Some bad news came in today regarding Diesel, our Bloodhound. It was discovered that Diesel had a serious illness that resulted in his untimely death. BPD has been one of the few police departments in the area that utilizes a Bloodhound as part of the patrol force. We will have more on Diesel once the storm recovery is behind us.
Storm Update
11/4/11 9:00PM – At this time power has been restored to the whole town. It is possible that a few isolated homes may still be without power and require special attention. If your home is still out of power or you know of someone without power it is vitally important you immediately call National Grid at 800-322-3223 to report the outage.
Now that everyone has power and the weekend to recover make it a priority to get those home and cell phone numbers registered with our CodeRED system.
11/3/11 3:30PM – National Grid is reporting the last of the main power feeders will be restored some time tonight. 10 line crews are remaining in town to finish these remaining areas. We expect many of the areas below to be restored shortly. This list is NOT all inclusive but we are attempting to provide as much information as possible
These are the areas we know are being worked on:
- Eagle Trace
- Earl
- Farmers
- Forest
- Grandview
- Greenleaf
- heritage
- Homestead
- Juniper
- Kingsbury
- Lincoln
- Luce
- Marshbrook
- Skyline
- Violet
And others…
When these areas are brought back we still may have individual homes and pockets that remain off line. Please report these to National Grid at 800-322-3223 and have your account number available if possible.
As a reminder Trick or Treating is scheduled for tomorrow and we are asking that parents take extra precautions with their children to ensure they do not go near any dangerous wires, limbs or trees that may have gone unnoticed. Please be careful!
The warming center at the Senior Center has been closed.
11/2/11 4:00PM -As of right now 17% of the town is still without power. National Grid line crews are currently working to restore the remaining areas without power. We do anticipate additional areas to be brought back on line through the night. 12 line crews will be operating all night tonight. National Grid remains confident that the vast majority of remaining outages will be addressed by tomorrow, if not tonight.
Please continue to call 800-322-3223 to report outages and downed wires to National Grid. In addition, it is very helpful to have your National Grid account number available when calling.
Billerica Public Schools has announced that schools will be open tomorrow.
We may have some additional information later this evening. If we do it will be posted to the Billerica Police website and Twitter and Facebook pages.
11/1/11 5:00PM – As was noted earlier more than 50% of the town now has power. National Grid has informed us that there are now 20 line crews working throughout the town making repairs. Many of those crews will be working through the night to restore power.
The town still has a few priority locations that need to be addressed immediately, this includes the Marshall, Vining and Kennedy Schools which remain in the dark. In addition to those three schools there are numerous wastewater pumping stations that have been running on generator since the storm hit on Saturday. Those areas are National Grids top priority at this time.
All roads in town are now open.
The Billerica School Department has cancelled classes for Wednesday, November 2nd. We are anticipating that schools will be open on Thursday.
The senior center at 25 Concord Rd will be open for at least one more night for those that require shelter.
A drop-off location for residential snow-storm-related tree debris (branches and leaves) has been set up next to the Billerica Highway Division at 250 Boston Road. Residents can drop off loose branches and leaves between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, until Nov. 19. No bags will be accepted.
National Grid does request that residents continue to report fallen wires and outages to their customer service number at 800-322-3223 .
11/1/11 2:00PM – Today at noon town management and public safety met with National grid. During the last 24 hours line crews have repaired four main feeder lines, restoring power to over 6000 Billerica customers. Over 50% of the town has been restored. Crews are now focusing on three additional main feeder lines with the potential to restore an additional 3700 customers. Please be aware that individual, localized damage off of these means feeders means that some customers may not be restored once these feeders are brought back online. Major work is also being done on Andover Rd near the Fox Hill Cemetery as the power lines in that area were severely damaged. National Grid anticipates significant progress over the next 24 hours. The official estimate to have the majority of Billerica customers restored remains November 3rd. At this time Billerica has a total of 10 line crews and numerous tree crews working around the clock.
Billerica Public Safety, including Emergency Management will continue to assist residents as issues arise. We will continue to update residents using CodeRED, Twitter, Facebook and our public website. Please keep your neighbors informed if they do not have the means to receive these messages.
10/31/11 2:20PM – – Town management has met directly with National Grid and recovery work is continuing to take place. At this time there are seven National Grid line crews in Billerica. In addition to those seven crews, five more from out of state are scheduled to arrive at any time. National grid also has one tree crew in Billerica. That tree crew is now being augmented by the Billerica Tree Department.
Residents should be aware that the line crews are focusing on four main feeder lines which they anticipate repairing today. These crews will not be in neighborhoods working until those 4 feeder lines are repaired. Once those feeders are repaired National Grid anticipates a substantial recovery over the next 24 to 36 hours.
The town is currently maintaining a warming center at the Billerica Senior Center located at 25 Concord Rd. The town library is open from 9am until 9pm. Although the library has power there is currently no internet connectivity at this time.
River St and Pollard St have been opened and we anticipate Allen Rd and Andover Rd being opened by 3pm today.
As a reminder there will be no Halloween trick or treat tonight. We have postponed trick or treat to Friday between 530pm and 730pm.
During this event public safety and town management have been inundated with phone calls. While we understand the nature of frustration associated with this power outage we ask that residents refrain from calling unless they have an actual emergency or an issue of an urgent nature. We will continue to inform residents through CodeRED as needed as well as providing updates on our website at billericapolice.org and Twitter at BillericaPD.
10/31/11 10:30AM – Primary issue is a major transmission line down affecting Billerica, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, and Dracut. Main line is supposed to be up around noon time. Next there are 10 sub lines to be fixed in the area. Then there are 61 feeder lines to be fixed, then individual houses to be addressed. 25 crews are coming to the area from the North Shore, 40 tree crews, and 43 out of state crews.
10/30/11 2:30PM – At this time 70% of the town is still without power. National Grid estimates that it could take 48 or more hours to restore power. The Billerica School Department has cancelled classes for tomorrow, October 31st. A warming center will be available tonight at the Billerica Senior Center at 25 Concord Rd for the elderly and those families with special needs. There are many road closures still in effect and many traffic lights are not operational so please leave extra time to travel and be cautious of your surroundings. The Police Department will continue to update residents on the recovery through the Police website at http://www.billericapolice.org and Twitter at BillericaPD. For those with no internet access we will pass significant updates through CodeRED if necessary.
Liquor Stings
The Billerica Police Department will be conducting liquor stings, which involve liquor compliance checks starting now throughout the year. These stings will be conducted at all liquor establishments, including package stores, restaurants and variety stores. These compliance checks are part of the duties of the department’s liquor control officer and will be done on a continuous basis throughout the holiday season.
Preventing underage drinking is everyone’s responsibility. Compliance checks reassure youths do not have easy access to alcohol and that people over 21 years of age are not buying alcohol for underage youths, including employees and liquor license holders. Such activities and frequent oversight of alcohol retailers increases compliance.
BPD Says Goodbye To A Long-Time Employee
A long-time Billerica town employee passed away on October 19th. George Chamberlin worked for the town since 1973 and transferred to the Police Department as our custodian in 1981 until he retired in 2001. George was always reliable and did a great job, he will be missed. Memorial contributions may be made to the Compassionate Care Hospice, 800 West Cummings Park, Suite 3400, Woburn, MA 01801.
End Of The Line For Ford’s Crown Victoria
Ford Motor Company stopped accepting orders for the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor in April of 2011. The “Crown Vic” has dominated police fleets in North America as long as many of us can remember.
The Crown Victoria was popular with Billerica Police Officers for the same reasons many other departments liked them. The car had many advantages when used in a police application including a roomy interior for all the police equipment, rear wheel drive and a V8 engine for durability and body on frame construction for economical repairs.
Over the years the Crown Vic has fallen behind in efficiency and safety. The platform can no longer meet new efficiency and technology requirements according to Ford Motor Company.
The Billerica Police Department is receiving its last Ford Crown Victorias, Car 5 (above), being one of the last. The department has not yet determined which vehicle will replace the outgoing Fords. Currently, Ford is offering newly developed Interceptors based on the new Taurus and Explorer, Chevrolet has a new Caprice and Dodge offers a newly redesigned Charger.
Three Suspects Arrested in Craigslist Armed Robbery
Billerica – On Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Billerica Police arrested Mark Mearn, 26 years old, of Lowell, MA and Joseph Beals, 24 years old, of Billerica, MA for Armed Robbery. A third individual identified as Brendan Mearn, 24 years old, currently homeless, who is also being charged in connection with the incident, is still at large. The arrests follow an incident which occurred back on September 22, 2011 in Billerica. That incident involved a male victim from Beverly, MA who advertised on Craigslist that he bought and sold gold jewelry. This person was contacted by one of the parties claiming to have gold jewelry for sale. The victim ultimately traveled to Billerica to meet with the party at an agreed upon location with the intention of purchasing a quantity of jewelry. When the victim arrived he was physically assaulted, threatened with a firearm and robbed of a quantity of money and property. The victim managed to flee the scene after suffering minor injuries and was treated at an area hospital. A canine dispatched to the scene of the incident tracked from the scene to an address associated with Joseph Beals; however, no suspects were located. Through various investigative leads, including the analysis of phone records, Detectives were able to file charges against the above defendants. Mark Mearn and Joseph Beals will be arraigned in Lowell District Court on October 20, 2011.
Update 1:00PM – Brendan Mearn has been arrested and sent to court for arraignment.
Any further inquiries should be directed to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Public Information Officer, Jessica Venezia Pastore at 781-897-8325.