 7 7
Disturbance 10 13 7
Drug Violations 7 8 14
Family Offenses 11 6 19
Fraud 20 5 7
Larceny 92 71 59
Leaving Accident Scene 7 6 8
Liquor Law Violations n/a n/a 29
Sexual Offenses 6 6 5
Stolen Vehicle 2 1 1
Motor Vehicle Accidents 75 47 35
Motor Vehicle Offenses 126 141 101
Trespass 3 22 7
Vandalism 44 35 23
Intimation / Threats/ Harassment n/a n/a 12
Total 458 405 365
Total Arrests / Criminal Complaints 136 153 89
Traffic Enforcement
The Northfield Police Department continues to pride itself on a strong commitment to keeping our roadways safe through traffic enforcement and education. This year we saw a slight increase in traffic accidents and a reduction in traffic enforcement. This reduction can be attributed a decrease in police patrol due to budgetary constraints and time attributed reorganization of the police department. Due to the decrease in patrol and traffic enforcement, we implemented strategies such as utilizing a speed notification sign on problem roadways to compensate for this loss. The following information demonstrates the officers traffic enforcement activities.
2008 2009 2010
Citation Arrests 58 32 38
Criminal Complaint Citation 75 98 60
Civil Citations 435 473 353
Citation Warnings 1,019 1,027 581
Total Citations 1,587 1,630 1,032
Total Citation Fines 44,865 44,910 34,325
Money Collected
The following money has been collected by the town as a result of the police department’s activities.
2008 2009 2010
Administrative Fees 1,357 1,209 5,504
Career Incentive (Quinn Bill) 6,633 7,933 1,439
Contributions & Donations 0.00 1,200 1,165
Court Fees 2,952 507 2,880
Cruiser Fees 760 2,730 1,867
Firearms Licensing Fees 1,125 512 1,275
Traffic Citation Fines 17,070 17,010 13,087
Total 329,897 31,101 27,217
Goals for 2011
Aside from maintaining the progress already made on various initiatives, the department will continue to move toward expanding its capabilities into the following service areas during the next calendar year:
1. Improve officer safety measures.
2. Update emergency management plans and make them compatible with other public safety department within our community.
3. Continue to provide educational crime prevention services to our residents, especially our youth and seniors.
4. Improve community participation and knowledge of the police department.
5. Improve department communications, officer knowledge and training.
2009 Town Report