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2006 Annual Report
I herewith respectfully submit the Annual Report for the Nahant Police Department for the year ending December 31, 2006.

Personnel: 
The year had numerous changes of department personnel.  Sergeant Gallery retired after many years of faithful service to the Town.  I know all will join with me in wishing Tom many happy years of well-deserved retirement. 
Steven Shultz was appointed to the rank of Sergeant following a competitive examination.  Officer John Monaco was appointed to fill the vacancy of Officer Matt Furlong who transferred to the Lynn Police Department.  Officer Michael Kairevich III resigned for private sector employment.  Officer Matthew Dupont was appointed to replace Sgt. Gallery, but resigned after only six months to accept a position with the Boxford Police Department.  They were replaced by two able officers, Joseph Lyons and Timothy Furlong. We are happy to welcome aboard the three newest officers and are hopeful that they will make their careers in Nahant.

Training:
We continue our in-service training at the Municipal Police Training Committee Academy at Reading.  Each officer receives one-week refresher training each year.  In addition our EMT-D officers are sent to courses every year and recertified every 2nd year.  Our Field Training Officers (Sgt. J. Paul Manley & Officer Michael D. Waters) are responsible for the mentoring and in house training for the new hires as well as the entire department. We continue to take advantage of training opportunities that are made available from time to time by the office of District Attorney Jon Blodgett.

Website:
I would again invite all residents to review our website. It contains a wealth of information that I believe is very interesting and always changing and being updated. Please inform us of any other information you would like to see posted there. While visiting please take a moment and submit your answers to our completely revised “Community Survey” for 2006. This may be done on line or printed and mailed, this is an anonymous submission and no personal information is collected.  We again are deeply indebted to, Robert Wilson at Collage Works for his outstanding work and design on our behalf. It should also be noted that Internet Access, e-Mail and our presence on Web are made possible in part by grant funding from EOPS. 

Racial Profiling Notice:
If you believe that you were stopped by a Nahant Police Officer because of your race or gender, you may report the incident by calling the Nahant Police Department at 781-581-1212 or by calling this toll free number: 1-866-6RACIAL (1-866-672-2425). For more information, visit the Executive Office Of Public Safety Racial And Gender Profiling Hotline page; http://www.state.ma.us/eops/hotline.htm

E911:
Nahant was among the first communities in the Commonwealth to switch over to the new E911 operating system.  This equipment replaces the older system with a windows driven computer system with mapping software that graphically displays on a map the callers location and will eventually allow pinpointing of E911 cellular calls that are placed in Nahant to come directly to the Nahant PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point).  A present all cellular calls are directed to State Police in Framingham and this sometimes results in much confusion and delayed responses.  All personnel have been trained and are proficient in the new system.

Special Notice Concerning Telephone Solicitation:
The Nahant Police Department does not endorse or sponsor any telephone solicitations. Any organization purporting to be raising funds on our behalf or the behalf of any Police group should be considered with suspicion.

Please contact the Nahant Police Department or the Massachusetts Attorney General should you be solicited.

Building and Equipment:
The building is in good condition with no major repairs or renovations planned. At this point in time we have greatly outgrown the building and no longer meets the minimum square footage required for a police facility.  We have used every available inch in the building and are in VERY cramped conditions. One caveat however, this building is well over 100 years old and was never designed as a police station. As first mentioned in 2002 thought should be given to a replacement structure to avoid the pitfalls of last minute crisis planning. You will continue to see the previous italicized sentence in every annual report I submit. Let’s not get caught short when the time arrives!   I will be submitting an article for the Annual Town Meeting in 2008 to form a study and advisory committee to look into “Police Department Building Needs”. 
As in the past we will be budgeting for a replacement cruiser in 2007. This will continue the cycle of timely vehicle replacement, allowing for much greater trade in value and keeping our officers in safe vehicles.  Over the last several years this has been proven to be most effective.

Interested In Law Enforcement As A Career?
The Nahant Police Department is a modern, progressive, innovative department and committed to the Philosophy Of Community Policing.
If you are interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement the following information is provided so that you may have a better understanding on how to become a Nahant Police Officer.

Reserve Officer:
In order to be considered for appointment as a Reserve Police Officer you must have attended and graduated from a Municipal Police Training Committee Academy basic course for reserve police officers. The ideal candidates will also posses E911 dispatcher training and First Responder or EMT certification and hold a valid Massachusetts drivers license. The Nahant Police Department will consider hiring and sponsoring (depending on vacancy) an individual that meets criteria set forth. A candidate must be responsible for his/her own training academy expenses as well a sign a waiver of liability releasing the Town Of Nahant from any and all claims as a result of injury or accident related to academy attendance.

Full Time Officer:
Must take and successfully pass a competitive examination. The examination is held once every three years and the passing candidates remain eligible for appointment during that period. The next exam will be held in the Spring of 2009. The ideal candidate for full time employment shall have completed a Municipal Police Training Committee Full Time Academy. Equivalent academies from other states will be considered if the Committee approves them. The ideal candidate shall also be E911 certified and EMT/D certified and hold a valid Massachusetts drivers license. The candidate must furnish three references preferably from the law enforcement field and must undergo a comprehensive background check. Notice of examination date will be posted at www.nahantpolice.org as well as being published in the local newspapers.

There are numerous other violation categories. Any resident desiring detailed information can contact the records section, M-F 8AM-4PM.

Community Policing Initiatives:
Thanks to continued, but reduced State Funding we have not had to eliminate any of our programs.  Some of these programs have been scaled back.
Park and Walk program, Are You Okay Program (which has also continues to be available to the Swampscott Police Department at no cost to that municipality), RAD courses run by Sergeant Stephen Shultz, which are always well received by the ladies that participate.  We would like to encourage any female in Nahant that hasn’t taken this course or would like a refresher to sign up and bring a friend. Nahant residency is NOT required.  This is a tremendous course in self-defense for the ladies.
As this is written we are waiting for the installation of the AVL (Automatic Vehicle Locater) system.  This should be up and running by this May.  The AVL system was obtained through a grant from EOPS (Executive Office Of Public Safety).  This will allow for real time tracking of our cruiser fleet and will be of great benefit to the dispatchers as well as increasing officer safety.

In Conclusion:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board Of Selectmen and Town Administrator Mark Cullinan for their continued support; Town Accountant Deborah A. Waters, Treasurer Joni Bingham, Asst. Treasurer Kathy Famulari, Town Clerk Harriet Steeves, Administrative Assistants Sue Behen and Katie Costin in the Selectmen’s Office, The Advisory And Finance Committee and the entire Town Hall staff and all other Departments, Committees and Boards for their assistance during the past year.

I would like to thank our legislative delegation, Senator Thomas McGee & Representative Steven Walsh for their assistance through out the year with both legislative and fiscal matters.

This year we lost longtime Reserve Officers, Arthur Collins, Dexter Shultz and Edmond Locke due to an adverse ruling of PERAC  (Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission) concerning maximum age.  I would like to express my heartfelt sense of loss and best wishes and a sincere thank you to each of them their many years of dedicated service to the Nahant Police Department.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take the opportunity to thank each and every member of this department for their loyalty and dedication to duty.

A special thank you to you, the Citizens of Nahant for your continued support and cooperation throughout the year.

Respectfully Submitted,
William F. Waters, Chief