Pittsfield Hires Gang Prevention Program Coordinator

Adams Hinds will lead Pittsfield's anti-gang program.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Shelburne Falls native Adam Hinds has been chosen to serve as the program coordinator for the Shannon Grant the city was recently awarded.

The Charles E. Shannon Grant is a state-funded program that focuses on comprehensive gang prevention and management. In January the city was awarded $100,000 after submitting a competitive grant request to the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. This was an increase over last year’s initial award of $60,000.

Mayor Dan Bianchi said he is looking forward to Hinds expanding upon the efforts that were begun in 2013 and providing the basis for improving the quality of life and opportunities available for our youth.

"Adam Hinds will bring significant experience and perspective in the area of conflict resolution and youth development initiatives,” he said.

Hinds has a background in diplomacy, conflict resolution and community mobilization.  He worked for the United Nations for the past 10 years, most recently in the Department of Political Affairs at UN headquarters as a political affairs officer working on Syria to eliminate that country’s chemical weapons program.

He also advised former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during the effort to secure a ceasefire in Syria in 2012.
Before working on Syria, Hinds spent two years in Jerusalem, where he was the chief regional adviser to the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. He also spent nearly four years in Iraq as Team Leader of a UN-led negotiation in Iraq between the government and the Kurdistan Region over disputed internal boundaries and in 2005-06 to advise on national dialogue.

Hinds is a 2003 graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, with a masters of art in law and diplomacy. Originally from Shelburne Falls, Hinds is relocating to the Berkshires and looking forward to working with the many social service organizations within the community as well as the criminal justice sector.

“I hope to use the knowledge gained through my work in some pretty challenging locations to help keep our communities safe right here at home," he said. "Partnering with the social service organizations in the area will be central to this effort.”

The Shannon Grant concentrates on five central elements for a gang intervention model: community mobilization, provision of opportunity, suppression, social intervention and organizational change. The target area of concern is at risk youth, ages 14-24 living in neighborhoods where gang violence is prevalent.

Through collaborative efforts of the city, the Police Department and Sheriff’s Department and several community organizations, the 2013 program worked with more than 200 youth using the Community Center at Dower Square as a base.

WWII Veteran Reflects on D-Day at VFW Post Induction

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:25PM / Saturday, June 06, 2026

The members in the picture are Bret Miller, Coast Guard, Desert Storm; Hank Morris, Army, Vietnam; Brad Havill, Navy, Global War on Terror; VFW Post 448 Vice Cmdr. Mark Pompi, Army, Global War on Terrorism, Afghanistan; Post Cmdr. Arnold Perras, Korea; Joe Difillipo, Army, Vietnam; Teri Billington, Navy, Desert Storm; and Carmen Ostrander, Air Force, Afghanistan.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Anthony Salatino Jr. says his memory is getting a little foggy about his time in the Army. 

But he remembers how terrible D-Day was, and feeling lucky he wasn't among those in the initial invasion force 82 years ago. 

 

"One of the most horrible things was in Normandy. We went shortly after D-Day. I got lucky, very lucky on D-Day. We went to a staging area the night before … and at the very end, somebody called, I was in headquarters, they called all the headquarters personnel at the center," the 103-year-old said. "We did not go. There's about 30 of us. The rest of the battalion was gone, and the reason for that was because there was another battalion coming from the States, and they had no headquarters. 

 

"We stayed back, but we did go to Normandy shortly after that, and when we went to Normandy, it was all over."

 

Salatino was attending an induction ceremony on Thursday at the Lt. John N. Truden VFW Post 448. Joseph Texidor, who served in the Army for 17 years with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sworn in as the post's newest member. 

 

Salatino served in the Medical Corps and wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a World War I veteran wounded at Verdun. Salatino was in the Army for about three years.

 

"The whole memory is what I just told you, very, very alive to me," he said. "That is, I can never forget, never forget that."

 

D-Day on June 6, 1944, was the start of Operation Overlord, and the largest invading force to cross the English Channel since 1066. Their goal: to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany.