A commenter’s question reminded me yesterday that it has been over a month since I shared logs from the Southborough Police Department. It’s time to check in on what they’ve been up to.
I compiled the logs covering December 10th – January 20th. (You can read the full 20 pages here.)
During that time, the SPD logged eight arrests made. Seven of those stemmed from traffic stops: four for alleged drunk driving, and another three for driving without a license, including two that turned into arrests for drug possession. (One of those made headlines for the amount of confiscated marijuana).
Four more traffic stops resulted in unspecified criminal charges. The only non-vehicle related arrest was for a Warrant and Assault.
In total, seven burglaries were logged from December 10th -29th. At least some of those prompted an arrest and subsequent charges not listed in the logs.
As I previously posted, a Marlborough man was charged for a break-in on Southville Road. At the time, Chief Paulhus indicated that they were continuing to investigate him for other break-ins in December. Since then, the SPD has pressed charges against him for three more of the “string of burglaries”. A Facebook update last week indicated that additional charges were still expected.
The logs also list a robbery, the SPD shared news about earlier this month. A press release announced that a man was arrested for allegedly following an elderly resident to his Carraige Hill garage, then threatening and robbing him. Last week’s Facebook update shared that a Northbridge woman has since been charged with allegedly aiding the suspect after the fact.
The 6 weeks of logs also list 11 reports of larceny, forgery, and/or fraud, plus one report of Harassment. 28 car accidents were reported, one as a hit & run. Fortunately, each listed “property damage only”, presumably meaning that no injuries were reported.
Beyond the logs, the SPD shared other news this winter that I’ve yet to cover.
A Facebook post introduced their Jail Diversion Program Clinician, Christina Fitton. The program was announced in fall 2018 and apparently launched last spring. The Facebook post explains:
Advocates launched the first Pre-Arrest Co-Responder Jail Diversion Program (JDP) in Massachusetts in 2003 at the Framingham Police Department. Since then, Advocates have replicated the co-response model in fifteen cities/towns throughout the Commonwealth.
The model pairs police officers with master’s level clinicians, who ride alongside officers on all calls involving individuals in a mental health or substance abuse-related crisis. Additionally, clinicians can support victims of crimes, or support a family after receiving a death notification.
Advocates Jail Diversion Program is the only model operating in the Commonwealth that facilitates dual diversions — both from arrest and from emergency departments. By providing treatment-based alternatives, clinicians can facilitate arrest diversions on the scene and in the moment. Because JDP clinicians are on-the-scene immediately, they can reduce costly and unnecessary transports to hospital emergency departments, through de-escalation and community-based referrals.
In April 2019, Southborough Police partnered with Westborough and Northborough Police to launch a regional Co-responder Program through Advocates. Christina Fitton, MSW, LCSW currently serves as the Co-Responder for our three towns.
We have received a large amount of positive feedback about the program; from both the members of the public, as well as the officers from our own department. We are very happy and lucky to have Christina as a part of our team.
*Please do not hesitate to say “Hello” to Christina, the next time you see her out on patrol with us!
A “Throwback Thursday” Facebook post reveals that the new Public Safety building is displaying old photos/mementos and the public is encouraged to share more. One example in the post below is of William Colleary Sr’s police badge from the 50’s.
