Can you please explain how undercover police officers and vehicles are used in Lexington?

We have marked and unmarked cruisers. We have one "undercover" vehicle. We use a "mixed fleet" approach with both sedans and SUVs. This gives us greater flexibility in poor weather and the SUVs carry more equipment. All unmarked vehicles are fully equipped with emergency lights (low profile) and sirens. Most unmarked vehicles are for administrative staff and serve as our backup to the marked fleet. For example, we had a mutual aid call to Woburn where an officer was shot, all of our marked vehicles went to Woburn to assist. Other officers were then able to use our unmarked fleet to patrol Lexington.

There are some competing interests when it comes to marked vs. unmarked vehicles. There is a growing expectation that police vehicles should be low profile so we do not "embarrass" or cause alarm at certain types of calls. This is completely opposite to the importance of being highly visible for traffic enforcement and as a deterrent to crime.

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1. Does the Lexington Police Department have a protocol for addressing cases which involve run away teenagers or cases where child abuse may have been involved?
2. How does a police officer make a decision on whether a vehicle should be stopped to question the driver?
3. How are officers trained on making motor vehicle stops?
4. What methods do you have for formally documenting complaints?
5. How are calls for domestic disputes or drug/alcohol use/overdose handled?
6. What can’t we know, due to protecting privacy (as is appropriate)? How is that overseen?
7. How do Town Departments like the Police, Fire, and Human Services departments work together?
8. How often are firearms used by officers?
9. What are the Lexington Police Department's policies on use of lethal force and less than lethal force?
10. Policies are important - but how can you be confident that the policies are being respected?
11. Can you please explain how undercover police officers and vehicles are used in Lexington?
12. What weapons do police officers carry?
13. How are video cameras used in Lexington, such as body cameras or police cruiser dashboard cameras?
14. Is it possible that Lexington Police Officers could have body cameras in the future?
15. How are school resource officers used? Are they an effective tool in our school system?
16. Is there a quota system in place for the number of tickets officers must write?