WILTON — Fire and police chiefs updated the Select Board recently on staff, training, equipment and other activities.

The Fire Rescue Department has 21 firefighters and one hotshot, Chief Sonny Dunham said at the July 23 meeting. Two of the firefighters are on medical leave, one for a foot-ankle injury and the other for an elbow. They should be back soon, he said.

The department responded to 31 calls since June 1 and five mutual aid calls, Dunham said.

Regarding the fleet of firetrucks, some door handles and gauges have been repaired, he said.

Ladder 7 was to be recertified Saturday, two months overdue because of a shortage of help at the facility that does it.

There has been a lot of training in the past few months, the chief said. One was a water shuttle in Strong to make sure the trucks had an adequate number of gallons pumped per minute to serve the community for the Insurance Services Office, which affects many items, including insurance rates for homeowners insurance.

They also did a two-day rescue training session at Farmington Public Works Department garage and have been applying for grants.

Dunham also mentioned there are 19 Knox-boxes at businesses and other areas to hold the key to a building. This prevents firefighters or police officers from having to break down a door when there is an emergency and a key holder is not available, he said.

He and Police Chief Ethan Kyes each have a key and there is a key in a safe at the Town Office.

Police Department

Kyes said the Police Department made 87 arrests since the beginning of the year, handled 184 incident reports, one fatal crash and one pending death investigation.

“We have had a high number of juvenile cases,” he said, and that has been on the rise.

Sgt. Gerald Maccione has joined the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Kyes said, leaving that position open. Officer Brian Lynch is the interim sergeant.

Officer Keith Masse has completed training as a firearms instructor for handguns. He is taking the urban rifle instructor course in September. He will be a firearms instructor for handguns and rifles as an armorer for Glocks and Sig Sauer, Kyes said.

Officer Stephen Charles is completing his FBI leadership course, which would mean half the department has finished the course, Kyes said.

The department hired an extra officer with money from the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant, but when another officer left the department the grant was put on hold until that vacancy is filled, Kyes said. Of the total grant, $24,000 has been spent in that 18 weeks.

The department has also applied for the Homeland Security Grant Program for access control doors. Kyes said they are also seeking a quote for the bathroom stall door and for the police side of the Public Safety Building.

The department has been converting all paper copies of the case file to the computer server.

“We are almost done with case files from 2018,” he said.

The new requirement for the Maine Office of the Attorney General is to add documents for collecting identifying information on individuals, including perceived race and color of an individual, Kyes said. The forms have 17 new field entries.

The department has also updated 25 policies and requested an Animal Control Officer Policy since the officers will fall under the Police Department.

“We have created a wandering person program about to launch on Facebook,” Kyes said.

Kyes also touched on the July 22 arrest of a New York woman who is accused of trafficking in cocaine.