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Fitchburg police chief reports improved staffing outlook, flags burglary trend and domestic-violence drop
Summary
Police Chief Morales said three new officers are at the academy leaving two vacancies, reported an ongoing burglary trend tied to outside jurisdictions and credited a domestic-violence unit with an 'almost 50%' drop in domestic calls last year.
Police Chief Morales updated the commission on staffing and crime trends, saying three new officers are currently at the law-enforcement academy and the department has two remaining vacancies. He said the department plans a second hiring process this summer and hopes to have positions filled by fall.
Morales reported the department handled more than 1,000 citizen-generated calls and about 1,100 officer-initiated calls, with increases consistent with summer patterns. He said there were no homicides, no confirmed shots-fired reports and no robberies in the month reported, but that burglaries and thefts from autos are of particular concern and that investigators are working with Madison and other jurisdictions on a burglary trend.
Morales highlighted a roughly 13% decrease in traffic crashes compared with the previous year and credited local traffic engineering and team efforts. On domestic violence, Morales said a domestic-violence unit created five years ago contributed to "almost a 50% drop in domestic" calls last year; he offered to share the department's annual report with commissioners for further detail.
Commissioners thanked staff for the work and asked for follow-up data; the commission subsequently approved several police personnel actions, including hiring Logan Brown as captain and Michael Berry as shift lieutenant, and authorized a sergeant hiring process.
