CHESHIRE, Mass. — The town will be seeking volunteers to serve on its police chief search committee. 

 

The process of finding, interviewing, and selecting a qualified candidate is expected to take several months. 

 

Interim Police Chief Timothy Garner, who has not accepted a stipend for the post, advocated that the board have a start date after the fiscal year to ensure voters approve the funds for the salary. 

 

"I'm more than happy to stay until the first of the fiscal year. If you want to wait until a budget is in place where you can actually advertise [a salary already approved at town meeting,]" the retired chief said. 

 

"If you do it now and you put somebody in there, what are you going to offer that might go away at town meeting." 

 

The town has been in discussions with the Lanesborough Police Department to explore the feasibility of a merger. 

 

However, after preliminary talks, that appears unlikely. As a result, the board is refocusing its efforts on strengthening its own department.

 

Cheshire has five police officers and a chief; Lanesborough, a town of similar size, has six full-time officers, part-time officers and a chief. Both departments are seeking to construct new police stations.

 

"I think priority wise, we need to focus on whether we can build the current department back up to where it should be," Chair Shawn McGrath said. 

 

With all the budget constraints the town is facing, the amount that was pitched by Lanesborough is not feasible, Vice Chair Jason Levesque said. 

 

"It was an over 100 percent increase," Selectwoman Michelle Francesconi said. 

 

"Well over," Levesque agreed. 

 

There are too many hurdles the town would have to overcome to get momentum going on a merger, McGrath said. 

 

"That amount of money, if you think about it, would fund the annual payments on a new emergency services building in Cheshire, which we're going to have to address in the years to come," he said. 

 

Continued negotiations with Lanesborough would be drawn out and the town does not have time to wait, Selectman Ronald DeAngelis said. 

 

"We would have to come up with an agreement, and our board was looking to make sure that we would have an equal seat at the table in terms of decision making," Francesconi said.

 

"We wouldn't want a situation to develop similar to the school district, is what we had communicated, where it was an uneven voting process."

 

The town would somewhat lose control over costs if it were to merge, DeAngelis said. "At least now we have control over the cost somewhat."

 

Like several other local communities, Lanesborough is in the process of trying to construct a new police station.

 

"I think we're going to have enough of an uphill battle with just the increase that we want to do in order to get the right-size department, to bring in the right candidates for positions," McGrath said. 

 

If the town is unable to find a qualified candidate for chief then it can revisit the possibility of merging with Lanesborough.

 

If the town were to merge, it would have a larger department, with 24/7 coverage versus a window at nighttime when the town doesn't have coverage, McGrath said. 

 

"It would be a bigger department. You'd have more experienced officers that are already in place. They just happen to have officers that are more experienced than we have," he said. 

 

"So there's maybe some operating efficiency and maybe some right sizing of the two towns together, you get economies of scale type of thing. 

 

"It would just be a much bigger department … both towns are equally sized, area-wise and population-wise. So, you'd have to split that bigger number in two, versus right now, our budget is smaller." 

 

It had been explained during a previous meeting that State Police from the Cheshire Barracks and the Lanesborough Police Department have been helping out when they are able to provide coverage for the town. However, the response time is longer. 

 

In February, Garner proposed budget increases aimed at expanding the police force and enhancing the department's appeal to prospective recruits.

 

"I think when the number that they threw out there is just way too much to go after the town. I know that the budget I submitted two weeks ago is high too, but a heck of a savings over what they're looking for in the merger," Garner said on Thursday at the Selectmen's meeting. 

 

The proposed budget would bring general expenses, and officers and the chief's salaries to align with area police departments. 

 

It would also boost the salary line from two to three full-time officers. The general expense account would go up to account for body-worn cameras that could also include a translation and a remote access "watch me" feature. 

 

Garner said he wants the town to attract more officers and have someone who can "hit the ground running and have something to support" once he leaves.