LYNNFIELD — Chief of Police Nick Secatore presented his FY 26 budget to the Lynnfield Select Board last night, where he introduced a 3.1% increase for getting the department’s staffing model into a better position.
Similar to the past few years, the department has seen unexpected vacancies that have required a large expenditure in overtime pay in order to keep a sufficient number of officers on duty at any given time.
Recently, one officer unexpectedly transferred to the Boston Police Department and a sergeant is experiencing an emergency health crisis that has resulted in overtime shifts.
“The trouble that we get into is we get into a cycle now where we hit our maximum budget positions and we lose somebody,” Secatore said. “We cannot hire even if we know there’s going to be a vacancy because we just do not have the money in the budget.”
One of the vacancies will be filled when a recruit finishes training on Feb. 27, but Secatore would like to hire more staff so that they don’t get into these situations when somebody leaves the department.
Currently, the number of officers allowed by the budget to employ is 23. If this increase to staff funding is approved, that number could go up, with Secatore’s ideal number being 26.
“I’m asking to expand the budget so that we do have that flexibility… we’ve only had periods of about three or six months where we hit full staff, and we need a little breathing room,” he said. “It brings our staffing model in line with similar size agencies to the town of Lynnfield.”
It would also create a more stable budget, as the police department wouldn’t have to keep returning to the town for additional transfers in order to cover the overtime expenses.
During those times when staffing is at its maximum and there are redundancies, officers can be put on non-mandatory shifts like for traffic enforcement or for the mental health co-response program.
If someone suddenly leaves or is unable to work, those officers can be moved to fill in for the vacant shifts, eliminating the need for excessive overtime.
“I would trust additional staffing to Nick’s management and the quality and seriousness of our officers to come to work every day,” Town Administrator Rob Dolan said. “I agree that we should advance his ideas. The question this year is how much we can advance them.”
Secatore will continue to hash out the budgetary details with new Town Finance Director/Accountant David Castellarin before his proposal is eventually voted on by the town sometime this spring.
