MANCHESTER, NH — Below are highlights from the Dec. 2 police commissioner’s meeting. In attendance were: Comm. Mark Roy (Chairman); Comm. William Clifford, Comm. Eva Castillo-Turgeon; Comm. Steve Spain; Comm. Scott Spradling; Chief Nick Willard; Assistant Chief Carlo Capano; Capt. Jonathan Hopkins; Capt. Maureen Tessier; Capt. Jim Soucy; Capt. Todd Boucher; Capt. Mark Sanclemente; Capt. Michael Begley; Kim Demers (Secretary).
The monthly meetings are open to the public and are held the first Wednesday of each month at 9 a.m. at the Manchester Police Department on Valley Street. The next scheduled meeting is Jan. 6, 2016.
New recruits: According to the minutes of the December Manchester Police Commission meeting, of the 375 applicants for the entry-level police officer written/physical agility test on November 21, 288 showed up to take the test. Of those, 20 failed the written test and another 110 failed various parts of the physical agility test. Oral boards for the remaining 158 candidates were held November 30, December 1 and December 2. Five candidates did not show for their appointments, 40 did not pass, leaving a pool of 113 to move on to the background phase.
Out of the 113 officer candidates who passed the oral boards, the department is hoping to hire 19 officers. There are also a few certified officers already in the background process.
Closed investigations:
- 491 Kennard Road, address of numerous calls for service reference to drug overdose, burglaries and thefts. The victim, Ruth Ahern, allowed her drug-addicted, prostitute daughter to stay at the residence, the circumstance of which was the major factor for the calls. The daughter has since moved out and calls ceased.
- 83 O’Malley Street: numerous calls ref noise, check condition and verbal arguments. This is a MHA property and at the end of September the occupants were evicted and the calls ceased.
- 363 Silver Street: Tenant, Melissa Cash, generated nightly calls for service against her second and third floor neighbors ref noise. CP Officer Seigle learned that Ms. Cash is the former girlfriend to the landlord and it appeared she was fabricating or embellishing the complaints. She has since been evicted and the calls ceased.
Special Enforcement Division:
- Search warrants were conducted on November 12 at 331 and 336 Lake Avenue, which was a nuisance address generating many drug-related complaints. Drug operations were shut down at the address.
- The fifth Granite Hammer operation was conducted on November 19. The operation focused on 63 Goffe Street, 12 L English Village Road, #301, and 249 E. High Street. There were seven arrests and police seized: 249 grams of heroin, 8 grams of marijuana, and $8,115 cash.
- Totals for all five Granite Hammer operations: 54 arrests; seizure of 6,049 grams of heroin; 14.1 grams of cocaine; 118 grams of crystal meth; and 695 grams of marijuana, and varying amounts of other controlled substances. Also seized: $26,842 in cash, one rifle, one pistol and two vehicles.
- The SWAT team had full-team rifle training at Sig Academy, and the Snipers had qualifications at an Epping outdoor range.
- The SWAT team assisted Secret Service with Hilary Clinton’s visit to Manchester on November 29.
- Assistant SWAT Team Leader Sgt. Brennan oversaw a training with Mall personnel, MFD, and NH State Police Explosives Unit to prepare for the holiday shopping season.
Discussion items:
Assistant Chief Capano advised that Chief Willard and he were meeting with Dr. Livingston and the principal of MST next week to iron issues reference the SRO debacle. The issue of reassigning the MST SRO to Central HS was discussed with the Assistant Superintendent David Ryan from the outset. The School Department wasn’t blindsided by this change, as the media would have everyone believe. Reserve Officer works 30 hours a week as SRO for MST. He is doing a good job. He is the former coordinator for MPAL and many students remember him and have reached out to him.
Assistant Chief Capano commented that there had been some negativity from aldermen reference the purchase of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, that the cost wasn’t worth the results. Since activating the system there have been 18 hits, and recently getting more and more hits. It is exciting that the police department will be connected to the FBI database.
You can review the complete Dec. 2 minutes here.
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