Annual report reveals City PD crime, overtime stats

NORWICH – On Tuesday night, the Norwich Police Department distributed copies of its annual report for 2007 to the members of the Common Council. The report, a 26-page document with statistics on the number of arrests, complaints and accidents in the city, gives a detailed breakdown of the department’s activity.

Among other figures in the report, statistics showed that the most criminal complaints, 280, were received in July; the most criminal arrests, 79, were made in March; and May was the most dangerous month for driving in the city of Norwich. In May, 25 accidents were logged, seven of which involved personal injury.

On average, Police Chief Joseph Angelino said most of the numbers had remained the same or decreased slightly from 2006. “I don’t believe this is a community-wide trend. I do feel activity of the police officers in 2007 was slightly decreased by having at times up to four police officers missing from duty,” Angelino explained in the report. Two of the department’s 19 officers were attending cadet school, a daily training regiment that lasts for seven months. Two officers were out for portions of the year with extended illnesses, and one officer retired and the position was not refilled.

Due to the fact that the department was short handed, for the first time in several years, the department exceeded its budgeted overtime expenses. The department budgeted $79,000 for police overtime; it exceeded that amount by approximately $37,000. “Even with many hours of overtime, there were several shifts during the year that were covered with only two officers. Additionally, in attempts to reduce costs and increase officer safety, Deputy Chiefs [Dale] Smith and [Rodney] Marsh were required to supplement shifts,” Angelino explained in the report.