CHARLEMONT — As Police Chief Jason Pelletier steers a staff of seven part-time officers, himself included, and three civilian traffic patrollers into 2023, he advises that residents may need to discuss changes as early as Annual Town Meeting.

“If we are going to stay competitive, we are going to have to look at employment statuses of some of the guys, and definitely pay rates,” Pelletier said. “We will be better off going over these topics sooner rather than later.”

Pelletier, who is now the permanent chief after serving about nine months in an interim role, said “recruitment and retention is the focus as far as the department goes” coming into the new year. The department has lost four employees through resignations or retirements, including former Chief Jared Bellows, following increased training required by police reform laws, and expects to lose one or two more officers come July 1.

According to Pelletier, he is able to fill all shifts this winter, but in the summer the department runs extra river patrol shifts due to the use of the Deerfield River by tourists.

“The summer is going to be a squeeze,” Pelletier said.

Under the police reforms, training for part-time officers has been eliminated, meaning all officers are required to achieve full-time certification. With small-town departments losing many part-time officers due to this change, some departments have had to rethink their composition of workers or consider regionalizing. Furthermore, Pelletier said if the town were to rely on State Police instead, wait times for response would get longer.

With all police needing to take the same training regardless of their employment status, Pelletier noted there’s little draw to working at a small-town department that would pay less than a larger one. To be competitive, he said, wages will have to increase.

Aside from employee retention and recruitment, Pelletier said the budget is another problem for his department. With inflation, costs for equipment and cruiser repairs are rising. He noted budgets for every department, no matter the city or town, are always a challenge, so Charlemont is not alone. The Charlemont Police Department’s fiscal year 2023 budget is $24,200.

“We do our best to do as much as we can with the little that we have,” Pelletier said.

As for solutions to budget problems, Pelletier said, “A simple answer is to increase the budget, which means increasing taxes. The simple answer is not the right answer.”

Bella Levavi can be reached at blevavi@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.

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