Grant Received for CPS Program

The Amherst Police Department recently received a $12,450 grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Highway Division for its Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Program. The grant will be used to purchase child safety seats and other necessary equipment. The CPS Program aims to educate parents and caregivers about how to protect children through the proper use of safety belts, booster seats, and child safety seats in motor vehicles. According to Amherst Officer Michael Johnson, a trained CPS technician, “The new booster seat law in Massachusetts requiring children under age eight and less than fifty-seven inches in height to be properly fastened by a child passenger restraint makes education of the public a priority.”

The Amherst Police Department conducts Child Passenger Safety Checkpoints on the third Saturday of each month. Please see the CPS link on our website for more information.

Next month's Child Passenger Safety Checkpoint will be held Saturday, September 20th, 2008, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the UPS Store on University Drive, in Amherst, during our annual Child ID Day. This annual event requires no appointment and is open to anyone - not only Amherst residents. Please check back as the event date approaches for information on our Child ID Day!

Missing Man Returns Home

The Amherst Police Department was notified at 11:00 pm, last night, that Eliot Cardineux had contacted his family and has returned home unharmed. Missing for close to 30 hours, Cardineux had recently been released from the hospital and his well-being was a concern. The Amherst Search and Rescue Team, led by Amherst Police Sergeant David Knightly and Amherst Firefighter Josh Shanley, conducted an extensive search yesterday. With assistance from the Massachusetts State Police K-9 and Airwing unit, the Massachusetts Environmental Police and the Shutesbury Police Department, the Amherst Search and Rescue Team spent several hours utilizing ATVs and personnel on-foot who searched the surrounding area. The search was suspended at nightfall and had been scheduled to resume today at 8:00 am.

Missing 22-Year-Old Man

The Amherst Police Department is requesting help in locating Eliot Cardineux, a 22-year-old Amherst resident, who is missing. Cardineux wandered away from his home in North Amherst at about six on Thursday evening after being released from a local hospital. It is believed that Cardineux was hiking in the woods in the area of North Amherst or the Atkins Reservior section of Shutesbury.

Eliot Cardineux is a 22-year-old white male, 6’05”, 160 pounds. He has short brown hair, hazel eyes, and a goatee. Cardineux's medical condition is uncertain.

Information regarding Cardineux can be forwarded to the Amherst Police Department at 413-259-3000.  

Officer Glenn Jackson - New ARHS Head Football Coach

One of our own has been named head coach of the Amherst-Pelham Regional High School's varsity football team. Glenn Jackson, a 15-year veteran officer of the Amherst Police Department, recently became head football coach of the ARHS Hurricanes.

Jackson is a 1986 graduate of ARHS where he was a running-back for the Hurricanes for 4 years - from 1981-1985. He made the All Western Massachusetts Conference Team in both 1984 and 1985. Jackson’s talent and speed led him to play football while he attended UMass, but he was sidelined during his freshman year due to an ankle injury. With six years of youth coaching experience, Jackson is not new to this aspect of the game. Returning to ARHS, his alma mater, “will be a great challenge, but one that I am both excited and prepared for,” said Jackson.

Officer Jackson is a valued member of the Amherst Police Department. He is a department instructor in Defensive Tactics, a member of the Warrant Entry Team, and he has been a motorcycle officer since the inception of the motorcycle patrol program. Officer Jackson joins other Amherst Officers who have shown a commitment to Amherst athletics. Officer Todd Lang and Officer Brian Matuszko were both assistant football coaches, and Detective Brandon Seymour is the current freshman baseball coach.

The Hurricanes will have their first home football game on September 12th, 2008, at 7 pm, vs. Ludlow High School. Good Luck to Coach Jackson and all the athletes!

Drunk Driving - Over the Limit - Under Arrest

Labor Day weekend should be a time to enjoy the unofficial end of summer in New England – not to be a victim or the cause of an alcohol-related crash. To help keep Massachusetts roadways safer during the upcoming holiday period, the Amherst Police Department will join the Massachusetts State Police, along with other local law enforcement agencies, in support of a Drunk Driving - Over The Limit - Under Arrest mobilization. This will take place August 13th through September 3rd, 2008.

Impaired driving is a serious crime. Don’t gamble with other people’s lives. Think before you drink! You could be risking your license, money, job, freedom, and, most importantly, your life.

The Amherst Police Department has received a $10,000 grant from the Governor’s Highway Safety Bureau to support its involvement in the 2007-2008 Drunk Driving - Over The Limit - Under Arrest campaign. The GHSB is a program of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety. For more information on this mobilization, go to www.mass.gov/ghsb.

911 Silent Call Procedure

What happens if you need help from the police but it is too dangerous for you to speak? What would you do if you were choking and simply could not talk?

The Silent Call Procedure can be used when you need help and can dial 911 but cannot verbally communicate your need because of a medical emergency or danger - including domestic violence or an intruder in your home. It is a program that can effectively bring police, the fire department, or an ambulance to your home when you cannot communicate that need.

To use the procedure, dial 911 from your home’s land-line touchtone phone and wait for a Dispatcher to answer. Then, if you need the Police, press 1. If you need the Fire Department, press 2. If you need an ambulance, press 3.

The Silent Call Procedure works when the call is placed from your home’s land-line touchtone phone which interacts with the 911 system to provide your address and phone number as well as your location on a map. A screen on the 911 system will indicate to Dispatchers that either 1, 2, or 3 has been pressed, and they will be able to send the help that you need.

Week At A Glance - 8/4/08 to 8/11/08

This past week, between August 4th and August 11th, Amherst Police Officers responded to 456 calls for service, and 16 individuals were either arrested or will be summonsed into court on criminal charges.

The primary offenses for which these persons are charged include:

Operation Under Influence of Alcohol - 3 Persons
Possession of Dangerous Weapon - 1 Person
Assault and Battery - 1 Person
Motor Vehicle Violations - 3 Persons
Breaking and Entering (Night-time) - 1 Person
Warrant - 1 Person
Liquor Law Violations - 1 Person
Disorderly Conduct - 2 Persons
Possession of Class D (Marijuana) - 1 Person
Noise Violation - 2 Persons