Middletown police report rise in calls, outline recruitment push and social-work pilot

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 civil-service written exam conducted May 3 drew 238 candidates; results are expected in the summer and the next academy class traditionally starts in February. Awachu described recent physical-agility testing for a legacy eligibility list (from 02/2022): about 25 people attended and 10 passed the agility test; those candidates will undergo preliminary background reviews.

On hiring, Awachu said the department recently added a full-time dispatcher, Priscel Chittick, who started May 5. He also said he plans to recognize five officers at the May 20 council meeting for recent promotions: Lieutenant Patron, Sergeant Napoli, Detective Gast, Detective Colletti and Detective Baron.

Awachu said training over the past month included sessions on “ghost guns,” confidential-informant management, and medical examiner death-investigation briefings. He reported continued work on a new records-management system and said officers’ productivity is improving as the system’s bugs are ironed out; the department is one of three in the county currently using the platform, with the next group going live in June.

The chief described a proposed partnership with the SWELL Project (Social Work and Law Enforcement), a program developed by Dr. Isabel Logan at Adelphi University that embeds vetted social-work students into police departments as part of their capstone projects. The student would be embedded two to three days per week from September through May; Awachu said there is no financial obligation beyond providing workspace, and the program includes written reports and presentations by the student. Awachu said he and two staff members plan to attend a multi-day SWELL conference this month and that, if the department participates, he hopes to send four officers to a one-week social-work police academy in August to train alongside social workers. "It seems like it's worth a try," Awachu said, describing the program as having yielded positive results in other jurisdictions.

Awachu also noted the department’s Spring Youth Leadership Academy will hold graduation in the meeting room on the 20th at 5 p.m. He said participants are mostly eighth graders and that attendees asked for a longer program.

Discussion items included clarifying which elements of the hiring pipeline are time-constrained by academy schedules; Awachu noted certified officers are easier to bring on quickly than candidates who must attend a police academy. He said the department will proceed with background investigations for qualified agility-test candidates and will use the new civil-service list when it is released.

Ending: The commission did not take further public action on these operational items at the meeting and moved later to an executive session for personnel matters.