Preparation Serves Harwich Well Over July 4 Holiday Weekend

 HARWICH – Preparation is an important component when addressing crowd conditions, Police Chief Kevin Considine said during a presentation to the select board on activities over the July Fourth weekend. 

 “As expected, it was an exceptionally busy weekend throughout town, with the primary areas of activity being Harwich Port and West Harwich,” Considine told the select board on Monday night.

Considine said the department put in place an operations plan for the influx based on last year’s experience and lessons learned. He said a plan was developed and implemented placing a heavy complement of officers on duty throughout the holiday period. This included a department-wide blackout period on time off to ensure maximum staffing.

 “As anticipated, we once again experienced a large influx of teenagers arriving in Harwich Port and at our local beaches, particularly within the Campground area, including Ocean Avenue and Central Avenue,” he said. “On July 2, more than 100 juveniles gathered in the area, and on July 4, approximately 50 were present.

 “These gatherings were coordinated through social media platforms,” he said. “Every juvenile we spoke with or arrested was from off Cape. Through proactive deployment and early intervention, our officers quickly gained control of these situations, significantly limiting disruptions and maintaining public safety.”

Chief Considine cited a couple of emails received from residents of the Campground praising the work of his department.

 “As a longtime resident on Atlantic Street, it has been alarming to watch the swarms of young people show up in droves with backpacks on July Fourth over the past couple of years, all coordinated with the ease of Snapchat,” one email read. “Last night it was happening again, and before we could even call the police, they were already here. Your department was completely on top of things, and it made for a much safer family environment in our neighborhood.”

Considine recognized businesses in Harwich Port for their cooperation over the weekend. Prior to the weekend, Considine said his department met with residents and business owners in the neighborhood, which was extremely beneficial. He said business owners and managers were highly receptive to addressing issues that arose and were proactive in managing security, crowd control and customer lines throughout the weekend. 

On the following mornings his department did notice a lot of empty nips where the customer lines gathered in the previous nights, he added, something that he said will have to be addressed in the next operations plan.

 “I would like to thank our command staff, supervisors, officers, dispatchers and support staff for their tireless work, professionalism and unwavering commitment to public safety. Everyone worked together as one team, and most importantly, everyone remained safe throughout this demanding operational period,” Considine said.

He highlighted Lt. Aram Goshgarian who “coordinated and directed the department's operations plan and maintained a continuous presence in Harwich Port throughout the weekend, engaging directly with residents, business owners, supervisors and officers. His leadership and hands-on approach were instrumental in the success of our operation.” 

Considine said his department had 266 calls for service during the weekend, including four fireworks complaints.

As for the fire department, Fire Chief David LeBlanc called it a pretty good weekend for his department, with nothing crazy happening. He said the department responded to 71 incidents, about 10 more than normal.