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Date: 4/25/2023
SPRINGFIELD — The “crown jewel” of Springfield will remain under the protection of local deputy sheriffs.
As seasonable spring weather has yielded an increase in outdoor activity, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood and Director of Parks, Recreation and Building Management Patrick Sullivan joined Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi and members of his department to celebrate the continuation of the cooperative interdepartmental security agreement at Forest Park.
“This continues a terrific partnership,” Sarno said.
Sheriff’s Department deputies, reporting to Clapprood, have patrolled the park as part of an interdepartmental agreement for the past four years and will now continue to do so until February 2024.
The Sheriff’s Department’s presence in the park will include patrols by deputies in marked cruisers, on bikes and on foot in addition to the Mounted Patrol Unit. Additionally, the Emotional Support Division’s therapy dogs are available for public engagement. Springfield police may also provide supplemental patrols.
Sullivan called the partnership “very important to protect our investment in parks,” noting that the Sarno administration had allocated $93 million to the city’s park system over the past 10 years. “When I started 36 years ago, vandalism was a problem for Forest Park, and now with these patrols, we probably only have $500 to $800 a year [in damages] and I won’t even call that vandalism, it’s probably more maintenance-type repairs we have to do.”
Cocchi and Clapprood said incidents that have required deputy intervention have been infrequent and the majority are minor — primarily first aid, vandalism and intimidating behavior — suggesting the patrols have dissuaded negative behavior. The Springfield Police Department can be summoned in the event of major disturbances or situations that require additional support.
“The best was to make people feel safe is law enforcement presence,” Clapprood said.
Clapprood said the agreement with the Sheriff’s Department has helped the Police Department provide a level of service to the park and surrounding that it would otherwise struggle to offer given the current state of the police roster. Clapprood described the status of the department as “fragile,” during a report to the City Council’s Public Safety Subcommittee on April 4, citing a nationwide decline in recruits and difficulty retaining officers. Currently, the Springfield Police Department is 26 officers short and is expecting to lose about six more over the next few months.
“As low as we can get in manpower, the priorities are still there and one of the priorities is keeping the citizens of Springfield safe and we continue to do that,” she said, later adding, “Staffing is definitely an issue with the Police Department. We try hard to make sure every area of the city is covered well with protection, but it’s a stretch and it’s definitely an issue ... I may not have enough officers to continually be in or around the park, so our partnership with the Sheriff’s Department helps out immensely.”
The memorandum of understanding between the departments and their respective unions does not fall under the purview of the Department of Justice’s consent degree with which the Springfield police are working to comply, however, Clapprood said the DOJ is aware of the arrangement. Cocchi added that like Springfield police officers, his deputies will be deployed with body cameras by May. By policy, body cameras are mandatory for all Springfield police officers.