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Chief Foster outlines festival policing, new data tool and asks for 15 more officers as residents raise traffic concerns
Summary
Chief Foster reviewed policing activity including mutual aid at a large downtown festival, new public data subscription expected this summer, training and community outreach, and requested 15 additional officers; public commenters thanked police for the festival and raised safety concerns about Russell Street traffic.
Chief Foster opened his monthly report with a review of recent operations and partnerships, highlighting a large downtown festival that he said tested the department's capabilities and required mutual aid. "It did test our abilities and, thank goodness it was a very successful event," Chief Foster said, describing an estimated 35,000 attendees, more than 200 vendors and a deployment that included roughly 70 police officers and outside support.
Foster said he had written a letter supporting a University of New Haven grant for de-escalation training and that the Capital Region chiefs will expand training tied to the Policing Accountability Act ahead of the presidential election. He also said a statewide Alzheimer registry has been adopted by the state police and is being made available to municipalities to help locate vulnerable missing persons.
The chief announced the department purchased a subscription to a public data service transcribed as "Power Bridal" to publish live, neighborhood-level call data on the department website. He emphasized the tool will not publish victim names and instead will display incident types and ranges. Foster said the department has begun PSAs on motor-vehicle stops and a recruitment PSA produced by local officers.
On staffing, Foster said Middletown is seeing new housing developments and that he has requested 15 additional officers as part of a three-to-five-year staffing forecast to maintain service levels.
During public comment, Lord Tibbens thanked the department for its response to the downtown festival and warned how quickly crowd incidents can escalate, referencing a recent mass-event incident in Baltimore. Resident Jeff described near-collisions pulling into his driveway on Russell Street and urged road closure or traffic-calming. Chief Foster said the department will post officers as needed, is coordinating with public works and DOT, and reiterated a traffic study for Russell Lane slated to begin July 1 to collect vehicle counts and speeds.
The meeting concluded after public comment and an adjournment motion.
