Specialized Units

Southern NH Special Operations Unit
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The Communities of Salem, Londonderry, Windham, Hudson, Hampstead, Pelham, Raymond, Litchfield and Derry have pooled law enforcement resources for the purposes of forming a Regional Special Operations Unit.  The Unit is managed and run by a Board of Directors which encompasses all of the member agencies Chiefs of Police.  The communities involved have signed an InteragencyMutual Aid Agreement and have formulated a comprehensive set of Standard Operating Procedures that regulate and govern the unit.  Comulatively, the unit is responsible for providing specialized police response to the nine member communities.  An example of specialized police response would be to serve a high risk search warrant, or serving a high risk arrest warrant where there is likelihood that the person(s) sought may be armed.  The bulk of our work has been the service of drug search/arrest warrants.  The unit also responds to situations that rapidly exceed the normal capabilities of the member communities' law enforcement resources such as a barricaded gunmen/hostage taking incidents among others.  The unit has been training to respond to criminal terrorists incidents and is working closely with the Southeastern NH Hazardous Materials Mutual Aid District, Hazmat team in furtherance of that goal.  Joint training operations are conducted on a regular basis between the untis to promote tactical interoperability. 

 

K-9
A Police K-9 is trained specifically to assist police personnel in their work.  The Salem Police Department has 2 German Shepards, Officer Benoit and K9 "Til" and Officer Nelson with K9 "Trigger".K9 units work regular uniform patrol in their assigned routes and respond to assist on alarm calls, burglary calls, building searches, article searches, suspect tracking,  area and building searches for suspects, narcotics and officer safety assists.  K9 officers may also assist on other police calls but they try to stay available for calls where their dog might be deployed.  K9 units also participate in many civic functions and educational demonstrations throughout the year.  Both canines go home with their human partners.  Not only are the dogs more socialized being around the officer's family, but they stay healthier not kenneled together where disease and illness can spread more easily.   
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Motorcycle Unit
2011 National Night Out 023            The Salem Police Department has 8 officers assigned to the motorcycle unit or commonly referred to as the motor unit.  The motor unit uses 4 Harley Davidson ElectraGlide special police motorcycles and trains regularly in the proficiency riding the motorcycle in their performance of their duties.  The maneuverability of the motorcycle on crowded streets or off road trails offer advantages not provided by other traditional police vehicles.  The motorcycles relatively small size allows it to get to calls, such as accidents more quickly when traffic issues arise from motor vehicle collisions slowing all other 4-wheeled vehicles.  Police Officers in the motor unit handle their calls for service, enforce motor vehicle laws and on special occasions used as escort vehicles. 

 

Technical Accident Reconstruction (TAR)
All officers are taught to be proficient in motor vehicle investigations but some raise complex issues that require the expertise of of personnel with special training.  The Technical Accident Reconstruction unit examines, analyzes and formulates conclusions related to specific issues in motor vehicle collisions.  The Salem TAR team is comprised of 5 full time officers specially trained in handling the complex issues that are related to motor vehicle collisions.  Some issues, but not all, are pre-impact speed of motor vehicle(s) determined by roadway and vehicle evidence, temporal and spatial relationships of vehicle pror to the collision, vehicle defects related to the cause of the collision and forensic mapping of the collision scene.
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