As I watched through the Plexiglas window from the back seat of the cruiser, Bernardston police Sgt.
Jason Bassett carefully eyed Route 10.
A red dome light on the roof of his 2012 Dodge Charger cast a hazy glow over Bassett and the array of bright lime green and blue buttons at his disposal. The crackly sound of dispatchers, officers and emergency responders communicating over the scanner, and the infrequent woosh as vehicles drove by the cruiser, broke the late-night silence. With the passing of each vehicle, the radar system on the dashboard beeped, instantly flashing its speed in red numbers.
Suddenly, something caught Bassett’s attention in his driver’s side mirror — a blue Hyundai Elantra as it headed west toward the Interstate 91 on ramp.
In an instant, Bassett flicked on the blue lights and turned his cruiser around, accelerating to catch up to the Hyundai. It seemed the flashing lights were coming from every direction, filling the cruiser and road beyond with a blue hue.
Eventually, the Hyundai’s driver, a woman, pulled to the side of the on ramp. Bassett pulled up behind her, strategically positioning his Charger so he could walk safely between the vehicles, and angling the steering wheel out, so the cruiser wouldn’t hit him if it were rear-ended by another vehicle.
Before leaving to get her license and registration, Bassett punched her plate number into a mobile data terminal to his right, the standard routine for Bernardston police officers. At least if something goes horribly wrong during the traffic stop, police will know the last car he pulled over.
With information from her license, a plethora of information popped on the screen that was almost as large as a laptop. For each stop, the Criminal Justice Information Services — a system supplied by the state — allows officers to pull up a driver’s Registry of Motor Vehicles headshot, his or her driving history and any outstanding warrants for his or her arrest.
If needed, Bassett had a spotlight attached to the driver’s side of his cruiser that the officers use to shine light into the back window of the stopped vehicle, looking for contraband.
For now, the traffic stop was as simple as
notifying the driver her plate light was out.
I thought back to the first time I’d been stopped for the exact same problem as a new 16-year-old driver. The experience was much less anxiety-inducing this time around, sitting in the back of the cruiser, despite the black horizontal bars covering the windows.
For the Bernardston Police Department, much like many other police departments in Franklin County, life can go from zero to 60 in a matter of seconds. Officers never know what could happen, so Police Chief James Palmeri said officers do their best to be prepared for any scenario.
“If we fail to plan for the worst, we might as well plan on failing,” Palmeri said.
Plan for the worst, hope for the best
While on an early morning ride-along with Palmeri, he described the laundry list of emergency supplies kept in the trunk and within the
compartments on the driver’s side and passenger’s side doors. The list included Narcan, a full medical bag, extra handcuffs, leg shackles, tourniquets, trauma packs to tend to bullet wounds, spit hoods, hand sanitizer, binoculars, ballistic gear, shields, helmets, bullet proof vests for high stress calls and a rifle propped between the seats “for really dangerous situations.”
Palmeri started his law enforcement career part-time in 1997, and has been Bernardston’s police chief since 2008. In his time as an officer, Palmeri said one of the most potentially dangerous situations he’s been in came last year.
The incident involved a home invasion, where the culprit pushed the owner out of the house and locked himself in.
“We didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into,” Palmeri said. “The unknowns are the biggest thing.”
Though all the officers involved were able to safely diffuse the situation, Palmeri explained there was no telling what weapons the man had or what he would do next.
Another particularly memorable moment for Palmeri came in 2010, when a Winchester man killed his wife, children and mother-in-law, and went on the run.
“Lo and behold, the BOLO vehicle went by me,” he said. The man was caught on Route 10, and the crime was reported by news outlets across the country.
The Bernardston Police Department’s three full-time and eight part-time officers respond to 1,400 calls each year, both emergency and non emergency.
“The police are an agency that everybody calls for everything,” Bassett said. “It always surprises me.”
For example, in sharp contrast to catching criminals, Bassett has even responded to calls from residents asking for help removing bats from their homes.
Given the wide range of possibilities, what then, does an average day look like for a Bernardston police officer?
Both Palmeri and Bassett start their shifts by catching up on what has happened during missed shifts. Palmeri often works on administrative paperwork, looking for equipment grants, responding to public records requests and answering emails, before leaving the office to monitor traffic near Bernardston Elementary School.
“I believe in proactive policing — being seen in the communities,” Palmeri said, explaining he tries to patrol as often as possible.
Daytime and nighttime policing also differs substantially, Palmeri said. During the day, his role is largely to watch over the community while residents are away at work.
As I was riding along with Palmeri during a morning shift, he monitored the neighborhood’s houses.
“You get used to who’s home, what they drive for a vehicle,” he said, adding that if officers see a vehicle they don’t recognize they might run the plate number to check for suspicious activity.
Bernardston, which is spread over 37.81 square miles, has 2,600 residents and is bordered by Greenfield, Gill, Northfield, Leyden, and Vernon and Guilford, Vt. Officers regularly patrol as many roads as possible.
“I like to cover the majority of the roads so people see us out,” Bassett said.
However, in comparison to larger cities, Palmeri described the Bernardston Police Department as “more of a community caretaker.”
In cities with higher call volumes, officers are often forced to be more reactive rather than proactive.
Bernardston officers also work with surrounding towns and Massachusetts State Police.
“To monitor what’s happening in other communities is very important,” Palmeri said. “We’re going to go where we’re needed.”
Driving along Route 5, Palmeri’s radar system emitted a high-pitched doplar sound, changing in frequency depending on the type and speed of a nearby vehicle. The $3,000 radar equipment can pick up the speed of vehicles in front of, behind and alongside the cruiser.
Just in 2015, Bernardston officers made 348 traffic stops and issued 109 written citations. They also responded to 58 car accidents and 105 medical emergencies, and made 59 arrests.
The highest number of traffic stops, Palmeri said, happen in the morning and afternoon, when locals are commuting to and from work.
At night, the nature of policing changes, Palmeri said, as do the nature of the calls they receive.
“Sometimes, for whatever reason, nighttime seems to bring out the mischief in people,” Palmeri said.
As most residents are home, there are often more domestic disturbances or alcohol-related offenses. For example, Bassett recently made an arrest for a driver operating under the influence.
Bassett has plenty of experience on the night shift.
“There is an additional element of officer safety because of the lack of visibility,” he said, adding that “criminal activity is not going to be as detectable.”
As I was riding with Bassett during the late evening hours, he conducted his routine business checks at Kringle Candle, Townline Ice Cream, Bernardston Self Storage and Crumpin-Fox Club, sometimes stopping his vehicle to survey the area on foot with a flashlight, or rolling his windows down to listen keenly.
“You’d be surprised at what you can hear,” he said.
Bassett remembered when he first became an officer, he expected there to be clear-cut guidelines for how to respond to given situations. He found the job required more personal judgement, which was the main message conveyed to me by Bassett and Palmeri alike.
“There’s no predetermined guidelines,” Bassett said. “Every decision we make is the totality of the circumstances.”