Chilmark is open to working with the town of Aquinnah to support its dwindling police force, but town officials say they have their own staffing needs that will take priority.
Aquinnah Select Board members and the town’s chief of police came before the Chilmark Select Board last week asking the neighboring up-Island town for help providing overnight, on-call police shifts in Aquinnah. They plan to formalize the request and delve further into the issue in a subsequent meeting, likely in early December.
It comes as the police department in the smallest Island town is facing a dire staff shortage, so much so that town officials have considered dismantling the department completely in favor of a regional force that would include Chilmark, eventually West Tisbury and, if successful, the remaining Island towns.
Compounded by a lack of new recruits, the Aquinnah Police Department is down to just the chief to cover the town; officers have either aged out, left for another department, or are on medical leave; instead of its own officers, the town has been paying State Police and Dukes County Sheriff’s Officers to patrol the town at a hefty price — as much as $700 a night, as reported earlier this year, leaving the town looking for more help and turning to neighboring Chilmark.
“It’s unsustainable from our little town’s perspective,” Tom Murphy, Aquinnah Select Board chair, told Chilmark officials.
Murphy was accompanied by Aquinnah Police Chief Randhi Belain at the neighboring select board meeting. Aquinnah is currently paying $90 an hour for overnight, on-call coverage, oftentimes just to have someone sleep in Aquinnah and be available if needed. Aquinnah Police are looking for officers from Chilmark to cover on-call shifts from midnight to 8 am.
But while the Chilmark Select Board members were sympathetic to the challenges that Aquinnah Police are facing, the town was hesitant to approve the request immediately, with concerns for the availability of their own officers. They want to consider logistics before giving a green light.
Chilmark Police Chief Sean Slavin said his department is already at capacity, and struggling to fill its own gaps. “My main concern is my officers and my town,” said Slavin in the meeting. He said that they would likely have to speak with the patrolmen’s union in order to see if his officers could take extra shifts in Aquinnah: “That’s not to say we aren’t open to helping out, but anything that would come would have to be through discussion with the union.”
There is already a framework in place that allows Chilmark officers to respond to the neighboring town. A current memorandum of understanding between the two towns allows for on-duty Aquinnah officers to request backup from Chilmark, but town officials said the agreement would need to be amended to more accurately fit Aquinnah’s request.
“This would be a little bit different, because there wouldn’t be a duty officer in Aquinnah; the request would be coming from the com-center, but it would require a little rework,” said Slavin.
While the current issue hitting the Aquinnah Police Department is primarily a lack of emergency and on-call personnel, the broader question raised Tuesday is if towns should consider regionalizing police departments in the future. Murphy pushed for a wider discussion on regionalization.
“There are two issues: one is on-call — the emergency nature. If we can stabilize that, then there needs to be a discussion with people who are concerned for the future of the police force on this Island,” said Murphy. “Regionalization is a difficult word, but it’s the way of the future for sure. We love having six of everything here, but sometimes it turns out to be challenging.”
Chilmark Select Board members asked that Belain and Murphy formalize their request in writing before Chilmark makes any decisions.
Meanwhile, on Monday this week, Aquinnah posted on social media advertising for two, full-time positions within the department.
It isn’t just Aquinnah that is struggling with staffing its departments. Departments across the Island are relying more on overtime for patrols, with fewer and fewer applicants coming forward. Chiefs across the Island say there are a number of issues in play, housing and a national trend at the top of the list. And town officials have noted that many officers have circulated to police departments around the Island looking for a better salary amid the shortage. And the policing profession nationally has struggled to recruit new officers after incidents of police brutality made headlines. The New York Times reported that retirements in departments nationally were up 45 percent and resignations by 18 percent between 2020 and 2021.
