By Brandon T. Bisceglia
The Milford Board of Aldermen at their June 5 meeting at Town Hall unanimously gave the green light to a grant agreement with the state that will aid the city in combating auto thefts and related crimes.
The $35,000 grant, which is part of funding given to state and local governments through the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act, will go toward adding additional police patrols to handle auto crimes.
Crimes related to cars spiked nationwide during the coronavirus pandemic. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, motor vehicle thefts across the country increased 7 percent in 2022 from 2021, reaching over 1 million nationally for the first time since 2008. The bureau reported 801,023 vehicle thefts in 2019, and the number has increased each year since.
Despite the national trend, the NICB’s most recent statistics showed the Connecticut going the opposite direction, with the numbers dropping for the last two years from a high of 8,541 in 2020 to 7,060 in 2022 – though that’s still higher than the pre-pandemic figure of 5,944 for 2019.
Other vehicle-related crimes have also risen in recent years, particularly the theft of catalytic converters, which contain small amounts of precious metals that can fetch high prices for thieves. NICB data shows these thefts continued to rise in 2022 to 1,184, up dramatically from 82 in 2020.
The state legislature passed laws in the last two sessions aimed at getting catalytic converter thefts under better control.
Milford Alderman Anthony Giannattasio asked Police Capt. Donald McCollum, who works in the Detective Division, to clarify the purpose of the grant agreement, which also mentioned “violent crimes.”
“This grant covers auto thefts and related crimes, so we’re just going to put out patrols in various areas that we’ve had auto thefts,” McCollum replied, explaining that officers have previously interrupted violent crimes in progress on such patrols.
Auto crimes can sometimes turn into violent crimes. Milford resident Luke Obrien was severely injured by a saw blade in 2022 by a thief attempting to cut the catalytic converter off a car in Obrien’s driveway. Another resident reported being threatened with a gun in February when they interrupted a catalytic converter theft.
Giannattasio also asked McCollum if he could share what areas of the city the department might focus on. McCollum responded that it could vary. He noted that auto crimes tend to happen in residential areas later at night, whereas crimes at businesses and stores tend to occur more frequently when they’re open.
“We’re going to watch the data,” he said.
McCollum explained that the money will allow the police department to deploy two additional officers to focus on areas affected by auto-related crimes.
“It’s allowing us to address this issue without impacting the other issues that we have during the summertime – the large bar crowd, the beaches,” he said.
“It just seems that $35,000 isn’t a very large chunk of money for the amount of people and the amount of hours that are going to be incorporated in the additional piece,” Aldermen Raymond Vitale opined.
“To be honest with you, it’s not a lot of money when you talk about sending officers out there daily to tackle these crime areas,” McCollum agreed. “We have a lot of stolen cars, and we have a lot of area to cover, so we would eat up that money pretty quick. And we have a year to do it.”
“Once you establish something, is there a difficulty to go back on something or to cut back on it?” Vitale asked. “So it’ll go back into other budgetary items within the department, or how will that be supplemented if necessary?”
McCollum said the program would end once the grant money dries up.
“We have other ways of tackling this type of crime, and we do now. We have tactical patrols, and we do address it,” he pointed out. “With this extra money we’re allowed to focus on this one issue, but under normal circumstances we’ll have to focus on multiple issues and see what’s more pressing.”
Alderman Brett Broesder said he was grateful for the grant money and happy to support the agreement.
“Obviously this isn’t a lot of money,” he said, “but every dollar counts in keeping our city safe and making it safer every day.”