On a weekly basis, I always try to jump onto the local paper and take a look at the police log and also what is going on around our surrounding areas.
I have to admit I had to chuckle when there was a mention that the police log was extremely quiet. One of the comments we often heard around town before social media was, "We don't understand what you folks do." Thus the reason for the chuckle when all was reported quiet.
Much of what we do in regards to service calls is reflected in the police log. If something is part of an active investigation and public release would hamper that investigation or risk the safety of an officer, that information is not released. That information becomes public information when an arrest is made.
Calls for service have been down at this time of the year when our calls from the public should be low. Traffic volume is lower and our summer population in town and surrounding areas that travel through town is lower.
With that said, we have three major cases coming up for trial or in the follow-up stages. State V. Weld is scheduled for an upcoming trial. Trial Prep takes a considerable amount of time. State V. Sargent, the Fox Road Arson case is scheduled for April. We are also continuing follow up on the Kidnapping and Armed Robbery case in January of this year.
As a small agency, we have to function as generalists. Compare this to a general practicioner in the medical field. We don't have the luxury of alot of personnel so we have to do it all. This takes alot of our time on the paperwork and analysis phase of an investigation.
Then there is the administrative aspects of a police agency. We constantly have to review policies to make sure they are up to date with current trends. We are constantly watching the budget to define our needs and wants and watching the bottom line. Our Budget is 80% personnel. This means that if things happen where we have to expend monies for personnel then we have to re-look at the budget to cut in order to come within the bottom line.
The 911 system is currently being update in Town. This requires address mapping and data base updates and confirmations between the two departments.
We remain in contact with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. We work closely with this task force and monitor illegal crimes against children.
Narcotics still is a major problem in Strafford County and we continue to monitor intelligence and plan strategy in partnership with our neighboring departments on how to combat the problem.
Training is key to keep the Department going and making sure we provide the best practices. It is also necessary for the preservation of life of our members and the community members.
So while it is Nice to see a lower call volume during a period of time, it gives us the needed time to catch our breath and make sure that all the other needed duties are being taken care of.
At our recent strategy meeting, we discussed trying to outline educational blogs from different department members to keep our community members updated. Expect to see those in the future.
There is also more to police work than a log. With that in mind, we are looking into doing a monthly blog to let you folks know where we are at and where we are headed.
As warmer weather approaches (hopefully :-)) our motor vehicle enforcement will increase. This keeps our accident level down and provides for a safer community. We were also recently awarded a Highway Safety Grant which will allow us to dedicate officers to DUI enforcement with no local taxpayer impact.
If you have not taken the opportunity to download our Mobile Application, please do. This allows us to get quick notification out. You can download it by searching the android and iphone stores for middleton police. Any problems finding it, email me at tbrown@ne.twcbc.com and I will send you the direct link.
Enjoy Spring, Drive Safe and thanks for the support so many of you have given us.
I have to admit I had to chuckle when there was a mention that the police log was extremely quiet. One of the comments we often heard around town before social media was, "We don't understand what you folks do." Thus the reason for the chuckle when all was reported quiet.
Much of what we do in regards to service calls is reflected in the police log. If something is part of an active investigation and public release would hamper that investigation or risk the safety of an officer, that information is not released. That information becomes public information when an arrest is made.
Calls for service have been down at this time of the year when our calls from the public should be low. Traffic volume is lower and our summer population in town and surrounding areas that travel through town is lower.
With that said, we have three major cases coming up for trial or in the follow-up stages. State V. Weld is scheduled for an upcoming trial. Trial Prep takes a considerable amount of time. State V. Sargent, the Fox Road Arson case is scheduled for April. We are also continuing follow up on the Kidnapping and Armed Robbery case in January of this year.
As a small agency, we have to function as generalists. Compare this to a general practicioner in the medical field. We don't have the luxury of alot of personnel so we have to do it all. This takes alot of our time on the paperwork and analysis phase of an investigation.
Then there is the administrative aspects of a police agency. We constantly have to review policies to make sure they are up to date with current trends. We are constantly watching the budget to define our needs and wants and watching the bottom line. Our Budget is 80% personnel. This means that if things happen where we have to expend monies for personnel then we have to re-look at the budget to cut in order to come within the bottom line.
The 911 system is currently being update in Town. This requires address mapping and data base updates and confirmations between the two departments.
We remain in contact with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. We work closely with this task force and monitor illegal crimes against children.
Narcotics still is a major problem in Strafford County and we continue to monitor intelligence and plan strategy in partnership with our neighboring departments on how to combat the problem.
Training is key to keep the Department going and making sure we provide the best practices. It is also necessary for the preservation of life of our members and the community members.
So while it is Nice to see a lower call volume during a period of time, it gives us the needed time to catch our breath and make sure that all the other needed duties are being taken care of.
At our recent strategy meeting, we discussed trying to outline educational blogs from different department members to keep our community members updated. Expect to see those in the future.
There is also more to police work than a log. With that in mind, we are looking into doing a monthly blog to let you folks know where we are at and where we are headed.
As warmer weather approaches (hopefully :-)) our motor vehicle enforcement will increase. This keeps our accident level down and provides for a safer community. We were also recently awarded a Highway Safety Grant which will allow us to dedicate officers to DUI enforcement with no local taxpayer impact.
If you have not taken the opportunity to download our Mobile Application, please do. This allows us to get quick notification out. You can download it by searching the android and iphone stores for middleton police. Any problems finding it, email me at tbrown@ne.twcbc.com and I will send you the direct link.
Enjoy Spring, Drive Safe and thanks for the support so many of you have given us.
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