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 of $2,375,000 and "once [open vacancies are] filled, then the COPS hiring grant... will open that up to us." She cautioned the grant cannot be used to supplant currently funded positions.

Furtado and staff also detailed several internal revenue and cost-offset streams tied to police operations. The department reported recovering roughly $336,000 in recent years from an added "cruiser fee" on certain paid details; Sergeant Delas said the cruiser fee is $17 per hour on assignments that require a marked cruiser and has generated roughly $200,000–$336,000 over two fiscal years. The department said it used that revolving detail revenue to purchase at least one replacement cruiser and expects the fee to help fund further cruiser replacements.

On equipment and capital needs, Furtado listed priorities that she and staff have included in a capital plan: replacement marked cruisers (upfitted cost about $63,000 apiece), evidence-room shelving and reconfiguration (about $60,000), and an upgrade to departmental firearms and related holsters/sites ("a couple hundred thousand dollars," per the chief). She said the department had six marked cruisers on order using ARPA funds and noted that the department historically aimed to replace five cruisers per year to maintain fleet readiness.

Furtado described routine line-item changes in the operating budget: a new medical-supplies line at $24,098 for supplies such as first-aid/ambulatory gear, and moving hazardous-waste contract costs into a professional-services line previously miscategorized. She said the bulletproof-vest line was reduced because purchases are substantially reimbursable: "when we purchased a bulletproof vest... we have a 100% reimbursement." The department expects occasional exceptions when a replacement falls inside the five‑year reimbursement window.

Councilors pressed Furtado about specialty units and non‑patrol staffing: the department budgets for environmental police, harbor master services, and walking‑beat/CDA-funded positions. Furtado said the environmental unit will be at five budgeted positions (one graduating tomorrow, another class slated for August) and that the CDA-funded "walking beats" are targeted patrols in housing authority areas. She also described challenges retaining dispatchers and competing with nearby towns for those hires.

On community safety programs, the chief said SRO (school resource officer) coverage is intended to include two officers at the high school level and one at each middle school; she said one SRO position had been disrupted by pregnancy/leave but that the department plans to restore the complement.

Council members repeatedly asked for a clear, multi-year capital plan tying cruiser replacements to identified funding sources. Councilor Ponte asked for a concise list of capital priorities that the council can advocate for; the chief said the department already had submitted a capital list and will provide a consolidated "wish list" and near-term priorities to the council.

Why this matters: Patrol staffing, overtime, and capital funding affect daily public safety service levels and the city's long-term maintenance costs. Councilors signaled they want the department's needs to be matched to predictable funding sources rather than ad-hoc or one-time revenue.

Ending: Furtado said the department will continue to push hiring and operational changes, and councilors requested a short, items-based capital plan showing exact costs and recommended funding sources for cruisers, evidence-room upgrades and firearms replacement so they can include those items in the municipal capital process.

Quotes used in this article come from the meeting transcript and are attributed only to speakers who appear in the transcript.