Fall River police outline hiring, overtime reductions and capital needs during budget hearing

Chief Kelly Furtado, chief of police, told Fall River City Councilors at a June 4 finance hearing that the department currently has 16 patrol vacancies but expects substantial new classes: "we have 14 in the academy right now" and additional groups slated for August and October. She said those hires, plus use of the federal COPS hiring grant, are expected to reduce overtime costs and bring staffing back toward the department's target for patrol strength.

Councilors pressed the chief on numbers and timelines. Furtado told Councilor Dionne that she expects "by the end of the year, at least 20 to 22" of the roughly 24 vacancies to be filled, and explained some of the overtime reductions already achieved: changing in-service training scheduling and using acting supervisors reduced payouts and she said the department saved roughly $232,910 in one period by those steps.

The chief described a multi-pronged approach to lowering overtime: tighter minimum-manning protocols, bringing some outside-detail administration back in-house (which recaptured an administrative fee the department had previously paid to a vendor), and operational changes such as reducing vacation backfill slots. On the COPS hiring grant she said the city has an award…