Minutes
Police Commission - Minutes - May 11, 2026
May 11, 2026
A public record published by the Town of Simsbury (simsbury-ct.gov). mySimsbury indexes it and makes it readable; it is not the official copy. View the original file.
1 POLICE COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING May 11, 2026 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting of the Police Commission was called to order by Chair Eric Lemke, at 5:02pm. in the Board of Education Conference Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. In attendance were Chair Eric Lemke, Commissioner Jenna Caulfield, Commissioner Tenesha Grant, Chief Nicholas Boulter, and Deputy Chief Chris Davis. Absent were Commissioner Chris Kelly and Commissioner James Traficante. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. CORRESPONDENCE Commissioner Caulfield read the summary of letters received since the last meeting of the commission on April 8, 2026. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. After a motion was made by Commissioner Caulfield and seconded by Commissioner Grant it was unanimous: VOTED: To approve the minutes of the April 8, 2026 Regular Meeting. 5. REPORTS a. Chairperson’s Report i. Members of the Commission have attended the recent budget hearings and discussion followed. b. Chief’s Report i. General Budget: The final BOF hearing was April 29th. The board moved the budget referendum to Saturday, May 16 from 6:00am. – 8:00pm. at the Town Hall. Personnel: The department is actively seeking to fill sworn vacancies and the dispatcher vacancy. Members of the department have been attending the physical agility tests in CT. The department now has recruitment coins with a QR code that directs the prospective applicants to Simsbury’s page on PoliceApp.com, where information about the department and the application can be found. Training: The regional teams are made up of members from 8 different towns. The accident reconstruction team (NCMARS) is one of these regional teams. After 8 years of dedicated service, including the last twelve to eighteen months as the team commander, Sergeant Laurel Harrington has resigned her position with the team. After an interview and a performance review process, the 2 Simsbury vacancies were filled by Officer Popielarczyk and Officer Kenney. Both officers have completed the second of three intensive two-week long classes. The department was able to secure funding for the full tuition costs for the classes through Capital Regions Council of Governments (CRCOG). The Emergency Services Team (EST) is another regional team that Simsbury has 4 members on. In addition to the bi-monthly training the team does, Officer Denalsky and Officer Arnold attended an intensive 2-week trainings that provided technical and leadership skills in highly stressful, physically vigorous and chaotic settings. These officers regularly train and are instructors, mentors, and credible sources of information for the entire department. 2 Recent/Upcoming Events: The Police department is hosting a shred event for Simsbury residents on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 9:00am. – 11:30am. on the property of Town Hall. First module of the citizens police academy is scheduled for Wednesday, May 20, 2026 from 6:00pm -9:00pm. This module will focus on training, equipment, de-escalation and use of force. Sign up is available on the department website www.simsbury-ct.gov/CPA. The Junior Police Academy is scheduled for August 3rd through the 7th. It is a week of daily emergency services activities and learning (including police, fire and ambulance), team building, demonstrations, and much more. This program is open to grades 5-8. Applications are available on the department website at www.simsburyy-ct.gov/JPA The CT Law Enforcement Torch Run is an event to bring awareness and raise funds for the CT Special Olympics and is scheduled for June 4 this year. Simsbury Police Department will run with members of Avon Police Department, Special Olympians, and other supporters on route 44 from Simsbury to Old Avon Village. Donations: Simsbury/Granby Rotary Club generously donated $1500.00 for two police cadets to attend a week-long police cadet academy this summer. The club has donated funds to support cadet attendance for the last 3 years. ii. Monthly Activity Report – April 2026 iii. YTD Budget 6. OLD BUSINESS a. none 7. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Caulfield made a motion to adjourn at 5:16pm., seconded by Commissioner Grant. All were in favor and the motion passed.