Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Middletown police report rise in calls, outline recruitment push and social-work pilot
Summary
Chief John Awachu reported an increase in calls for service and detailed staffing, recruitment and training efforts, including a proposed pilot to embed social-work students with patrol squads under the SWELL program.
Chief John Awachu, chief of police, told the Middletown Police Commission that the department saw an increase in call volume and outlined steps to fill vacancies and expand training.
At the meeting, Awachu said the department handled 2,545 calls for service in April, a roughly 10% rise from March’s 2,310 calls. He said the department investigated 37 Part 1 crimes in April, including six violent incidents, and 31 property crimes. Arrests for April numbered 220, compared with 70 the previous month; traffic citations issued rose to 238 from 77. Parking tickets issued in April were 451, up from 318 in March. "I'm happy to say that for the month of April, we've had no shots fired," Awachu said.
Awachu reported staffing pressures: the department has six vacancies and 69 sworn officers of 75 budgeted positions, with two officers in field training, one on light duty and one out on long-term illness. He said a…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
