GREENFIELD — The Public Safety Commission voted unanimously to recommend the hiring of four full-time police officers to the mayor on Wednesday, a move that would help close the city’s four-hour gap in local police coverage during the early-morning hours.

In addition, Mayor Roxann Wedegartner announced on Thursday a new agreement between the city and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office to provide staffing to restore 24-hour police coverage by the Greenfield Police Department. Details of the arrangement are being worked out between Police Chief Robert Haigh Jr. and Sheriff Chris Donelan, though according to the mayor, sheriff’s deputies will be patrolling the city along with Greenfield police officers so that each shift is covered with an adequate number of officers. State Police have been responding to calls in Greenfield between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. since March 1 due to budget and staffing constraints.

“Chief Haigh’s and my focus in the last few months has always been on having 24/7 police coverage for the city of Greenfield. How to do it with a reduced budget was the question,” Wedegartner said in a statement. “The ability to hire two new certified officers under the federal Community Oriented Policing Services grant along with Sheriff Donelan’s assistance has produced this temporary solution. We’re grateful for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office assistance.”

According to Donelan, the recent hiring of new officers in Greenfield through the COPS grant is what makes this collaboration possible.

“I had no ability to cover an entire shift for the police department because of my own staffing issues,” he said in a joint statement with the mayor. “This grant puts Greenfield officers on all three shifts and simply relies on my deputies to add that last needed officer on each shift and fill gaps in the schedule.”

Donelan stressed that this is a temporary solution.

“We are willing and able to help out the city, but my primary focus is the work we do at the House of Correction and we cannot lose sight of that,” he said.

Haigh said he was grateful for the sheriff’s support and “while I appreciate all that is being done by other agencies, it is the responsibility of Greenfield and the Greenfield Police Department to provide the primary safety for our citizens,” he said.

New officers

The candidates, who were introduced by Deputy Police Chief William Gordon at Wednesday’s Public Safety Commission meeting, include current part-time Greenfield officer Victor Placinta, as well as fully certified officer Cameron Johnson, Greenfield dispatcher Alyssa Ippolito and Amherst College Community Safety Assistant Melvin Moreno. The prospective officers vary in levels of training and will “be on the street” in staggered time frames ranging from April 1 to one year from now, Gordon said.

“You four are the future of Greenfield and I look forward to tracking your progress closely,” commission Chair David Moscaritolo told the candidates.

The push to recruit new officers follows Wedegartner’s announcement earlier this year that, due to cuts to the fiscal year 2023 budget, the department would temporarily be without 24/7 local coverage.

Gordon relayed statistics to the commission relative to coverage during this time frame. Between 3 and 7 a.m. from March 1 through March 21, State Police fielded 38 calls for service. This included 16 calls that came during a four-hour period due to a snowstorm, seven miscellaneous calls that included misdials and hang-ups, two calls about vehicle accidents, two calls for welfare checks, two unwanted persons complaints, two noise complaints, two calls about suspicious activity, one domestic disturbance call, an animal cruelty call, a larceny call, an overdose call and a breaking-and-entering call that resulted in a rape.

“Obviously, it’s not sustainable,” Gordon said of State Police covering the four-hour shift. “We need to be able to answer our calls.”

With the exception of Placinta’s transition from a part-time role to full-time, these positions would be funded by a $375,000 Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant, Gordon said. Placinta, meanwhile, will replace Officer Brendan Smith, who left the Greenfield Police Department in February to attend the State Police Academy.

Gordon introduced each prospective officer after providing the Public Safety Commission with background.

Placinta, who is expected to receive a Full-Time Police Academy training requirement waiver having spent 11 years working in law enforcement, currently serves the Police Department in a reserve capacity. The Moldova native said his ability to speak a variety of languages could be an added perk in his position as a public servant.

Johnson said he is “really excited to be here … at a sweet spot in [his] working life.” He recalled past experience working in both private and fire department-run emergency medical services. Johnson is academy trained, but needs to complete full-time officer training to get acquainted with the city’s department. His service could begin by the end of May, should training go as planned, according to Gordon.

“I’m ready to work, essentially,” Johnson said. “My break-in here is knowing how Greenfield operates. Everywhere is different.”

Ippolito “is being rushed through [the certification process] and she is going to the police academy in a week and a half,” with expectations that her service could begin in about one year, Gordon explained. The dispatcher said she has the advantage of knowing the department well already, noting that she loves every officer she works with, while also being well-acquainted with the community.

“I’m the first person a lot of people talk to when they call the police, so I know a lot about how they handle stress,” Ippolito added.

Like Ippolito, Moreno could attend the police academy in a week and a half and begin his service a year from now, Gordon said. Moreno, like Placinta, cited his linguistic abilities as a plus, being fluent in both English and Spanish.

“I’m excited for this opportunity and to serve the community of Greenfield,” he said.

The commission then invited Wedegartner, who attended the meeting virtually and will be tasked with affirming the hires, to address the candidates. She did so with excitement and confidence that each would be a valuable addition to the department.

“You bring such a wide array of experience,” Wedegartner told the prospects. “I am really looking forward to you growing and becoming excellent police officers for the city of Greenfield and I know you will.”

Taking time to comment themselves, public safety commissioners stressed the importance of having excellent police officers in today’s social climate. Member David Lanoie acknowledged that the candidates are “coming into criminal justice at a time where it’s fair to say there are an awful lot of opinions out there about what we should do [and] what we don’t do well.”

“In a country that is racially diverse and where people have rights, social control is a very delicate and difficult thing,” Lanoie continued. “I don’t think I’m overstepping to suggest that all first responders from all the fields that are here do some of the most difficult jobs that we can imagine that our citizens sometimes take for granted and completely depend on. Policing obviously stands out because of the authority that you have over individual citizens, and that can’t be taken lightly.”

Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.

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