10-03-2019 Police and Fire Reports

Police and Fire Reports

By Annette Christie

Hartford mom accused of leaving toddlers alone overnight

Van Buren County Sheriff officials recently released information regarding a Hartford mom who left her two toddler children home alone overnight. Sheriff Daniel E. Abbott reports that his office was dispatched to 55923 County Road 687 in Hartford for a complaint of two toddlers standing in the middle of County Road 687 wearing only soiled diapers. The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Pokagon Tribal Police Department who arrived on scene at the same time as a local postal worker and witnessed the toddlers in the roadway. The postal worker along with the Tribal Police was able to remove the children from the traffic of the roadway.

Deputies on scene investigated the whereabouts of the parents/guardians after discovering the apartment they were staying in was empty. After approximately 90 minutes of searching, the biological mother was located and admitted to leaving the children home alone nearly 18 hours earlier. The mother stated that she left the children unattended to meet friends and stayed in Battle Creek area over night. Sydnie Green of Hartford was placed under arrest on two counts of 2nd degree child abuse. She remains lodged in the Van Buren County jail on $25,000 bond pending her next court hearing. The children, who were only slightly dehydrated at the time, have been turned over to family members with the assistance of Child Protective Services. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Van Buren County Sheriff office at 269- 657-3101.

Watervliet Joint Fire Department improves insurance rating, could mean lower rates for residents

The Watervliet Fire Department is pleased to announce that subsequent to their latest ISO Public Protection Classification (PPC) evaluation, the department was graded at a level that places them among the top 75 departments in the State of Michigan. ISO is an independent company that serves insurance companies, communities, fire departments, insurance regulators, and others by providing information about risk. ISO’s expert staff collects information about municipal fire suppression efforts in communities throughout the United States. In each of those communities, ISO analyzes the relevant data and assigns a PPC grade, a number from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents an exemplary fire suppression program, and a Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire suppression program does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria. The department’s final community classification for their protection service area was graded 03/3Y, down substantially from their previous rating of 05/05X. ISO’s PPC program evaluates communities according to a uniform set of criteria, incorporating nationally recognized standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association. The benefits of the lowered class designation that goes into effect January 1, 2020 are: For the fire service, the revised designation identifies enhanced fire suppression capabilities; for the community the revised designation provides the opportunity to market the community as a safer place to live, work and develop businesses; for the individual property owner, the revision offers the potential for decreased property insurance premiums.