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Date: 8/25/2020
SOUTHWICK – During the Aug. 18 Select Board meeting, the board had a lengthy discussion about expanding the town’s current auxiliary police force to take part in emergency response duties.
To start the conversation, Charles Dunlap, the director of the Southwick Emergency Management Agency, jumped into the call to explain what the expansion for the force would look like.
“I would like to see a dedicated liaison to the police department that would oversee with me, the training for the reserves and the regulars so that they are kept up. The auxiliaries would be able to work details once the regulars in the reserves were selected,” he said.
Dunlap added that any additional training would be optional for the force.
“The additional training is optional and some of the training would be things like Dig Safe, emergency pipeline response, Skywarn training for severe weather, electrical public safety, and there’s quite a few others, so that is all available,” he said.
At the time of the meeting, Dunlap said there were no applicants for the auxiliary police force.
He added that the auxiliary police force has the potential to be a good starting point for people looking to jump into law enforcement as a career.
“It’s been a great apprenticeship for those interested in law enforcement as a career. Over the years, many officers locally here started through the auxiliary program and moved on to become great officers, I think it would be a good benefit to all,” Dunlap said.
One of the biggest hurdles in approving the auxiliary force currently is the pending legislation regarding police reforms.
“That could be the big wrinkle in all of our plans here, we don’t know how all of that is going to shake out. We just gotta keep moving ahead until someone tells us we shouldn’t or we can’t,” Select Board Chair Doug Moglin said.
Along with the legislation, Dunlap said that it is a difficult time to find applicants interested in law enforcement.
“The law enforcement career has been stagnant and non-rewarding what they have to do and what they get back from the general public. It’s a profession that is not highly sought,” he said.
Ultimately, the board did not reach a final decision on expanding the force but Moglin agreed to meet with Chief Kevin Bishop, Lt. Robert Landis, and Dunlap at a later time to hammer out the final details.
The board also approved an update to the Building Department’s fees, authorized the $25,000 estimate for the Department of Public Works annual winter salt expenses, approved a request to allow the town’s Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart to pursue the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources’ Technical Assistance grant.