Pittsfield Police: Multi-agency Operations Lead To 32 Arrests

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A series of four police operations have led to some 32 arrests over the last three weeks.

 

The operations consisted of highly visible patrols in areas identified as higher crime areas in the Morningside and Westside neighborhoods. Police say the series of operations were done both in response to recent violent crimes in the city and the anticipation of dangerous driving behavior during the holidays.

 

The first three operations were performed by the city's Police Department with help from the Berkshire County sheriff's office and the state police. The final operation was on Friday and involved the Police Department, the sheriff's office, state police, District Court Probation Office, and the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. 

 

Police conducted strong traffic enforcement while at the same time serving a number of arrest warrants. Probation checks, efforts to seek out 10 individuals in violation of sex-offender registration status, efforts to verify addresses of other sex offenders, and inspections of licensed establishments with a recent record of capacity or over-serving complaints were all conducted at the same time.

 

Authorities say Saturday's "One Team One Mission" led to 14 arrests, including two for operating under the influence of alcohol and one out-of-state sex offender registration violation. Police say 340 grams of cocaine estimated to be worth $34,000 and numerous illegal pills were seized. In total there were 171 citations issued for moving violations.

 

Combined, all four operations led to 32 arrests, six criminal summonses, 428 traffic stops, 14 criminal motor vehicle summonses, 253 motor vehicle citations, and 145 verbal warnings issued. The previous three operations were performed on Friday, Nov. 16; Tuesday, Nov. 20; and Wednesday, Nov. 28.

 

Police say it is the largest operation conducted in the city since 2016.

 

The department said the traffic enforcement operations are based on the principles of "Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety." The local crime analysts looked at calls for services and crime data from throughout 2018 to identify locations and time for deployment of the operations.