Police/Fire

Perkins School Sheltered in Place After Getting Threatening Phone Call

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Perkins School for the Blind went into lockdown after the school received a threatening phone call on Tuesday morning. The School shifted to shelter in place while the school was searched by Watertown Police, who cleared the school to go back to normal activities at about 2:45 p.m.

The Watertown Police announced on social media that the phone call came in at around 10:45 a.m. and school officials contacted the police. At about 1 p.m. Watertown Police released a statement saying, in part: “We responded and are currently working with school officials to ensure the safety of the students and staff. As a precautionary measure Perkins initiated a lockdown. This is an ongoing investigation, and we will provide additional information as it becomes available.”

Police/Fire

Council’s Public Safety Committee Gives Priorities for New Police Chief

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As he prepares to hire the next Watertown Police Chief, City Manager George Proakis heard the priorities of the members of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee as well as the public on Monday night. The hiring of the Police Chief will follow the Civil Service process, Proakis said, and the first step is running an assessment center, where candidates will be tested on how they perform in real world situations. The assessment center is scheduled to take place in October, Proakis said, which means a new chief should be hired this fall. Jack Parow, founder and principal of Parow Consulting & Associates, said the assessment center will include multiple scenarios, such as a problem employee, a media exercise, an inbox exercise where the candidates respond to emails and letters, and a problem-solving exercise where all the candidates will work together. Each scenario will be tailored to Watertown, and will include issues that arise in departments like Watertown’s, or even issues from the past or that have come up in surveys of Police officers and the public.

Police/Fire

Police Log: Scammer Sells a Fake Kitten, Employee Busted for Stealing Merchandise

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrest

Aug 28, 12:48 a.m.: An officer on a traffic detail saw a vehicle with no headlights on and the hazard lights blinking driving on Mt. Auburn Street near Arlington Street. The vehicle struck the curb while pulled into the parking lot at 7-Eleven. When the vehicle left, the driver swerved across the double yellow line, and then went back onto the correct side.

Police/Fire

Car Crashes Through Storefront, Closes Arsenal Street to Deal with Gas Line

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An elderly driver drove through the window of a vacant office at 440 Arsenal St. on Thursday. (Courtesy of Watertown Fire Department)

An elderly man driving on Arsenal Street on Thursday left the roadway and crashed through a vacant storefront, breaking a gas line. Watertown Police received multiple 911 calls about a vehicle that drove through the window of an unoccupied and vacant office at 440 Arsenal St. at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, said Watertown Police Sgt.

Police/Fire

Watertown Police Receive Stuffed Animals from Freemasons Lodge to Comfort Children

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The stuffed animals inside one of the bags provided by the Bethesda Lodge Masons to the Watertown Police to give out to children. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Watertown Police officers will have a new tool in their cruisers, a bag full of stuffed animals to comfort youngster who have experienced a difficult situation. The six bags full of plush toys come via a donation from the Bethesda Freemasons Lodge, which represents Watertown. The program is known as Project Delta. Officer Michael Stewart said he knows that they will be a useful tool.

Police/Fire

Police Log: Bust Recovers Over 100 Baggies of Drugs, Man Caught After Breaking Into Home & Car

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests

July 25, 11:48 a.m.: Detectives from the Suburban Middlesex County Drug Task Force observed a man making a drug sale on Brookline Street. The man had been under investigation for a month. After the sale, police pulled the suspect’s vehicle over. They immediately noticed two tied off corner plastic bags with a white rock substance inside the vehicle.

Government

City Manager Hears from Residents at Forum on Hiring Watertown’s Next Police Chief

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Residents had a long list of requests for the qualities and qualifications they would like Watertown’s next Police Chief to have, and new initiatives they would like the new head of the WPD to take on. Monday night, City Manager George Proakis held a community forum to discuss the hiring of the new Watertown Police Chief. He was joined by two members of the consultancy firm who will run the process of evaluating the candidates. Attendees brought up a variety of areas they would like to see the next chief take on, including changes in the department. Several wanted to see the Watertown Police be more transparent, and provide more data to the public, including arrests, traffic violations, and other incidents broken down by race, ethnicity and gender.