Granby Police Department Blog

After some much needed repairs, the Departments speed trailer is once again up and running. As  soon as the threat of bad weather has ended, it will once again be available for deployment around Town. If you would like to be placed on the list please contact the Police Department at 467-9222

The parking ban has been put into effect as of 12am. This means there is no on street parking allowed. The parking ban will be in effect until further notice. Schools are closed today.

The 16 th Annual DARE Basketball Camp will be held  on the following dates:  July 12-16 Grades 6 & up  &    July 19-23 Grades 3-6 (grades as of 9/2010)   Note that 6th Grade can attend either session ( BOTH if there is room!)  cost $40. per ($35 2 $30 3rd child/same family)  Camp hours are 9 am to 3 pm daily. No child will be denied an opportunity to play due to financial hardship- just contact Chief Barry.  Applications available on line HERE

Ptl. James Laflamme has been appointed as the departments newest part-time police officer. James is a Granby resident and has been working as a part-time dispatcher here in Town. He is also employed as a full-time police officer with springfired College.

On Street parking not allowed until further notice- Let’s hope the storm misses us again!

The National Weather Service has issued a Storm Warning for Hampshire County today. As a result of this storm warning the Parking Ban will begin at 8 am and will continue until further notice. This means that there is no on street parking allowed. Superintendent Patricia Stevens notified the police department that the schools will be closed today.

Construction of the new facility is proceeding. The antennae has been installed, the walls have been sheet rocked and are being painted.

The mezzanine in the apparatus bay is being constructed. We are moving past the “rough” stage to the finish work and are on schedule still for a June opening.

As you may have heard, we are requesting an additional $200,000 to complete construction at the February Special Town meeting.  The primary reason for the additional funds is the amount of ledge we encountered during constructon.  We have known since the beginning that there was ledge on site. The amount, however, and the cost of removal  ws an unkown. After the project was budgeted and the plans drawn we were aware that the site work cost was higher than we had anticipated. Cuts were  made where possible, and the decision was to wait towards the end of the project to make the request so that we could ask for a firm figure with the “unknowns” all accounted for. 

We think you will agree that this is a very practical and economical facility when it is completed.

 A 17 year old Granby girl was hospitalized with a reported drug overdose at approximately 3:30 pm Wednesday. After an invesigation, a serach warrant was executed at 107 North Street, and  Owen J Rhicard 19 years old of   53  Meadow St Florence, MA. was arrrested and charged with distribution of a CLass D substance, and possession with intent to distribute a class D substance.

Technology is a great thing. Information is readily available, and communication is instantaneous. Unfortunately technology can also get the unsuspecting into real trouble, real fast.

“Sexting ” a combination of sex and text messaging, has become all too common with teenagers across the Country  including those here in Granby.

This behavior includes sending text messages with sexual overtones and sometimes includes the teen sending naked pictures of themselves or friends via cell phone or computer. Although the teens may consider this harmless behavior, similar to flirting, there can be some serious repercussions to the behavior. Once they hit “transmit” they have lost total control over the destination of their message or picture.

We have had instances in Town where pictures of underage teens have been posted on internet. Once there, they can exist forever. Some of these pictures have been circulated as a form of bullying, other times as a form of sexual harassment. There have been instances in other parts of the country where the circulation of these pictures have caused teen suicide due to embarrassment. Sometimes the teens send information and pictures to people they do not know, that they have met only “on-line” through sites like Facebook, My space, Youthink, or in chat rooms. Teens forget how easy it is to pretend to be someone else on these sites and often think they are talking to peers, and in reality they are talking to predators.

Legally, provocative pictures of children under the age of 18 is
considered “Child pornography” and is a felony, as is dissemination of that material. Unfortunately the law does not take into account the age of the offender. Distribution, including telephone and computer transmission, of naked pictures to a teen is illegal, even if it is their own picture.

What can parents do? Talk to your teen. Stress the seriousness of this type of behavior and its potential ramifications. Monitor their phone use as you should their computer use. If you desire more information please feel free to contact School Resource Officer James White, Detective Barbara Fenn at the Granby PD (467-9222) or School Counselors.
For further information on line:

  http://www.surfnetparents.com/what_parents_can_do_about_sexting-18308.html

http://teen-sexuality.suite101.com/article.cfm/teenagers_and_sexting

The Police Department received a 9-1-1 call at 4:34pm Sunday concerning a garage fire at 63 Amherst Street. Responding units found that a snowmobile had caught fire inside the garage.  When fire units arrived the snowmobile had been removed and was fully engulfed. There was a small fire inside the garage. Both were extinguished by 4:45pm and units cleared 5:09 pm.