GRANVILLE – For the first time ever, the Granville Police Department held an open meeting for Granville residents at the town hall. Police Chief Scott Flebotte hosted the event to give the community the opportunity to get more familiar with the part-time department made up of 16 police officers.
Flebotte started the meeting by addressing the residents that attended. “I wanted to take the opportunity to get to know the community,” said Flebotte.
Flebotte gave a power point presentation of the department’s strategic plan for 2015 through 2018. During that, Flebotte mentioned community outreach as something that the Granville Police has lacked in the past and is looking to improve upon.
“We need to step up, that’s what we’re doing now,” said Flebotte. “If we’re working for you, I need to know what you want and what you don’t want.”
Flebotte noted a brand new program called the Community Action Team. CAT would be comprised of police, fire, and EMS (Emergency Management Services) in town. Members of this group would directly connect with the community and help create new ways to interact with the residents.
The Granville Police Department hosted an open meeting for residents on Tuesday night at the town hall. (Photo courtesy of Greg Fitzpatrick)
Technology-wise, Flebotte announced that the department is working on a new tactic, called “black box”, that gives residents direct access to police officers when there is a crime. If someone wants to report a crime, they can download the “black box” app on their smartphone and residents can use this option to report an incident and it will be immediately sent to dispatch. Flebotte expects that the tool will be in effect by July or August 2018.
Besides what the department plans on doing for the future, Flebotte also addressed how Granville has been doing with crime. According to the crime statistics that the Granville Police Department has compiled, they have had at least 35 criminal complaints in 2017, with at least 15 of those being arrests. From 2007 to 2014, Granville had eight criminal complaints or less.
In 2016, the police department responded to approximately 1,200 calls. When residents asked what the primary calls had been, Flebotte answered that a lot of calls have been drug-related. Flebotte then went further into that answer and said that heroin has been an issue with reports of heroin passing through Rt. 57 in Granville.
Towards the end of the meeting, residents then voiced more on what they thought were the biggest concerns in town. Lou Volpi, has made numerous calls to Flebotte and has been concerned with the amount of speeding that happens in Granville.
“I find out everyone has that same problem,” said Volpi.
Volpi added that when there’s a lot of construction going on, he will see construction trucks flying down the road. According to Flebotte, the police will be installing electronic signs that post the speed of vehicles.
The Granville Police will host another town meeting at the town hall on March 20 at 6 p.m.
