Rep. Deborah Aylward

DANBURY GRANGE FAIR, A HUGE SUCCESS!


Danbury Grange Fair day was blessed with spectacular weather, and this year’s parade was the largest I’ve seen since I first began participating in 2022, to include a cute young tyke riding his bike! The route was lined with smiling faces, waving flags, and children eagerly collecting as much candy as they could.

I had the pleasure of riding in an bright orange Jeep, graciously driven by campaign volunteer Diane Blasotto, where we served as the parade’s ‘caboose’.

Diane reminded me that being the parade’s “caboose” wasn’t such a bad place to be. After all, as Jesus said, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” — Matthew 20:16!

Along the route, I gave one young girl a signed copy of Vote for Our Future, an age-appropriate book that looks at how voting works and why becoming involved in one’s community is important. Younger children received various lapel pins I’ve collected during my time serving in the legislature — and, of course, plenty of candy!

It was a wonderful day filled with community spirit, and small-town tradition that makes events like the Danbury Grange Fair so special.

The STATE OF CRIME in Danbury, NH

When I first met Chief Kelby several years ago, he had just been hired as chief for the first time. I had but one question for him: Can we expect a calls for service breakdown published in the Annual Report? His response was: I only just got my weapon issued!

So I waited, but no breakdown of stats were reported for the ensuing years. The LAST TIME any breakdown was published was numerous years ago, and upon my insistence. However, I discovered serious discrepancies that the department subsequently corrected, but were never published.

So after years of waiting, requesting a breakdown was in order, and the Department produced the following results.

For January 1 through December 31, 2025, the Danbury Police department reports a grand total of 213 calls for service. However, the town Annual Report does not break down the type of said calls. Therefore, a public record request was made for records that substantiates what types of calls to which the department responded.

The results revealed a striking point — that a substantial portion of the 213 entries are not what most residents would ordinarily think of as crimes. They include administrative activity, checks, assistance, patrol, paperwork, permits, and similar police functions.

Some of the larger categories were:

Business checks/town buildings — 16
Directed patrol — 14
Assist-Medical — 14
Sexual Offender Registration — 14
Road Hazard/Obstruction — 12
Police Information — 10
Concealed Weapons Permits — 9
House Check Requests — 8
Motor Vehicle Complaints — 6
Suspicious Person/Vehicle/Incident — 6
Report Requests other than 91-A — 6
Assist-Other Departments — 5
Citizen Requested Assistance — 4
Civil Issue/Stand-by — 4
Welfare Checks — 4
Motor Vehicle Repossessions — 4
DCYF Intake Reports — 4
Right-to-Know Requests — 4

The report shows comparatively few calls categorized as conventional criminal incidents: 1 assault, 1 stalking, 1 criminal threat, 2 thefts, 1 fraud, 1 domestic dispute, 1 disturbance, 1 harassing communication, and 1 reckless-driving call. There were also 2 neighborhood disputes and 1 road-rage call.

Animal-related activity included 1 animal complaint, 1 livestock complaint, 2 lost-animal calls and 1 animal follow-up. There was also 1 traffic accident listed.

One important caution: these are calls-for-service classifications, not necessarily crimes committed, arrests, criminal charges, or convictions. For example, an assault entry means a call was classified that way; this report doesn't tell us whether police substantiated the allegation or charged anyone.

So the big takeaway from the 91-A Right-to-Know request shows that the annual figure of 213 by itself gives residents very little information about what the police department was actually doing. Once the calls are broken down by type, it becomes apparent that many involved routine assistance, administrative work, checks, patrols, permits, records requests and other non-criminal activity.

For all of 2025, the department reported 213 calls for service—an average of about 18 per month, or roughly 4 per week.

Important context: The 213 calls reported for 2025 represent Danbury Police Department calls for service only. The report does not account for incidents or responses handled independently by the New Hampshire State Police, Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office, or other law-enforcement agencies. Accordingly, the figure should not be interpreted as the total number of law-enforcement calls or responses occurring in Danbury during 2025.

That year also requires important staffing context: Danbury was without a Police Chief from mid-March through December, and patrol shifts were limited during that period. Among the more frequent activities were business and town-building checks, directed patrols, medical assists, sexual-offender registrations, road hazards, police-information requests, permit work and house checks.

Before Danbury taxpayers are asked to fund any significant increase in the Police Department budget, the Selectboard and Budget Committee should require objective evidence demonstrating the need. The department reported 213 calls for service during all of 2025—approximately four per week—and the department’s own breakdown shows that many of those calls involved routine administrative, assistance, patrol, permitting and other non-criminal functions.

A request for additional taxpayer funding should therefore be accompanied by a detailed explanation of what has changed, what additional services are proposed, and what measurable workload requires the additional expenditure.

There are also some very good questions to ask before the 2027 budget gets momentum:

What was the total 2025 police budget and actual expenditure? What is the proposed 2027 budget and percentage increase? How much is salaries/benefits versus equipment, vehicles, training, dispatch, etc.? How many officer-hours were worked? How many arrests, citations and criminal investigations resulted from the 213 calls? How many of the calls required an officer to respond physically? How much police activity isn't represented in this call-for-service report? And, critically, what specific change in workload justifies any requested increase?

A record request for the same stats for 2023, 2024 and Jan.1, 2026 to date has been made in order to build a three-year trend showing whether workload is actually rising, falling, or essentially flat before a larger appropriation is proposed.

In response: In 2023, the Danbury Police Department recorded 167 calls for service. The total should be viewed in context: the town was without a Police Chief from May until late November. The report shows calls ranging from animal complaints, suspicious incidents and neighborhood disputes to medical assistance, permit work, paper service and police-information requests.

For 2023, the report shows:
Theft — 5
Harassment — 1
Animal cruelty — 1
Domestic dispute — 1
Scam call reports — 2
Passing a school bus — 1

There were also 8 suspicious person/vehicle/incident calls and 1 suspicious-person call, but those are not crimes in themselves.
In 2024, the department recorded 552 calls for service, a substantial increase over the prior year.

The largest categories included house checks, case follow-ups, concealed-weapons permits, police-information requests, citizen assistance, animal complaints, civil issues/standbys and assistance to other departments.

For 2024, the report shows considerably more offense-related activity:
Burglary — 6
Theft — 8
Sexual assault — 2
Assault/battery — 1
Stalking — 1
Harassment — 1
Harassing communication — 1
Fraud — 2
Criminal mischief — 3
Weapon violation — 1
Domestic-violence-order violation — 1
Trespassing — 2
Reckless driving — 2
Passing a school bus — 1
Speeding in a school zone — 1

It also lists 2 domestic disputes, 3 shots-fired calls, 1 road-rage call and numerous suspicious-person/vehicle calls; again, those should not automatically be counted as crimes.

Taken together, the reports also illustrate why the term “calls for service” should not be confused with crime statistics. The totals include a wide range of police, public-assistance, administrative and community-service activities.

The call-type reports show relatively few calls classified under specific criminal offenses, although 2024 recorded substantially more burglary, theft and other offense-related calls than either 2023 or 2025.

For me, the takeaway is: A review of the Police Department’s call-type reports shows that a substantial portion of the reported ‘calls for service’ consists of administrative duties, public-assistance functions and proactive police activity—not reports of criminal offenses.

The reports themselves show that Danbury’s system counts many officer-initiated and administrative activities as call types: cruiser maintenance, chief meetings, training, VIN inspections, paper service, background checks, concealed-weapons permits, directed patrols, business checks, house checks, and police-information requests all appear in the same “Calls For Service Totals By Call Type” report.

In Danbury’s reporting system, ‘calls for service’ includes far more than emergency or crime-related calls; it also encompasses administrative duties, officer-initiated activity and routine public-service functions. It appears an “event” may be opened whenever an officer performs a track-able task, whether it was generated by a 911 call, a walk-in request, another agency, or the officer’s own activity.

Danbury reports do not themselves define “call for service” or explain why each administrative category is included. They simply demonstrate that those categories are being counted that way.

The purpose of the request was not simply to obtain another police record, but to give Danbury residents a clearer picture of the services their Police Department actually provides.

In any event, these reports are a welcome step toward greater transparency and will allow residents to understand what the annual call totals actually represent — and are costing taxpayers.

For copies of 2023, 2024, 2025 and partial 2026 reports, contact Deborah Aylward at daelword@gmail.com, Subject Line: PD REPORTS

RSA 91-A PUBLIC RECORD REQUEST

September 17, 2026

To: Danbury (NH) Police Department

Subject: Request to Include Calls-for-Service Statistics in Annual Report

Thank you for providing the “Calls For Service Totals By Call Type” report for calendar year 2025. I found the breakdown considerably more informative than a single annual total because it allows residents to see the types of services and activities handled by the Danbury Police Department during the year.
I am writing to respectfully request that this type of statistical breakdown be included in the Police Department’s submission for the upcoming Town Annual Report, and, if practicable, in future annual reports as well.

The 2025 report identifies 213 calls for service and breaks those calls down by category. Providing that information in the Annual Report would give residents and taxpayers a much clearer understanding of the Department’s workload and the nature of the services it provides. It would also provide useful information when residents consider future municipal budgets and appropriations.

For clarity, I would also suggest that any published statistics note that the figures represent Danbury Police Department calls for service and do not necessarily include incidents handled independently by the New Hampshire State Police, Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office, or other outside law-enforcement agencies.

Please advise me in writing whether the Department will include this call-type statistical breakdown in its upcoming Annual Report submission. If the Department does not intend to include it, I would appreciate a brief written explanation of that decision.
Thank you for your consideration and response.
Sincerely,
Deborah Aylward

The Department replied: It has been discussed and we will make all attempts to include this information in the Annual Report going forward.

In my view, a response of 'Yes, we will publish the information in the upcoming Annual Report, and in future reports" would have been more re-assuring. So I guess citizens will just have to 'wait and see'.

2026 PRIMARY RESULTS

Deborah Aylward was selected by 50.7% of Republican primary voters district-wide and received a majority of Republican ballots cast for state representative in the Town of Hill.

SCHOOL DISTRICT GOVERNANCE ASSOCIATION AWARD

Representative Deborah Aylward received the School District Governance Association “2026 Exemplary Score Award”. Her exemplary voting record supported the core values of responsible governance, fiscal prudence, and academic excellence in our NH public education system.

Deborah Aylward is a Danbury resident, serves as a State Representative and citizen activist. Contact: daelword@gmail.com or 603-217-7842