CHPD News

During their August 2020 meeting, the Charlestown City Council approved a plan to use existing funds to purchase four portable and solar powered radar speed limit signs, equipped with multi-colored LED messaging.  The new radar message signs will be assigned and periodically moved about each of the four council districts within Charlestown; and mounted on designated city street locations, based on citizen speeding complaints and areas where a local vehicular traffic study is needed.  These new signs will be easy for the city street department to relocate, so that they are able to be deployed for weeks at a time;   then relocated where most needed.  “The City Council is excited to work on this project with our Police Department.  The signs will   help in neighborhoods where our residents have concerns of speeding. We look forward to working with them on many more projects”, commented City Councilwoman Ruthie Jackson.  These new…

We’re pleased to announce information for this year’s Sgt. Bertram 5K-9. We’ve had to make some unfortunate changes to the race protocol this year, due to the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic. The 2020 Sgt. Bertram 5K-9 will be a virtual race. Race Registration is currently open and will remain open until October 10th at 4:00 PM. Registering for the race is simple, you can do so by following the link below for electronic registration or you can stop by the Police Department and pick up a paper registration form. Race registration is $30.00. Pre-Registration is open until Sunday September 20th at 5:00 PM. All Pre-Registrations for the 2020 Sgt. Bertram 5K-9 will include a free Sgt. Bertram 5K-9 T-shirt. Additional shirts can be ordered at $30.00 each. The shirts are similar to last year’s shirts but are navy blue this year. Race Registration Link:  https://runsignup.com/Race/IN/Charlestown/SgtBertramMemorial5K9 So, how does our virtual race…

As is usual in the the State of Indiana-like many other states, newly legislated laws; as well as, modifications and revisions to existing laws become effective and enforced on July 1st.  Full access to all of Indiana’s laws/statutes can be found online at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/laws/2020/ic/; however a spreadsheet summary of all new Indiana 2020 laws can be downloaded by CLICKING HERE. The Charlestown Police Department would like to point out a couple of these new laws that became effective this July 1st, 2020.   One is regarding the sales and possession of Tobacco and Vaping products; whereas the minimum age of sale or possession of a tobacco or vaping product, including e-cigarettes, is now twenty-one (21) years. The minimum age was moved from eighteen to twenty-one by Indiana legislators; and is now in affect. The second Indiana law modification of major interest is to the Distracted Driving statute; now further restricting the…

Purchasing items online has become a normal part of everyday life, just as child custody exchanges have become more and more prevalent. Meeting in a neutral and safe location to perform custody exchanges or purchase transactions, especially with someone unknown, can sometimes become heated, tricky and perilous. For these reasons, law enforcement all across the country are setting up Safe Exchange Zones, where online transactions and child custody exchanges can occur under video surveillance to provide greater safety and documentation for all parties involved. The City of Charlestown and Charlestown Police Department recognizes the value of the above outlined reasons, and have created a Safe Exchange Zone in the east parking lot of police headquarters, located at 703 Main Street, in Charlestown. Two parking spaces have been marked and posted reserved for the purpose of safe exchange; available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week without reservation. The Charlestown…