BREAKING: Assistant Police Chief MacIsaac Reverses Course, Will Stay in Belmont

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont Police Assistant Chief James MacIsaac.

After earlier this week making what he called “one of, if not the most, difficult decision I have ever made,” Belmont Police Assistant Chief James MacIsaac has had a change of heart and will not accept the appointment as Chief of Police in Wayland.

“I have made the determination that remaining in Belmont as the assistant Police Chief is in the best interests to me and my family,” said MacIsaac in an email to the Belmontonian earlier this afternoon, Friday, Aug. 25.

The sudden about face by MacIsaac comes just days after he was offered the position to be Wayland’s top cop on Monday, Aug. 21. While saying becoming a chief was a long time goal of his, MacIsaac decision will allow the lifelong resident – who has lived all but two years in Belmont – to remain in his hometown police department which he joined in 1999.

MacIsaac was appointed Belmont’s assistant chief in July 2012.

Belmont High Bomb Threat Deemed A Hoax

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont High School.

Units from the Massachusetts State Police and Belmont Police Department conducted a search of Belmont High School Wednesday morning, July 13, after the school district received an email bomb threat.

Belmont and three schools in Waltham including the high school were targeted by threats Wednesday. On Monday, several schools in Wareham were shut down due to bomb threats.

The message claiming that a bomb was inside the school arrived at the district office on Pleasant Street at approximately 9:45 a.m. School Administration immediately contacted the Belmont Police who informed the State Police. Law enforcement along with district staff conducted a visual inspection of the building.

After the inspection, and using State Police protocol, the threat was declared a “low risk, ” and the building was not evacuated.

“The School Department thanks Belmont and State Police for their quick response to this matter,” said Belmont Superintendent John Phelan.

Belmont Police to Collect Old, Unused Prescription Drugs Saturday, April 29

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Prescription Drug Take-Back Initiative this Saturday.

The Belmont Police Department in conjunction with the Belmont Auxiliary Police and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency will host a Prescription Drug Take-Back Initiative to prevent the abuse and theft of old, unused and expired prescription drugs.

The Belmont Police will have a collection point set up at the DPW yard, 37 C St., on Saturday, April 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Old or unused prescription drugs – no liquids, please – may be dropped off for free with no questions asked. You won’t even have to get out of your car

Unfortunately, these drugs are highly susceptible to misuse by family and friends. In addition they can be improperly disposed of and end up in our environment, posing a potential health hazard.

Please take some time to check your medicine cabinet and visit us on the 29th. 

For more information on the Rx Drug Take Back Initiative or a list of additional collection sites, visit  the DEA’s webpage.

Residents may also contact Lt. Daley at kdaley@belmontpd.org. We also have a permanent Rx drug collection kiosk located in the lobby of the police headquarters in Belmont Center that is accessible 24/7. 

Belmont Dispatcher’s Heroic Act on Tragic Day In Watertown

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The scene of the fire. (Courtesy Watertown News)

Dave Jones should have been the good news story on a tragic St. Patrick’s Day.

The long-serving Belmont Police dispatcher was off-duty as he and his wife were heading to Donohue’s in Watertown to listen to Irish music on Friday morning, March 14. As the couple of two young boys were on Bigelow Avenue, Jones spotted a house on Merrifield Avenue with heavy smoke and fire coming from the building’s second floor.

“We were just traveling through. Just being in the right place at the right time,” Jones told the Belmontonian on Friday night as he began his shift at Belmont Police Headquarters.

Pulling over to the side of the road, Jones – whose father was a firefighter – jumped out and followed a Watertown Police officer who had just arrived into the burning structure.

Inside the house, Jones found an elderly resident who he brought out of the structure.

In his two-plus decades in public safety, “that’s the closest I have ever been to being a firefighter,” said Jones, who is a familiar figure at Belmont High football games as one of the members of the chain crew.

But should have been a story of selfless heroism by Jones and the Watertown police officer instead became on of the tragic death of Watertown firefighter Joseph Toscano who died of a heart attack battling the two-alarm blaze.

“Rather than me, what everyone has to remember, an old [man] lost a house and the loss of a firefighter,” said Jones, who last week celebrated his 21st year as a dispatcher, the same length of service as Toscano, a father of five from Randolph.

“It didn’t turn out to be the sort of story we all would want it to be,” said Jones.

Town Meeting ’17: 25 MPH Speed Limit To Be Voted in May

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The proposed new top speed in Belmont.

Belmont Board of Selectman Jim Williams asked a question to Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin when the chief brought to the board a proposal establishing a 25 mph limit on nearly all of Belmont’s byways.

“Have you driven 25 mph on Concord Avenue?” with the inference that the speed would be a tad slow for many motorists.

The answer to that question will be left to Town Meeting members as the proposal was voted into the 2017 Town Meeting Warrant establishing the reduced speed limit throughout Belmont.

“The main thrust [for the change] is safety for pedestrians and bicyclists,” said McLaughlin – who last week celebrated his 10th anniversary as police chief – saying Belmont would be following area city and towns such as Arlington, Boston, Cambridge, Watertown, Lexington and Somerville which have switched to the lower speed limit.

Cities and towns around the state have moved to drop the speed limit since the implementation of the Municipal Modernization Act signed in August 2016, which grants local authorities the right to decrease local speed limits to 25 mph in “thickly settled” areas.

McLaughlin said three stretches of roadway that would be exempt from the new limit:

  • Concord Avenue from Robinwood Road to the Lexington town line.
  • Winter Street from Belmont Country Club to Route 2
  • Mill Street from Trapelo Road to Concord Avenue.

McLaughlin said the cost of implementing the new law would be putting up new signs at roads on the various town lines – such as Trapelo Road (Waltham), Concord Avenue (Cambridge) and Common Street (Watertown) – informing visitors of the limit. It will also require taking down signs such as along Pleasant Street with differing speed limits. 

Belmont Police ‘Not in the Habit’ of Asking Immigration Status

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont Police badge and patch. 

When asked about the department’s policy regarding persons with illegal status in the country, Belmont Police Assistant Captain James MacIsaac said while the department does not have written guidelines, when it comes to conducting local policing, “Belmont’s officers are not in the habit of asking about the immigration status of a victim, witness, or suspect.”

But while being an illegal immigration will not solely lead to that person’s arrest, if Belmont Police is asked by federal authorities to detain a person not lawfully in the country who is in custody for a crime, “I would expect our officers to cooperate,” said MacIsaac. 

The question of police cooperation with federal immigration law is at the heart of a likely citizen’s petition being prepared by residents which would make Belmont a “sanctuary” community through a vote at May’s annual Town Meeting. 

Belmont sanctuary supporters are pointing to a effort in Arlington, using similar language that would prevent local police from “engaging in or assisting in Immigration and Customs Enforcement in reporting, arresting, detaining deporting, or taking any other law enforcement action unsupported by separate and distinct warrants or probable cause from criminal conduct unrelated to immigration status.” 

Belmont Police’s current policy appears to takes a hands-off approach to the legal status of residents and visitors to Belmont: being an illegal immigrant or migrant is not of the utmost importance for law enforcement. 

MacIsaac said typically Belmont officers will encounter a person whose immigration status would be “questionable” occurs during a traffic stop.

For example, if a driver does not have a license, the officer may discover the person is a foreign citizen who is unable to obtain a Massachusetts RMV license because they do not have legal status in the US.

But that is as far as Belmont Police will go on the person’s status

“[T]he the fact that the immigration status would be questionable does not lead to actual questioning about the status,” said MacIsaac.

“Officers in these circumstances handle their business with a possibly illegal immigrant using state laws about driving unlicensed and then move on,” he said.

MacIsaac said only when a person is arrested would their illegal status officially come to the department’s attention.

As with all who are arrested f0r a crime in Belmont, the arrestee’s fingerprints are transmitted to the Massachusetts State Police and the FBI which assists the Department in identifying the person arrested, if they have a criminal record and determining if there are outstanding warrants.

One of the databases that fingerprint records are checked against, automatically, is one maintained by Homeland Security.

In response to the information that an alien with illegal status is in currently in Belmont PD custody, an official with Homeland Security could send to Belmont Police an “immigration detainer” which allows them to hold the person in custody for up to 48 hours in addition to whatever time they might be arrested for any state charges.

In Belmont, cooperating with the federal government’s request is part and parcel of good policing.

“In the media, one hears the heads of different law enforcement agencies say that they do or do not cooperate with these detainers. For my part, I expect that our officers will assist every US law enforcement agency in the accomplishment of their [legitimate] objectives, just as we would expect the same cooperation from those agencies in the accomplishment of our objectives,” said MacIsaac.

So far, the department has only seen one or two of these detainers, said Macisaac and its cooperation had been limited to providing the detainer to the district court for its action when we transfer a prisoner.

“It has certainly been less burdensome than other forms of civil detention in which the department is involved,” said MacIsaac.

For MacIsaac, the primary job of the department is to protect Belmont’s residents and visitors from crime, no matter the citizenship or immigration situation of the suspect.

“If inquiring into and using the immigration status of a person might help [us] remove from our community a serious criminal more quickly or effectively for the protection of our residents, I certainly support our officers in doing so,” said MacIsaac.

Police Release Drawing of One Suspect in Sunday’s Armed Robbery

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont Police drawing of one of two suspects in the armed robbery of a Waverley Square gas station on Sunday, Jan. 29.

The Belmont Police Department released a drawing of one of two suspects in an armed robbery that occurred Sunday night Jan. 29 at the Gulf Waverley Square Service Station located at 27 Lexington St. 

According to a Wednesday, Feb. 1 press release from the Belmont Police, the first suspect who enter the gas station was a black male approximately 5-feet, 9-inches tall, medium build and in his mid-twenties.  He was wearing a gray sweatshirt, black winter cap, and a black ski mask.  This suspect was armed with a black semi-automatic handgun.   

The second suspect – who is pictured in the drawing – entered the gas station after the first.  He was a black male, about 5-feet, 9-inches tall, medium build and in his mid-twenties.  He was wearing a black sweatshirt, jeans and has medium length black hair.

The first suspect pointed the handgun at the clerk and demanded money. He threatened to shoot the clerk if he did not comply. Both suspects ordered the clerk to the ground prior to exiting the station.  

If you have any additional information that will help aid the police in this investigation, please contact the Belmont Police at: 617-993-2501 or leave a message on our tip line: 617-993-2569 or email to crimetip@belmontpd.org

Waverley Square Service Station Robbed at Gun Point Sunday PM

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The location of the robbery in Waverley Square in Belmont.

A person with a gun robbed Waverley Square Service Sunday evening, Jan. 29, according to the Belmont Police Department

The Gulf-branded service station at the corner of Lexington Street and Thayer in the heart of Waverley Square was robbed at 7:35 p.m. The police has not released a description or photo of the suspect or how much money was taken.

Belmont Police is asking anyone “who witnessed anything unusual in [the] area around that time” to call them at 617-993-2501.

Crossing Guard Hit By Vehicle at Burbank Elementary, Hospitalized

By 2 Comments

Photo: The location of the accident.

A crossing guard was struck by a motor vehicle in front of the Mary Lee Burbank Elementary School at approximately 8:18 a.m. this morning, Wednesday, Jan. 11, according to a press release from the Belmont Police Department.

The guard, who are hired by the Belmont Police to assist residents and students to cross busy main roadways, was transported by Belmont Fire Rescue from the scene to a local area hospital with non-life threatening injuries, said Belmont Police Assistant Chief James MacIsaac.

The motor vehicle heading westbound on School Street struck the crossing guard in the crosswalk at School Street and Sharpe Road. The preliminary investigation indicates that speed was not a factor.

The vehicle driver was cited at the scene for Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian in the Crosswalk, according to Belmont Police.

Belmont Fire/Police Seeking Public’s Help On McLean Fire Investigation

By Leave a Comment

Photo: This morning’s fire at McLean Hospital.

Investigators are asking for the public’s help with the investigation into the cause of an early morning fire in an abandoned building on the McLean Hospital campus. The 2-alarm fire occurred in the three-story Codman House building at approximately 2:30 a.m., Monday, Nov. 14.

“The cause of the fire is still undetermined but investigators believe information from the community will help them determine how this fire actually started. Anyone with information about is asked to confidentially call the Arson Hotline, 24-hours a day at 1-800-682-9229,” said State Fire Marshal Peter. J. Ostroskey in a press release sent out Monday afternoon.

The Arson Hotline is part of the Arson Watch Reward Program that provides rewards of up to $5,000 for information that helps to solve cases. The program is funded by the property and casualty insurance underwriting companies of Massachusetts. 

The fire is being jointly investigated by the Belmont Fire and Police departments and State Police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.