Chelsea Police Report, February 2021

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By Doug Marrin

Chelsea Police Chief gave his department's report for February 2021 to the City Council at its March 15 meeting.

Significant cases in February included:

  • One assault with intent to murder
  • Two domestic assaults, one of which had the intent to do great bodily harm less than murder
  • One death investigation
  • Two larcenies
  • One mental health committal
  • One cares call
  • One gunshot incident—investigation showed it occurred outside of city jurisdiction and was turned over to the proper authority.

Of the 45 total cases worked in February:

  • 14 are active
  • Three are waiting for lab analysis
  • Seven are under review at the prosecutor's office
  • 21 have been closed

Chief Toth highlighted one specific case to the Council and the listening public.

"On February 15, Officer Gilbreath was in the 400 block of S. Main St. when a call came that a cardiac arrest had just occurred," said Toth. "Officer Gilbreath ran into the building, administered CPR until the fire department, and EMS showed up, and it's a 'save.' It's not very often that happens."

"I'm very proud of Officer Gilbreath," added the Chief. "He did a very outstanding job with that incident."

Chief Toth told the Council that work is underway to form a community advisory committee. He also spoke on future demonstrations.

"We’re going to follow Judge Frushour’s ruling,” said Toth. “If a group plans on demonstrating, we encourage them to contact myself or Sergeant Kinsey to talk about the logistics of their demonstration.”

“The goal has been, and always will be to keep everyone safe in the community when demonstrations occur,” added the Chief. “By not having some type of engagement with the demonstrators, it will be very difficult for law enforcement to keep people safe.”

Councilmember Albertson noted on the report a “Mental Health Call” and asked the Chief if it was the same as a “Cares Call.” Chief Toth explained the Mental Health Call resulted from the family getting a court order to have the subject picked up by law enforcement and transported to the proper mental health service.

“Just to clarify, the Cares Team is a crisis team,” added Mayor Johnson. “It's available twenty-four hours, seven days a week for mental health issues. It's an interdisciplinary team that anyone can call. The police can call, or any individual can call for a community member.”

Mayor Johnson addressed a growing concern in the reports—the rising number of more severe cases occurring in the City.

“As a former domestic abuse prosecutor, I've been keeping track and following along the challenges the victims of domestic abuse are experiencing during this pandemic,” said the Mayor. “I am concerned about the number of cases and the severity of the type of cases that we're seeing with more frequency here in Chelsea.”

Chief Toth replied, “This is just my experience of having thirty-seven years on the job. For a year, people have been kind of holed up in their homes. There’s not much to do. Tempers flare. I think as soon as the vaccines get out, and people can start getting back to some sense of normalcy with their life, I think some things may get better.”

As a result of public input over recent months, gender and race are now included in traffic citation reports
Calls broken down by category with miscellaneous and non-criminal the two most common calls.
Miscellaneous complaints broken down
Non-criminal complaints broken down
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