Scott Allen, Chief of Police
153 Central St.
East Bridgewater, MA 02333
For Immediate Release
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: ben@jgpr.net
East Bridgewater Police Chief Offers State of the Department, Accomplishments and Future Goals
EAST BRIDGEWATER – Chief Scott Allen would like to make available to residents a video and slideshow presentation highlighting last year’s accomplishments at the East Bridgewater Police Department and looking ahead to the upcoming FY ’19 budget he will be presenting to the town.
Chief Allen recently sat down with former police chief John Cowan to discuss how things have been going since he was appointed to be the head of the police department 18 months ago. In the interview, taped by East Bridgewater Community Access Television, Chief Allen speaks in-depth about the improvements, challenges met and initiatives at the department since he took over the role.
He also recently presented a slideshow presentation to the town’s Finance Committee regarding the FY ’19 budget.
TO WATCH THE STATE OF THE DEPARTMENT VIDEO CLICK HERE
TO VIEW THE BUDGET SLIDESHOW PRESENTATION CLICK HERE
RESPONSIBLE FISCAL POLICY
In 2017, the East Bridgewater Police Department used the FY ’18 budget to make major strides in enhancing the service they provide to the town by focusing their efforts on community policing, accreditation, continuing their partnership with the school system and improving the department’s organizational structure with the hiring of a new deputy chief.
- In January, Paul O’Brien was sworn in as the East Bridgewater Police Department’s first deputy chief in a ceremony at Town Hall. The position is new to the department and was created last year, providing a much-needed second-in-command role for the East Bridgewater Police.
- In November, the East Bridgewater Police Department received the results of a community survey where the responses were overwhelmingly positive. 97 percent of those surveyed wrote they are confident in the abilities of the department to serve the community and 94 percent agrees that they are satisfied with the way the department responds to emergencies.
- The department took steps toward developing a strategic plan and also provided officers with training vital to the process of having the department accredited by the state.
- At the police station, a complete overhaul was done of the evidence vault, storage and management system, with the guidance of an outside, independent agency.
- Several community policing efforts were either initiated or continued including, Coffee with a Cop, Student Police Academy, Seniors Police Academy, Public Safety Days, child safety seat installations and holiday turkey drives.
- At the schools, the Kid in Need program was started where school officials are notified when police respond to a call at a home where a child might need assistance or support.
KEEPING THINGS GOING
In the FY ’18 budget, funding was approved last year to hire a full-time police officer, bringing the staff level up to 21 officers, not including the chief and deputy chief. That officer was meant to work in a hybrid role, as a backup school resource officer, community police officer and other roles as needed within the department.
Chief Allen has delayed the hiring of the new officer due to concerns of sustaining that position in the FY ’19 budget. As part of a joint-effort at last year’s Town Meeting between the police and fire departments and Department of Public Works, a percentage of their budgets was allocated to the public school system in order to assist it with a budget shortfall. The police department’s budget was reduced by $17,600, which has delayed making the new hire.
In this year’s proposed FY ’19 budget, Chief Allen will be seeking funding to hire and pay the salary of that new officer.
“This is the biggest item for us in the new budget in terms of importance,” Chief Allen said. “Hiring this new officer will help us to continue and enhance a lot of the great community policing initiatives we have begun and will also serve to strengthen the work we have been doing within the school system.”
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