Town of carlisle for the year ending
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- STATISTICS
- FIRE DEPARTMENT
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Members: Kevin T. Smith, Chairman Emmanuel Crespo, Associate member Ed Rolfe, Full member Marty Galligan, Associate member Vacancy for Full member Lisa Davis Lewis, Associate member Vacancy for Associate member PUBLIC SERVICE and SAFETY POLICE DEPARTMENT The Carlisle Police Department provides comprehensive police services including, but not limited to: criminal investigations, emergency response, proactive patrol, community problem solving, traffic control, and a school resource officer program. The Police Department employs ten (10) full time sworn officers and ten (10) part time sworn officers to deliver professional law enforcement services to our community. From January to December 2011, the Police Department handled 11,009 calls for service. The total number of calls handled is an increase of 228 calls compared to 2010 statistics. Our Mission Statement is: The Police Department shall provide fair and courteous services designed to promote public safety, protect individual rights, and be responsive to the needs of the community in a manner that stresses the highest values of excellence, dignity, and professionalism. Accomplishing our mission requires strong partnerships with residents, business owners, town employees, and visitors. Our Safety Officer continued to provide his expertise and training for any resident interested in the proper installation of a child seats. Over the past year, the Safety Officer installed 3 child seats. The Police Department continued an important partnership with the Communities for Restorative Justice Program. The Concord/Carlisle Restorative Circles focuses on the harmful effects of an offender’s actions and actively involves the victim and the offender in the process of reparation and rehabilitation. When appropriate, the Restorative Justice Circle provides the police and the community with an alternative for holding an offender accountable for his or her actions. Twenty local youths went through this program in 2010. Carlisle continued its commitment as a member of the Northeast Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC). The regional council is effective because it pools the resources of member communities. NEMLEC provides assistance with SWAT, STARS (School Threat Assessment Response System), crime scene services, search and rescue, and cybercrime. One officer from the department is assigned to NEMLEC. Officer Stephen Mack is assigned to the Rapid Response Team (RRT). The civilian dispatchers at the Police Department are important partners and resources for officers working the street. Recently, two dispatchers left the Department for higher paying positions in other agencies. A comprehensive search and interview process yielded several qualified candidates. The candidates are in the final stages of a background check and should be available for hire in the coming weeks. The Police Department appreciates the support we receive from Carlisle residents. We strive to ensure residents are confident in our abilities to keep crime out of Carlisle and effectively prosecute those that victimize our residents. We look forward to a safe 2012. STATISTICS
Sexual Assaults 2 1 FIRE DEPARTMENT Personnel and Staffing Our roster of 28 this year includes the chief, deputy chief, captain and two lieutenants. In addition there are 12 regular fire fighters and 11 auxiliaries. Sixteen in this group are currently State certified emergency medical technicians (EMT’s). Paul Martin of Chelmsford went on a leave of absence for military service in April. Kevin Walker resigned in May and Mark Snay of Concord was appointed as an auxiliary firefighter/EMT in June. We welcome Mark as he begins his service to our community. Richard Sibley also went on a leave of absence in August and returned to service in December. Keeping our roster complete with adequately trained personnel who have the availability to respond to calls remains the number one challenge for the department. Once again we have placed ads in the Carlisle Mosquito for anyone who may have the qualifications and interest to become a firefighter/EMT. Recruiting efforts continued during the year and a few prospective candidates are being pursued. As our ambulance call volume increases our need for EMT’s increases. This will continue to be a priority for the coming year. The department continues to take advantage of the senior tax worker program to support the administrative tasks in the chief’s office. Under this program the department receives a total of 70 hours in support of clerical and administrative tasks. I am very grateful for this help, although it is limited. The department has requested administrative support via the budget process without success. Due to State and Federal requirements the number of hours necessary to process paperwork for departmental operations continues to increase each year. It has reached the point where we are becoming burgeoned with routine clerical tasks and need additional assistance. Training Auxiliary firefighter Mark Snay enrolled in the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy Firefighter I/II training class in July. Mark graduated in the top of the recruit class in December. We congratulate Mark on this achievement. This essential training is very important in rounding out a firefighter’s knowledge and skill base. Our firefighter training sessions are scheduled twice a month on Wednesday evenings for a three hour period. Training topics vary from pump operations to water supply, firefighting tactics to self-contained breathing apparatus and search and rescue. We often go out into the various neighborhoods around town and conduct practical drills. Our EMT’s attend monthly continuing education sessions held at our station. We were very fortunate to have Dr. Jill Simon, a pediatrician living in Carlisle, come and speak to us on pediatric emergencies in December. The training session was an excellent opportunity for our EMT’s to interact directly with a pediatric physician. We thank Dr. Simon for her time and interest in our emergency medical service. Burt Rubenstein continues to provide a high quality continuing education program with a wide range of topics each month. Our EMT training sessions include drills and practical skill reviews. Several EMT’s have also attended other courses during the year focusing on advanced emergency medicine. Calls and Statistics Our ambulance calls continue to increase with over 200 this year. In addition, our fire calls for gas leaks, residential alarms and carbon monoxide alarm investigations have increased as well. Interestingly, of the 40 carbon monoxide alarm investigation calls we responded to, approximately 25% of these homes were found to have unsafe levels of carbon monoxide. Residents are reminded that carbon monoxide detectors have a low battery alert built into the alarm. We also responded to an extraordinary number of master box alarms at the Highland building and the Carlisle Public Schools mostly due to construction activity. State of Emergency was declared in August for Tropical Storm Irene and October for an early season snowstorm. Both storms brought extreme weather conditions to our community. The Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) met prior to these storms and used the Town’s emergency notification system to alert and update residents. The LEPC also met regularly during the storms to manage the response by our town departments and address issues related to the storms. Middlesex County was declared a disaster area which opened the channels for federal assistance to the town. The fire department expended over $6,300 during these storms responding to emergency calls. Once again we are filing the necessary paperwork requesting 75% reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for these costs. Projects I am pleased to report that the 40,000 gallon fire station cistern project was completed in August. This 40,000 gallon cistern provides water for fire protection in the center district, including portions of Bedford, Westford, Concord, School, Church and Rockland Roads. In addition, we continued to work with the school project engineers and contractors as the project moved into the construction phase in April. An 80,000 gallon cistern was completed in December after many months of difficulties with the installation including several leaks. A well was drilled and the plumbing and electrical connections remain to be completed. Due to the knowledge and diligence of Deputy Chief White I am happy to report that the installation is moving along. Although this installation provides the water for the new buildings fire sprinklers, the water is also available to the fire department to use in the School Street and center area via a suction pipe. Additional work continues with the installation and coordination of the school sprinkler system, fire alarm, and fire lanes. Many hours of meetings on site planning, coordinating, and inspecting this work is necessary. Chestnut Estates cistern is incomplete at this time. Additional work is necessary to relocate a utility pole at this development. The Hanover Hill Road project is complete and the cisterns there have been tested and are fully functional. As of this writing, the Elliot Farms project on River Road has not started. This is a common driveway and when completed will add another cistern in that area. There has been no progress made with the municipal fiber cable project while consideration for the needs of other departments and facilities of the town takes place. The primary purpose of the fiber cable installation between the school and the communications center is for the public safety departments. We look forward to completing this project for the public safety departments in 2012. Emergency Medical Services During the year EMT’s continued to receive training and updates to the statewide pre-hospital treatment protocols. Thanks to the skill and expertise of Burt Rubenstein the department is now in compliance with the Massachusetts Ambulance Trip Record Information System (MATRIS). Unfortunately the new reporting adds an additional burden of time to the EMT who must input the additional data required by the State. As the year came to a close we were notified that a new program regarding Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) will begin on March 1, 2012. The Emerson Hospital advanced life support service (ALS) changed on February 14, 2010. Professional Ambulance of Cambridge now provides advanced life support (ALS) services to 8 area communities. Professional is under contract with Emerson Hospital and Carlisle has signed an agreement to be in the area collaborative. A report was issued to the Selectmen in December updating them on the first full year of this service. The first year of operation had many positives. The quality of patient care is very high and we appear to be meeting revenue goals. The only issue still remaining is the response time to Carlisle by the paramedic unit which is stationed in Acton. The average response time to Carlisle is 13 minutes. Apparatus, Vehicles & Equipment The May 2010 annual town meeting approved funds for the replacement of Engine 6. Delivery of this new engine was expected in early summer of 2011. However, due to issues with the production of the truck at the International manufacturing plant, which was shut down due to economy, we are now expecting the truck to be delivered in January 2012. The application that was filed with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program for the replacement of 22 of our 24 self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) was approved in January. The order was placed in the fall and we are expecting delivery of the equipment early 2012. The total amount of the grant received was $ 108,500 with the Town paying a $ 5,425 match to the grant. Therefore not all of the capital funds that were approved by the Town Meeting in May 2010 for this project will be needed. In April the town received a homeland security grant of $ 7,210 from the Northeast Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council. Items purchased with these grant funds included interoperable communications equipment. We also received an additional sump pump and two large salvage tarps. Working with the Finance Committee I was able to obtain funds to repair several cisterns this year. In addition we were able to add funds to the FY’12 fire department budget in the form of a line item for cistern maintenance. I am pleased to report that we have cleared up all of the repairs and now have a mechanism to conduct on-going maintenance on the 21 installations we currently responsible for. We were once again the recipient of a generous grant from the Nichols Foundation. These funds will be used to improve technology in the fire station. Fire Station Facilities Two space issues continue to hamper the operations at the fire station. Our building is now 26 years old and over time with the addition of new equipment and the replacement of apparatus with larger vehicles we have used up all of the available square footage. Our firefighters, EMT’s and officers are working in tight quarters. The need for office work space and record storage has become very real and problematic. Some equipment is now being stored outside the building. The time has come to begin to discuss future plans for the expansion of the fire station. Open Burning Open burning season runs from January 15th until 4:00 PM on May 1st. As a reminder, residents must register with the fire department in order to be issued a burning permit during this period. Residents only need to register once. However, once registered residents must still call each day they wish to burn. There were 854 residents registered with 659 burning permits issued for the season. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our residents who maintained safety during the 2011 burning season. Please be aware that state regulations require that all fires be extinguished by 4:00 PM and there can be no smoke or hot coals. We receive many complaints regarding this each year. You may lose your burning permit for the season if this rule is not observed.
New Regulations Reminder The new regulation regarding smoke detector upgrades upon sale or transfer of homes constructed prior to January 1, 1975 took effect. Upon the sale or transfer of a home constructed prior to January 1, 1975 a photoelectric smoke detector is required within 20 feet of a kitchen or bath with a shower; in other areas a dual technology detector is required (ionization and photoelectric). Contact the fire prevention office for more information. Another new regulation regarding oil lines and oil safety valves took effect last year. Homeowners without a protected oil line or an oil safety valve need to upgrade by installing either of these in order to be in compliance. For additional information contact the fire prevention office at 978-287-0072. As I begin my tenth year I would like to take this opportunity once again thank all the members of the department, especially the officers for their continued hard work and dedication. Our community is blessed with a group of men who serve and protect us every day all year long. In addition, the department has been very fortunate to receive the unwavering support of the residents. For that we are grateful too. Finally, I am also especially appreciative of the support I have received from the Board of Selectmen. Yüklə 2,39 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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