Detective bureau long overdue

Date: 4/18/2011

I applaud Chief Mellis and Selectmen for deciding to implement a Detective Bureau within the East Longmeadow Police Dept. It has been long overdue and needed to insure follow up that is so necessary in many of the calls that the Police Department handles.

The officers assigned to a specialized unit become very proficient in handling the tasks that arise in crimes such as house-breaks, assaults, robberies, ect. Not to take anything away from patrol officers, but they are responding to call after call and are hard pressed to follow-up on any but the most serious incidents.

I would hope that Chief Mellis gets to make the choice as to which officers will be promoted to the D.B. He knows the qualifications of his officers better then the Selectmen.

Ken Gustafson

East Longmeadow