Lynnfield police chief looks to bolster force

LYNNFIELD – Lynnfield Police Chief David Breen is looking to give the police department an all-around facelift in light of the town?s upcoming budget deadline.He hopes to find money for more staff and new equipment in the budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which begins July 1.Putting at least one new person in the police academy, Breen said, is his main concern, but he would like to add two patrolmen and one sergeant.Breen said it will cost around $40,000 to hire a new patrolman.There are now 11 patrolmen, four sergeants, a captain and Breen in the department. In addition, two patrolmen are not working because of injuries, Breen said.?With the two people that we?re already short, and the other two people we?re out, it?s affecting the overtime budget dramatically,” he said. “The overtime budget, percentage-wise, is over where it should be at this point, but because we have two vacancies for patrolmen, we have that money to offset the difference.”But with the Market Street development scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2013, Breen wants to be able to assign a patrolman full-time to that area. The development will be a mix of retail, restaurants, housing and office space.?We?re going to be quite busy there. It?s the largest development that Lynnfield has ever had. And we don?t have any large retail space other than the Christmas Tree Shops,” he said.He anticipates getting calls for shoplifting, armed robberies and car break-ins once the development is built.Another budget request, which Breen said was not passed last fiscal year, is for new firearms. Officers right now are carrying 9 mm Glock pistols, but Breen said he wants to replace them with 45 mm Glock pistols.?We want to go to a larger caliber gun because the bad guys have bigger and better guns than we do,” he said. “And also our guns are far beyond their lifespan. They say guns should be replaced every six to 10 years. Some guns are over 20 years old.”If approved, the guns will cost approximately $13,000, Breen said.Although Breen said he estimates the police department?s budget will rise approximately 3 percent from $2.28 million this current fiscal year, the extra money will mostly go toward the 3 percent contractual salary increases for police department staff and step increases for dispatcher salaries.Among the other tentative budget items, Breen said he wants a new cruiser to replace one of their existing cars, which has more than 100,000 miles on it. The cost to replace it is estimated at $30,000.Breen said that he is scheduled to go before the Board of Selectmen on Jan. 23 for a budget hearing.Sarah Mupo may be reached at [email protected].