Press Releases - General Information 

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March 2010

11th Annual Golden Skate Challenge

The 11th Annual Golden Skate Challenge hockey game to benefit Special Olympics is being held on Saturday, March 13th at 3:00 pm.  It is at the Sullivan Arena on the St. Anselm's campus.  Admission is $3.00 and all proceeds benefit Special Olympics.

2009 Golden Skate Challenge Teams

December 2009

The Merrimack Police Department is issuing a warning to its residents to be on the alert for suspicious activity in their neighborhoods and report any observations immediately.
Like our neighboring communities, we have investigated three theft reports of packages delivered by service such as UPS and FedEx in the last week.
Residents expecting deliveries should pay attention to tracking and delivery dates and make arrangements with delivery services and/or their neighbors to have deliveries left in a safe place or out of sight.
The Merrimack Police Department is taking steps to prevent any further thefts and arrest the parties responsible, but any successful investigation often relies on the partnership an agency shares with its citizenry.
Any observed suspicious activity observed should be called into the main phone number of the Police department through dispatch immediately. Any further information about the crimes or suspects can be reported anonymously through Merrimack Crimeline, 424-2424. Information reported through Crimeline that leads to an arrest and conviction is eligible for a cash reward.

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MERRIMACK, NH, December 1, 2009: The Merrimack Police Department is sponsoring a food drive to support the local food pantries.  The first donation was dropped off by the Department to St. John Neumann and St. James Food Pantries on December 1^st.  On hand to accept the donations were Eileen Buckley of St. John Neumann and Donna Johnson of St. James Community Food Pantry.  We hope this to be the first of many donations.  Due to the recent economy, the need for donations is greater than ever.  Thank you to all who donate!

Please drop off donations to the drop off boxes located in the lobby of the Merrimack Police Department.  Donations will be accepted until January 1^st.

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November 2009

Winter Parking Ban

The Merrimack Police Department and Merrimack Department of Public Works want to remind all residents that the Winter Parking Ban will start November 15th in accordance with the Town Ordinance Section 183, parts 17 and 18.

§ 183-17 All-Night parking in winter
No vehicle or trailer shall be parked on any public street or highway between the hours of 11:00 PM and 6:00 AM from November 15 to April 15.

§ 183-18 Impeding snow removal
No vehicle or trailer shall be parked on any public street or highway between November 15 and April 15 in such a manner as to impede snow removal.

The Police Department will ticket those vehicles parked on public streets and found to be in violation of the ban. Vehicles that are found to be impeding snow removal operations will be towed if after an attempt to contact the owner of the vehicle, it is not removed immediately. All costs associated with the towing are the responsibility of the owner of the vehicle.

The Merrimack Police Department and the Merrimack Department of Public Works would also like to remind parents and motorists to beware of children playing on and around snow banks, or building snow forts inside the snow banks. This is a dangerous practice, as the snow could cave-in on children as plows and cars drive by and pushes snow off to the side of the road.

The Departments ask all residents to assist them in their efforts to maintain safe roads and highways by complying with the ordinances.

Citizen's Police Academy

The Merrimack Police Department is now accepting applications for it’s Citizen’s Police Academy. The academy begins January 13, 2010 and concludes on March 24, 2010 with a graduation ceremony.
Classes are held on Wednesday evenings from 6:00-9:00 pm. with one Saturday morning class at the Police station. The topics discussed are: Criminal law, Motor Vehicle law, Domestic Violence, Narcotics Investigations, Emergency Communications, Firearms demonstrations, Non-Lethal weapons, self-defense and a Mock Trial in District court.

Any person interested in attending the Citizens’s Academy may pickup an application at the Merrimack Police station. Attendees must be at least 18 years of age and the Chief of Police reserves the right to deny applicants for reasons he deems appropriate.

If you have any question feel free to contact Community Services Officer Rob Kelleher at 420-1853 or email at rkelleher@merrimacknh.gov.

Applications for the Citizen’s Police Academy can be downloaded from our website at www.merrimackpd.org or picked up at the Communications Division window. Applications will be accepted until January 1, 2010.

 

July 2009

Press Release-Citizen Warning

The Merrimack Police Department would like to take this opportunity to emphasize warnings to our citizens about ongoing scams. Our agency continues to receive reports from citizens within our community of attempts by perpetrators to take advantage of them, and from residents that are actually victimized. There are a variety of scams out there that are difficult to investigate, and often, when a person is victimized, their funds have been moved out of state and/or the country in some manner causing jurisdictional problems with little or no hope of ever recovering their losses.

The perpetrators of these crimes use a variety of resources to contact their victims, primarily by telephone and the internet, but have also used print advertisement. They establish contact with their victims through online social networks, postings for employment, and even through items for sale posted by the victims themselves. Some of the more common examples are:

Offers to purchase goods that the victim has posted for sale: The perpetrator will send a check/money order for an amount well over the agreed upon purchase price explaining to the victim the amount is to cover the purchase and shipping costs and additional amounts to cover their troubles, but they will also ask for the additional funds over the agreed to amount be wire transferred or money ordered back to them. The victim would deposit the check/money order and wire the excess funds to the buyer, and shortly thereafter be held liable by their bank for the check/money order that would turn out to be fraudulent and/or stolen.

Secret Shopper Scams: Victims apply for jobs on-line and are presented with a check for an amount that is explained as being their salary and expense account for their service. They are then asked to deposit these funds into their own account and use the funds to buy a small item at a retail store evaluating that store’s customer service. In turn they will also instruct the victim to Western Union a large portion of the funds back to the perpetrator to again evaluate the service of the wiring agency, keeping a small portion of the funds for themselves as payment for their service. Ultimately the check will be found to be fraudulent and the victim again held liable for the funds. Some of these scams are quite elaborate with checks that look very real, will have a phone contact number to communicate with a perpetrator that is quite persuasive and convincing in the confidence scheme until such time as the number is disconnected. 

Social Network Schemes: Perpetrators will establish a connection with intended victims and spend time developing a relationship. They spend the time developing these relationships, gaining the trust of the victim often exchanging alleged photographs of themselves with the victim in furtherance of gaining this trust. Eventually, a tale of woe and desperation is revealed seeking financial assistance from the victim. Sometimes this financial request will start small and continue to escalate until the victim realizes that they are being taken advantage of. Some of these confidence schemes will involve request for funds to cover alleged costs of travel to meet the victim, and/or can even come in the form of an investment scheme.

Lottery/Identity theft schemes: The victim will be contacted via phone/e-mail that they are the winner of a substantial lottery and will be asked to provide personal information and/or fees, which can sometimes be a substantial request, to pay these alleged taxes or fees. The victim will pay the fees and never realize their alleged lottery winnings or have their personal information stolen for identity theft schemes.

There are too many schemes out there to seeking to take advantage of people looking for an opportunity to compile a complete list. People need to take care and protect themselves from these predators, and the easiest way is to always question and probe alleged opportunities being presented. Rephrase the questions you ask in another form looking for any inconsistencies in the replies. Don’t be afraid to ask for a call back number and/or if the party is registered with the Attorney General’s Office, Better Business Bureau or any registered Commerce organizations that can be verified. Avoid any requests that seek an immediate reply/response as time sensitive, these predators will often use pressure tactics to take advantage of people desperation for an opportunity. Most of all, USE COMMON SENSE, the tried and true quote still holds “ If it looks and sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

If you have any contact with someone you suspect is involved in one of these scams, you should document and retain as much contact information as you possibly can and contact your local police department with this information. In addition to your local police department, other resources available are your State Attorney General’s Office, United States Secret Service, United States Postal Inspectors and the Internal Revenue Service.