Police chief cites staffing strain but credits student officer pipeline for cutting forced overtime

The Northampton Police Department reported staffing challenges and high call volumes at the FY26 budget continuation hearing, but Chief Cartlidge highlighted a sharp reduction in forced overtime after the city began hiring student officers earlier in the recruitment pipeline.

Cartlidge said the department handled 27,974 calls for service in the last year and recorded 478 “stacked” calls — incidents where dispatch could not immediately send an officer. He outlined four patrol cars as the typical minimum daily deployment plus a walking or bike officer and a station officer, and he described how shift vacancies force overtime and reduce capacity for traffic enforcement and proactive patrol.

Why it matters: Stacked calls and forced overtime affect response times and officer fatigue. The department’s strategy to bring student officers through the academy earlier has reduced forced shift overtime from an average of about 308 forced monthly hours in FY23, to 271 in FY24, to 77 so far in FY25, Cartlidge said. That change reduces forced overtime costs and, he said, improves officer wellbeing and public safety.

Key program and budget items: The department continues to participate in co-responder responses with the Division of Community Care (DCC); Cartlidge reported 929 mental-health-related calls last year, of which 239 had a police co-responder present and 20 were handled only by the co-responder. The department also continues voluntary submission of use-of-force data to the FBI and provides public operational data on its website.

Supply and events questions: Public commenter Ace Taylor asked about a $62,537 police supplies line item and whether uniforms, weapons and other equipment are included. Cartlidge said police supplies cover purchases from vendors such as Century Uniform, Foster Farrar and Northampton Bicycle and that uniforms and related gear are purchased from those accounts; the department said it would follow up on specifics about weapons expenditures. He added that attendance at many community events is a mix of paid duty and voluntary time.

Discussion and next steps: Councilors and the chief discussed wages and regional competition for officers; Cartlidge said retention is affected by pay and by opportunities in other jurisdictions. He also described how some overtime is unpredictable — detectives called in after hours, major events and special security — and therefore budgeted overtime lines can increase even while forced shift overtime falls. The finance committee closed the hearing and planned final deliberations at a subsequent meeting.