Time to consider regional lockup?Date: 1/28/2016 One aspect of my job that I love is learning new things. Generally a day doesn’t go by without some sort of revelation or factoid making its way to me.
Such a thing happened the other day when I covered a meeting of local police chiefs with state Sen. Eric Lesser as well as District Attorney Anthony Gulluni.
Lesser had convened the meeting in order to get information direct from the “front line in the trenches” about the ongoing heroin crisis.
The chiefs expressed their needs and it was clear to me they were especially united on one topic – a regional lockup for addicts who have been arrested.
I never realized what local police departments must do when they arrest an addict; let’s say on a Friday night. Because of the courts are closed, the local departments are responsible for the addicts. Over the weekend the addicts inevitably start the withdrawal process and the police must then arrange transport to local hospitals with the prisoner accompanied by two officers.
The police chiefs then must compensate, if he or she can, by replacing those two officers, with overtime costs almost ensured.
The chiefs have suggested a regional lockup facility that would have the proper medical care the addicts require.
It certainly makes sense to me. With the end of the heroin crisis nowhere in sight, local municipalities need to band together to help each other use their limited policing budgets in the most effective way possible. This approach would help to decrease overtime and assists departments in maintaining resources.
More marketing dollars please
Lesser was a busy guy this news cycle as he also conducted a hearing for the Joint Legislative Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development in Springfield. He and his colleagues heard testimony about the importance of tourism and the arts in Western Massachusetts.
The Commonwealth has a thriving tourism industry that is certainly important in our corner of the state and yet the marketing budget pales next to some of our neighbors.
Tourism is part of our economy and something that could be strengthened.
I hope the rest of the Legislature and the governor understand it is really an economic development issue that deserves their attention.
A new building is in order
It seems like a perfect storm: the current Longmeadow Department of Public Works (DPW) building is structurally unstable. It has asbestos in it. It was built on a flood plain and a former dump with the potential of methane being underground. The site also has the town’s 50-year-old main sewer line running through it.
Clearly one can understand why town officials are looking to replace it. There is opposition, though, to put a new building on property that could eliminate a portion of fields currently used for athletics.
While I can understand why some residents would be concerned about their children suffering from such an impact, they really don’t have much choice. Longmeadow doesn’t have huge tracts of undeveloped property that are suitable for such a complex.
A modern, efficient DPW building is an essential to any community. While it’s human to want to have it all, this time it’s clear the people of Longmeadow may have to sacrifice something to get a building they truly require.
More good news
It was a great week for Springfield with the announcement the school district made the greatest strides of any urban district in the state in graduation and dropout rates as well as the revelation the city was one of the few communities nationwide selected to received a $17 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The people who have made it their business to try to tear the city down at every opportunity will undoubtedly try to spin these stories negatively. This news may stymie them a bit.
Agree? Disagree? Drop me a line at news@thereminder.com or at 280 N. Main St., East Longmeadow, MA 01028. As always, this column represents the opinion of its author and not the publishers or advertisers of this newspaper.
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