Police Category

Category: Police

5 Eye-Opening Takeaways from the Newtown Township Police 2025 Activity Report

Posted on 15 Jan 2026, 11:03 - Category: Police

Newtown Township's Police Contract With Wrightstown is Flawed

It’s a “sweet deal” for Wrightstown and a bad deal for Newtown.

Posted on 05 Nov 2022, 01:29 - Category: Police

As COVID Restrictions Ease, DUI Arrests in the Newtown Area Are Zooming!

I've been noticing that arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) account for a majority or large portion of incidents in recent weekly Newtown Police incident reports. In the June 11 to 17, 2021, Incident Blotter, for example, 5 of the 12 incidents involved a DUI arrest. One involved a vehicle crashing into a tree and overturning! Most (4) of these incidents occurred between the hours of 10 PM and 2 AM, one was at 4:30 PM.

I wondered if there was a trend related to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions on serving alcohol in restaurants and bars. So I plotted the data for a 24-month period from July 2019 through May 2021. See the chart below.

A: Effective July 15, 2020, nightclubs had to shut down, bars were closed
unless they also offered dine-in meals, and bars and restaurants
were be limited to 25% capacity. B: Effective May 31, 2021,
restaurants and bars no longer have capacity limits.

What's interesting is the fact that in the months PRIOR to COVID restrictions that began in March, 2020 (Jan 2019 through February 2020), there were, on average, 4 DUI arrests per month. In contrast, the average for the months from January 2021 through May 2021 when restrictions eased is 15 DUI arrests per month!

NOTE: In April and May 2020, the Newtown Police made fewer patrols to protect the force from infection. Consequently, the number of DUI arrests for those months are perhaps lower than usual.

What About Other Substance Abuse Incidents?

Projections are based on the April, 2021, NT Police Report
presented at the May 12, 2021, BOS public meeting.

According to my survey of issues important to Newtown voters this year, only 20% of respondents during the period of 2020-2021 (YTD) consider “Drug Abuse” of HIGH IMPORTANCE compared to 38% in the period 2018-2019 (before COVID).

From the police data shown in the chart above, drug abuse increased dramatically during COVID-19, yet people seem to be ignoring the problem or are not aware of the problem. A reporting system called ODMAP shows that the early months of the pandemic brought an 18% increase nationwide in overdoses compared with those same months in 2019. The trend has continued throughout 2020, according to a report by the American Medical Association.

It seems to me that we are going through a period of excessive indulgence in previously restricted activities, especially out-of-home eating, drinking, and taking drugs; i.e., we're on a binge! And there's no telling when it will end.

NT PD Statistics for May 2021

See the embedded PDF below or download the file here.

Posted on 24 Jun 2021, 01:39 - Category: Police

Facial Recognition Software is Inherently Racially Biased

Is facial recognition technology coming to a police department near you?

Thanks to Aamir Nayeem for notifying me and the Newtown Township Human Relations Commission about the intended approval by the Bucks County Commissioners of a $25,995 contract with facial recognition technology company Clearview AI to provide assistive technology for law enforcement.

"A simple Google News search for Clearview AI reveals numerous issues with the tool at every turn," says Mr. Nayeem. "Nearly 70 immigrant rights, civil liberties and privacy groups are currently calling on the Department of Homeland Security to 'immediately stop' using [facial recognition] technology (source) amid massive privacy concerns and accusations of racial bias with the software, leading to wrongful arrests."

From an article last year:

Late last month, Detroit Police Chief James Craig suggested the technology the department uses, which was created by DataWorks Plus, isn't always reliable. "If we were just to use the technology by itself, to identify someone, I would say 96 percent of the time it would misidentify," he said in a public meeting, according to Motherboard. From the start of the year through June 22nd, the force used the software 70 times per the department's public data. In all but two of those cases, the person whose image the technology analyzed was Black.

The Bucks County Commissioners will meet at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 21, 2021, at the Bucks County Administration Building, 55 E. Court St., Doylestown. The meeting will be live-streamed on the Bucks County Government Facebook page and archived there for later viewing.The approval is one of the first items on Wednesday's agenda. According to the Bucks County government website's instructions for public access, one can attend the meeting and comment in person, or an email can be sent "on April 21, 2021 between 10:30 and 10:35 am."

There is a documentary on Netflix ("Coded Bias") on how this kind of software incorporates the prejudices of the white majority - research has shown that facial recognition is very bad at correctly identifying people of color and it's not just because of the color of their skin!

If the use of this technology by the Newtown Township Police Department came up for a vote by Supervisors, I would oppose it!

Posted on 20 Apr 2021, 10:14 - Category: Police

Newtown Township Police Department 2020 Annual Report

Newtown Police Chief John Hearn has released the Newtown Township Police Department 2020 Annual Report. Excepts from his message to the community:

As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had to find new ways of connecting with our community. I am proud of the ingenuity and determination of our officers who continue to be the model of community policing. I believe these methods of connecting with the community are having a positive effect. One example is our videos of “We Are One Call Away” and “Story Time with Officer Jules”. These short videos were directed and published to our school-age children to show our commitment to them. In addition, we continually push out our social media reminders to lock your car doors, fraud prevention tips, and driver safety tips. We are hoping for tangible results with enhanced community involvement, a reduction of thefts and frauds, and safer roadways. I have met with many community members, and have listened to and gained valuable insights into the needs of the community and potential ways of solving our specific community issues. Good policing takes partnerships with the community. We continue to find new ways of making connections, and building those partnerships.

I want to thank the community of Newtown and Wrightstown Townships for your support of our officers, and for doing your part to make us better. It is our collaborative goal to make Newtown and Wrightstown Townships the best that they can be. We are committed to serving all the members of our community and know that we will do our part.

Content Summary

What is Accreditation?
Awards and Presentations: Officer Rawa and Officer Ferraro received Commendations of Merit for their exceptional actions on October 1, 2019; Corporal Deppi and Officer Turpyn received Commendations of Merit for their exceptional actions on October 29, 2019; Corporal Paul Deppi, Officer Nicklaus Whitney, and Officer Nicholas Ciambrello received Commendations for Life Saving for their exceptional actions on February 25, 2020; Detective Christopher Bush and Officer Brent Helvig received Letters of Commendation for their exemplary actions on May 14, 2020; Officer Brent Helvig received a Commendation of Merit and Detective Christopher Bush received a Letter of Commendation for their exceptional actions on June 8, 2020; Detective Corporal Daniel Bartle received a Commendation of Merit for his exceptional actions on August 29, 2020. Download the complete report for details.
Criminal Investigations
Crisis Intervention Team
Commercial Vehicle Safety
DUI Enforcement
Community Outreach
New Police Vehicle Graphics: In order to continue to evaluate police expenditures and reduce the cost of capital purchases, a decision was made to change the ordering of two-toned; blue and white vehicles, at a savings of approximately $1400.00 per unit, to a single color. The new vehicles will now be ordered in a single color and the graphics were enhanced to properly identify the police unit, while still maintaining a clean and professional image.