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DEPARTMENT NEWS

TOWN OF CARMEL POLICE DEPARTMENT
YEAR END REPORT
2009

The number of calls for service that the police department responded to increased by 9 percent for 2009 compared to 2008.  The number of calls increased to 25,993 in 2009 from 23,835 in 2008.  The police department in the past has usually experienced double digit increases in calls for service over the past ten years, with only two officers being added to the police department five years ago.  We still have less police officers in the department than we had in the early 1990's.  If the trend continues with regards to the call volume and increasing severity of crimes---police response time to emergencies will increase and some of the services the department now provides will have to be cut back or eliminated, without additional personnel being hired.

The number of total arrests made by department personnel decreased over the last year with 705 adult arrests for 2009 compared to 755 adult arrests for 2008.  There were 606 adults arrested in 2007 compared to 567 adults arrested in 2006, and 550 adults who were arrested for various violations and crimes in 2005.                                 

The police department's patrol division, supervised by Lt. Michael Cazzari, has made a concerted effort to increase enforcement of DWI and speed enforcement, which are the main causes of traffic accidents.  The department vastly increased the number of traffic summons issued in 2009 which totaled 4,560 summonses of which 1,064 were for speeding.  The total summons issued reflects an increase of 18 per cent in 2009 compared with 2008.  In 2008, 3,874 summonses were issued of which 1098 were for speeding and in 2007 the department issued 2,525 traffic summonses of which 780 were for speeding violations.  In previous years there were  2,485 traffic summons issued in 2006 with 784 summons issued for speeding, and 2,194 traffic summons for 2005 of which 554 were for speeding violations.  

During 2009 department personnel arrested 88 people for Driving While Intoxicated and 1 person for Boating While Intoxicated compared to 100 people for Driving While Intoxicated in 2008.  Department personnel arrested 60 people for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) in 2007 and 58 people arrested in 2006. The constant commitment of the police department in targeting driving while intoxicated and speeding violators over the last eight years have resulted in no negligible increase in the amount of reported accidents.  In 2009 the department handled 881 accidents with 238 reported injuries and three fatalities.  In 2008, the department handled 918 accidents with 260 reported injuries and three fatalities; in 2007, the department handled 947 accidents with 211 injuries and four fatalities, and in 2006 the department handled 862 accidents with 344 reported injuries and four fatal accident victims. Accidents in prior years have remained somewhat constant from 2001 through 2005--- 928 accidents with two fatalities and 301 injuries in 2001; 921 accidents with one fatality and 236 injuries in 2002; and 948 accidents with three fatalities and 237 injuries in 2003; and 934 accidents with two fatalities and 231 injuries in 2004, 848 accidents with 235 reported injuries and two fatal traffic accidents in 2005.  These figures should be considered a positive statistic, since the population and traffic has increased markedly over the past ten years, and the traffic accidents and related injuries have remained constant over the years. 

The three fatalities in 2009 all involved accidents involving one vehicle.  The first accident involved a 69 year old woman who drove into a tree on Bullet Hole Road on 4/24/09 at approximately 2:40 PM for no apparent reason.  It is believed that she may have suffered a medical condition that caused her to drive off the roadway.  The second accident occurred on Rt. 6N near Cherry Lane on 7/12/09 at 3:51 AM in which an 18 year old apparently fell asleep and struck a boat and then careened into  a 21 year old male pedestrian resulting in the pedestrian's death.  The third accident occurred on 8/12/09 at approximately 11:40 PM in which an 18 year old driver who was allegedly under the influence of drugs ran off the roadway on Rt.6N near Stillwater Road.  A 19 year old male passenger succumbed to his injuries due the accident.                                                               

As a service to the public, the police department has three police officers trained in the installation of child seats.   The officers inspected and/or installed 82 child car seats and held eight car seat clinics during 2009, as well as attending four major community events in which they held car seat clinics.  This is another proactive program that the department initiated to help reduce vehicle injuries and deaths.

Department personnel issued a total of 1043 parking summons in 2009 compared to 456 parking summons in 2008 and 392 parking summons in 2007.                                
 
DETECTIVE DIVISION

In 2009, the Detective Division handled 361 cases compared to 451 in 2008; this number does not reflect cases where detectives assisted patrol officers with statements, photos, or evidence collection.  The usual acceptable case load for a detective is one or two serious major crimes or several dozen lesser crimes in a single month.  It depends on how much danger exists to citizen's lives and then their property (in that order), that determines how much of a detectives' time and how many detectives are assigned to a single case.  Some individual cases have taken all of one or more detective's time for months and even years.  Each detective carries what is called a "case load" made up of all their active investigations and, for the crimes they have already solved, all the work needed to get ready for trial in court.  The department has only three detectives and a detective sergeant—if additional personnel are not assigned to the detective division----this will result in cases not being solved and possibly criminals committing more crimes in our town before they are apprehended.

In 2008, the department instituted a policy to delegate certain crimes to be followed up by the patrol division, due to the extremely high caseload the detective division handled in 2007—which was 715 cases.  A new policy and procedure was enacted in which insufficient/ bad check cases would be handled by patrol and other misdemeanor cases in which the solvability factors indicated that it could be solved with a small amount of investigation was also turned over to the original patrol officers handling the call.  All other misdemeanor cases not falling into these parameters are followed up by the detective division.   

The Detective Division continues to maintain all evidence collected by all members of the department, maintain and update all bench and arrest warrants, and followed up on 553 domestic incident reports in 2009 compared to 383 domestic incident reports in 2008, referring all victims in need of assistance to the proper agency. The division also supervises and directs the intern program, which allows high school and college students to learn about police work. The division maintains records on all registered sex offenders, makes public notification on all level 2, and level 3 sex offenders and maintains a log containing photos and all pertinent information on level 2, and 3 offenders for public viewing. This division conducts all background checks of potential employees for the department, and continues to be the liaison between the Carmel Police Department and all surrounding Police Agencies and the District Attorneys Office. The detective division also conducts public safety classes on Crime Prevention and various other informative programs.  The Detective Division also made 67 arrests in 2009.  

The Youth Officer continues to work under the supervision of the Det/Sgt when needed on all cases that require criminal investigation where the victim or perpetrator is a juvenile.

YOUTH OFFICER

The police department's juvenile aide bureau consists of one uniformed officer who attends to these duties on a part-time basis.  The amount of juvenile delinquent cases were 40 in 2009 compared to 49 in 2008; 86 in 2007 and 35 in 2006.  Drug and alcohol use among the age group of 14 and 15 year olds will always be a problem.  There were 6 minors juvenile action cards issued for unlawful possession of marijuana and/or alcohol in 2009; 7 in 2008; 14 in 2007 and 1 in 2006. 

There were seven cases of children involved in child abuse/neglect investigations in which the child was a victim in 2009. 

An interesting case was one in which a 14 year old girl was being solicited on line by an adult family friend.  Officer Chibbaro took over the internet chat with the suspect, acting as the 14 year old girl over several days.  The suspect responded to the residence expecting to have a planned sexual interaction with the 14 year old.  The suspect was arrested and charged with Disseminating Indecent Material to Minor and Endangering the Welfare of a Minor.

Ten juveniles were processed and given juvenile appearance tickets to appear in Family Court.  These cases included such crimes and violations as Burglary, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, Criminal Trespass, Assault 3rd Degree; Harassment 1st Degree, and Criminal Mischief 3rd and 4th Degree.                            

Other cases that were handled by the patrol division and detective division involving investigations were cases of runaways; reports of child abuse/neglect and emotionally disturbed youths.  Officer Chibbaro also teaches the D.A.R.E. Program, in which approximately 434 students successfully completed the program at the elementary school level.  He has recommended that the D.A.R.E. program be expanded to the middle school level---the majority of our juvenile delinquents are in the 12 to 15 year old age group.  Officer Chibbaro has also given numerous safety presentations at the area schools (including nursery schools) such as Stranger Danger; Halloween Safety and Sex Offender/Internet Safety.  He presented numerous seminars on internet safety at the Mahopac Library over the last year.  Officer Chibbaro would like to also start a Police Cadet Program.  Due to our limited staffing, this program and the expansion of the D.A.R.E. program into the middle school can not be instituted at this time.

There is a need in this department to have a fulltime youth officer/detective—which would allow us to expand the DARE program into the Mahopac Middle School, as well as assisting the detective division with their heavy workload. 

DRUG ARRESTS

The department made 76 drug arrests in 2009 compared to 115 drug arrests in 2008; compared to 114 drug arrests in 2007; 67 drug arrests in 2006 and 36 drug arrests in 2005.  The charges ranged from unlawful possession and sale of marijuana to possession and sale of controlled substances such as cocaine, heroin, and illegal possession of prescription drugs.  Some of these arrests were due to traffic stops, observation of drug activity by patrol officers, and suspects being arrested on other charges who were in possession of drugs. 

In 2008 two officers were also assigned to direct their attention to illegal alcohol sales and drug activities, because the department was receiving calls almost every other day with regards to drug activity in the town.  It is a proven fact that increase in drug activity results in an increase in crimes.  The officers assigned to this special duty resulted in 38 % of the department's total drug arrests and were able to arrest several local drug dealers.  The Town of Kent has recently been experiencing an influx in the dealing and use of heroin in their jurisdiction.  I would like to reinstitute this unit in the spring, but I would like to put the Town Board on notice that it would increase the cost of overtime to take the two officers out of the rotation for these duties.  The union seems to have come to the conclusion that this unit was good for the department and the public, and I believe an understanding can be reached with regards to this matter.  Other alternatives are being explored with another law enforcement agency presently, to help combat this on-going problem.  We are also working with the Putnam County District Attorney's Officer in an effort to seize drug money and vehicles used in these crimes. 

LAKE PATROL

Due to the changes in the law three years ago regarding the requirement of all operators of jet ski's to have taken a boating safety class, the number of jet skiers using Lake Mahopac has slowly increased.  The police department vigorously checked operators of the jet skies for their certification cards.  The department issued 18 summonses in 2009; compared to 26 summonses in 2008 for marine infractions and 9 summonses for marine infractions in 2007.  The infractions covered such violations as: operating a personal water craft without a certificate, operating unregistered vessels, reckless boating, speeding in a 5 mile per hour zone, and not possessing adequate safety equipment.  

The department conducted 42 vessel inspections in 2009 compared to 24 vessel inspections in 2008 to ensure that boats and/or jet skis were properly equipped for safety reasons.  The department assisted 13 stranded boats and swimmers during the boating season.   There were two boating accidents on the lake during the boating season.  The first boating accident involved two boats colliding and nobody receiving injuries.  The second boating accident involved a male swimmer who was struck by a propeller.  The boat operator was arrested for Boating While Intoxicated.  During the boating season the department attempted to place two officers on marine patrol especially on several weekends when high boating activity was anticipated..

The police department had an increased request from the public for instruction in boat safety courses.  Department instructors conducted four separate Boating Safety Courses and certified a total of 135 students in 2009 compared 118 students certified in 2008 and 71 students certified in 2007. 

POLICE K-9 UNIT

Officer Thomas Raffaele and his dog "Cache" in 2009 conducted six building searches; 18 drug searches; 4 evidence searches; 3 missing person searches; 16 suspect searches; was assigned at 7 major community details; and provided 13 demonstrations to nursery and school age children groups.  Officer Raffaele and his K-9 partner are also assigned to the Putnam County Emergency Response Team.  One of the several incidents the K-9 team were involved with was on 2/23/09 at approximately 11:15 PM when Officer Michael Bodo conducted a traffic stop by Maple Grove Nursery on Rt. 6.  Officer Bodo noticed that the operator was sweating profusely and seemed to be confused.  A consent to search the vehicle was obtained from the driver, and "Cache" was immediately utilized and located a glassine envelope containing cocaine in the center console as well as additional cocaine in the closed front ashtray, and 17 hypodermic needles under the rear seat.  The use of the narcotics sniffing K-9 expedites the search for illegal drugs safely and more accurately than individual officers searching a vehicle.  Another incident involved a burglary of a residence on Dahlia Drive on 9/30/09, in which the K-9 successfully tracked the path of the fleeing burglar through the woods to a residence approximately ΒΌ mile away which resulted in his arrest.

OUTSIDE FUNDING SOURCES THAT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT APPLIED FOR AND OBTAINED 

The police department is constantly seeking outside funding sources to reduce the cost to local taxpayers.  Earlier this year the town received the last installment of monies amounting to $5,956 from grant the department was able to obtain from the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Grant to pay for the additional officers hired over five years ago.  

The Carmel Police Department, Kent Police Department, and Sheriff's Department is sharing a yearly Homeland Defense Fund grant that has allowed us to form a Putnam County Emergency Response Team.  The team was officially approved and became operational on October 18, 2006 with Lt. Karst of the Carmel Police Department being the Commander.   The officers are trained as a cohesive unit that would result in a pool of highly trained officers that could be called upon on a mutual aid basis for a critical incident if needed.  Such instances could be considered a Columbine type incident; barricaded subjects; high- risk warrant execution; or hostage situation.  Some of these monies have been spent to purchase the necessary equipment for the team—the remainder of the monies will be utilized to pay the salaries of officers to back fill patrol positions while the selected officers on the team are at training. The team recently began training with Westchester County police departments that also have Emergency Response Teams, and will be reimbursed from a separate regional fund for such training.  

The team participated in 16 training days in fiscal year 2009 to maintain and enhance their skill levels, as well as being called out on three occasions—two incidents in the Town of Kent; and one incident in the Village of Cold Spring. The department received payment in 2009 from Putnam County amounting to$39,400 for monies owed for part of 2008 and all of 2009.   

Lt. Michael Cazzari on behalf of the department has continued to apply and been awarded BUNY and STEP grants which aid the department in enforcing vehicle and traffic laws.  In fiscal year 2010 the department was awarded a $12,400 grant to enforce seat belt compliance Buckle Up New York—(BUNY), and $14,280 for Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) which allows us to target speeders and accident-prone locations.  The new awards are an increase of $3,714 over fiscal year 2009.

As per the agreement I authored with the county regarding marine reimbursement concerning expenses for our police department for patrolling Lake Mahopac—the Town was issued a check from Putnam County for $33,387.60 on 12/31/09 for the lake patrol services provided in 2009.

The police department received notification from the Division of Criminal Justice Services that they would no longer support the DARE Program with workbooks for the students or free training for the DARE Instructors.  I requested assistance from Mahopac School Superintendent Robert Reidy for help from the school district to help defray these additional costs.  The Mahopac School District in 2009 paid for $4,214.23 of DARE supplies for the program.  Both I and former Mahopac School Superintendent Dr. Reidy feel that the DARE Program provides excellent instruction in life coping skills in dealing with peer pressure, violence, and substance abuse.

With the help of Town of Carmel Project Engineer Robert Vara, the police department applied for a member item grant from Congressman Hall's Office to help fund 12 new computers in the patrol cars as well as 12 in-car video digital recorders that will record traffic stops and other incidents when the system is activated by the overhead lights or manually.  The system will allow the dispatcher to view and observe the car stop at headquarters.  The recordings will be downloaded automatically to a server via a "hot spot" as the patrol car drives into the police department parking lot.  The value of this system is that it increases officer safety; memorializes video and audio for prosecutions, investigations and civilian complaints.  I am happy to say that in late December 2009 a press conference was held and the police department was awarded a $145,000 grant from the federal government.

Sgt. Behan applied to the Governors Traffic Safety Task Force and was able to secure an additional $2,600 grant to pay for equipment for the child seat installation program that the department conducted in fiscal year 2009.

We also were awarded a Federal stimulus grant for 2009 amounting to $13,867.98.
The department upgraded the two dispatch computers which were in need of being replaced according to Sullivan Data, because they were running slower and slower and inhibiting the speed of work that the dispatchers required to complete their work expeditiously.  The department purchased an additional in-car computer so that if a  computer went down, the car would not have to be taken out of service.  A spare patrol rifle was purchased so that we can service the existing rifles without placing a car out of service.  The department also purchased 16 spare rifle magazines, because the original ones purchased were wearing out and malfunctioning.  Two tasers with video cameras and assorted equipment were purchased to allow all officers working to be equipped with a taser —especially the officers assigned to do court security.  When we utilize a taser it is put out of service until the video/audio can be downloaded and reviewed by the Patrol Lieutenant and Chief to ascertain if department policies were followed.

RECENT INITIATIVES

The recent agreement with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office to temporary hold our prisoners prior to arraignment, has allowed us to place the arresting officer back on patrol.  Previously the officer would have to "baby-sit" the prisoner, usually overnight, until a town justice arrived in the morning to conduct the arraignment. 
This new procedure increases officer safety as well as allowing the department to maintain adequate patrol resources on the street.  We have used this service extensively, especially on the 12X8 tours, when we are unable to contact a judge. 

In October 2009, the department created the Traffic Safety Unit currently comprised of two patrol officers—P.O's Thomas Johanson and Brian Shay. These officers are assigned to concentrate on accident prone areas as well as handle citizen complaints about speeding vehicles.  The officers have been conducting commercial truck enforcement, garbage truck inspections, as well as DWI Patrols.  The two officers have issued a combined total of 714 summonses and made 30 arrests for the last three months of 2009.

Earlier this year Lt. Brian Karst applied for and received a grant from the Governor's Traffic Safety Board to purchase a license plate reader, valued at approximately $21,000.  This equipment was installed in a patrol car in August of 2009 of this year, which has resulted in numerous arrests for driving with a suspended registration.  The automated license plate reader automatically reads license plates of passing cars and runs the plate number through New York State Motor Vehicle Computer.  The plate reader alerts the officer if the vehicle is wanted or the registration is suspended and also if the registered owner of the vehicle is wanted or that person's driver's license is suspended.  Other municipal police departments that have this equipment report that their arrests of vehicle and traffic law offenders have increased dramatically.  The license plate reader can also be used to locate a suspect vehicle that has been entered in an AMBER Alert (a suspected vehicle carrying a kidnapped child).  This equipment can be used in investigations regarding burglary prone areas---by which the plate numbers of passing motor vehicles are recorded and provide possible suspects if a burglary occurs in the area.  In addition we are still utilizing the county license plate reader that is on loan to our department approximately two months a year.

FUTURE INITIATIVES

Lt. Brian Karst has scheduled and increased the bicycle patrol detail during the warmer months of 2009, and plans on increasing this patrol time in the future for protection of our residents—parts of the bike path are remote and crimes against persons such as sexual assaults can be easily committed.  Since the creation of the bicycle unit, the department has received no reports of any type of crime indicative of crimes against persons, but has investigated reports of possible drug dealing and graffiti on the bike path.  The bicycle patrol's assignment is to also patrol the hamlet areas of Carmel and Mahopac as well as major shopping centers adjacent to the bike path and hamlets.  It is planned that this patrol assignment will be increased more frequently this year.

I requested in for the last three year's year end department report that I would like to start an eight-grade D.A.R.E. program and a Police Cadet Program as suggested by P.O. Chibbaro.  It seems that the 12 to 14 year olds are in the most need of role models and guidance during their teen-age years.  The increase in juvenile drug arrests is an indication of trend that may portray a much larger problem in the future, if education on the dangers of the use of drugs is not reinforced during these formative years.  The department has participated in the HOPE forum sponsored by the Mahopac School District in discussing with the school personnel as well as community groups on how to curb alcohol and drug use among school age children.  The department has volunteered to start an eight grade DARE program.   I had requested two additional police officers in the 2009 and 2010 budgets, which was subsequently deleted from the actual budget adopted by the Town Board.  I intend to research and apply for a grant to cover any additional personnel.  for this program.  I would hope that the Town Board will approve of this endeavor and hire these personnel as soon as possible.
 
RECENT TRAINING

The Town of Carmel Police Department is one of the most progressive departments in the area and attempts to be proactive as opposed to being reactive.  A highly trained police department that is progressive and professional is an asset to the community, and will continue to ensure an excellent quality of life to our residents and visitors to our town.
Training and adequate supervision has been shown to reduce a police department's liability, especially when frivolous lawsuits are lodged against the police department.

In order to be progressive the department has to make a concerted effort to train its' officers and employees on an ongoing basis.  The department's personnel completed an average of over nine eight-hour tours of training for each employee---which is way above the average for law enforcement agencies.  A majority of these training hours that were utilized could be attributed to in-service training on a variety of subjects: including annual firearms training, and the ongoing training for our members of the Putnam County Emergency Response Team.  Training for personnel included; three days of in-service training on a variety of subjects; one day of Firearms Re-Qualification and Certification; Dispatcher APCO Class; Glock armorer school; Public and Private Sector Security Conference; Police Mental Health Training; Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program Training; Commercial Motor Vehicle Criminal Interdiction; K-9 Legal Update  Training; Labor Management and Public Safety; Traffic Safety Seminar; Street Crimes Seminar; Traffic Safety Road Audit /Assessment Training; NYS Police Sex Offense Seminar; Hostage Negotiations Seminar; Executive Level Training Seminar—Working Smarter: Avoiding Costly and Embarrassing Mistakes; Power Point for Public Safety; Mental Health Seminar; License Plate Reader Seminar; IN-service K-9 Narcotics Training ; Traffic Accident Reconstruction; child Passenger Safety Training; ICE Training; Command Level 207-C and Disciplinary Issues; Forensic Accident Investigations School; Water Rescue; Instructor Development Course; Contemporary Drug of Abuse and Inhalation Abuse; Advanced roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement Training; Crisis Intervention Officer Training; NYSP Child Physical Abuse and Neglect Seminar; Standardized Field sobriety Training; Motor Vehicle Collision Investigation; Field Intelligence Officer Training; Personal Radiation Training. The training was accomplished by the police department administration with a minimum of overtime and costs to the taxpayer.
  
ANTICIPATED NEEDS

Every other institution and public service provider in the Town of Carmel has undergone physical plant modernization and expansion to better serve the public—among them are the three fire departments; volunteer ambulance corp.; town and county highway departments; Mahopac library; and the two school systems.  The town should create a capital projects fund and place revenues over a number of future years to pay for a police judicial center.  Although stop-gap measures have been put in place to secure the courtroom and use what little space in the police department to its' maximum usefulness—this problem will go from bearable to unbearable in the near future. A long range capital plan should be instituted to soften the tax expenditure to current and future town residents. Their have been token construction projects and promises of studies, but nothing has been done of any consequence to move the process further to a permanent solution.

The Town is in a unique position to take advantage of the recent recession and the aid packages that are being proposed by the federal government to reinvigorate the economy.  President Obama has stated he will be providing funds to be utilized in capital projects.  I have already petitioned Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman John Hall's office to have included in the legislation the addition of municipal buildings in the capital funding bills.  The recession has not only decreased interest rates to historic lows; it has also reduced the costs of raw materials; building construction labor costs; and land acquisition costs.  This is the perfect time to plan for the town's future and if federal monies become available to take care of the needs of the town at greatly reduced cost to the taxpayers.

It is a general feeling that the proposed location of the Community/Senior Center at Sycamore Park is by far not an ideal location.  The Recreation Department's needs should also be considered in a comprehensive plan for all town entities.  There is a trend in the United States to have community centers built next to police stations, which gives the public a feeling of safety when utilizing a community center.  Some of the facilities at both the police; courts; and community center could be used for a myriad of multi-use purposes by each individual group.  The consideration should also be made to utilize a facility for a senior center as well as to be utilized for possibly a disaster relief center, so that taxpayer money is used to provide a myriad of services in a cost efficient way. 

A perfect piece of residential land encompassing 12 acres for this campus has been identified on Rt. 6 and could be purchased or condemned by the town for the previous listed uses.  By purchasing the land, it would be the first step towards creating a remedy for the multiple needs of the various town departments and public.  In any case it is necessary to take steps to correct these deficiencies that the town has failed to address over the years, or the problem will definitely become worse and more cost prohibitive to the taxpayer in the future.    

The ever increasing demands placed on the police department by the public are slowly pushing the police department personnel to the limit.   The number of calls for service and severity and increasing number of serious crimes is taxing an already stretched staff, as evidenced by the findings of the Division of Criminal Justice Services Administrative Study that was conducted in July 2007.  The police department needs additional officers and detectives if the department is to continue to provide the services that the public has learned to expect.  As previously stated, I will be seeking outside funding for these positions, but if approved by the federal government then there should be no delay in the hiring of these additional subsidized officers as happened in the past.  The longer we wait and not be proactive especially with the youth of our community---the more it will cost the taxpayers in the future with increases in crime and a diminished quality of life.

SUMMATION

I would like to thank all the employees of the police department who have done their jobs professionally and on a daily basis this last year.   The police department continues to address problems in the community in an expeditious manner; even with the increase in workload and law enforcement activities that the department is requested to address.  Although we are in tough economic times, I would also like to thank the Town Board in their unwavering support for the police department and its personnel over the last year, and anticipate your continued full support in the future.

Sincerely,

Chief Michael Johnson