WALTHAM - Its Thursday, 7 p.m. and Sgt. James Vaglica is starting his shift.
He locks up his gun before booking a criminal arrested on warrant charges. Weapons are not allowed in the booking room, Vaglica said.
"Step right up to the counter. You're being recorded. You have the right to a phone call with in an hour," he said.
A distressed 66-year-old man stood indignant at the booking counter, while another officer checked his bag for weapons.
Vaglica informed the man that he's wanted on a warrant charge out of Waltham District Court for his third OUI offense. To which the man replied "Third offense? I'm on my fourth."
"We're going to transport him to court in the morning," Vaglica said, after the man was placed in a holding cell. "From there it's up to the judge. He'll most likely be released."
Vaglica, a 22-year veteran of the Waltham Police Department, left the station to start his night shift patrol of Waltham's streets with a reporter by his side for a civilian ride-along.
Vaglica is one of 145 members of the Waltham Police Department who patrol approximately 700 streets in the city.
With only a few 911 call hangups and a student brought into protective custody for public intoxication, Thursday was a slow night for Waltham Police.
According to Vaglica, the night shifts often follow a similar pattern in terms of crimes occurring chronologically, but not always.
"We usually start out with your traffic-related calls and then as people start getting home, you might get some domestic calls. Later on in the night you have your alcohol calls. Usually drunk-driving accidents or arrests occur pretty late in the shift," he said. "You can't call it though. It's strange because sometimes we could have a Monday or Tuesday night that's nonstop then a Friday that's dead."
In more than two decades with the force, Vaglica said he's seen a lot of changes, from the use of police weaponry to the reliance on new technologies to fight crime.
"Technology has definitely come a long way. Now, with onboard computers, I can see where every (squad) car is and what they are doing," he said. "I can run license plates, warrant checks and I can bring up past reports and booking photos. If we're told to look out for somebody, I can bring up a photo of that person right now."
In terms of crimes, one of the toughest challenges the department faces is the number of assaults that occur throughout the year, according to Vaglica.
So far this year there have been more than 185 assaults reported in Waltham, according to police statistics. "We have serious assaults that occur and if we don't catch suspects right then, we might never catch a positive I.D. on them," he said.
A former Waltham resident, he moved out of the city due to his police work.
"I used to live in Waltham but I felt like I couldn't get away from the job. Now I try to leave the job behind me after work," he said. "Anywhere I go in Waltham I see people I've dealt with on the job. Mostly, when I was home, some of the people I had dealt with on the job knew where I lived and that started to become a problem."
For Vaglica, one of the toughest part of being a police sergeant is internal and external politics influencing his work.
"It's not the criminals, it's not the police work and I think your going to get the same answer from every cop. It's the politics involved," he said. "It's basically trying to stay out of trouble with in the Police Department. You can get in trouble for doing your job even if you do everything right. Even if you did everything right somebody can bring a lawsuit against you and it can cause you a lot of stress. You never know how a judge or jury is going to see it."
Most of all, Vaglica said he enjoys being on the streets of the Watch City.
"I've been a sergeant for 12 years. I've never taken he lieutenants exam. If I do that, I'm off the streets. I'm a senior sergeant now," he said. "I love police work. Even after 22 years, I still love police work."
Posted by: Crvtte65
I like it. Kudos Daily Newstribune and Sgt Vaglica
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