Middletown Public Safety Commission Special Meeting – March 13, 2026
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Middletown Public Safety Commission Special Meeting – March 13, 2026
Note: The meeting transcript references March 5, 2026, but the official date provided for this summary is March 13, 2026. The summary below reflects the transcript content with the mandated date.
The Public Safety Commission held a special meeting for the Middletown Police Department, chaired by Chief Costa. The meeting covered approval of prior minutes, departmental reports, discussion of a drone program, revision of an ordinance for rate-setting authority, approval of new private duty rates, budget overview, the Trust Act, and facility/maintenance issues. The meeting was conducted in the community room and via WebEx.
Consent Calendar
- The minutes from December 15, 2025 were approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the designated hearing portions.
Discussion Items
- Correspondence & Monthly Reports: Chief Costa reported on the death of Lieutenant Dan Smith and community support. He presented overtime challenges due to the CT 40 sick day policy, training reductions, and a planned transition to a red dot firearm system funded within the existing budget.
- Annual Crime Statistics (2025): The chief reported a 12.8% drop in the overall crime rate (cumulative ~30% over two years), a 55% reduction in burglaries, a 33% reduction in motor vehicle thefts, and a 11.02% drop in Part 1 crimes. Calls for service increased 8.54% due to added social workers. There were no homicides; fatalities included a suspected medical event, a pedestrian struck by a garbage truck, a scooter accident, and a pedestrian strike. Community engagement events exceeded 77. Training hours totaled 5,600. Internal affairs complaints: 30 total (23 exonerated, 3 unfounded, 1 not sustained, 1 corrective action, 2 suspensions).
- Drone Program (FLOC DFR): Chief Costa explained the proposed drone program, emphasizing data ownership (closed loop with Recor/Odinai) and that data would not be shared with third parties like ICE without judicial process. Councilman Ford noted resident concerns about federal access. The program was tabled at the prior Common Council meeting to strengthen contract language. Council members expressed trust in the department and sought reassurance on data privacy. The drone is intended for first responder use (e.g., locating missing persons, fire response) and cost is covered by grant and forfeiture funds, not taxpayer money.
- Ordinance 311 Revision: A proposed revision would transfer authority to set police rates from the Public Safety Commission to the Common Council. Council members debated charter implications and the need for further study. The commission voted to move the revision to the General Counsel and Council (GCC) for review while approving the current rate change separately.
- Private Duty Rates: The commission approved a rate increase from $70/hr to $125/hr for private duty jobs, and from $65/hr to $112.5/hr for nonprofits, to align with comparable towns and cover vehicle wear and tear. The new rates are based on the recently signed union contract.
- Budget Overview: Chief Costa presented a $946,000 increase to the police budget (total ~$18.2M), driven by overtime, pay increases, and contractual obligations. He warned of possible service reductions if cuts are enacted.
- Trust Act: The commission discussed compliance with the state Trust Act regarding immigration enforcement. Council members requested that any ICE interactions be reported to the commission to ensure alignment with city policy and community safety.
- Facility and Maintenance Issues: The chief reported significant roof repairs needed at the police station (estimated ~$500k, including moving solar panels), a failing air handler unit, delayed generator parts, and a year-and-a-half delay for traffic signal parts at a major intersection. Councilwoman Sweeney suggested reallocating signal parts from less busy intersections; the chief agreed to explore that option.
Key Outcomes
- The minutes of December 15, 2025 were approved.
- The commission voted to send the revision of Ordinance 311 (rate-setting authority) to GCC for further review, while noting that the current commission can still set rates.
- The new private duty rates ($125/hr for commercial, $112.5/hr for nonprofits) were approved unanimously.
- The drone program discussion was informational; the contract language is being strengthened by General Counsel.
- The budget presentation was received; no vote taken.
- The chief will report back on efforts to expedite traffic signal repairs.
- Meeting adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
All right, welcome everybody. This is the public safety commission uh meeting, uh special meeting for the Middletown Police Department here in the community room and on WebEx. It is March 5th, and I call the meeting to order at 702. All right, first on the agenda is approving the minutes for December 15th, 2025. May I have a motion, please? So moved. Second. Thank you. It's been first and seconded. Any discussion. All in favor. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Hearing and seeing none. The matter passes. Next on the agenda is public hearing for matters on the agenda only. If there's anyone from the public wishing to speak at this time, please use the hand raise function on your device or raise your hand here in the community room. You'll be acknowledged. State your name and your address. Please keep your comments to five minutes if possible. Is there anyone online? No. There's no one here in the community room, so I will close this portion of the agenda and hand it over to Chief Costa. Good evening, everyone. Glad that we're able to get together after we've been out of luck with the last two meetings with snowstorms of significance. That being said, I would like to I'm gonna first do a correspondence. Correspondence. We had the death of um Lieutenant Dan Smith of our department. Um he passed of cancer. Um it was a significant event. Um, one that uh our agency um came together as um men and women and and and honored him as he should have been. Um I got correspondence from across the state. Um, you know, you know, giving us um you know uh cost of sympathy uh and um and our and our officers um again were supported by for everyone in the community uh with food and and um understanding of um our you know partners such as the fire department, um South Fire and uh West Um West Lake Fire Um helping out with um some of those um activities here in the city. Um pipes and drums again honoring him during um his wake and um services, and then I want to thank Tate's uh for the after uh for the after um function um where um family and friends uh got together and remembered Lieutenant Smith and all the uh the greatness that he brought to this agency and his commitment. Um Cole was very appreciative of the ceremonies as well and uh the remembrance of his father. Um again um I got got a um a letter um later last uh let's say early um last month from his dad thanking us um for honoring their son um being there for him uh as he went through the process and um struggled with um with the diagnosis and then um being there all the way to the end and uh it was very kind words and um he's gonna be sorely missed here in the police department. Um it comes to monthly reports. Um I'd like to uh go back to what I was gonna do in February um meeting, and I just emailed those that are not in attendance. Um, my annual report. Um so instead my overtime balance. We are seeing the same issues that the fire department are with um the CT uh 40 sick day. Um that has caused a significant uh increased our um overtime as it acts as a PL. Um there's nothing that we can restrict on those days. Um we've also seen an uptick in just regular time used. Uh obviously we had um a death in a death in the agency as well as um some go out on um FMLA uh for family members as well as um some injuries uh we have gone out on um on workers comp injury. Um so those add up into into our overtime hours. Um we have we did mitigation where we restricted some training um with our marine unit and tactical teams. They're now back on regular uh training methods, but um we reduced that over the winter time um to save some money in um in overtime for patrol, which a lot of those members come from. Um and we did some um some trainings that uh were specialized and not something that was required for us um certifications.
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