Letter: Petition to Have Police Body and Dashboard Cams

To the Editor:

I have put together a petition put before the Pittsfield City Council to have the Pittsfield Police equipped with body cameras and car dashboard cameras, which they currently do not. The petition has 105 signatures. The signatures were gathered at a "Justice for Miguel" demonstration in Pittsfield.

The petition reads as follows, "We, the undersigned, in light of the shooting of Miguel Estrella and Daniel Gillis where there was no body camera footage, hereby petition the City of Pittsfield to equip Pittsfield Police Officers with body cameras and police cruisers with dashboard cameras. Video footage greatly assists in the preservation of the truth with respect to police encounters. It neither favors the citizen interacting with the police or the police officers themselves — it neutrally captures what actually occurred."

It is expected that the item will be placed on the Pittsfield City Council Agenda for Tuesday, April 26, at 6 p.m. Those members of the public who wish to speak must arrive before 6 p.m. and sign in at the podium in the front or they might not be able to speak. We will have a gathering at 5:30 p.m. in front of City Hall beforehand before going up to speak. Proponents of body cameras and dashboard cameras for police officers are expected to attend.

Unlike what we constantly see in the media across the nation, the shootings of Pittsfield citizens Miguel Estrella and Daniel Gillis were not caught on body cameras. There is only a distant video footage of the shooting of Mr. Gillis and none of Mr. Estrella. This is not acceptable. Police body cameras can both inculpate and exculpate police officers — its beauty is that it preserves the truth when there are competing accounts of a shooting. If we as a society will be using deadly force upon our citizens with mental health issues, the least we can do is to record the incident so that there is a complete, accurate record of what has occurred."

Rinaldo Del Gallo
Pittsfield, Mass.

Dalton Board Signs Off on Land Sale Over Residents' Objections

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:50AM / Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Residents demanded the right to speak but the agenda did not include public comment. Amy Musante holds a sign saying the town now as '$20,000 less for a police station.'

DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board signed the sale on the last of what had been known as the Bardin property Monday even as a handful of residents demanded the right to speak against the action. 

 

The quitclaim deed transfers the nine acres to Thomas and Esther Balardini, who purchased the two other parcels in Dalton. They were the third-highest bidders at $31,500. Despite this, the board awarded them the land in an effort to keep the property intact.

 

"It's going to be an ongoing battle but one I think that has to be fought [because of] the disregard for the taxpayers," said Dicken Crane, the high bidder at $51,510.

 

"If it was personal I would let it go, but this affects everyone and backing down is not in my nature." 

 

Crane had appealed to the board to accept his bid during two previous meetings. He and others opposed to accepting the lower bid say it cost the town $20,000. After the meeting, Crane said he will be filing a lawsuit and has a citizen's petition for the next town meeting with over 100 signatures. 

 

Three members of the board — Chair Robert Bishop Jr., John Boyle, and Marc Strout — attended the 10-minute meeting. Members Anthony Pagliarulo and Daniel Esko previously expressed their disapproval of the sale to the Balardinis. 

 

Pagliarulo voted against the sale but did sign the purchase-and-sale agreement earlier this month. His reasoning was the explanation by the town attorney during an executive session that, unlike procurement, where the board is required to accept the lowest bid for services, it does have some discretion when it comes to accepting bids in this instance.