EAST LONGMEADOW – As the new head of the Police Department, Chief Jeff Dalessio said he plans to examine strategies for reducing overtime costs.

During a recent interview with Reminder Publications, Dalessio, who was sworn in as former Chief Douglas Mellis’ successor on?April 11, identified finding a solution to the overtime issue as a priority for the department.

“The overtime is an issue and it’s not going to go away over night unfortunately,” Dalessio explained. “We’re going to be looking at staffing levels to see if the increase in officers will reduce the overtime … That’s one of the ways. There’s other ways – there’s grants out there that we might look into – paying for some of the stuff that normally comes out of our budget.”

He added two sergeant positions could be filled by July 1. The first sergeant position became available when he became chief and Police Sgt. Denis Sheehan plans to retire before the beginning of July.

“We’ll look at who’s available for promotion,” Dalessio said. “We deal with civil service, so we have to go by their guidelines also.”  

If the town is willing to fund two additional officer positions, those jobs could help reduce the costs of overtime, he noted.

“With the retirements and any additional staffing, we can increase our services in different directions through investigations or for the daily calls,” Dalessio explained.

It could be more than eight months until new officers come onboard the department due to the time it takes for officers to go through training at the Springfield Police Academy, he noted.

He added he hopes to examine the department’s services, such as 911 call responses, and look for potential improvements.

“I’m letting the guys know that the past is the past and we’re moving forward,” he noted. “I’m going to restructure the department if I can a little bit as far as how the detective bureau works and how the court officer works. I want to look at those avenues and see where are usage of the patrol staffing could be most effective.”

Another issue facing the department is a reduced overtime budget. The selectmen reduced the overtime budget from $320,000 down to $200,000 for the fiscal year 2017 (FY17) budget. Citing concerns about the police overtime allocation, the Appropriations Committee recommended to increase the budget to $300,000 and to fund an additional officer position beyond the two that the selectmen proposed.

“To cut it drastically right now without making any internal changes and to still provide the services that the town expects … it’s going to have to work hand in hand,” Dalessio said. “Can we reduce it? Yeah, we’ll do as best as we can, but again we have to look at the staffing and the services that we provide and the safety of the officers is important too.”

He added the FY17 budget was established before he was hired as police chief. He plans to focus on the overtime issue when drafting next fiscal year’s budget.

“We understand the townspeople spoke and the powers that be want that number reduced and we’ll do the best we can to reduce it,” Dalessio noted.

Dalessio said he plans to advocate for a regional lock-up in the area by communicating with police chiefs from neighboring communities.

“Chief Mellis already started that push a little bit,” Dalessio noted. “I’ve been telling him for years that we should be looking at the issues of having people here over the weekend … and the cost factors of locking up the long weekend [prisoners].”

He added some people who are jailed over the weekends have medical conditions and it is the department’s duty to meet those medical needs, which drives some of the department’s cost increases.

Dalessio, who began working as a police officer in 1986 and served as a sergeant prior to becoming chief, said his background provides him with knowledge of the inner workings of the department and the town. He also worked for the Department of Public Works for five years before becoming an officer.

“In 35 years of being in the town, you get to know a lot of people,” he noted.   

Dalessio said he didn’t expect to become police chief of East Longmeadow.

“I threw my hat in the race there and then when things took a little weird twist there, I stepped back and said, ‘If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.’ And it came through and I’m very happy for it. I think the townspeople will be better off [and] I think the department will be better off. Hopefully we can keep this ship going forward in a positive direction.”

Dalessio was one of three finalists for the police chief position. The other two finalists – former West Springfield Police Capt. Daniel O’Brien and Hampden Police Chief Jeffery Farnsworth – dropped out of the running. The Board of Selectmen voted to make Dalessio chief at its March 16 meeting.

He added he plans to keep the lines of communication open with the Board of Selectmen as well as the town manager and Town Council when the new form of government starts up July 1.

The department also plans to continue outreach about opiate addiction and the ongoing opioid crisis throughout the Commonwealth by collaborating with the school district via the Youth Safety Committee, Dalessio said.

One upcoming event the department is hosting is a Drug Take-Back Day in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration on April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the police station located at 160 Somers Rd.

“It’s the philosophy of getting the unused or unwanted medications out of the medicine cabinets that haven’t been used in years and bring them to a place that will properly dispose of it,” Dalessio said. “In the meantime, they won’t fall into the wrong people – who the prescription wasn’t intended for.”

A total of 1,244 pounds of prescription pills have been given to the department to dispose of during the past four years on Take-Back Days, he noted.

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