Bicycle Helmet Grant (5/7/08)
The Monson Police Department was selected to receive 75 bicycle helmets under a grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
The Monson Police Department applied for this grant as part of its ongoing effort to promote the greater use of helmets and to reduce the number of bicycle, skateboard, roller-blade and scooter related injuries in our community. Under Massachusetts law, children 16 and under are required to wear an approved helmet when riding a bicycle, in-line skates, skateboard or non-motorized scooters.
The helmets are expected to arrive within the next few weeks and will be made available to Monson residents free of charge on a first come, first serve basis.
Theft of Equipment from Monson High School (4/28/08)
The Monson Police Department is seeking the public's assistance in the investigation of a theft from the Monson High School.
On the morning of April 28, 2008, the Monson Police Department responded to the Monson High School after staff returning from school vacation discovered the theft of approximately $3,000 worth of electronics and musical equipment from the school's music room. The items consisting of speakers, amplifiers, drums and a video projector were last seen in the building on Friday, 4/18.
Anyone with information about this theft is being asked to contact Ofc. Kristen Marcinec at 413/267-5136.
School Parking Enforcement (2/28/08)
The Monson School Department and the School Transportation Office have requested that the Monson Police Department step up enforcement of the 'No Parking' zones around our schools.
A number of bus drivers have complained about the difficulty negotiating around illegally parked vehicles particularly at pick-up and drop-off times. In order to assure safe traffic flow, and in the interest of keeping emergency vehicle lanes open for police, fire and ambulance access throughout the day and during special events, parents, faculty and visitors are asked to obey all posted no parking signs and park only in designated parking lots.
Any vehicles parked in a posted 'No Parking' zone could be ticketed or towed.
Emergency Medical Dispatch Training (2/26/08)
Monson Police Department’s 4 full-time dispatchers recently completed a 24-hour class in ‘Emergency Medical Dispatching’ instructed by PowerPhone, Inc.
The class that was held in Sturbridge, MA on February 11, 12 and 13, trained dispatchers in providing pre-arrival medical instructions to callers covering a wide array of medical emergencies. Some of these emergencies include allergic reactions, carbon monoxide poisoning, drug overdose, choking, cardiac/respiratory arrest, psychiatric behavioral problems, cold weather incidents and suicide.
This training enhances the police department’s ability to provide a state of the art, cost effective, life saving protocol system to our residents.
Dispatchers who attended this class were Patricia C. Emerson, William M. Chaiffre, Jeremy T. Bedson and Rosalie M. McIntyre
Funding for this training was made possible though a grant from the Massachusetts State Emergency Telecommunications Board.
2007 Annual Report (2/15/08)
While 2007 brought about some positive change, unfortunately, both the police department and community also experienced a few events affecting our quality of life.
Since the police department continues to operate at the same staffing levels it has been at over the past 20 years despite sharp increases in population and call volume, it has become necessary for us to closely manage our resources in order to provide a consistent level of service to our community. The use of technology has become instrumental in our ability to maintain that service.
Through the gracious efforts of the Board of Selectmen, the police department was able to utilize money from ‘Gifts to the Town’ to replace a majority of its aging computers. Our original computers were approaching 8 years old and aside from numerous costly maintenance issues, these computers were unable to keep pace with the software necessary to support our dispatch and record keeping abilities.
In a further effort to enhance our ability to provide quality service to our residents, Adams IGA Supermarket provided the department with a donation from the Milk Bone K-9 Heroes Program. This donation allowed us to purchase the newest member of our force, Atys, a 2 year old black labrador retriever that is being trained in both narcotics and human scent detection. Since that original donation, we have received numerous other corporate, non-profit and private donations that will assist us in maintaining this program at no cost to the town. While we hope that we will never have to utilize Atys for his tracking abilities, our primary goal is to have him trained and equipped to respond to a lost or missing person search on a moment’s notice.
In 2007, the department also took delivery of a new 9-1-1 call taking system. The system that was provided by the State Emergency Telecommunications Board at no cost to the town provides emergency dispatchers with the added ability to pinpoint a caller’s location on a map. Not only is the location of a residence or business displayed, but the system also maps calls placed from cellular telephones. This provides us with an enhanced ability to locate virtually any caller in times of an emergency.
Despite our ongoing efforts to enforce state traffic laws, we continue to investigate a significant number of accidents on an annual basis. One of these accidents claimed the life of a 22 year old on Rt. 20. Our investigation revealed that both speed and alcohol were a factor in that crash.
The most disturbing event of the past year involves the murder of a 20 year old pizza delivery driver. In December 2007, the victim was kidnapped in Springfield and later transported to Monson where he was killed in a field off Carpenter Rd. A suspect in that murder was apprehended and currently awaits trial.
All of us here at the Monson Police Department proudly thank you for the opportunity to serve you.
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