REPORT OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2007
It is my duty and responsibility as the Chief of your Police Department to provide you with this annual report. In December of 2007 I completed my fourth year as your Police Chief. All four have been difficult because of the Town’s fiscal situation and its lack of ability to provide the resources police practitioners, law enforcement managers and I believe necessary to complete our mission and provide the level of police services our community should expect and deserves. Not respective of this fact we will continue to provide a professional, compassionate and bias free police service.
The overall crime in Randolph for the calendar year 2007 increased 13% from 2006. The biggest increase was in property crimes which were up 17%. The bulk of this crime was breaks into motor vehicles and the thefts of electronic equipment such as GPS’s, cell phones, sidekicks and IPODS. Violent crime decreased 5.7 % in 2007. Although this is encouraging, it is bitter sweet. We had three (3) homicides in 2007. This is only one (1) less than the total we had for the previous twenty (20) years.
In response to these homicides and the increase in violent crime during the spring and early summer, we implemented the Department’s first Youth Violence and Street crimes Unit (YVSCU). This unit was made up of five (5) Officers working both days and nights. During the three (3) months the YVSCU was active, July, August, and September, we had no homicides, shootings, stabbings and very few robberies. We credit not just the work of the YVSCU but the proactive response of all the Department’s Officers, both Patrol and Detectives, that resulted in a safe and quite summer and a reduction in violent crime for the first time four (4) years.
Although very successful, unfortunately the YVSCU had to be disbanded in October for budget reasons. We applied for a Byrne Grant from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to fund the YVSCU in 2008. Thanks to the hard work of Senator Brian Joyce and our three Representatives, Driscoll, Timilty and Ayers; we were award a grant that will fund half of the Unit. We are anticipating reinstituting the YVSCU in April of 2008 expecting similar success as in 2007 in the reduction of youth violence and street crimes.
The Department’s Professional Standards Unit investigated two (2) complaints against Officers submitted by citizens. The complaint against the first Officer was for disparaging remarks. After an investigation the Officer was exonerated. The complaint against the second Officer contained three allegations. Two of the accusations, one for excessive force and one for damaging personal property, the Officer was exonerated. The final complaint for disparaging remarks the Officer was disciplined.
There were complaints filed against two additional Officers that did not rise to the level of referral to the Professional Standards Unit. Both these complaints were investigated by Commanding Officers. The Officers in both cases were exonerated in that the evidence indicated that the alleged act did in fact occur but was legal proper and necessary.
In December of 2006 a complaint was filed against an Officer that was investigated by the Professional Standards Unit. The bulk of that investigation was conducted in 2007. The Officer was terminated and is presently on appeal to the Civil Service Commission. The allegation was for stealing.
Your Police Department continues to take a three pronged approach to our public safety and crime prevention efforts. Those three components are prevention through education, intervention and suppression. To achieve this, many Officers within the Department have multiple duty assignments necessitated by the specialization that requires specific training, knowledge, and skill sets. Some of these specialized areas are, K-9 Handlers, Rape Aggression Defense Instructors, Professional Standards Investigators, Firearms, Use of Force and Patrol Tactics Instructors, Sexual and Domestic Violence Investigators, Fatal Accident Investigators, Child, Elder and Disabled Persons Abuse Investigators, Drug Investigators, Youth Violence, Gangs, and School Resource Officers, Field Training Officers,
Warrant Apprehension Officers and Technology Specialists to name some. All the Officers assigned to these specialized Units and Teams maintain a primary duty assignment to Patrol or Detectives.
Our continued membership in the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (Metro-LEC) has allowed us to respond to critical incidents with highly trained and highly skilled Officers that makeup a Special Tactics and Response Division (SWAT), Rapid Response Team (RRT), Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT), Cyber Crime Investigations Division (CCID), and the Investigative Services Unit (ISU). The training, services and experiences that Metro-LEC Officers furnish and receive a Town such as Randolph could not provide for individually. The staffing and training required would be cost prohibitive if not done through partnering with other Departments.
Effective policing in a community as diverse and multicultural as ours is and remains an enormous challenge. As guardians of democracy, police have both the opportunity and obligation to educate citizens and non-citizens who reside in our community about the privileges, laws, and customs within the wider society and their obligations to comply. Your Police Department will continue to work at the basic acceptance of diversity as a precursor to improving interpersonal relations and contact across cultural, ethnic and racial lines.
I would like to thank the Auxiliary Police Department and the Randolph Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association. Without their active volunteerism many of the Police Department’s needs and the public safety concerns would not be met. Many community events that take place would not occur.
I would like to thank the citizens of the town and those members of the business community for their ongoing support throughout the year. We are sworn to serve you.
Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to personally thank the men and women, both sworn Officers and civilians, who make up the Randolph Police Department for their labors and commitment to the Police Department and the community they serve.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul Porter, Chief of Police
| 
