year in review

Once again 2007 proved to be a very busy year for the department. For a relatively small town we are very busy each and every day handling a variety of issues. Please take a couple of minutes to review our activity report for the year, which is printed in the Town Report and on our website.

Our long time administrative assistant, Jeanette English, retired as of December 1st. She had worked for the department in some type of administrative capacity since 1976. One of the nice things about working on a small department is that we spend so much time together that we truly feel like a family. We do miss her administrative skills and her very special friendship, but we wish her a long and very happy retirement. We hired Michelle McGirr to fill the vacant administrative position. She is a resident of Henniker and has already proven to be a very capable and skillful member of our agency. We are sure that you will find her to be very pleasant and helpful when you need assistance or have a question of us.

We also hired two new Special (part-time) Officers, Jeffrey Iadonisi, who resides in Washington, and Matthew O'Connor, who resides in Hillsborough. They are both currently attending the part-time officer police academy in Concord and will be graduating mid-April. After graduation, they will have to complete our field-training program, which is rather intensive. We are pleased to welcome them aboard.

Half of the police station has been newly renovated. The renovations have created a safer working environment for our officers and staff. It also addressed some space needs for us and made our heating and ventilations systems much more efficient. We are planning an open house for the spring and hope you will take a few minutes to stop by to visit and take a tour. The open house date will be well advertised in advance.

Our department continues to train our members and send our officers to some specialized training schools, which greatly benifits the department and the community. During 2007 we largely focused and trained for a critical incident or life-threatening event, which could occur in one of our schools or another public institution. We are working closely with our schools, New England College and other agencies to ensure we have a plan and are well trained to deal with an incident of this nature. This is the type of training that we pray we will never have to utilize, while at the same time making sure that we are well prepared to protect our citizens and others should the need arise.

In the past year, we have received several monetary grants for equipment and extra patrol coverage. These grants were secured largely through the efforts of Officer Neal Martin, who has become rather proficient in writing and applying for grants, which directly benifit the department and the community. Some of the equipment we were able to acquire through grants, with no monetary contribution from the town, was a portable generator and lighting system, which will help us at accident and crime scenes. The cost of this equipment was $1500.00. We secured a grant for a computer system called Video Detective. This equipment is a complete video stabilization, digitization, and enhancement system to aid in viewing, enhancing and distributing video images. This equipment is intended to support two important functions: surveillance and enhancement. The cost of this equipment was $49,900.00. We also received a $4500.00 grant from the N.H. Highway Safety Agency as a matching grant to purchase the speed trailer. The same agency awarded us grants of $1300.00 and $580.00 for enhanced speed enforcement and DWI saturation patrols. We also received $2000 in matching grant money for the purchase 4 bulletproof vests for our officers. In December we were awarded a grant for a Homeland Security Comprehensive Assessment Model. This tool kit includes one laptop computer pre-loaded with HLS-CAM forms, a digital camera, a range finder, GPS receiver, tool kit and memory card. This system will greatly assist the community and us in identifying and responding to potential critical incidents of almost any kind should one occur in a building or other infrastructure located in our community. This equipment was provided to us, at no cost, and is valued in excess of $5000.00. We will continue to apply for grants in the coming year because, as you can see, they help us to reduce the tax burden of our citizens.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Fire and Rescue Departments for all the assistance they provided us throughout the year. In addition to their significant responsibilities at motor vehicle accidents and other emergencies, they always stand ready to assist us with traffic control, securing an accident scene or crime scene, and to provide us with lighting when our tasks take us late into the night. They are very dedicated and our town should feel very fortunate to have volunteers of such high caliber. Our emergency departments get along very well, which is not necessarily true in all small towns, which greatly benifits the community at large.

Please visit our website at www.hennikerpd.com. In addition to police department news, if you click the resources button, you can find information about such issues as domestic violence, telephone scams, etc.

Finally, the members of the police department are honored and proud to serve the community of Henniker. We will always do our best to serve you well, keep you safe, and protect your property. Please do not hesitate to call upon us at any time for help or advice.

Respectfully submitted,

Timothy Russell
Chief of Police