GREENFIELD — The city’s police chief and mayor have received multiple complaints and demands about defunding the Greenfield Police Department, but both say they don’t believe that’s an answer to any problem.
Mayor Roxann Wedegartner and Greenfield Police Chief Robert Haigh Jr. said some of the requests include removing the school resource officer from public schools permanently, which they’ve already done, and reallocating money from the police budget to trained mental health first responders, peer supporters, substance abuse response teams, and professionals dealing with domestic and intimate partner violence.
Haigh said the school resource officer has been assigned to other duties, but that the money the Greenfield School Department budgeted toward the position will stay within the schools. He said the school resource officer had very little power as a police officer, so it didn’t make a lot of sense to have one in the schools anyway.
“I was a school resource officer for seven years, stopped in 2006,” he said. “There have been so many changes in that position and what the person is there to do. It changes all the time. What they want today might not be what they want tomorrow.”
From a municipal perspective, Wedegartner said the schools don’t need a school resource officer because if something happens, police can be there in two minutes.
“Police would absolutely show up, so that’s the good news,” she said. “It’s better to de-escalate things by using the school’s disciplinary system. Schools need more counselors, but that boils down to money and that will be difficult for the next couple of years.”
Haigh said he has heard some people say they want to eventually abolish police.
“If that were to happen locally, people would have to depend on State Police and the National Guard, I guess,” Haigh said. “That’s not a logical answer.”
Wedegartner said she would rather “rethink” policing, as opposed to defund or abolish it.
“There is some latitude in some of the demands,” she said. “The city has nothing to do with abolishing cash bail or releasing prisoners, which they have demanded, so that would have to be taken up with the proper authorities. We can talk about reallocating some funds and building relationships with mental health professionals to help in some instances.”
Haigh said police are typically the first to respond to a domestic incident, for instance, and are trained in crisis intervention.
“We are prepared to handle incidents like that and keep things de-escalated until others, like mental health professionals, can get to the scene,” he said. “And we can’t be telling DCF (the Department of Children and Families) or ServiceNet they have to take these issues off our plates. These are private entities, not employed by the city, so that’s a whole other issue.”
Haigh said police arrive to determine what is happening and secure the situation. Then, others can enter safely and try to talk problems through with those involved.
“Defunding police might actually increase the cost to the city, because it will have to have social workers under its direction, and that’s going to be expensive,” he said.
Wedegartner said the city needs to take emotion out of the issues when it’s crafting budgets. She said Greenfield has to make sure its departments are funded according to what it can afford.
“The chief is correct,” she said. “If we don’t have police answering certain calls, we’ll have to hire people who do.”
Mayoral Chief of Staff Danielle Letourneau said coming from a social services background, most are independent agencies, so based on the list of demands, the entire system would have to be rebuilt and that would be a “huge” undertaking.
“I think a shake-up could happen down the line, but it’s not going to happen overnight,” she said.
While some who have made requests or demands to the mayor and police chief say they aren’t responding fast enough, both say change is going to take time. They say they haven’t heard any “concrete” suggestions about how these changes should happen.
Those looking for police defunding have also suggested that a police review board consisting of private citizens be created for oversight of police. Wedegartner and Haigh say that has already happened. The city’s Public Safety Commission does just that, and the Human Rights Commission offers its input, as well. There is also a statewide review board that deals with issues within local departments across the state.
Wedegartner said seats on the Public Safety Commission are currently filled, but there are still seats on the Human Rights Commission for anyone who wants to get involved in some of these issues.
The Greenfield Police Department also received full accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission in September 2019, which Haigh said holds the department and its officers to a level of best practices and accountability that can come under review by the commission.
Both the mayor and police chief said there are ongoing conversations about the demands and how the city can best serve its residents.