Amherst Police to Receive Top MLEC Award

Chief Scott P. Livingstone is pleased to announce that the Amherst Police Department will receive the Award of Excellence as the first place winner in the Annual Massachusetts Law Enforcement Challenge. The award recognizes the department for its traffic safety efforts in 2009. The Amherst Police Department is the only Western Massachusetts police department recognized in this year’s awards. The challenge is a joint initiative supported by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association (MCOPA) and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS). The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Challenge (MLEC) is modeled after the National Law Enforcement Challenge presented annually by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

The department will be recognized, along with 16 other Massachusetts municipal police agencies, at a ceremony to be held June 14, 2010, at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. This is only the third year the department has participated in the challenge, and it is the second time it has been recognized, having received an Award of Excellence in the Silver Category in 2009 based on the department’s 2008 data and traffic safety efforts.

The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Challenge is a highly competitive award program that recognizes police departments across the state for their efforts to reduce motor vehicle-related fatalities, injuries and economic loss in communities by combining traffic enforcement with public information and education. The Amherst Police Department takes traffic safety seriously. This award acknowledges the department’s commitment and recognizes its officers for their continual dedication to traffic safety.

The Amherst Police Department was judged on the following six separate categories: Policy and Guidelines, Officer Training, Incentives and Recognition, Public Education and Information, Enforcement Activity and Effectiveness of Effort. This year’s award is based on the department’s 2009 data and accomplishments.

In 2009, the Amherst Police Department cited a total of 2,068 drivers for speeding and arrested 138 individuals for operating under the influence - an increase from 123 in 2008. In the same year, the department investigated 888 motor vehicle crashes of which 120 resulted in personal injury. Additionally, in 2009, the department issued 181 operator or passenger seat belt violations of which 13 involved child passengers.

For additional information about this award or the department’s educational or enforcement efforts please contact Sgt. William Menard or Officer Scott Gallagher at 413-259-3000.

Applications Still Available for Youth Adventure Academy 2010

The Amherst Police Department is still accepting applications for the 2010 Amherst and UMass Police Youth Adventure Academy. This is a one-week program, and it will be held Monday, July 12th through Friday, July 16th, 2010, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Youths entering the 6th, 7th, or 8th grade are eligible to attend. There is no cost, it is free, but academy size is limited to 20 youths so preference will be given to Amherst residents and UMass affiliated families (for example, a parent or guardian who works at or is a student at UMass).

Similar to a Citizens Police Academy, students will attend morning classroom sessions held at both the Amherst and UMass Police Departments. The classroom sessions will feature lectures, role-plays, and interactive demonstrations by police officers from both agencies focusing in the areas of law, crime scene investigation, defensive tactics, patrol procedures, and Internet safety. Most afternoon sessions will be held at the Amherst Adventure Based Ropes Course, at the Norwottuck Range, where we will promote teamwork, communication, and strategy development.

Additional information about the Amherst and UMass Police Youth Adventure Academy is available on the Amherst Police Department website. Applications may be obtained in the Amherst Police Department lobby, the UMass Police Department lobby or downloaded off the Amherst Police Department website. The application deadline is June 10th, 2010, so please don’t delay!

Questions regarding the Youth Adventure Academy can be forwarded to either Amherst Police Officer Todd Lang at 413-259-3000 or UMass Police Officer Brian Kellogg at 413-545-2121.

The Amherst Police Department Launches Special Statewide Click It or Ticket Enforcement Effort

Massachusetts drivers and passengers should always wear their seat belts or be ready to face the consequences. That’s the message the Amherst Police Department will be sending this spring as they check to make sure motorists are buckling up.

This special two-week mobilization, beginning May 24, 2010, marks the first seat belt enforcement mobilization across the state this year. It is designed to increase seat belt use and decrease motor vehicle fatalities. “Too many people still have the reckless attitude that a crash will never happen to them,” said Amherst Police Chief Scott P. Livingstone, “Unfortunately these tragedies can and do happen every day.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 64 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in motor vehicle crashes in Massachusetts during 2008 were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash. This is nine percent higher than the national average.

That’s why the Amherst Police Department is joining with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS), and many other law enforcement organizations, to launch this special Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement mobilization. Funded by EOPSS, stepped-up law enforcement activities will be conducted in late May and early June. In 2009, 141 motorists were issued either citations or warnings for not wearing their seat belts.

So remember, if you are pulled over for disobeying traffic laws, Amherst Police Officers WILL be checking to make sure drivers and passengers are wearing their seat belts. No more excuses, no more exceptions. Click It or Ticket.

If you have questions or would like additional information concerning this mobilization please contact Detective Sergeant William Menard or Officer Todd Lang. For further information you may also visit the Massachusetts Highway Safety Division website.

Sex Offender Community Notification

Pursuant to Massachusetts General Law Chapter 6, Sections 178C-178P, the individual listed below has been designated as a Level 3 Sex Offender by the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board. The Board has determined that this individual is at a high risk to re-offend and the degree of dangerousness posed to the public is such that a substantial public safety interest is served by active community notification. This individual is not wanted by the Amherst Police Department.

Home Address: 408 Northampton Rd., Amherst, MA
Work: 44 O’Neil St., Easthampton, MA
Description: Age 39, 5’6”, 160 lbs., Brown Hair, Brown Eyes

Conviction Dates/Offenses: Rape and Abuse of a Child, Four Counts (2005)

For more information you may also go to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Sexual Offender Registry Board page.

Sex Offender Registry information shall not be used to commit a crime or to engage in illegal discrimination or harassment of an offender. Any person who uses information disclosed pursuant to M.G.L. C. 6, S.S. 178c-178P for such purposes shall be punished by not more than 2 1/2 years in a house of correction or by a fine of not more than $1,000 or both (M.G.L. C 6 S.S. 178N). In addition, any person who uses registry information to threaten to commit a crime may be punished by a fine of not more than $100 or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months (M.G.L. C. 275 S.S. 4).

Press Release

On May 16th, 2010, at approximately 3:18 a.m., Amherst Police Officers attempted to conduct a motor vehicle stop on Main Street. The operator of the motor vehicle failed to stop for the Officer and continued into the town of Pelham at a high rate of speed.

The operator then continued onto Route 202, south-bound, towards the town of Belchertown. The operator then turned onto Route 9, west-bound, in Belchertown, and then continued back into Amherst.

With the assistance of the Belchertown Police and Mass State Police, the operator was stopped in Amherst. The operator then fled his vehicle on foot and was arrested by Amherst Police.

The operator was identified as Michael John Lusardo, age 22, of 640 Main St., Amherst. He will be charged with several motor vehicle violations including Failure to Stop for a Police Officer and Operating to Endanger.

MADD Drive for Life Law Enforcement Award

On May 11, 2010, Amherst Police Officers Scott E. Gallagher, Michael Forcum and Nicholas Chandler will be recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for their dedicated enforcement of the Commonwealth's drunk driving laws. The ceremony will be held at the Devens Common Center in Devens, MA.

The most frequently committed violent crime in the United States is drunk driving - affecting 3 out of every 10 Americans. On average, someone is killed by a drunk driver every 45 minutes. In 2008, an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving related crashes - a decline of 9.8 percent from the 13,041 drunk driving related fatalities of 2007.

Amherst Police Officers Scott E. Gallagher, Michael Forcum and Nicholas Chandler will be the recipients of MADD’s 2009 Drive for Life Award for their dedication to enforcing the drunk driving and underage drinking laws. This award is given to selected police officers across the state for their excellence and leadership in drunk driving enforcement. In addition, Officer Gallagher will be receiving MADD’s Law Enforcement 100 Award in recognition of the more than 100 drunk driving arrests he has made within the last three years.

Together, Officers Gallagher, Forcum and Chandler made 56 Drunk Driving arrests in 2009. This high number of arrests demonstrates the Officers' commitment to enforcing drunk driving and other Massachusetts alcohol-related offenses.

For further information, please contact Sergeant William N. Menard or visit the MADD website.

Wire Scam Targets Senior Citizens

The Amherst Police Department recently received information of an attempted money wire scam from Canada that targets senior citizens.

In this scam, a person calls pretending to be your grandchild, and he or she requests money for bail after a supposed arrest in Canada. The amount of the bail fee is said to be in the thousands of dollars. The person requests the money be sent immediately via money gram to Canada, and he or she asks that you not tell anyone about this including the grandchild’s parents, the police, or the bank teller processing the transaction.

In this local case, the elderly person involved attempted to withdraw $5,000.00 from the bank, and, while doing so, advised the bank teller of the reason for the transaction. The teller was aware of this scam and referred the person, who is an Amherst citizen, to the Amherst Police Department. Fortunately no money was sent to Canada.

In order to protect yourself against scammers who call on the telephone and solicit money, take a moment and do not panic.

Think about the person’s voice and ask yourself if it sounds like the person who they are claiming to be. Be sure to ask some personal questions that the person you know would definitely be able to answer. Many times a series of questions will confuse the scammer as he/she will not be able to provide the proper answers. These type of questions usually include questions about the family or the person’s life. Examples include: How did your mother and father meet? What are your cousins' names? What hospital you were born in? What did I do for a living prior to retirement? Where did we go on vacation last year? What photographs do I have in my house of you and when were they taken?

When money is sent via money gram to a foreign country there is little chance that the money will ever be retrieved - so please be safe and be aware!

Enlightened Citizens!

Click HERE to see WGGB's coverage of our bicycle light distribution which was held on Thursday, April 29th, in town.