1995-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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Report of the staffing shortages early in the year, there was a consis- tent high level of calls for service. While our overall Police Department Calls for Service increased about 4.5%, encouraging decreases were noted in significant crime categories To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and such as Burglary and Assault. Among the satisfying the Citizens of the Town of Mashpee: decreases in lesser crimes was a large drop in the Van- dalism cases reported to us. In an effort to provide a I am very pleased to submit to the Board of Select- better response to the complaints that we receive on men and the citizens, my second annual report as traffic-related matters, we attempted to direct our Chief of Police. enforcement to areas of high accident activity and areas where citizens specifically asked for our help. MISSION: The mission of the Mashpee Police We noted an increase in citations issued and a decrease Department has been to provide the Town of Mashpee in automobile accidents reported to us. A longer peri- with the highest quality of professional police services od of study will help us determine the true correlation to effectively address the incident of criminal activity between those two statistics. I was encouraged by and service needs of the total community; to encour- many cases of effective partnerships in the communi- age interaction between the citizens of Mashpee and ty that I saw which resulted in a number of cases being the personnel of the Mashpee Police Department, successfully closed during the year. Our statistics, thereby promoting a cohesive environment designed which are attached for your review, continue to reflect to counteract the negative social influences that con- that Mashpee is a safe place in which to live and work. tribute to an apathetic setting where criminal and other Within the police department, the credit for continued antisocial behavior is propagated. success under truly difficult conditions goes to our police officers "on the street", who are working hard COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: The department and to provide the front-line defense for us against crime the citizens of Mashpee accepted the implementation in our town. of a "Community Policing" philosophy as a goal in 1992 and 1993.That philosophy, which can be defined PERSONNEL ACTIONS: During early 1995, the as bringing police and citizens closer together by retirements of both Chief Curtis Frye and Administra- establishing partnerships which lead to more effective tive Assistant Barbara Horton became effective. working relationships with neighborhood groups, Approximately halfway through the year, two new schools, and businesses within the Town. The Police police officers, Glenn Gillan and Albert Todino were Department continued development toward that goal appointed to the department. Our new Administrative in 1995 with the implementation of two new key pro- Secretary,Barbara Costello,was also appointed during grams that will strengthen our partnership with the the year. community. "Park and Walk"brings officers into clos- er contact with citizens when officers park their cruis- COMMUNICATIONS: Our Public Safety Commu- ers and walk through targeted high-density population nications Center begins its sixth year as a control point areas, interacting with the citizens. These opportuni- of all Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, and ties to interact lead to aositiv p e exchange of informa- Civil Defense for our community.y d success tion and views between citizens and the police, result- of that very complex operation must be directly attrib- ing in the improvement of service by police to the uted to the dedication and expertise of our Public Safe- community. The new "Liaison Officer Program" ty Dispatchers.In June,the Town implemented its new assigns an officer to each neighborhood association E-9-1-1 emergency number, with calls initially going and community organization with the goal of having through the Barnstable County Communications Cen- that officer work with residents on solving non-emer- ter, where emergency calls for Mashpee are relayed to gency problems of mutual concern that pose a threat to our Public Safety Dispatchers. A new and exciting public peace and safety. To many of us, this program development in the communications area was the is reminiscent of having your neighborhood "cop on installation of the first two mobile data terminals in the beat" many years ago that proved successful in two of our cruisers, bringing computerized technology building familiarity and mutual confidence between into police vehicles that are on patrol on our highways. citizens and police which helped solve issues of mutu- We expect to add more terminals to other cruisers in al concern in the community. In the years to come, we the future, as well as to continue to explore other new will continue to strengthen our partnerships with citi- high technology developments as they become avail- zens that result in the most effective delivery of ser- able to us. vices in the true spirit of"Community Policing". On behalf of the department, I would like to thank CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES: 1995 was another busy all of the Town's officials and employees for assis- j year for the Police Department. Despite notable tance to us during 1995. A special thank you goes to all of our citizen-customers and voters for your much x: 83