Middletown police chief highlights K-9 successes, regional radio push and new mental-health registry

The Middletown police chief told the Public Safety Commission on Sept. 15 that the department’s K-9 teams had a series of recent successes, urged regional investment in radio interoperability and outlined plans to roll out a mental-health Voluntary Information File (VIF) funded by the Connecticut Department of Health.

The chief opened his monthly report by noting that Officer Bloom and the department’s K-9 unit received a K-9 of the Year recognition from the Connecticut State Police Training Academy for work on a 2024 home-invasion case that included a pursuit to New Haven. He described recent assists in which K-9 teams located a missing juvenile and helped resolve a barricaded subject, and said another track of a stolen vehicle in Rocky Hill led to arrests. “It’s a great tool,” the chief said of the K-9 teams, citing their role in locating suspects and identifying evidence.

Why it matters: the department framed the K-9 successes as public-safety wins that also demonstrate mutual-aid benefits across the region; the chief paired that with requests for investment in communications and programs that affect officer response.

The chief told commissioners the department currently fields three K-9s, four patrol dogs (one assigned to the narcotics/street-crime unit), one narcotics dog and a therapeutic/comfort dog named Bear, and that the city is pursuing an additional patrol dog from a Pennsylvania breeder at an estimated price of $10,000–$13,000.

On radio communications, the chief briefed the commission on RAFT, a shared capital-region radio system. He said regional chiefs are pursuing a rebuild estimated at about $630,000 to improve mobile and portable interoperability for the first 60–90 minutes of major incidents and suggested state coordination and funding would be beneficial.

The chief also outlined the VIF program, an online registry that will allow family members to register information about individuals (medical or mental-health needs, access instructions, caregiving notes) so officers have front-loaded context at the point of response. “That contract is gonna be paid for by Department of Health,” he said, and the department hopes to begin signups and public outreach around Oct. 1.

Budget pressures were also raised: the chief warned of rising overtime because of a Connecticut sick-time policy he described as a carryover “from 40 to 80” hours, saying the department expected an uptick in overtime that will be difficult to budget for and that mitigation is being pursued now.

He summarized summer community engagement — National Night Out, an open house on traffic-safety cameras (about 31 attendees) and youth programs — and reported three civilian complaints currently pending. The chief said August saw about a 15% month-over-month increase in reported crime, though the year-to-date total remains about 1% below last year; he singled out a regional spike in retail larceny, citing several incidents at Home Depot that led to arrests.

The chief closed with an automated traffic-camera update (the program’s cumulative figures were discussed during the meeting) and said the department will move to activated camera sites after a warning and publicity period.

The commission did not require further action on these informational items; the meeting proceeded to votes on separate agenda motions.