Potential impact of municipal override failure on the Dunstable Police Department

If Dunstable's municipal override does not pass in the upcoming election on May 21, $150,000 will be cut from the Police Department budget. Before voting, residents should understand the impact that a budget cut that size would have on the level of police services available to the town.

To cut $150,000 from the budget, the Police Department would be forced to reduce its staff. Many of the other line items in the police budget are non-discretionary. Gas is required to fuel police cruisers. The police station needs lights and heating. We are all sharply aware of how those expenses have increased over the past year or two. The fee we pay to Groton for lockup and 911 services is a fixed cost that we must pay, if we want those services. The town budget also has to absorb increases in other expenses that are hard to control, such as healthcare. The only major expense that offers enough flexibility to support a $150,000 cut is personnel wages and salary.

The Dunstable Police Department currently has seven full-time employees: Chief Downes, Lieutenant Dow, Sargent Gilmore and four officers (Lynn, Sargent, Hoar, and Papageorgiou). Cutting $150,000 from the police budget would reduce this workforce by two positions, or possibly three, depending on how the cuts are made. That means a 28% - 42% reduction in police resources available to serve the town.

Those who have been around for a while know that Dunstable used to get by with only two employees in the Police Department. However, the town's population has grown by 50% since that time, and the number of calls for police services has increased at an even faster rate. As the town is being perceived more as a "wealthy community" versus a farming community, it has become more of a target for criminals. Dunstable is not the same town that was once served by two officers.

The Department of Justice currently recommends a staffing ratio of 2.3 officers per thousand residents for New England towns that have fewer than 10,000 in population, which is exactly the ratio that the town currently has. A reduction in staff would fall well below that range and potentially impact the department's ability to obtain available grant funding, which the department often applies for to lighten the load on taxpayers. (Grants funded the emergency generator for the police station and the traffic speed trailer.)

If the Police Department's workforce is cut by two, let alone three, we must assume that the remaining four or five officers would be seriously hampered in their ability to provide adequate police coverage for the town. The department would be forced to adopt a policing style that places greater emphasis on reacting to trouble when it occurs and allows less time for proactive policing. Research has shown that reactive policing or "stop gap policing" is expensive and less effective. It does not solve problems; it just defers the problem to another time and wastes valuable resources.

With only four or five full-time officers, providing 24 hour coverage 7 days a week would be very difficult, if not impossible, especially when any officers are on vacation. The reduced staffing level would mean:

• Patrols would be reduced by 30% to 60%. This reduced police presence in the community would lower the overall level of public safety for residents.
• Responding to emergency calls would always take priority over other requests for police services. (The Dunstable Police Department currently responds to over 7800 calls a year.)
• While the Chief would make every effort to schedule time for officers to advocate for victim interests during court proceedings or attend pre-trial hearings when needed, there is no guarantee that officers could be made available. Sending an officer to the courthouse would potentially leave the town with no police coverage.
• The time available for investigation would be significantly reduced. Presently, the Department aggressively investigates any crime against the person or property and, on occasion, will assign an officer to search for and apprehend a suspect outside of Dunstable's jurisdiction. This strategy has greatly reduced the incidence of repeat criminal activity in town and has increased the number of cases brought to resolution.

The Dunstable Police Department takes great pride in the level of service they currently provide to this community. No amount of restructuring and re-organizing could compensate for the impact that a $150,000 budget cut will have on the department's workforce. Passing the override is essential to the Police Department's ability to provide the level of police services that a town this size requires in order to ensure the public safety of its residents.