Facility

In 1989, the police department followed the advice of a study committee and moved from its location on the first floor of the Town Hall on Route 13 into the first floor of the newly acquired McCollom Building across the street. The move kept the police station in a central location and on a state road. The department members used their personal time to renovate the interior of the police station.

Currently, the department shares the first floor of the McCollom Building with the offices of the Town Clerk. The second floor of the building is rented. In 1996, fire and burglar alarms were installed in the building.

The police department uses 1,173 square feet of space in the McCollom Building, not counting the public entryway. This is about ten times as much space as they formerly occupied in the Town Hall. This space comfortably exceeds the NRPC-suggested .425 square-feet-per-resident standard. When the population reaches 2,760, which is not expected before the year 2010, the town should consider expanding the space. The police station includes:

• an evidence room
• a meeting room big enough for six people containing a refrigerator, copy machine, and fax machine
• a common area with a desk
• chief's office
• one smaller office
• non-public area in process of being renovated, currently used for file storage
• locked evidence room with a safe and alarm
• a bathroom (no shower)

Two spaces in the parking lot are reserved for the police and one for police business, with other spaces shared by the Mont Vernon Congregational Church, Town Clerk's office, the Mont Vernon Karate Studio on the second floor of the McCollom Building and overflow parking from the Town Hall/fire department parking lot. Except on days when students are being dropped off for lessons at the karate studio, the Town Clerk's office is open and/or there is an event at the church, parking is usually not a problem. The McCollom lot should be adequate to serve both the police and town clerk's services for the next ten years.

The police department currently manages without shower facilities in the McCollom Building. Installation of a shower stall should be planned within the next ten years. Since the fire department also requests showers, the facilities could be located in the fire station and shared by both departments.

Staff

Police service is provided twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, by a team consisting of:

• full-time police chief,
• one full-time officer,
• four part-time officers,
• part-time secretary, and
• part-time matron.

Two full-time officers handle the majority of on-call time, with part-time officers sharing the balance. The department relies on state police help if a time slot can't be filled.

On-call officers are paid for time on actual calls, not for time on call. This makes it difficult for the department to find good part-time officers, who are willing to do the 6-9 months of extensive training. The state provides the majority of the training cost, but Mont Vernon pays the officers for their training time. There have been 23 part-time officers over the past ten years, staying an average of 2.6 years. The combined part-time officers' hours have varied up and down over the past eleven years, showing no upward trend, and have averaged 2,110 hours per year. It would be advantageous to hire a third full-time officer to cover 2,000 of the hours currently covered by part-time officers.

The Uniform Crime Report general rule-of-thumb for uniformed and civilian police forces in the NRPC region is 1.54 officers per population of 1,000. According to this standard, Mont Vernon should have 3.09 staff on its force at this time. We had the equivalent of 3.17 staff in 1999, slightly exceeding the standard in terms of hours served.

Every increase of 100 people in the population translates to approximately 300 hours of police time. At this rate, Mont Vernon will need to increase part-time hours gradually over the next ten years as the population grows, but we will not need to add a fourth full-time officer until the population reaches 2,600, which is not expected before the year 2010.

The town participates in a mutual aid program with Francestown, Lyndeborough, Amherst, and Milford, which allows neighboring police officers to act as Mont Vernon officers while they are in our town - this is very important and often happens. Mont Vernon is usually on the receiving end of this arrangement, at no cost. Sometimes a call requires two officers for safety reasons.

The Amherst jail is used as a holding facility, where most arrests are released on bail. No arrests are processed in Mont Vernon. Occasionally Milford or Hillsborough County Jails are used. Having our own lock-up would be a big expense and major insurance liability to the town, so this arrangement is good for us. It is very important for us to maintain cooperation with area police departments. If our community character remains residential we won't need our own lock-up in the next ten years. If there is a significant addition of businesses to the town, this issue should be revisited.

We use Milford District Court and Manchester Superior Court. Our judge offers night court in Milford, which is convenient for the part-time officers who need to appear.

Projected Department Staffing Needs

Source: Mont Vernon Police Department;

New Hampshire Office of State Planning. New Hampshire Population Projections, 1997

Equipment

The town has two police vehicles, as shown in Table II, which are rotated on a 4-year lease-purchase program as part of the department's regular budget. The newest vehicle is used as the primary vehicle, and the second vehicle is used as a spare car. After four years, vehicles usually have 100,000 miles on them, and they go out for bid to be sold. Vehicles are usually parked overnight at officers' residences for convenience while on call, not at the McCollom building. Note that the hiring of a third full-time officer will not require purchase of an additional vehicle.

Police Equipment, 2000

Source: Mont Vernon Police Department

Patrol Miles, 1989-1999

Source: Mont Vernon Police Department

The department has only one computer and users take turns using it. Within the next three years, a network with two work stations should be installed to handle the additional paperwork required by the gradually increasing population.

If and when the FCC's changes to the way radio frequencies are split comes about, the Police Department will need to replace 6 portable radios and 2 mobile units, or approximately $5,000 worth of equipment. We should keep abreast of this situation and be prepared to replace radios if necessary.

Activities

The 1999 Community Profile response showed that the townspeople feel confident in the police department and view Mont Vernon as a safe place to live. The Police Department's approach to crime deterrence is to maintain high visibility through random patrols of the Town. Because of the town's residential character, with no major commercial activity, above-average socioeconomic characteristics and low density, the demand for police services is not as great as in low-income built-up communities.

Statistically, mobile home parks and rental units require more police services. Currently, the Department's main crime concern is daytime house burglaries. Therefore, it is essential that our police force continues to be highly visible. In response to a rise in burglaries in 1991, the Police Chief urged the townspeople to notify the police department when taking vacations and to make reports of suspicious vehicles and persons. Reports of suspicious activity have risen steadily since then, while the crime rate has stayed low. Having the highly visible police cruisers is an effective crime deterrent.

We have a high number of burglar alarms in town. Should false alarms become a problem, an alarm-licensing ordinance might serve to reduce false alarms.

If Mont Vernon were to add commercial/industrial activity, the police department would have to respond to a different types of calls, including shoplifting, break-ins, and alarms.

Our motor vehicle accident rate is low, due primarily to the Department's high visibility and enforcement of speed limits on the main roads.

Residential growth increases the need for police protection, generally, and places new demands on the Department to respond to a greater variety of needs. Increased traffic will result in a higher number of accidents on Mont Vernon's roads, and also result in increased police activity. Overall increases in police activity are certain as the Town increases in size and complexity.

Table IV shows the past ten years of Police Calls. The number of calls rose sharply in 1993, but has remained relatively steady since then. Total calls may have increased in 1993 due to the new full-time officer being available on duty.

The Police Department offers a 17-week Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program to 6th-graders every year. The department offers other safety programs to the Mont Vernon Village School.

Statutes require towns to deal with stray dogs. Although we have a high level of animal complaints in town, the police chief does not feel it is necessary to have a pound in town.

In 1999 there were .45 police calls per resident, or 2.6 calls per resident for logged police activity in general.

Police Calls, 1989-1999

Source: Mont Vernon Police Department

Police Activity 1989-1999

Source: Mont Vernon Police Department

Summary of Action Items