BURRILLVILLE – Pointing to dozens of ways in which the department is part of the community and goes beyond the call of duty, members of the Town Council have passed a resolution in support of the Burrillville Police Department, reinforcing their commitment to funding those who serve the town.
The resolution, sponsored by Councilor Donald Fox, was passed unanimously by the board at their meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
“In recent months I’ve been saddened and angered as not only I watched violence against police across our country, I incredibly watched cowardly public officials give in to mob rules and mob demands,” Fox said. Pandering to the criminal element that have hijacked legitimate protest rights afforded to all Americans has been a sickening process to watch.”
“Recent events have been demoralizing, I think, on so many police departments and personnel and first responders across this country,” Fox added.
Councilor Raymond Trinque said he’s glad the town has added to the police department’s budget for specified projects, pointing out that Burrillville officers have saved 42 lives with the use of Narcan since 2014.
“Those are people that police are not arresting. They are not harassing. They’re saving,” said Trinque. “You have to look at the Burrillville Police Department as a program that’s respected around the state. If we can get other police departments to be like this one, maybe we can stop some of this foolishness.”
The resolution itself points to many additional ways in which members of the town’s department are a part of the community. Among them is the Burrillville Addiction Assistance Program and Burrillville Prevention Action Coalition – programs aimed at prevention, treatment and recovery from substance abuse.
“Multiple officers from the Burrillville Police Department have made the extra effort to get someone suffering from addiction in this community into the BAAP program,” it notes.
Additional efforts listed include the effort to achieve state and national accreditation; the K-9 program; bike and atv patrols; the school safety program; work of the school resource officer; the Citizens’ Police Academy; the B-SAFE program serving Burrillville seniors; the elderly shoveling program; participation in events like the Special Olympics Plunge and the Fierce Five Running festival; support of local youth sports; and the Christmas gift program.
“Since 2014 the personnel of the Burrillville Police Department have volunteered to organize, manage and partially fund and distribute gifts, food and other items that over 40 Burrillville families may not typically have during the holiday season, enhancing Christmas morning for over 110 children of this community.
The resolution also points to the department’s victories, including pursuit and prosecution of those who commit computer crimes, successful search and rescue missions.
“The position has grown into something so complex…they have to be crisis mitigation, negotiators…” noted Councilor Jeremy Bailey in approving the resolution. “We expect a lot more of them.”
The resolution also points to support from the administration, and Town Manager Michael Wood weighed in on their role in quality of life and public safety stating, “They truly are the best.”
“I just hope this community appreciates them,” Wood said. “I think they do.”
