WPD Cracks Down on Underage Drinking, Etc.

Bustlin' Bill Baker's boys were especially busy last weekend:

Police charged 13 people for a variety of
alcohol-related charges during an underage drinking enforcement operation over
the weekend. The operation was conducted from 7 p.m. Saturday to 1 a.m.
Sunday.

Is it me, or has the Westbrook Police Department become one of the more active police departments in southern Maine since Bill Baker was named chief in August 2007? To be sure, Bustlin' Bill has not exactly shied from the klieg lights (here, here, and here) or avoided the ink-stained wretches (here and here), so the current department might only appear more vigilant than its forebearers or neighbors. But, when you consider the department's prominent role in a nationwide drug bust blitz last March, the department's adoption of a new protocol regarding the theft of pharmaceutical drugs last April, the infamous crosswalk stings, and the seemingly increasing number of drug arrests and traffic stops over the last year, it seems the moniker I've assigned the chief is an accurate one.

Perhaps those with more time and resources than this hackish site can afford will delve into these possible phenomena--the relative activity of today's department compared to other area departements and past regimes--more deeply with actual, you know, statistics and such.

- John C.L. Morgan