Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 2/16/2022
HAMPDEN – Hampden Police Chief Scott Trombly presented the requested Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) budget for the Police Department at the Feb. 14 Board of Selectmen meeting.
The budget request includes money to cover a school resource officer (SRO). An officer with the department has the training to become an SRO, but the role would take him away from his regular duties with the department. The new position would “backfill” those lost hours, Trombly said.
Trombly told the board that SROs build rapport with students and provide interaction with police under positive circumstances. Board of Selectmen member Craig Rivest added that SROs create a sense of trust, so students don’t fear the police. Trombly agreed and said sometimes the officer can act as a student’s trusted adult.
SROs also work with teachers and occasionally run programs. SROs also train teachers and administration on what to do in “worst case scenarios,” as Town Administrator Bob Markel put it.
Board of Selectmen Chair Donald Davenport asked why the state went from a policy of mandatory SROs to an optional resource. Trombly said the police reform law, passed in December 2020, had made some changes. He said much of the conversation around SROs has been, “Who should be in that school,” and being conscious of which officers are best for the role.
Wilbraham has an SRO who works from Minnechaug Regional High School. Because Hampden students attend the school, 20 percent of the SRO’s salary is paid by Hampden. The newly requested SRO position would work from Green Meadows School, a K-8 school with an all-Hampden student body.
Trombly has asked to hire another full-time officer, as the department works toward using fewer reserve officers. The chief explained that, due to police reform rules, reserve officers must have the same training as full-time officers, but some don’t have the time or desire to put in the extra training. Those that do often require more hours of training to meet the standards than the department can offer.
If the full-time position is denied, Trombly said the department will continue to run on its reserves, knowing that, eventually, there won’t be enough coverage for officers to take time off. “Over the next two years, we need to make some decisions on how many full-time officers,” they will add.
Rivest asked if bringing the reserve ranks up to the same standard as full-time officers is why the training line item has doubled. Trombly told him the department was being asked to take on more training, such as in mental illness and health and wellness.
Davenport suggested using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for the training cost. Markel agreed, saying the funding can be used for “any government services.”
ARPA funding could also be used to fund a new supply of upgraded tasers, requested by Trombly. Board of Selectmen member John Flynn questioned whether they were needed this year and if each officer needed their own taser, or if they could check the equipment in and out each shift. Trombly insisted officers each needed their own.
Markel asked Trombly for a list of items he would like to pay for through ARPA funding.
Trombly explained the police union contracts for FY23 allow for each full-time officer to take up to five, eight-hour shifts of overtime, rather than the four previously allotted. The budget request reflects that with an increase to the overtime line item. Trombly said he used an average of the officers’ salaries when calculating a figure for that increase.
Two police vehicles have been received by the department. The cruisers that are being replaced will be traded in. The department, which had begun using Chevrolet vehicles, was forced to order Fords because of shipping issues. Trombly offered to order a Chevrolet for the next vehicle in the rotation, which will be on the Annual Town Meeting warrant in the spring, but Rivest asked to see a cost-benefit analysis of the two brands to see which would save the town money.
Lawsuit
Attorney Daniel Garvey, who, last year, unsuccessfully petitioned to build a self-storage facility at 2 Somers Rd., is taking the town to Massachusetts Land Court. A request was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for documents from the Board of Selectmen, the Planning Board and certain individuals of the public who vocally opposed the project.
Davenport said they could provide minutes and recordings of meetings to comply. He described the premise of the suit being that there was a conspiracy between townspeople and officials to deny the permit. He disputed the idea that, “the people don’t have a right to address their officials, the board, because it might influence them in some way.”
Markel commented, “There’s no case there.”