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Date: 3/21/2023
CUMMINGTON — Police Chief Michael Perkins, on the force since 2005, tapped into his institutional memory during a public meeting about the future of his department. On March 9, he told residents major difficulties face the town: the Police Reform Act of 2020 shoved the department into a fiscal corner just when call volumes are becoming too heavy to handle with part-time officers.
“I joined the PD [Police Department] in 2005 and we were averaging a couple hundred calls a year,” Perkins said in a later interview. “That started to slowly change and slowly started to increase. [Now], we’re between 500 and 600 calls for service a year.”
One major driver of the increase in calls for service was cellphones. Perkins explained that 10 miles of Route 9 runs through Cummington. As cellphones became commonplace motorists also gained cellphone service in town. That’s when motor vehicles accidents increased and more complaints were called in.
“More motor vehicle crashes. Mostly, motor vehicle complaints,” Perkins said. “That really started to drive up [the call volume] and also what was expected of us, in terms of our department.”
Perkins told residents that local situations that once drew a warning now require a full investigation.
Incidents when an officer used personal judgment to decide if a court appearance was necessary are now decided, as policy, with an arrest. One result? Time spent on paperwork is a much bigger burden.
“There are cases where the law says, you shall arrest someone,” Perkins said. “There’s paperwork involved, and court appearances that are involved, and it’s all part of being a police officer. It’s just hard to do that on a part-time basis.”
Part-time officers make up the Cummington Police Department, including Perkins, two patrol officers and one reserve officer. The paperwork overload made part-time police work difficult, but that’s not the worst difficulty, at least for the town. The Police Reform Act signed by Gov. Baker in Dec. 2020 has made part-time officers, and the flexibility they provided, a thing of the past.
At the March 9 meeting Perkins laid out the high financial hurdle. Under the reform act, all officers are required to attend full police academy training, even part-time officers. Part-timers already in service must attend a so-called Bridge Academy, and in the case of Cummington, must complete that course of study by 2025.
Town Meeting voted to fund Bridge Academy attendance for two part-time officers in 2021. Perkins appreciates the support the community has given the department – but the cost of the training isn’t the problem. The hurdle is that part-time officers are now all but impossible to find.
“How do you ask someone who’s gone through a full-time academy, ‘why don’t you come and work for the town of Cummington,’ when they can go and work in a larger community, make more money, with benefits and whatnot?” Perkins asked. “What’s the benefit for them to come and work in a smaller community?”
At the March 9 meeting, in an effort to stimulate ideas, community members were asked what they wanted in police services. Selectboard member June Lynds said residents were primarily supportive and had some “great ideas.”
“They recognized the need for better police protection,” Lynds said. “We’re going to take that information. The Finance Committee and Selectboard will partner with Perkins and discuss possible scenarios and where the budget would be affected, and go from there.”
The financial details are a difficult knot. Perkins said the Police Department had a budget of $73,000.
Hiring a full time patrol officer will cost about $60,000 per year, with benefits. A full time chief would cost the town between $70,000 and $80,000 yearly, eclipsing last year’s budget for the entire department.
Perkins does not recommend hiring a full-time chief.
“How does that saying go? You have to crawl before you walk?” Perkins said. “Hire a full time police officer, or a permanent part-time officer, see how it works for the town, and see what the pros and cons are. If it works, then take the next step.”
It may be difficult to find a part-time officer candidate, even with permanent status and benefits. The town is also saddled with the cost of benefits for officers, no matter who is hired. Those additional charges will increase the cost of a department threatened with sharp increases in the cost of manpower.
“There’s no easy answer for this,” Perkins said. “There really isn’t. It all is in what the town has an appetite for… but I hope, as things progress, we can come to an agreement, or a remedy that works for the town.”