7574-R1_LGP_MechanicFalls_AnnualReport_2021_Text_4C_Web

POLICE DEPARTMENT The Mechanic Falls Police Department has had quite the unique year in 2020. Wehired our first female officer in the history of the department and we weathered the COVID-19 pandemic with the rest of the world. The pandemic created some changes in how we do things.We closed our office to anyone outside of the absolute necessity of our work. We wore masks when dealing with the public and we had to

curtail a great deal of our self-initiated community contacts. I will say despite the pandemic we continued to answer calls for service and enforce the laws of our State and Town. Some of our usual call numbers are down while others are where they usually are. I will say from our point of view, the people of Mechanic Falls have handled the pandemic quite well. We handled 393 criminal offenses in 2020. (a breakdown sheet will be attached) That is elevated from 2019 by 13 more crimes. That number is off by some as the pandemic protocol has caused us to cut way back on our traffic related criminal offenses. The crimes that are usually generated by members of the public gathering together have also decreased. Our most serious crimes went up from48 to 59. We are looking forward to getting back to somewhat normal so that we can once again have greater contact with the community. We feel that you get to know us better when we are more visible and interactive with the public. I again as in years past want to warn all of you about scams of all types. There are so many out there. If you have a question about a situation, call the office and check with one of us. I will warn you that to our knowledge there are no legitimate organizations that would ever ask you to go buy gift cards to pay off any kind of debt.If a caller says to go buy gift cards and give them the numbers off the cards or send them the cards, it is a scam. Hang up on them. No government organization will threaten you over the phone with jail if you don't pay them money. If we are going to arrest someone we will show upat your door and talk to you. There are some instances where we may call you and tell you that you can be arrested or have an arrest warrant but those situations are resolved with courts and judges and we would never say that you can make the warrant go away if you pay us money. We do not collect fine money. The courts do that. I will close this report with my usual statement that this is your town and we are here to keep it safe. A safe community is everyone's responsibility. If you see suspicious activity or a crim e taking place, call us so that we can do our job. A safe community is a great place to live andwork in. Thank you all for your support. Chief of Police

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