Bedford police initiatives focus on community

Friday, February 17, 2012

The Bedford Police Department has always offered a reassuring hand to local businesses and residents through crime intervention education.

The department’s latest initiatives, however, will allow officers to extend that hand a little further.

Lt. Michael Bernard said four new divisions within Bedford’s community policing unit focus on seniors, residents, juveniles and businesses to enhance the outreach police provide the community all year long.

“We’re trying to offer a wide array of programs to benefit each segment and to engage all people to make Bedford the best place to live in New Hampshire,” Bernard said.

The Senior Citizen Community Policing Division will train Bedford seniors in ways to protect themselves from being manipulated, Bernard said, whether it be from fraudulent phone calls looking for money or from break-ins.

“We want to teach people what to look out for and to not always believe everything they hear on the phone,” Bernard said.

The division will offer information sessions for seniors, Bernard said, and also will offer a service that helps seniors photograph valuables to document belongings in case they are lost or stolen.

On Feb. 14, the police department also kicks off the “Are You OK?” program, which will provide wellness checks to those either permanently or temporarily disabled, including eligible senior citizens and others who are homebound.

“Officer Jessica Humphrey is the one taking the lead on it, and she’s doing a great job,” Bernard said. “She’s been putting it together, getting the software for the program and the funds for purchasing the program through the townspeople. … She’s been really good with that.”

The associated program costs, roughly $5,000, Bernard said, cover the department’s software, computer, printer and modem that will initiate automated daily phone calls to check on homebound residents living alone.

When “Are You OK?” participants receive the call, they will press certain buttons depending on their condition. The police department may learn through a specific dial, or an unanswered call, that the resident is in need of assistance, Bernard said. The police department can then dispatch officers to the residence as needed.

The Bedford Police Department frequently receives calls from long-distance friends or family members looking to check on residents, Bernard said.

“We don’t do it every single day, but we handle our share,” Bernard said. “It’s common that we get those.”

Bernard credited community organizations like the Bedford Men’s Club for assisting in the department’s seven-month effort to raise the funds needed.

Officers in the department’s new resident/neighborhood division will offer residents safety tips to protect their house when they are home or away. The teaching sessions will highlight security techniques such as alarm systems and double-bolt locks, as well as neighborhood cooperation plans to use when people go away on vacation.

The Juvenile/Youth Division of Bedford’s community policing effort will reach out to schools and day care centers with activities like Q-and-A sessions, story time and holiday parties, Bernard said. The department also plans to host a Big Bike Rodeo in the spring or summer to allow kids to put identifying serial numbers on their bikes, in case they are ever stolen, Bernard said.

The Bedford Police Department also has been holding business and retail crime prevention workshops as part of its new business initiative, Bernard said, and plans to hold more events to educate the business community about crime prevention.

Approximately five officers, communications specialists and dispatchers at the police department have volunteered to help with each community policing division, Bernard said.

The police department plans on offering the information sessions and activities to the public free of charge.

For more information about community policing or the “Are You Ok?” program, call 472-5113 or visit the department website at www.bedfordnh.org.

Maryalice Gill can be reached at 594-6490 or mgill@nashuatelegraph.com. Follow Gill on Twitter (@Telegraph_MAG).