By KEVIN NEVERS

The Chesterton Police Commission is asking the Town Council to enact an ordinance which would lower the speed limit on Highland Drive and Sawgrass Drive in the Villages of Sand Creek from 30 miles per hour to 20 mph.

At their meeting Wednesday, members voted 3-0 to request the council to authorize Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann to prepare that ordinance.

Town Engineer Mark O’Dell concluded that a speed study conducted earlier this year demonstrated that a warrant for the reduction existed, under the Indiana Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

“The roads are both relatively flat along their routes,” O’Dell noted in a memo to Police Chief George Nelson. “This subdivision was platted with a unique walking/trail system behind the homes and crosses Sawgrass Drive four times within 800 feet. Sawgrass Drive and Highland Drive have sidewalks on one side only due to the walking trails. The officers noted children and adults using the sidewalks and roadway for walking, biking, and skateboarding.”

Donations

In other business, the commission thanked a number of donors for their generosity in contributing funds toward the purchase of a “throw phone,” a communications device used in hostage situations. A throw phone is a ruggedly made piece of equipment which can be tossed into a barricaded structure and permits a negotiator to maintain contact with a hostage taker over a closed line.

The following donated $500 each: the First State Bank of Porter; Andrew Gatewood; George’s Gyros; TSL Refrigeration; and the Chesterton/Porter Rotary Club.

A throw phone, Nelson noted, is “quite an expensive item.”

Appreciation

In a communication, Special Agent Mark Ludwick of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation expressed his appreciation for the efforts of Det. Lt. Dave Adkins, Cpl. Tony Alfaro, and Communications Clerk Fran McCool for their exemplary work on May 1, when Ludwick contacted the CPD to ask officers to inform a family of the death of a relative in Iowa.

“I spoke with the brothers of the deceased and they stated they really appreciated how professional the Chesterton Police were when the notification was made in person,” Ludwick said.

Graduated

Probationary Officer Fernando Dominguez graduated from the Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy on April 15, Nelson told the commission.

April in Review

In April the CPD responded to 1,514 calls (1,437 in March), filed 104 cases (87 in March), issued 90 citations and 109 warnings (147 and 172 in March), filed two felony charges and 36 misdemeanor (12 and 56 in March), served six warrants (three in March), and investigated 31 accidents with six injuries (35 accidents with 10 injuries in March).

The CPD also assigned 27 juvenile cases and closed 24 of them, and filed four felony charges and 10 misdemeanor. No information was available on juvenile activity in March.

Calls for service included 59 alarms, 32 animal complaints, four reports of battery, two burglaries, six domestic calls, seven reports of fraud, 27 parking violations, four peddler complaints, one runaway, one shooting, six reports of shoplifting, one suicide, 29 reports of a suspicious circumstance, 32 reports of a suspicious person, 39 reports of a suspicious vehicle, 17 thefts, 143 traffic stops, four train complaints, 21 incidents of vandalism, 62 miscellaneous juvenile complaints, one robbery, and nine noise complaints.

Posted 5/15/2008