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2009 SHARON POLICE DEPARTMENT ANNUAL REPORT
Joseph S. Bernstein, Chief of Police
With the end of 2009 a new decade begins. It seems just yesterday that we were all concerned with Y2K and what would happen to our indispensable computer systems at the stroke of midnight. During this past decade many things happened of great significance for varying reasons. Some may have differing opinions as to the most significant, but from a policing standpoint the attack upon our nation on September 11, 2001 definitely tops the list. Policing, as well as our nation, has been forever changed and continues to this day. As time goes on many of us get complacent about safety and security, until something like the attempted bombing of an airplane over the holidays again heightens everyone’s awareness. Since it has been learned that there were obvious lapses by those entrusted to protect
us, I only hope that all policing and security agencies continue to learn and evolve. There is no text book with a step by step plan to make us perfectly safe. The personnel of the Sharon Police Department will continue to do their best to provide for our safety and well being working with other local, Federal and State agencies, and most importantly the general public who have more eyes and ears than all policing agencies combined. Only with the combined efforts of all working together can we achieve the safest environment realistically possible.
During this past year many notable local events/activities occurred having significance to the Sharon Police Department. Russell Mann, a long time member of the Department passed away after a very tough battle with cancer. Russ served with the Department as a full time officer from 1971 until his retirement in 2006, many of those years as the Department’s Court Prosecutor at Stoughton District Court. As with all his duties, he performed them with civility and compassion to others. After his retirement, he continued to serve the community as a Special Police Officer until his passing this past September. He is missed, but continues to live on through the mentoring he gave other officers.
Also, during this past year several officers received awards for a variety of reasons, including Meritorious Service Awards and Life Saving Awards. Two of the Life Savings Awards were the result of separate occasions where an officer, after determining a person was not responsive (not breathing/no pulse), administered CPR and the person started breathing on their own. Another Life Saving Award was a result of officers responding to a person threatening suicide and finding the person with a gun in his mouth. Their actions resulted in the weapon being taken from him and the person taken into custody to receive professional help. The Meritorious Service Awards were given to officers responding to an incident where someone was being threatened with a gun and shots had been fired. Officers had to forcibly enter a
residence and gain control of the situation resulting in the arrest of a male on multiple felony charges. He was also arrested on outstanding warrants from another jurisdiction for assault with intent to murder and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. Several people within the residence, including a child were unhurt.
Although the economics of the time are not conducive to expanding the force, and maintaining our current compliment is challenging in and of itself, the need for more personnel is imperative. We desire to continue to provide a high level of innovative, proactive and responsive services to the community; however, with the recent developments throughout the Town and anticipated projects, we must address our personnel needs to continue services at current levels. In 2008 three officers were hired. Two officers assumed patrol positions and a third; the new position of School Resource Officer (SRO), with the cooperation of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee was established. The benefits of the SRO in the schools over the past year and a half have exceeded our expectations. We had anticipated employing four
additional police officers in 2009 in preparation of the Sharon Commons Development as it takes approximately one year to hire and train each police officer; however, due to the economic climate both the development and hiring was put off. Once the development starts to move forward we must take the appropriate steps to address personnel needs to maintain services. Policing continues to become more complex, requiring more expertise from your law enforcement community, but at the same time we must continue our traditional efforts such as: traffic enforcement, routine patrols, responding to various emergencies and maintaining a rapport with our citizens to foster trust and maintain lines of communication. We continue to evaluate programs and initiatives; making adjustments as needed, to best serve our community, ensuring that front line traditional policing initiatives of answering emergencies are not compromised. We hope that our funding levels allow us to
continue the development of the Police Department and services to the community that we all expect and deserve.
Some programs we continue to offer on a limited basis are more critical for the times, such as “R.A.D.” (Rape Aggression Defense), “Project Lifesaver”, which helps locate wandering Alzheimer patients, the “Are You O.K. Program” to check on the elderly, and “A Child is Missing”. Our affiliation continues with the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (Metro-LEC), a contingent of approximately forty local law enforcement agencies and two Sheriffs’ Departments, formed to promote greater public safety and protection within local communities through the sharing of resources and promoting greater capacity which exceed the capabilities of any one single agency. Through this Law Enforcement Council many initiatives have been accomplished, well beyond the means of individual agencies,
including the web site, Massachusetts Most Wanted (www.massmostwanted.org), which has been very helpful in identifying and solving numerous crimes, including those in our community. Metro-LEC also maintains a forensics computer lab which includes state of the art equipment and specially trained police officers from various member agencies which have assisted us with various investigations including sexual assaults, identity thefts and illegal drug activities.
In 2009, as in past years, we aggressively pursued outside funding to augment Town resources for equipment purchases and additional officers in the field. Due to the unfavorable economic times, most funding for local agencies like ours has almost all been eliminated, with the limited available resources being directed to regional initiatives such as Metro–LEC and our regional drug task force. However, even our regional drug task force which received grant funding for many years did not in 2009. Nevertheless, the Sharon Police Department did receive grant monies which assisted in: training personnel in the use of the enhanced 911 Emergency System, supplementing Town funds for E-911 Dispatchers’ personnel costs, and purchasing ballistic vests. Additionally, we received a grant from the Governor’s Highway Safety
Bureau to address safety belt usage, driving while under the influence and other traffic safety concerns.
Communication with everyone in our community is something we continually foster. Initiatives in this area include many of the programs listed earlier as well as: local 1630 AM radio through Civil Defense; cable TV; officers visiting the elementary schools; participation in reading programs at the elementary schools; and, our ongoing participation with various other civic groups, all in an effort to provide high quality services and for our citizens to interact with officers in varied settings. In terms of services directed to our senior population, the previously noted “Are You Okay Program” which, in conjunction with the Sharon Council on Aging and Norfolk Sheriff’s Department, monitors at risk seniors on a daily basis and “Project Lifesaver” provided essential safety net functions. Please visit
our web site through www.townofsharon.net to view additional information and informative links, including “Mass Most Wanted” noted earlier, Sex Offender Registry, Domestic Violence resources, Identity Theft resources and others, as well as the Police and Town General By-Laws.
We continually strive to develop our organization in an effort to better serve our community. Staff development and training are key components. Personnel have attended numerous training sessions to keep current and expand their knowledge with the goal of delivering ever improving quality of service and protection of the community. A wide variety of courses and seminars were attended by various personnel in addition to all officers’ annual attendance at a week long training program through the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council covering legal issues, firearms qualification, first responder certification, defensive tactics and community policing.
The Police Department was involved in approximately 21,500 incidents in 2009, consistent with 2008. Officers responded to 346 motor vehicle accidents, of which 249 required formal reporting and 28 involved personal injuries. These numbers are slightly lower than 2008, but statistically insignificant. Many times accidents can be avoided by drivers being more attentive and following the rules of the road. Over the last few years I requested everyone’s assistance in monitoring their own driving habits, and advised that officers were going to be more vigilant in addressing this issue, which they have. Many things factor into accident statistics including weather, enforcement, and inattentiveness of drivers. In partnership with the Sharon Education Foundation, together we launched the “DNT TXT N DRV” campaign. Officers strike a balance in levels of enforcement actions, issuing 1,992 written warnings and 532 civil violations. Your continued vigilance in monitoring your own driving
habits is the most effective way in making our roads safer for all. Officers also issued 95 criminal complaints. We responded to 721 burglary alarms, of which almost all were false, weather related, malfunctions or operator error. Officers were called upon 90 times to assist citizens who locked themselves out of their vehicle and assisted in installing 61 children/infant car seats. There was 25 reported house or business burglaries, considerably more then the low of 15 in 2007, but less than 2008. Fluctuations in this area have been the norm, as often one person or group usually does not commit just one burglary and disappear. We call upon all our neighbors to assist us by being aware and reporting suspicious activities. Reported larcenies remained consistent at 78, whereas there were 77 reported in 2008 and 85 in 2007. Many of these larcenies are from unlocked motor vehicles and 28 identity thefts. Senseless acts of vandalism
decreased again this year to 49, from 59 in 2008, and 84 in 2007. Please remember that with your help we can continue to have a positive impact in deterring criminal activity and again stress the need for all of us to become involved and report suspicious activity to include, if possible, description of the people, vehicle, and especially the license plate number of the vehicle. The overall crime statistics for our community are very positive. They are reflective of the hard work and commitment of the men and women of the police department, and citizen vigilance, serving as extra eyes and ears for the police department.
As in past years, I will conclude by thanking all the people who have supported the Sharon Police Department. Many of you have spoken to me personally, and others sent notes of appreciation complimenting various members of the department. Your expressions of thanks are greatly appreciated. If you have any comments or suggestions, which you feel would be beneficial to us in better serving you, please let us know. You can telephone me at 781.784.1588, stop by the Police Station, or send us a note.
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