Presentation by:
Mark Rinaldo, Avon Chief of Police
and his team LT Kelly Walsh, LT Schellberger, and Officer Eric Lundell
Les Zinner introduced our speaker, Mark Rinaldo, a former member, and his team. Mark admitted to being the one providing the flag bookmarks. He thought they were appropriate with the recent controversy over respect for the flag. Mark stated he was out on his official Avon police bicycle when Les flagged him down to ask about speaking today.
Mark said that police work has been extremely complex. Just last night several of his officers were called to an opioid overdose incident. Thankfully the officers were able to save the patient with Narcan. He thanked the Town of Avon for providing the financial and material support needed to run a modern police force. Mark introduced LT Kelly Walsh.
LT Walsh completed the FBI Academy in Virginia. She talked about the rigors of the training and the international diversity of the participants. While in Virginia, they had a blizzard which pretty much put a stop on planning. Thankfully she and a few other northerners were able to keep things under control.
Avon has had a string of car burglaries recently. Not one involved a break-in. In every case the car had the keys in the ignition or was unlocked. Many of the cars had keyless systems. The burglaries are done by groups that research the neighborhoods, find patterns and determine the best time of day to act.
LT Walsh introduced Officer Eric Lundell to talk about CPTED - Crime Prevention through Environmental Design. CPTED involves the use of the following measures:
Natural Access Control - target hardening and access to and from your business - the use of signage and lighting.
Natural Surveillance - windows should be toward the entrance so that observers inside or outside can monitor activities near the building.
Territorial Reinforcement - make ownership clear using fences, curbs, shrubbery, etc.
Maintenance - have a plan to keep the building and all the above measures in good repair.
Landscaping - keep shrubbery around the building and in parking areas below 2 feet and trim trees to remove obstructing branches below 6 feet. The area between 2 and 6 feet provides the view needed to keep observation open.
Lighting - keep the light directed at the areas of approach and use at least 4 foot-candles.
Bill Barnes, a Red Sox fan, wished all the Yankee fans well despite their recent lack of 
President Don invited Robin DiNicola to propose Joe Raycraft for membership. Joe works with Robin at Simsbury Bank. He lives in West Hartford and has two sons who play hockey and a daughter who rows crew. Joe is a former Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic and taught Spanish at a school in Maine before becoming a banker.
