Lynn Police gear up for summertime

LYNN – More Lynn Police will be hitting the street this month as the department relaunches its Community Impact Team (CIT), which requires all high-ranking officers to put on a uniform once a month and patrol the streets, Chief Kevin Coppinger said Tuesday.?Everybody who does not regularly wear a uniform puts one on and does a four-hour walking patrol,” Coppinger said.Each officer is also assigned a cruiser for a day and a designated “hot spot” in Lynn to monitor. The program lasts through the summer and wraps up in October, he said.Coppinger said he would be donning a uniform and doing his own patrol duty later this week.The CIT debut is one of several “increased efforts” the department is making this month as a way of setting the tone for the summer months, when crimes tend to occur more frequently, Coppinger said.The increased presence helps combat low-level crime that breaks out each year as area teens are celebrating proms and graduations, or just the end of the school year, from congregating after hours to full blown keg parties in Lynn?s wooded areas.?It?s not a lot of heavy lifting, but it is [important] to the people in the neighborhoods who are bothered by all the noise,” Coppinger said. “So we try to nip that in the bud as early as we can.”The crime rate is currently up about 5 percent from what it was at this time in 2011, Coppinger said, but several arrests of what he called “key players” is helping it level out, along with an increase in warrant arrests of criminals tied to multiple crimes.?We?re trying to target specific offenses we feel need addressing,” he said. “We targeted a number of impact players.”The department is also expected to renew a grant that funds walking patrols in the central business district of the city.?The last two years we?ve been lucky enough to get [the grant,]” Coppinger said. “The last I talked to Jamie Marsh, the application is still being considered, but it looks like we have a shot of securing money again.”If funded, the walking patrols will put foot patrolmen on the street through the summer months, Coppinger said.The addition of three new police officers in April, and the resurgence of the Community Liaison Team in March has also contributed to a feeling of greater safety as summer approaches, Coppinger said.?My constituents are very happy about the CLT program,” Crighton said. “I think having the presence of the officers out in the street and communicating one-on-one, face-to-face makes people feel a whole lot more comfortable.”Coppinger announced last week that Officers Titio Kim and Michael O?Connell would be joining the four current CLTs on street patrol on May 13.?That?ll make six community officers and one on every route,” Lynn Police Lt. Christopher Kelly said. “We?ll have full coverage in every sector of the city.”O?Connell will take over coverage of the Ward 3 area from Jack Torosian, who will now be covering the Ward 1 area, Coppinger said. Kim will cover the Ward 7 area of the city, rounding out the now city-wide coverage.Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi expressed excitement at the thought of his ward having its own community officer.?I?d love to see a CLT based out of Briarcliff. That to me would seem like a great location, centrally located for us,” Lozzi said.Ward 1 has been struggling with petty crime, Lozzi said, but the addition of a CLT on the street will likely deter street crimes that his residents have complained about, particularly drug dealing and bike thefts.?Everyone is gonna look on that as a positive, and it just brings the community closer with a CLT, I believe,” Lozzi said. “It?s always good to see our police officers out there.”Taylor Provost can be reached at [email protected].