BRISTOL POLICE DEPARTMENT

Chief John E. Clark submits the following report regarding the mission and activities of the Bristol Police Department for the year 2008.

Once again it has been a very busy year for the Bristol Police Department. It is important to begin our yearly report by identifying several goals and objectives that have been accomplished by our department and staff over the past year.

• Development of a community orientated direction in our law enforcement services provided to the community focusing on the educational concepts of public safety.

• Enhancement and continued development of a very positive relationship with the Administration, Staff and Students within the Newfound Area School District.  This has also resulted in a grant program creating a partnership between the Bristol Police Department and the Newfound Regional School District. This grant will help provide for a School Resource Officer on a part time basis in our Bristol schools specifically the Newfound Regional High School and the Newfound Memorial Middle School.

• A continued collaboration with professional partnership agencies such as: Voices Against Violence, Tappley Thompson Community Center, CADY in Plymouth, Caring Community Network of the Twin Rivers, Bristol Lions Club, Bristol Rotary Club, Bristol Masons, and the Newfound Area Chief’s Association.

In maintaining the safety of our community it is also necessary to be attentive to the underlying issues that result in criminal behavior, the primary being the abuse of alcohol and drugs. The Bristol Police Department has dealt with 139 arrests pertaining to alcohol and drug related offenses this past year. We continue to maintain our diligence in drug and alcohol related crimes. As we enter 2009 we will also be working with other law enforcement agencies to address prescription drug abuse and our continued diligence on the drug and alcohol issues that have received considerable attention over the past year.

It is also important to point out that Voices Against Violence in Plymouth has received 64 contacts concerning domestic violence victims over the past year from Bristol. This number of contacts for our community further translates to at least one domestic violence incident occurring in our community every four days. In that regard the Bristol Police Department is going to continue to be diligent in our responsiveness to be proactive in our efforts to prevent Domestic Violence from occurring. We will continue to work to educate our community, work with related partnering agencies and assist the survivors of this concerning crime. Furthermore, we will actively pursue the domestic violence offenders and seek aggressive prosecution of these offenders.

Bristol is a very transitional community in which our population changes significantly on Memorial Day of each year through Columbus Day weekend. We are very busy with our seasonal activities and the additional visitors and seasonal residents that come to our community.

In 2009 we will be seeking significant grant income from the New Hampshire Highway Safety Agency providing for our personnel to conduct DWI enforcement, traffic safety enforcement initiatives. We will also conduct educational enforcement safety in and around our schools regarding appropriate seatbelt usage throughout the year.

We have had great success and many positive comments regarding our proactive educational visual radar trailer over the past year. This device provides an educational moment to alert the normally safe drivers to check their speed when traveling through our community.

During the year the Bristol Police Department has received $47,872.80 in revenues received from parking tickets, pistol permits, police reports, outside details, fines and other accounts, all of which has been turned back to the Town of Bristol.

As Chief of the Bristol Police Department it is important to mention in our annual report that I am very proud of our full and part time staff and appreciate their dedication to our department and the citizens of Bristol. It is also important that I point out the success of our staff in their continued professional development which they have participated in this past year:

• Officer Woodard received an award from NH Police Standards and Training Council for his excellence on a motor vehicle stop in January of 2008.  Officer Woodward conducted an investigation during the stop that lead to several drug arrests and seizure of drugs from the individuals involved.

• Officer Magdich has become certified as a Crash Scene Investigator.  This is the first of three courses Officer Magdich will attend to become a Crash Scene Expert.  This is a valuable certification to the Town of Bristol regarding serious accidents and the investigation of these accidents.

• Officer Bean completed the NH Full Time Police Academy in April of 2008 and has been a valuable and dedicated addition to the department.

• We would also like to thank our senior Officers Patrolman Robert Wingate and Patrolman Joseph Vogel for their continued dedication to our department and community and for the mentoring of our younger officers.

• Det. Sergeant Robert Dupuis has also been successful in assisting local businesses in pursuing financial cases, arresting numerous offenders regarding these offenses. We appreciate Det. Sgt. Dupuis diligence in this regard.

• Lt. Lewis has become one of only 19 officers in the State of New Hampshire to be certified as an Advanced Roadside Impaired Detection Enforcement Officer.  This certification is a great asset to the Town of Bristol as we have two major state highways  going through our community. Lt. Lewis has also completed the level one Municipal Government Leadership course and completed six classes through the NH Local Government Center and Antioch New England Institute.  All courses focusing on a variety of complex leadership and supervision principals applicable to local government.

• With Officer Angela Bergeron leaving the Department to go to the Pembroke Police Department the Town of Bristol was fortunate to hire Gary Robinson.  Gary comes to the Department as a Part-Time Certified Officer and will be attending the NH Full Time Police Academy in April of 2009.  

The Police Department would also like to thank New Hampshire State Police- Troop F and the Grafton County Sheriffs Department for their assistance and  law enforcement services that they provided to us this past year. We would also like to thank the Police Departments in the surrounding towns for their assistance to us, under our mutual aid agreements. I would also like to express my appreciation to all of the other Town Departments for their continued assistance and support. In a small town such as Bristol inter-departmental cooperation is essential.

The members of the Police Department wish to especially thank you, the citizens of Bristol, for your support and cooperation throughout the year.

Respectfully submitted:

John E. Clark, Chief of Police