MADISON POLICE DEPARTMENT

2010 TOWN REPORT

The Madison Police Department has had another busy and productive year. Reports of Crime Related Incidents have gone down from 384 in 2008 to 246 in 2010. Accidents are down from 60 in 2008 to 31 in 2010. It is hard to determine exactly why this has happened but I believe it is directly related to several factors. The Police Department roster has stabilized over the last four years. The line officers have more collective training and experience than ever before. We have exercised a doctrine of aggressive Problem Oriented Policing. Several of our repeat offenders are either incarcerated or have moved out of town.

Even with a tangible drop in reported crime over the last two years the department remains very busy and our services are frequently utilized by the community. The Carroll County Communication Center Statistics give Madison about 4763 calls a year. We logged another 565 telephone messages for a total of 5328 documented calls for 2010. This averages out to about 14 or 15 times a day that someone is demanding the attention of an officer. These numbers do not consider calls the staff get at home, calls into the office that are answered directly or some of the walk in requests for officer assistance that are generated by the town.

We have also reduced full-time staffing levels in response to the economy. Although we have enjoyed success with our part-time officers we have also had to make tough decisions about appropriately prioritizing our efforts.

Statistical analysis can provide some insight into a situation. Police work can be more difficult to quantify. An officer could answer four simple calls for service in an hour and then the next case will generate over 60 hours. An example involves a theft of $30,000.00 in cash and a hand gun from a house. This case was reported on December 31, 2009. The department has made arrests and has one conviction as of the writing of this report (January 14, 2011). The department has taken and made about a dozen telephone calls on this case in the last week. I have made and received three calls in an effort to set up another interview about the case in the time it has taken me to write the last three paragraphs of the report.

Our Patrol Officers continue to participate in the after school program at Madison Elementary School on a weekly basis. I am happy to report that I have received positive feedback on their involvement.

All members of the department continue to donate time to the town with no monetary compensation.

We are grateful for the support that you have given us and acknowledge and appreciate the fact that our success is 100% dependent upon it.

* Crime related incidents are violation and misdemeanor level offenses

Chief James Mullen

Madison Police Department