Mission Statement

The Youth Unit’s mission is the coordination of overall department efforts regarding children and youth, including delinquency, families with service needs, abuse, neglect and missing persons.  The Youth Unit will continue to develop working relationships with the schools and other agencies to better serve the youth and families in our community.  We will work proactively to deter crime and strive to implement various prevention programs and initiatives.

Investigation

The Youth Unit has primary responsibility in investigating cases of physical or sexual abuse of children. We also organize and participate in all criminal investigations involving children who are suspects or victims.  Beyond the role of criminal investigators, the Youth Unit will proactively work with families to try and prevent or modify behavior before a crime is committed. 

Prevention Initiatives

The Youth Unit is actively involved in the educational process.  We teach a variety of subjects throughout the Glastonbury school system. 

The elementary schools receive programs on Bullying and Internet Safety. 

All 6th grade students receive courses from Glastonbury Police Officers through the TEAM program (Teach, Empower, And Mentor). The TEAM program consists of 9 lessons:

• Personal safety and responsibility
• Tobacco/vaping
• Alcohol/advertisements
• Prescription and over the counter drugs
• Decision making How to say NO
• Internet safety (2 lessons)
• Digital citizenship
• Review

In addition to the lessons shown above, the mentoring portion of the program teaches students how to be peer mediators when they go to the middle school.

Classes at the middle school and high school are taught by the full time school resource officers.  This classroom instruction is to promote better understanding of laws, safety issues, family dynamics, substance abuse and other youth concerns.  The Youth Unit is also collaborates with many other town agencies to provide various programs that service the youth of our community.
    
The Youth Unit is a valuable resource for families and the community.  We can provide information or additional resources for families in need or youths who are in crisis.  Many times parents find themselves unsure of how to handle a problem.  Contact the Youth Unit and let us provide you with the information and resources so that you can make an educated decision as to what is best for your family.

Youth Unit Personnel:

Anyone wishing to contact the Youth Unit can call the office number at (860) 652-4280, or contact us via email by clicking on the Police Department member's names below.

Sergeant Brian Barao - Youth Unit Supervisor

Officer Jason Trudeau - School Resource Officer - Glastonbury High School

Officer Lisa Laakso - School Resource Officer - Smith Middle School

Officer Matthew DiLorenzo- School Resource Officer - Elementary Schools

Detective Dave Hoover - Youth Detective / Investigator

Youth Unit Links:

www.ct.gov/teendriving