NCJ Number
83067
Date Published
1970
Length
154 pages
Annotation
Findings and recommendations are presented from an assessment of the current and future needs for public safety (police and fire) in West Hartford, Conn., so as to provide a basis for future manpower use, policy, and decisionmaking.
Abstract
The two most serious problems facing the West Hartford police are property crimes and the use of narcotics and dangerous drugs. Existing personnel resources are adequate to curb these crime trends now and in the foreseeable future, if resource reallocations are implemented as recommended. A combined public safety (police and fire) communications center should be established, and civilians should be employed to replace fire and police dispatchers, thus releasing five officers -- one fire lieutenant and four firemen. Personnel should be reallocated among shifts to better meet the demands for services during peak hours. Further, personnel from regular patrol duties should be reassigned to form two four-man community crime control teams. Each team would be composed of a lieutenant, sergeant, detective, and patrolman and would be given maximum operational lattitude to counter crime in a given area. Two officers would be transferred to the detective division and one to special services. This should increase the clearance of property crimes and the commitment to the narcotics and dangerous drugs problem. Three civilian typists should be employed to relieve sworn personnel from typing reports. As an interim measure, additional crossing guards should be hired as standbys for sick or injured guards in lieu of the current practice of paying overtime to sworn officers to fill in. Tabular data are provided, and report forms and detailed information are appended.