Police chief reports February drop in calls, rise in arrests; department adds new officer

At a meeting of the Middletown Police Commission, the police chief reported that the department handled 2,128 calls for service in February — an 8% drop from January’s 2,305 — while arrests rose to 176, a 4.7% increase from the previous month.

The chief told commissioners the department investigated 23 Part 1 crimes in February (eight violent, 15 property) and 108 Part 2 crimes, which he said represented a 25% increase from January. "For the month of February, the department handled 2,128 calls for service," the police chief said, and added that parking summons fell sharply from January, a decline he attributed in part to that month’s snow emergency.

The report included staffing details: the chief said there are five vacancies, 70 sworn personnel on the books versus 75 budgeted, one officer recently returned from maternity leave (Officer Han returned as of March 4), one remains deployed with the National Guard and two are in the police academy. "Since our last meeting ... Officer Han has returned," the chief said.

The chief also announced that a conditional offer previously extended to police officer candidate Aiden Burgess was completed and that Burgess "began his career with us on March 16." He noted any candidate offered a position still must pass medical and psychological evaluations before attending the next police academy session, scheduled to begin April 13.

Training and community engagement featured in the chief’s remarks. He described department participation in a two-day "Policing the Teenage Brain" program paid for with anti-violence funding, courses on property and evidence management, Niche records-management instruction, and defensive tactics training. The department ran a youth leadership program (about 32 started; roughly 28 remained) and hosted a senior-center luncheon that included information on senior fraud. The chief also highlighted a police awards ceremony held March 12 and previewed a March 27 charity badminton event at Northern Academy.

The commission did not request further discussion of the statistics. The meeting moved later to review internal investigations and then to executive session on personnel matters.