Police Chief: 'Slow NSTAR Response' Tied Up Officers For Hours

The town's dispatch center was lighting up during the peak hours of Hurricane Sandy Monday, as officers responded to several dozen calls for service, according to Stoneham Police Chief Jim McIntyre.

Prior to Hurricane Sandy hitting Stoneham, McIntyre said, "Storm preparation was getting our vehicles in order and lining up additional staffing. During the height of the storm (Monday) night, we had eight officers responding to calls."

During the peak period (2:30 p.m. to midnight), the dispatch center fielded 61 calls for service involving trees and wires down, building alarms and medical assistance calls, according to McIntyre. On Monday, the center received nearly 200 storm-related calls, McIntyre added.

As for handling the various incidents, McIntyre discussed some of the issues that cropped up along the way.

"The major problem the police department encountered was the need to remain (at) locations where roadways were blocked by trees with live electrical wires entangled," McIntyre said. "DPW crews could not remove the trees until the power was cut to the downed wires. The slow NSTAR response caused officers to remain at some of these locations for hours.  

"As of (11:30 a.m. Tuesday), Washington Street is still detoured between Elm (Street) and Elmhurst (Road) while tree crews and NSTAR work to address a tree leaning onto a primary power line."

According to McIntyre, there were no major incidents on Monday, but did note that a tree fell onto a few cars in a driveway on Pond Street near Franklin Street.

Stoneham Police did not have to provide mutual aid during the storm, and no officers were injured or vehicles damaged responding to calls for service, according to the police chief.