Sheriff’s race heats up

Date: 2/25/2016

GREATER SPRINGFIELD – The race for Hampden County Sheriff is heating up with proposals from two candidates and two candidates taking out their nomination papers.

Nick Cocchi and Jack Griffin both recently took out their nomination papers. Governor’s Councilor Michael Albano did it  earlier this month.

The issue of the placement of the Western Massachusetts Correctional Addiction Center in a former nursing home on Mill Street in Springfield still divides two of the candidates.

Cocchi, deputy superintendent, at the Hampden House of Corrections, released a statement on Feb. 22 saying the Sheriff’s Department should apply for a new federal grant to “expand substance abuse treatment capacity in adult treatment drug courts.”

The grant would increase funding for addicts who have been diverted away from traditional incarceration and into treatment programs. A Drug Court is expected to open later this year in Hampden County.

Cocchi explained to Reminder Publications that while the Sheriff’s Department should apply for the federal dollars, his concern is long-term funding. He said the challenge would be to find permanent funding.

“But I think it’s a great start,” he added.

He said that any program has to be results-driven with statistics guiding policy.

“We have to put the money where it best shows successes,” he said.

Cocchi recently praised Gov. Charlie Baker and the Legislature’s actions to craft a bill to address the growing heroin epidemic in the Commonwealth. He cautioned, however, “real financial resources” must be made available to provide the kind of treatment that has been shown to work.

The need for a regional lock-up facility for arrested addicts is something Cocchi also addressed. “I’m 100 percent for the regional lock-up approach,” he said.

Area police chiefs recently met with state Sen. Eric Lesser to discuss the restraints when an addict is arrested when court is not in session. The departments must transport the prisoner to a hospital and officers are used to guard the person, taking public safety resources off the street.

Such a facility, which Cocchi believes should be at the House of Corrections in Ludlow, would provide an important resource to local police departments seeking the necessary services for an addict in custody.

Cocchi said the Sheriff’s Department providing such a program is one way to help improve public safety, as the regional lockup would not tie up the resources of police departments.

“That’s our part of keeping the public safe,” he said.

Cocchi is supporting the selection of the former nursing home on Mill Street as the new location for the Western Massachusetts Correctional Addiction Center. He said it would become even more important as there will be more diversion of addicts from jails and into treatment facilities.

He added the facility and the Sheriff’s Department would be “a good faith neighbor.”

Cocchi said the presence of the treatment center will improve security in the neighborhood and the work crews will keep the neighborhood’s street clean.

He did say the criticism of the facility he has heard from Albano “is an offense to the men and women who work there.”

Albano released a statement on Feb. 19 that he is seeking a program audit of the House of Corrections from the American Correctional Association.

In his letter to Executive Director James Condles Jr., Albano asked for the following issues to be evaluated: “staffing levels at the Hampden County Correctional Centers, exclusive of the counting of supervisors and others in administrative positions; the unconstitutional policy and practice of male correctional officers videotaping strip searches of women inmates; inmates responding to inmate suicide attempts and drug overdoses, and the related liability to the Commonwealth; notification policy to communities following an escape; health and safety violations at the Hampden County Correctional Centers as filed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health; employee morale as relating to correctional officers; and reports of a hostile work environment; the rehiring of retired staff on consulting contracts and the impact on morale and opportunity for career advancement; and a review of the State Auditor’s Report of not using video conferencing to save on transportation costs.”

Albano asked for a meeting with Condles to “introduce myself and discuss this formal request for an audit.”    

Albano also released a new video on YouTube announcing he would not be using lawn signs unlike Cocchi, as the candidate said they are not good for the environment.