Police chief says loss of officers would be 'devastating'

MIDDLEBORO -- Police Chief Robert Ferreira has urged select board members to reconsider the scheduled layoff of four police officers, saying their loss and other upcoming departures would be “devastating’’ to the town.

Ferreira said at the May 18 meeting that the cuts might have “seemed reasonable’’ in light of the town’s budget crunch. About 20 positions across town departments will be cut in next year’s budget to offset a $3.5 million shortfall.

 But the cuts did not factor in the loss of other department members, Ferreira said, through retirement and departures to other jobs. The department could potentially be down as many as nine to ten members by next year.

He asked whether the officers scheduled to be laid off could remain on the payroll, to be offset by the savings from department members who will be leaving. He said that officers already scheduled to leave have agreed to provide written confirmation of their plans to depart.

 Losing new officers would be expensive, he said, because the town invested about $80,000 to $85,000 in training costs, “only to give that away to other towns’’ who might then hire them with their training paid for by Middleboro.

“To let these good trained officers go, I think it would be devastating to our town,’’ he said.

He also noted that overtime costs would grow significantly with a reduced staff.

Select Board Member Brian Giovanoni said the town needs the officers, especially considering how the town is growing.

He said they could remain in the budget, and the numbers could be updated at the fall Special Town Meeting to reflect the savings from the departing officers.

Interim Town Manager Joseph Perkins, who proposed the initial cuts, said he was hesitant to address the issue. He noted that bargaining was done “in good faith’’ with all unions regarding cuts to their membership.

Perkins, the former town police chief, worried that these changes, “at the eleventh hour’’ could “unravel all the other’’ agreements.

He recommended seeking the input of labor lawyers, which Select Board Chair Teresa Farley suggested could be discussed at the May 26 meeting.