Police/Fire

Watertown Firefighters Attend Graduation of Fallen Firefighter’s Son

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The Watertown Fire Department was well represented at Blue Hills Regional’s graduation this week where they congratulated Patrick Toscano, the son of their fallen brother, Joe. 

Watertown Deputy Fire Chief Bob Quinn shared a photo on Facebook of the WFD contingent after the ceremony. “We were honored to be there because Patrick Toscano was one of the graduates. We went because Joey T couldn’t. The Toscano’s will always be part of our family. Congratulations Patrick!”

Missing Person

Watertown Police Seek Information About Missing 15-Year-Old Girl

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Watertown Police seek information about a missing 15-year-old Watertown girl who was last seen on June 4. 

Watertown Police sent out the following information:

On June 5, 2017 at 8 a.m., Jeelsy Feliz was reported missing by family members. Jeelsy is a 15 year old, Hispanic female, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, 130 pounds with shoulder length black hair. Unknown clothing description at the time she was reported missing. Jeelsy is believed to have traveled to the Queens/Brooklyn Borough of New York City. Jeelsy goes by several names, to include Jeelsy Feliz-Morales, Jeelsy Morales, and Yese Rodriguez. Attached is an image of Jeelsy using the ATM located at 171 Watertown St.,Watertown, MA on June 4, 2017 at 4:57 p.m. where she was accompanied by an unknown black male.

Arrests

Police Log: Woman Looses $150K to Lottery Scam, Man Assaults Officers

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests
May 24, 12:47 p.m.: Police received a report of a man sleeping in the doorway of CVS on Main Street. Officers checked on his wellbeing and then looked at his record and found he had an outstanding warrant. When the man was brought to the police station to be booked, he became very uncooperative, and attempted to hit and kick officers. During the struggle he spit in one of the officer’s faces.

Government

Watertown Police Release Policy for Dealing with People’s Immigration Status

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On Wednesday, the Watertown Police Department released its written policy for how it deals with immigration status during routine police business, as well as more serious incidents. 

The policy mirrors what Police Chief Michael Lawn spoke about during the Unity Breakfast in January, when he said he does not plan to have his department seek out people’s immigration status. He believes this makes the town safer because people will not be scared to seek help or assist police because the are undocumented immigrants. Immigration Debate
Enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws has become a discussion from the national level all the way down to the local level since the Trump Administration began efforts to change the way they are enforced with a goal of removing illegal immigrants. This has lead some governments and community members, including Watertown, to discuss whether the town should be come a Sanctuary Community. The Trump Administration has threatened to remove federal funding from communities protecting undocumented immigrants, though some have argued this would not be Constitutional.

Police/Fire

Daisy Troop from Cunniff School Donates Stuffed Animals to Police

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Girl Scout Daisy Troop 62586, from the Cunniff School, donated stuffed animals, toys, art supplies and books they collected to create S.A.F.E. (stuffed animals for emergencies) boxes for the Watertown Police Department, according to a troop leader. Officer Kerilyn Amedio then came to our meeting to tell us about being a police officer, and the girls presented her with their donations. Back row-left to right-
Lila DiFrancesco, Brooke Levine, Julie Pipitone, Officer Kerilyn Amedio, Olivia Moylan, Maddie Rooney, Amanda Vieira
Front-left to right- Paige Croft, Charlotte Holland, Mie Lim, Dana Brisson, Josepha Contreras,
Not pictured- Maya Torres Henry

Police/Fire

Watertown Fire Chief Mario Orangio Announces His Retirement

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Watertown Fire Chief Mario Orangio told the Town Council Tuesday night that he has filed for retirement. 

Orangio has served as Fire Chief for more than 13 years, but he has decided to step down. “I have some health issues,” Orangio said. “It is time to pass the reins.” The Fire Department has been selling T-shirts to raise money to help Orangio and his family as he battles cancer, Deputy Fire Chief Bob Quinn said at a previous meeting. Town Manager Michael Driscoll said that he remembers appointing Orangio as a firefighter in 1989, and when be became a lieutenant in 1997, a captain in 2000 and then chief in 2004.

Police/Fire

Sen. Markey Wants to Give Feds Drug Detection Tech Used Now in Watertown

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Sen. Edward Markey visited Watertown to talk about legislation he has introduced that would provide border agents with the same technology to find illicit and dangerous drugs that the Watertown Police Department current uses. 

In just a couple minutes a handheld device made by a company in Waltham can test a substance through a plastic bag or glass and let police know if it is something harmless like sugar or the lethal synthetic opioid, fentanyl. The drug has replaced heroin as the drug of choice for many dealers and users in Massachusetts, but it is 50 times more powerful than heroin and can be deadly even if it just touches your skin. Recently an Ohio police officer overdosed on fentanyl which he was exposed to when he just brushed it off his uniform. Last year, Massachusetts had an estimated 2,069 opioid related deaths and nearly 70 percent of them involved fentanyl, putting the state the second highest per capita for synthetic opioid related deaths, behind New Hampshire, Markey said. “Fentanyl the Godzilla of opioids.

Arrests

Police Log: Man Displays ‘Gun’ to Motorist, Craigslist Scam Over Apartment

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. 
Arrests
May 15, 12 midnight: Police were called to the Residence Inn for a report of a disturbance in a guest room. When officers spoke with a man and woman who had gotten into an argument they discovered the woman had an outstanding warrant. The 29-year-old Quincy woman was arrested on a warrant out of Boston District Court for larceny over $250. May 15, 5 p.m.: An officer patrolling in Coolidge Square spotted a man he knew to be wanted on a warrant. The 57-year-old Watertown man was stopped and arrested on the warrant from Concord District Court for OUI related charges.