At our Annual Meeting on Saturday, August 4, 2012, many members voiced concerns about alcoholic beverage consumption on the beaches, the upcoming Falmouth Road Race, and other traffic and safety issues.
Recently, with restoration of some of the funds cut from past years’ budgets, Police Chief Riello reinstated the Neighborhood Police Liaison Officer Program wherein various neighborhoods now have a specific police person assigned to them. Officer Jim Cummings is our liaison, and he was our guest speaker this year.
If you have any further concerns, comments, observations, compliments, or suggestions to share, please email Officer Cummings at jcummings@falmouthpolice.us with a copy to FHMIA at info@fhmia.org. Officer Cummings normally works the night shift.
If you would like to thank Chief Riello for reinstating the liaison program, his email is ariello@falmouthpolice.us.
In the first of our updates after the Annual Meeting, below is a letter from Officer Cummings to FHMIA President Howard Grosser on August 7, 2012:
Hi Howard,
Thank you for inviting me to the meeting last weekend. I was happy to see so many from the association were involved. Since the meeting, I have followed up on several of the issues that were discussed.
Road Race:
I spoke to Capt. Dunne (who will be the Officer in Charge on race day) regarding access and parking issues. He confirmed that the ball field area will close to all non-official traffic at around 6 AM. The Heights roads will close at around 7:30 AM. Residents who live in areas blocked by barricades will be able to access their homes until the race starts (around 10 AM). If residents need to enter a restricted area they should advise the officer of their full street address (not just “I live in there”). All attempts will be made to accommodate residents within reason.
Also, as I suspected, there will not be any officers assigned to parking issues in the Heights area. However, the Capt. reiterated that if residents do have any issues with illegally parked vehicles, they should call Falmouth Police Dispatch (508-457-2527) and a cruiser will be sent to deal with the problem.
Falmouth Heights Beach:
On the morning after the meeting (Sunday), I spoke with Sgt. Doyle, who was the Dayshift Commander for that day. I advised him of the complaints regarding drinking on the beach. I also sent an email to all three of the Dayshift Supervisors as well as the Chief and Capt. of Operations advising them of the issue.
Yesterday (Monday), I stopped by the Heights Beach while working the Dayshift. I spoke to the head lifeguard and advised her of the issue as well. She stated that the guards have, on several occasions, advised beachgoers of the “no alcohol policy”. She did not feel that there was a major problem with large groups drinking on the beach, but she did say that she would attempt to monitor the beach for that issue in the future. The guards were comfortable taking complaints of drinking and handling them through the “Bathhouse” or contacting the police if necessary.
Traffic Issues:
I spoke to Sgt. Doyle regarding the traffic issues that were brought up during the meeting. Gerry Ryan [new Board member; FHMIA liaison to the Traffic Advisory Committee] has also contacted Sgt. Doyle with these issues and they have been added to the Traffic Advisory Committee’s next agenda.
I think that covers most of the issues that we discussed on Saturday. I will attempt to follow-up on the ongoing issues over the next couple of weeks. If any new concerns or questions arise, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Jim Cummings