Chris Perry Column: "Let's Be Careful Out There"

For a moment, I thought I walked onto the set of Hill Street Blues.

With Sergeant Brett Morneau not missing a beat, step one was a thorough tour of the facility including the command center, holding cells, administrative offices, gym, locker rooms, equipment storage, vehicle parking, halls leading to closets filled with technical and tactical equipment, and finally to a comfortable meeting room for the night’s ”shift briefing” at 7 p.m.

As a guest of Chief Jody Kasper and the Nantucket Police Department, this was my introduction to a much anticipated “ride-along” last Saturday night. Ultimately riding shotgun with Patrol Sergeant Brett Morneau who later became Officer in Charge Morneau as personnel changes took place during the night, I was at full attention at the outset as all I could think of was Captain Frank Furillo, Renko, Bobby Hill, Henry Goldblume and Lt. Norman Buntz.

Thankfully, last Saturday night was “fairly quiet” as the five police officers plus State Police Trooper Michael Elliott started their shift at 7 p.m.

I won’t lie to you, part of me wanted to flip on the lights and sirens and get involved in a high-speed chase down Milestone Road. But in all honesty, I really wanted to see what goes on during the summer on a Saturday night from the eyes of the Nantucket Police and how that jives with the general perception on Nantucket.

To cut to the chase, yes…we had a lost dog, predictable bar fights, an arrest, a slice of pizza on the fly from The Muse, and the EMTs in action. We had several outrageously poor actors, some funny verbal exchanges, the siren, and lights did go on, a sobering video, Miranda rights being read, and a couple of noise complaints from house/pool parties.

In the end, among other interesting little tidbits, four things stuck out in my mind.

Disneyland: As Officer in Charge, Travis Ray gathered his fellow law enforcement officers together to start his shift briefing and he summed it up best for me when he said: “We are not in Disneyland anymore…”

From there, he proceeded to update his squad on the status of a suspect still at large accused of raping a female under the age of ten years old on Nantucket.

As a member of the Nantucket community, that was tough to hear.

It is an ongoing investigation with local detectives, State Police, and the Nantucket Police Department actively searching for the suspect who may have fled the island. In fact, on three separate occasions during the night, Sergeant Morneau stopped to check out leads on the suspect’s whereabouts only to be disappointed in the end.

Sadly, this is not the only rape case under investigation. Moreover, aggravated assault, domestic violence, assault and battery cases, and other forms of violent behavior are on the increase.

Sergeant Ray, who was born and raised on Nantucket and joined the force in 2003, certainly can add some perspective and stoically concluded, “We have become the real world. For generations, this island was always an escape. There’s no more separation. We are now what everyone thought they were escaping”.

Ray continued: “The recent, rapid growth of the island’s population brings with it an increase in all forms of crime including violent crime. This acceleration in population and popularity is unprecedented. Couple that with unlimited financial opportunities and, more often than not, you get a bad, violent element that comes along with it. We are a mixing pot of societies and cultures and I am not sure we have all learned how to live together just yet.”

Manpower: Six law enforcement officers were available at the start of the 7 p.m. shift.

Sergeant Travis Ray started as the Officer in Charge. Also present were Sergeant Brett Morneau, Officer Nicholas Gallant, Officer Gwen Nelson, Officer Matthew Drumheller, who did a tour in Afghanistan before joining the NPD, and State Trooper Michael Elliott who was working in cooperation with the Nantucket Police Department to help alleviate some of the existing manpower issues.

When Sergeant Ray’s shift ended at 10:30 p.m., Nantucket was left with five. That’s less than the number of employees working in the deli department at Stop & Shop. When an arrest is made, two, if not three officers are required to assist with booking leaving three officers available at best.

You do the math. It is statistically impossible even with six officers actively on duty and in the field to provide the necessary police protection this community deserves during the summer months. It’s not the department’s fault. It’s an island-wide staffing problem.

When there are more bouncers on staff at The Chicken Box than police officers patrolling the island, that’s a joke.

The Nantucket Police Department is grossly undermanned during the summer season. You can argue the point that it’s awfully quiet in February, but that rings hollow when you are the one making the emergency call in August and no one is immediately available.

Communications: It is no secret that the island has a language barrier issue, and on the streets of Nantucket, that barrier has the potential to be dangerous.

In one particular case on Saturday, an intoxicated individual was passed out on the side of the road. Clearly, he was unable to communicate. Sergeant Morneau summoned the help of the local EMTs to assist. Once the individual was able to sit upright, a cell phone was used to translate back and forth between English and Spanish.

Marginally successful, it became clear that this guy was not interested in going to the hospital. Whether it was financial, legal status, mode of transportation to the hospital, or simply being scared of the circumstances, he became visibly agitated.

Thankfully, a good Samaritan came by who was fluent in both English and Spanish, and over the course of the next 30 minutes he convinced the man to be transported by ambulance to Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

Clearly, this had the potential to get out of control. The combination of alcohol and the language barrier brought this to a potentially dangerous simmering point that police, fire, and EMTs struggle with every day.

“Does that happen often?” I asked Sergeant Morneau.

“Way too often,” he said.

Alcohol: It would be inappropriate for me to say much more than the numbers don’t lie. Over 50 percent of the calls that we responded to were drug or alcohol related. The arrest was alcohol-related. The car accident and personal property damage were alcohol-related. I could go on and on but I am not saying something everyone doesn’t already know. Suffice to say, more Nantucket Police time was spent de-escalating drug or alcohol-related situations on Saturday night than tracking down the child rapist.

I don’t know about you but I find that to be a sad commentary, especially knowing the police would rather have it the other way.

As the sun was starting to rise, I was beat. It takes a special breed to embrace any night shift. When things finally settled down towards the end of the shift, officers wandered in and out focusing mostly on paperwork and the anticipated calls that typically come in around 6 a.m.

Equally noticeable was the camaraderie shared between the shift officers and Officer in Charge Morneau. During the night, Morneau mentioned that he “always wanted to be a cop” and it was clear that his skills on patrol developed over almost 20 years on the job were just as professional as his mentoring efforts were with his fellow officers that night.

Sorry guys… no high-speed chases to report or bank robbery videos to post. But driving home and making sure I stayed under the speed limit and well within the marked lines, I was OK with that.

For a fleeting moment, I wanted to believe that “Disneyland” was back even though I knew at that very moment the next Officer in Charge, John Rockett, was about to begin his 7 a.m. shift briefing with an update on the rape suspect still at large.

In Sergeant Phil Esterhaus fashion, let’s hope he ended with: Let’s be careful out there…”