Residents should contact their local police department for a Resident Pistol/Revolver License. The Application for a Resident Pistol/Revolver License may be downloaded, completed and returned to your local police department for processing.

Police Department 5 Year Plan (updated July 2005)

Five Year Plan (MS Word doc)
Five Year Plan (PDF file)

Town Ordinances

Please visit the Town Ordinances web page for a list of ordinances. Below are 3 new town ordinances.
Alarm Ordinance
Parks Ordinance
Noise Ordinance

Alarm Application (PDF)
Alarm Application (MS Word)

Archives

Public Service Messages

• Crime Prevention
  

  1. Please Take Responsibility for Your Dogs
  
  Every year we receive a number of complaints regarding neighbor's dogs. The two most common complaints involve barking dogs and dogs running at large. Frankly, these two types of complaints have a great deal to do with common courtesy and regard for your neighbor. In Dunbarton, we follow the RSA 466:31, which is the Animal section of the State statutes. This section states:
  
  466:31, Section II.
  
  (a) If a dog is "at large," which means it is off the premises of the owner or keeper and not under the control of any person by means of personal presence and attention as will reasonably control the conduct of such dog, unless accompanied by the owner or custodian. This subparagraph shall not include a dog which is being used for hunting, herding, supervised competition, or exhibition or training for such activities if accompanied by the owner or custodian, meaning that the owner or custodian must be able to see or hear the dog, or have reasonable knowledge of where the dog is hunting or herding, or where training is being conducted or where trials are being held, provided that such dog does not have to be within sight at all time;
  
  (b) If it barks for sustained periods of more than 1/2 hour, or during the night hours so as to disturb the peace and quiet of a neighborhood or area;
  
  Our procedure is to try to talk with dog owners to impress upon them their responsibility to be good neighbors. If the problem continues then we will start the formal enforcement process with an Abatement. Anytime we issue an Abatement or Violation we require a written statement from the complainant to comply with the statute. We always prefer to work with people to help resolve problems, however, people need to understand their responsibilities to control their dogs.
  
  2 . Vacant Property Surveillance
  
  Those who will be taking a vacation please let us know so that we can add your home to our Vacant Property list and check it periodically while you are away. Please call to give us the pertinent information.
  

• Department Activity

  We are working on our new information system, which will allow us to access more pertinent and timely information. In an effort to keep you as informed as possible, we will be posting our monthly activity. Please keep in mind that this is a new process and we will be as accurate and timely as possible.  This should provide you with a good idea of our monthly activity.

  Below is our 2007 Town Report (click here to download a Word version of it)

Dunbarton Police Department

2007

Introduction

 This has been a busy and exciting year for our department. I want to extend my thanks and appreciation to the Board of Selectman, Town Office Staff, the members of the Dunbarton Fire Department, the Dunbarton Highway and Transfer Station Staff, the Dunbarton Elementary School and all of those involved in the various boards and committees that help make Dunbarton such a wonderful community. In particular I want to thank the dedicated members of the Dunbarton Police Department for their selfless service to the community.

People

This year we experienced some significant changes in personnel. March brought the retirement of Chief Jeff Nelson. Chief Nelson joined the department as its first full-time chief in 2001. He immediately began a quest to bring the department up to date in a variety of areas such as policies, procedures, training and equipment needs. Chief Nelson embraced the concept of Accreditation as the best road map to address the needs of the department.

Accreditation ensures that a department has policies, procedures and best practices that have met national peer review and are in keeping with the latest liability concerns and court decisions.
Under Chief Nelson’s leadership the department became accredited through the State of New Hampshire. Nelson continued his pursuit of excellence for the agency and in 2006 the department was awarded National Accreditation Recognition becoming the smallest agency in the country to have such an honor bestowed upon it. Chief Nelson is to be commended for his professionalism and dedication to the department and community he will be missed.

In April Master Patrol Officer Jacqueline Pelletier was sworn in with the department. Officer Pelletier came to us by way of the Bow Police Department. She started her full time law-enforcement career in the Community of Bow and is a 2005 graduate of the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council Full Time Police Academy. Officer Pelletier’s law enforcement experience also includes service as a part-time police officer and emergency communications specialist with the Goffstown Police Department. She is a certified Drug Abuse Resistance Education instructor and a Field Training Officer.

In July Officer John Levasseur was sworn in as the departments third full time police officer. Officer Levasseur began his law enforcement career in 2003 with the NH Department of Corrections. He is a graduate of the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council Corrections Academy. While with the Department of Corrections he rose to the rank of corporal served as a field-training officer and was a member of the special response team. Officer Levasseur is a 2007 graduate of the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council Full Time Police Academy.

In October Part-time Officer Neil Nicholson resigned his position with the department. Officer Nicholson graduated from Suffolk University Law School and passed the New Hampshire Bar Examination in the fall. He subsequently accepted a position as an associate with the McLane Law Firm in Manchester, New Hampshire. While Officer Nicholson’s time with us was short he certainly left a mark on the agency. His deliberative nature, common sense approach, legal aptitude and sense of humor will be missed. We wish Attorney Nicholson well.

Activity

The following is an annual activity comparison (2003 to 2007) which demonstrates our activity: 

Annual Activity Comparison

The demands made on our department continue to increase as our increased calls for service demonstrates.

Department Goals
Our 2007 Department Goals were as follows:

1. Champion warrant article request for an additional full-time officer.

We are extremely pleased that this warrant was supported at town meeting. Officer John Levasseur was hired in July. This goal was achieved and we are appreciative of the support received from the community.

1. Continue department migration away from a reactive response to that of a proactive presence in the community. To be accomplished through more consistent shift coverage and direction of resources towards known time periods of activity in the community.

We experienced some changes in personnel this year that necessitated utilizing many of our part-time shift hours to cover shifts during a department transition after Chief Nelson retired. To some extent this impacted our ability to cover as many weekend shifts as we would have liked. Our weekend shift coverage was also somewhat limited by the availability of our part-time officers to cover shifts. Our part-time officers do a wonderful job but their availability is limited by full time employment and family commitments.
     

1. Prepare for a CALEA mock on-site review in November of 2007.

Although our accreditation efforts continue we have altered our time frame based on our personnel transition and some pending changes in accreditation standards. We want to be deliberative in our approach and make sure that pending standard changes do not impact our ability to move forward with full accreditation. We project that we will hold a mock on-site review in November of 2008.

1. Complete facility security enhancements.

With the assistance and volunteer efforts of Officer Guevin and Dan Guevin a local contractor we were able to install a customer service and reception window in our station. While this does not provide the optimum level of desired security it addresses access control and substantially increase the safety of our personnel and customers.

1. Complete twenty hours of training for part-time officers.

Achieved.

Proactive Coverage

At last years town meeting the residents of the community approved the hiring of a third full time police officer. We are extremely appreciative of the town’s support of this warrant article. The hiring of an additional officer will help us provide much more consistent proactive patrol coverage. Relevant research supports the idea that proactive police presence and visibility in a community through varied education and enforcement activity helps to keep crime rates low. It also allows for a more timely response when a call for assistance or service is requested.

Through shift adjustments and innovative scheduling of officers we have been able to drastically increase the amount of time that we have an officer covering a patrol shift and able to immediately respond to a call for aid. We have focused efforts on increased visibility during the early morning bus stop times as well as during the heavy commuter traffic times. These efforts have also enabled us to implement more consistent coverage during the weekends.

Conclusion
I am extremely pleased and proud to have been selected as the department’s police chief this year. I am fortunate to have taken over the reigns of a department that was in the forefront of professionalism and well regarded both locally and nationally. Chief Nelson did a wonderful job during his tenure with the agency to improve its policies, procedures, equipment, professionalism and stature in the law enforcement community.

We have fantastic folks that are dedicated to the department and the community and I am fortunate in that regard as well. I am excited about the direction of the agency and look forward to providing professional, compassionate and courteous service to the residents of Dunbarton. We will continue to strive towards excellence in all of our agency pursuits.

I want to thank the people of Dunbarton for your support throughout the year and particularly for your support at last years town meeting. With your support we were able to hire a third full time officer. This hire has substantially increased our abilities to provide more consistent patrol coverage. Research clearly supports community-based and proactive patrol activities in the efforts to reduce crime (Goldstein, 1979 and Trojanowizc, 2000). Increased visibility and proactive efforts within the community are vital and will be attainable with your demonstrated support.

Please remember that the Dunbarton Police Department is your police department. If we can ever be of assistance please call or business number at 774-5500 or our dispatch number at 224-1232 if you need immediate assistance or to speak with an officer. Our office hours are currently Monday through Thursday, 6:30 AM to 2:30 PM.

Sincerely,

Christopher D. Connelly
Chief of Police