Town of Carmel Police Department

DEPARTMENT NEWS

TOWN OF CARMEL POLICE DEPARTMENT
YEAR END REPORT
2007

Crime has shown a slight increase or decrease depending on specific areas in the nation.  Putnam County is still considered one of the safest counties in the nation to reside. I am happy to report that the total Part 1 Crimes in the Town of Carmel, which are the more serious crimes against persons and property, decreased slightly in 2007 compared to 2006. Although the specific Part 1 crimes against property were down over the previous year, Part 1 crimes against persons increased slightly in such categories as aggravated assault, rape, and one reported homicide.  

The number of calls for service that the police department is handling has increased by large percentages in the last two years ---25,775 calls for 2007 which equates to a 13.5 percent increase over 2006-----in 2006 we handled 22,711 calls which was a 16 per cent increase over 2005 in which the department handled 19,694 calls.. 

The police department's patrol division, supervised by Lt. Brian Karst, has made a concerted effort to increase enforcement of DWI and speed enforcement, which are the main causes of traffic accidents. Amazingly the department slightly increased the number of traffic summons issued in 2007 to 2,525 of which 780 were for speeding violations despite the 13.5 increase in the amount of calls for service. There were 2,485 traffic summons in 2006 with 784 summons issued for speeding compared to 2,194 traffic summons for 2005 of which 554 were for speeding violations. 

Department personnel arrested 60 people for Driving While Intoxicated compared to 58 people for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) in 2006. The consistent effort in targeting driving while intoxicated and speeding violators over the last six years has resulted in a relatively consistent flat amount of reported accidents. In 2007 the department handled 947 accidents with 211 injuries and four fatalities. 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 accidents in 2005. These figures should be considered a positive statistic, since the population and traffic has increased markedly over the past ten years. 

The four fatalities in 2007 involved three multi-car accidents, and another accident involving one vehicle. The one car accident involved an inexperienced 17 year old male driver who drove off the roadway, and the cause of the accident was determined to be excessive speed. Two of the three multi-car accidents involved elderly drivers who were 81 and 91 years old. One accident involved the 91 year old attempting to cross Rt. 6 by Lake Casse Road and being struck by a vehicle traveling north on Rt.6. The other accident was caused by excessive speed in which the 81 year old driver failed to negotiate a curve and struck another vehicle in the oncoming lane by Colonel Glenn Dr. The third multi-car accident involved a 37 year old male who lost control of his vehicle on a curve due to slippery pavement on Drewville Road and crossed over into the oncoming lane striking another vehicle head-on.                                 

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 157 child car seats and held eight car seat clinics during 2007. This is another proactive program that the department initiated to help reduce vehicle injuries and deaths.

Department personnel issued a total of 392 parking summons in 2007 compared to 454 parking summons for 2006. The number of total arrests made by department personnel increased by 6.5 per cent to 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.                               
 
DETECTIVE DIVISION

In 2007 the Detective Division handled 715 cases; 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.

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 443 domestic incident reports, 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 102 arrests in 2007. 

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.

In 2007 the Department created the Special Conditions Unit currently comprised of P.O. Kunze and P.O. Sheil. These officers also work under the Det/Sgt and are assigned to investigate all quality of life offenses with special attention to narcotics sale and use, as well as the illegal sale of alcoholic beverages. Their scheduled days of work are evenings and midnights Tuesday through Saturday. This unit has not only done an excellent job of reducing drug activity in town, but has also served as additional personnel to back-up uniformed patrol on serious calls for service.  From May of 2007 to years end the conditions unit handled more than 50 cases and made 100 arrests, as well as assisting the Detective Division in numerous investigations. The intelligence obtained by these officers in developing informants has resulted in other penal law crimes being solved.

The department made 114 drug arrests in 2007 compared to 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, ecstasy, and PCP.

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. I  would have liked to have a Carmel Police officer assigned to the Putnam County Narcotics Task Force. Due to union issues at the Sheriff's Department, and Putnam County's terrible financial condition eliminated this funding for the Carmel Police Officer assigned to the drug task force. I had to assign two officers to direct their attention to illegal alcohol sales and drug activities, because I 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 the vast majority of the department's drug arrests and were able to arrest several local drug dealers. We are currently working with the Putnam County District Attorney's Officer in an effort to seize drug money and vehicles used in these crimes.

YOUTH OFFICER


The police department's juvenile aide bureau's consists of one uniformed officer who attends to these duties on a part-time basis. The workload essentially has more than doubled from 2006 compared to 2007. The amount of juvenile delinquent cases went from 35 in 2006 to 86 in 2008. Drug use among the age group of 14 and 15 year olds is also on the rise. There were 14 minors issued juvenile action cards for unlawful possession of marijuana in 2007 compared to 1 in 2006. 

The number of children involved in sexual abuse cases rose from 2 in 2006 to 9 in 2007. Those cases ranged from Rape 2nd Degree to disseminating pornographic material on the internet. Youths committing larcenies were also on the rise in 2007, with one case of a 14 year old possessing a .45 caliber handgun which was stolen from a local residence.

Twelve juveniles were processed and given juvenile appearance tickets to appear in Family Court. These cases included such crimes and violations as attempted robbery, assault, sexual abuse, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief. Other cases that were handled by the patrol division and detective division involving investigations were: concerning runaways; reports of child abuse/neglect and emotionally disturbed youths. Officer Chibbaro also teaches the D.A.R.E. Program, in which approximately 457 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. 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 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. 

LAKE PATROL

Due to the changes in the law 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 decreased. The police department vigorously checked operators of the jet skies for their certification cards. The department issued 9 summonses for marine infractions... 

The department conducted 44 vessel inspections, to ensure that boats and/or jet skis were properly equipped for safety reasons. The department assisted 12 stranded boats and swimmers during the boating season.  There was one minor boat accident on the lake during the boating season. On several weekends when high boating activity was anticipated—the department assigned two officers to patrol the lake.

The police department had an increased request from the public for instruction in boat safety courses. Department instructors conducted three separate Boating Safety Courses and certified a total of 71 students. 

A total of 477 marine patrol hours on Lake Mahopac were actually performed, and two officers expended an additional 80 hours attending Basic Marine Law Enforcement School. 




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. The town has begun to take advantage of the grant the department was able to obtain a U.S. Department of Justice COPS Grant for $150,000 to pay for two additional police officers over a three-year period. The first officer hired under the grant was hired on August 2006, and the second officer was hired on February 1, 2007. As of 12/31/07 the police department has or will receive funds from the federal government amounting to $72,840 to help offset these costs.

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.  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 participated in 16 training days in fiscal year 2007 to maintain and enhance their skill levels, as well as being called out on two occasions—one incident in the Town of Carmel and the other just over the town border in the town of Putnam Valley. The department has received $52,328.30 reimbursement from the county in 2006, and is owed an additional $37,511 as of 01/03/08.  

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 2008 the department was awarded $10,680 grant to enforce seat belt compliance Buckle Up New York—(BUNY), and $7,750 for Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) which allows us to target speeders and accident-prone locations. .
The department was notified in December 2007 that we were awarded a portable video camera system with training valued at $13,500 after applying for a Commercial Equipment Development Assistance Program offered by the federal government. The XOA is a portable, ruggedized, multi-use manned or unmanned video surveillance system capable of managing a variety of cameras (up to 4 simultaneously) including pan-tilt-zooms, long –range, day-night, analog and IP digital. XOA captures real-time evidence directly to a removable media, thus preserving the chain of custody regarding the original source of evidence. XOA includes: the XOA Mobile Video Command Center, one DNS say/night long range camera, two fixed focal length color Lipstick Cameras, one fixed focal black and white Lipstick Camera and 40GB USB Removable External USB 40 GB Hard Drive.

The system can be used to monitor and record public areas that may be plagued with criminal mischief (graffiti); used in extended barricaded subject incidents; monitor public events; monitor any particular area in which criminal activity is prevalent. Our police department will share this equipment with neighboring police departments when requested.

The police department was apprised of, applied for, and received a $2,000 grant from the "John T. Sloper Community Fund of the Community Foundation of Dutchess". The grant funded an additional AED (Automated Electric Defibrillator) to equip a patrol car. Presently the department has four AED's and was in need of an additional AED, so that, all the patrol cars would be equipped with this life saving device.

The police department applied for and partially received a Department of Criminal Justice Services Impact Grant. The grant awarded to the police department is in the amount of $25,844 which will fully pay for the start up costs and any overtime costs for the first year associated with starting a police K-9 unit with drug sniffing capabilities. I would like to thank the Town Board for accepting and approving this program. The K-9 and his handler are presently in basic K-9 school and should be graduating in early March.

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 $24,295.03 for the lake patrol services provided in 2007.

I would also like to thank the Town Board for the authorization to switch to the Impact police computer software from the county Mobil Tec computer software. The new software was paid for with funds from the 2007 budget which was originally allocated for the maintenance on the old software and by applying $25,000 in Stop DWI funds received from Putnam County. The new software is user friendly, allows more expeditious reporting; and is more comprehensive than the previous software. Mobil Tec, situated in Tampa, Florida, had promised enhancements and change requests that never materialized. The new software allows officers to process paperwork in their cars expeditiously and results in higher worker productivity.

FUTURE INITIATIVES

The department has increased the staff of bicycle officers to a total of seven. The department has increased this patrol detail during the warmer months of the year, 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. 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.

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. In order to do this I have requested two additional police officers in the 2008 budget, which was deleted from the budget. I can not start an eight grade DARE program without at least one more additional officer. I will also be researching and applying for a grant to cover this employee's salary and benefits.

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 10 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 dispatcher law enforcement courses; basic marine law enforcement school, Clandestine lab school, taser instructor school, DARE instructor school, search warrant training, executive training conference, hostage negotiations; supervisor school, basic law enforcement bicycle school, sex offense seminar; tactical symposium, police involved shootings; FBI LEEDA executive development school; child passenger seat seminar, in-service training on computer software, radar operator course, canine school, property room management training seminar, protecting children on-line, supervisory communications training, shared municipal services incentive grant program, and active shooter school. This tabulation that the average employee received 10 days of training, did not take into account that we had two officers in basic police officer school which is a six month program.  The training was accomplished by the police department administration with a minimum of overtime and costs to the taxpayer.
 
ANTICIPATED NEEDS

I would like to thank the Carmel Town Board in taking the first step in recently funding and passing a resolution to go forward with a needs assessment for the police department and the town court.  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. Although this long range project will take years, this is the first step in a long and arduous process that will result in such a project being conducted intelligently and expeditiously.

It is anticipated that this assessment will also take into consideration the needs of the Recreation Department to also utilize this possible facility for a senior center and possibly a disaster relief center, so that, taxpayer money is utilized to provide a myriad of services in a cost efficient way. Once a plan is formalized, the police department administration will seek both public grants and private monies to bring the plan into reality.  

Although the department's policing staff was increased by two officers, 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. I would ask that at least one officer is appointed this year to the police department and another additional officer appointed in 2009.  As stated previously I will be seeking outside funding for these positions, but in rare occasions monies can be taken from the contingency account to fund an additional position. I believe 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.  Productivity measured by arrests, traffic summons issued, and number of calls handled went up dramatically--- while the sick time utilized by department personnel stayed relatively the same. I would also like to thank the Town Board for solidly supporting the police department and its' personnel over the last year, and anticipate your continued support in the future.

Sincerely,
Chief Michael Johnson