Public Safety Commission

MIDDLETOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT City of Middletown 222 Main Street Middletown, CT 06457 860.638.4100 FAX 860.638.4104 jessica.dipasquale@middletownct.gov PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES June 16th, 2025 Hybrid/In-person Meeting 1. Councilman Ford called the Meeting to Order at 6:47pm. MEMBERS PRESENT: Councilman Darnell Ford, Chairman Councilman Anthony Mangiafico Councilman Anthony Gennaro Councilwoman Linda Salafia Councilwoman Kelly Sweeney STAFF PRESENT: Chief Erik Costa Fire Chief Dave Albert Deputy Fire Chief James Ehman Lt. Puorro MEMBERS/STAFF ABSENT: Rich Davis – Deputy Chief of Police Councilman Anthony Mangiafico 2. Approval of Minutes – April 28th, 2025 Councilman Ford made a motion to approve the PSC Minutes for April 28th, 2025 as Councilwoman Salafia so moved, seconded by Councilman Gennaro. There being no further discussion or objection, Motion passed. 3. Public Hearing – Matters on the Agenda Only *None 4. Correspondence a. Officer’s Accolades Chief Costa reported on Officer Accolades;  Officer Finney and Officer Santiago saved a 9 yr. old boy from choking at Iliano’s via Heimlich maneuver. 5. Monthly Reports a. Overtime Balances Chief Costa reported on Overtime Balances;  Trending higher in May than May 2024, increase due to overtime from Strike at Pratt & Whitney. Ave about $53,000 a week in overtime. The three weeks averages $175,000.  Before the strike we were trending in budget, first time in seven years. Difficult to budget unforeseen incidence.  MPD Invoiced Pratt & Whitney fort racking purposes. Councilman Ford asked if we have heard back from them. Chief Costa answered no, but we have reached out to Hartford for support from delegation to see if there’s any state support. b. Community Reports Chief Costa reported on Community Reports;  PAL program hosted Thursday night hangout, fishing derbies  Chief Costa attended the Mental Health Awareness event at Harbor Park in partnership with Rotary Club  Cadets took part in East Hampton Fair  Events: o Special Olympics Coin Drop o Dingwall Memorial Gold Tournament o MADD Pal Event o DARE graduations o Kung Fu at PAL o Kids and Safety Fair o Fun run at snow school o Memorial day parade o SRO’s Field trip to Lake compounds o McDonough spring concert o Field day at Belfield School o Boxing at PAL, 3x’s week o Horizon woman empowerment program o Special Olympics golf program  Community Meetings: o Last day of president as Cap region Chief of Police o FBI Trip c. Incident Statistics Reports Chief Costa reported on Incident Statistics;  2899 calls for service  437 criminal investigations  73 arrests  124 accidents,  Zero fatalities  3 DUI’s  281 MV stops   Down from April, 3099 calls for service, criminal arrests down, accidents increased d. Accountability Report Chief Costa reported on Accountability:  We passed our CALEA Accreditation inspection. We will be awarded level one in November. We are continuing with advanced accreditation, the highest standard, hoping to have in the next 18months for full accreditation at the highest level. 6. Old Business Chief Costa reported;  Rt. 9 light removal: nothing to report. But this weekend the lights shut off for unknown reasons, in this case we shut down the left turn lanes of Rt. 9 so they can’t come onto Washington street so DOT engineers can go out and get lights working again.  Councilman Ford asked if it was possible to see if there was any data collection when the lights went out accidentally to see of traffic patterns changed or to see if they captured anything to give an idea what would happen. Chief answered yes, he will look into it. But also they have a backup plan which usually consists of shutting down the left turn off of Rt. 9 to go onto Washington St, requiring cars to go up to Cromwell turn around and come back Southbound and take Hartford Ave onto the Bridge. 7. New Business Chief Costa reported;  FY2025 Speed and Aggressive Driving enforcement Grant. In the amount of $69,598.63. o Asking for approval for Speed and Aggressive Driving Grant confirmation $69,598.63 effective July 1st, 2025 – Sept. 5th, 2025. Councilman Ford asked for a motion to approve the Speed and aggressive driving grant in the amount of $69,598.63 as Councilman Gennaro so moved, seconded by Councilwoman Salafia. There being no further discussion or objection, Motion passed to be presented at Finance and Government.  Patrol Cars: Chief spoke with Diana Doyle and Carl Erlacher regarding our issue with Cars. Going into year 3 without ordering any. Our line cars are reaching 8 yrs. old and over 100,000 miles. They are out of warranty or coming out of warranty. When a line car is out of warranty they are priority cars and go to the dealership for a higher cost. IN the range of 10-12 cars that need to be changed out and repurposed. Councilman Ford asked if there’s a succession plan. Chief Costa answered we have been unsuccessful due to funding. But we have a plan, to join a fleet management program plan, which would support the garage. Fleet program is computerized. When the fleet goes under the new Public Works director we will save money. We will be able to buy and sell cars quicker and cheaper due to forecasting. Councilman Gennaro asked how much money did we project is needed. Chief Costa answered $1,000,000.00. Each car is ext. $80- $90K per car and we need 10 – 12 cars. Councilman Ford asked what the timeframe is for a car to be online, Chief answered 8-10 months.  Automated Traffic Speed Cameras: The cameras have only been up one week, in the warning period, so there is not too much data yet. Camera is strategically placed based off studies done in that area. The data is not shared, once adjudicated the information is  deleted. Only the plate number itself stays. The company does not sell information to private vendors. Councilman Ford asked if the company would be available to answer questions down the road. Chief answered yes and he will also be reporting on the cameras in the upcoming PSC meetings. At this time only Washington Street cameras are up. Looking to have all cameras installed by September. 8. Public Hearing Re-opened -- Other Matters *None 9. Meeting Adjournment Councilwoman Ford asked for a motion to adjourn. Motion so moved by Councilman Gennaro and seconded by Councilwoman Salafia. There being no further discussion or objection, Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 7:13pm. Next Public Safety Commission Meeting, Monday, August 18th at 6:30 pm. TO VIEW THIS MEETING IN ITS ENTIRETY, PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE: www.cityofmiddletown.com Public Meeting Videos Available Archives Public Safety Commission (PSC) Respectfully Submitted, Jessica DiPasquale Recording Secretary