1999-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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program designed to maintain an effective partnershi Report of the bet ween elders and the police. Our TRIAD Program, h Chief of Police through the dedication of the senior citizen members of the organization, has become the model program of its type in the area. To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and Our popular "Citizens Police Academy" 1 .� the Citizens of the Town of Mashpee: y"graduated p its seventh class of participants who will assist us in refining community partnerships.We hope to continue p I am very pleased to submit to the Board of to receive grant funds to allow us to offer this infor- Selectmen and the citizens, my sixth annual report as mational program to more Town residents during the your Chief of Police. coming year. Despite decreasing funds available to us MISSION: The mission of the Mashpee Police through grants, we continued one of our most success ` Department is to provide the Town of Mashpee with ful programs, the Drug Abuse Resistance Program,or the highest quality of professional police services to "DARE", in Mashpee's schools. We hope to continue j effectively address the incidence of criminal activity to deliver strong messages to our youth to resist both and service needs of the total community; to encour- drugs and violence through this nationally known pro- C r. age interaction between the citizens of Mashpee and gram. The program is now in its eighth year and over the personnel of the Mashpee Police Department, 2,000 of our children have graduated from the 11- w thereby promoting a cohesive environment designed week basic DARE course. Considering other activities to counteract the negative social influences that con- in the schools, DARE Officers interact with over i. tribute to an apathetic setting where criminal and other 1,000 Mashpee youngsters each school year. In 1999, antisocial behavior is propagated. we continued School at the Station, another commu- COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: The department and nity policing program begun last year, whereby the citizens of Mashpee accepted the implementation Mashpee High School students spend a day at the the a "Community of tepee n " department learning more about law enforcement and g philosophy as a goal in our role in providing services to our community, 1992 and 1993. That philosophy, defined as bringing Another highly visible Community Policing Program police and citizens closer together in partnerships effective working relationships was the Skate Park for the youth of Mashpee, which which lead to more e p was completed using grant funds this past year, with neighborhood groups, schools, and businesses in Participation by our youth at this new facility has Mashpee. The Police Department continued develop- exceeded our expectations and has succeeded in relo- ment toward that goal in 1999 with continued refine- ment of key programs to strengthen our commitment cating them from business areas in Town. We were also fortunate to receive State grant funds that permit- to a partnership with the community. « ted us to obtain a police motorcycle, which is used for Park and Walk" brings officers into closer contact community policing programs and for routine traffic with citizens when officers park their cruisers and enforcement assignments in response to citizen's com walk through targeted high-density population areas, plaints. interacting with the citizens. These opportunities to interact lead to a positiveexchange of information and We expanded our services to the Town in two key views between citizens and the police, resulting in the areas through our relatively new "special service" improved service by police to the community. Our units, the Traffic Enforcement Unit and a Marine Law "Liaison Officer Program" assigns officers to each of Enforcement Unit. Regular officers are assigned to our neighborhood associations and community organi- these units, as extra duty, to attack specific areas of i zations with a goal of having officers work with resi- difficulty by aggressive enforcement action. The ' dents on solving non-emergency problems of mutual Traffic Enforcement Unit is used to address specific concern that pose a threat to public peace and safety. complaints of Speeding and Driving Under the To many of us, this program is reminiscent of having Influence throughout the Town. During the past yams your neighborhood "cop on the beat" this unit was responsible for theapprehension of hun- many years ago dreds of offenders that officers asigned to regular l that proved successful in building both the familiarity and mutual confidence between citizens and police patrol duties would not have been able to dedicate the which helped to solve issues of mutual concern in the necessary time to locate. The Marine Law ' Enforcement has received significant training community.We will continue to explore better ways of and f providing this liaison service to the community in the worked on a limited basis through its first two sum j mers in cooperation with the Harbormaster's staff, coming year. Other successful community ' programs such as the Bike Patrol Unit and Operation This comings ummer , we expect this unit to have a Night Watch enjoyed another productive year of oper- major impact in helping to control Boating Under the ation. On a special note, I am very sed with the Influence and Reckless Watercraft Operation violators continuing development of our TRIAD Program, a on our increasingly busy waterways. X 86