Darien Police Department’s ‘CrimeMap’ Feature Has Some Unreliable Reports

A comparison of Darien Police Department website’s CrimeMapping.com feature and the department’s weekly news release about police reports showed a few inconsistencies this week.

A department spokesman said some inaccuracies or missing information cropped up in both communication channels.

As of 3:20 p.m, Wednesday, the CrimeMapping feature showed four locations of incidents in town, with two incidents reported at each of two different locations. In addition to the ones described below, there was one domestic incident reported on Pear Tree Road.

Some incidents reported on the website just didn’t happen in nearly the way they are shown there. On the other hand, the website did have some information not in the news release.

An incident on the 500 block of Middlesex Road at 12:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 24 was reported as “destructive/damage/vandalism of property” on the CrimeMapping feature.

According to department spokesman Lt. James Palmieri, the incident turned out to be teenagers “pool hopping” (an old teen tradition of having unauthorized fun in a stranger’s pool at night). Palmieri didn’t mention any vandalism taking place. The incident wasn’t included in the news release.

On the 100 block of Brookside Road, the website reported multiple thefts from motor vehicles at 12:45 p.m., Wednesday, July 24.

Palmieri said there was only one incident of  a theft from one motor vehicle at that location. Information about the incident was inadvertently left out of the police reports news release on Monday, he said. It was provided to Darienite.com on Tuesday, in response to a request.

On the 0 block of the Post Road, the website said, there were multiple reports of fraud reported at 5 p.m., Friday, July 26.

In fact, there was a single report of fraud and it happened to a victim at 1 Parklands Dr., about two blocks from the Post Road, Palmieri said. The news release had an incorrect time for when the matter was reported to police.