Middleborough presents FY26 police, fire budgets highlighting civilian dispatch, SAFER hires and new warning systems

Chief Ferreira, the police chief, and Chief Owen Thompson, the fire chief, presented the Town of Middleborough's proposed fiscal year 2026 budgets for the police and fire departments at a joint Select Board and Finance Committee meeting on Feb. 10, 2025.

The police budget is built on maintaining current full staffing levels and continuing programs such as school resource officers, the detective division and a body-camera program, Chief Ferreira said. "Our budget is based on us maintaining full staffing levels as we exist now, which covers three school resource officers," Ferreira said, adding the department would staff parades and town events and continue training required by the Municipal Police Training Council.

Why it matters: The spending proposals affect public-safety staffing, town operating costs and the timing of capital purchases for vehicles and technology. Finance committee members probed pay, step increases and how a shift away from volunteer "special" police affects overtime and other line items.

Key points from the police presentation - Staffing and operations: Ferreira said the department will remain fully staffed and continue its mental-health and substance-abuse follow-up work in cooperation with county outreach partners. The department maintains accreditation through the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission and follows training minimums set by the Municipal Police Training Council. - Dispatching changes: Police dispatch will be staffed by civilian call-takers in a new arrangement that places four civilian dispatchers at the police station and four at the fire station. Ferreira said the split allows stations to be staffed where the personnel are physically housed while the town works on a longer-term consolidation. - Vehicles and forfeitures: Ferreira said recent cruiser purchases have been funded from forfeiture proceeds tied to a DEA-associated officer’s cases; he estimated a fully outfitted cruiser costs about $65,000.

Fire department presentation and SAFER hires Chief Owen Thompson described a larger increase in the fire budget driven primarily by two items: hiring civilian public-safety dispatchers and phasing in six firefighters funded by the federal SAFER grant. "We are hiring civilian dispatchers. . . . we are actually giving out offers of employment this week," Thompson said. The SAFER grant funds six hires; when academy training is complete the department expects to staff more consistently with three firefighters at South Station, three at Central Station and a shift supervisor each day.

Thompson said the town will phase local budget contributions over roughly 3½ years, starting with a $150,000 contribution this year that the chief said the town intends to return as free cash at the end of the fiscal year. "The SAFER grant you don't see as a line item anywhere. That hundred and fifty is part of firefighter regular pay," Thompson said.

Technology and communications upgrades Thompson announced new technology that launched the previous Friday: a station alerting system and a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. "We purchased a station alerting system, which just went operational, Friday," he said, and noted the CAD rollout will soon allow dispatch notes, hydrant locations and other details to appear on responders’ mobile data units. The department also reported the arrival of long‑lead radio equipment (a combiner) needed to address known dead spots; crews were expected to begin tower work by month’s end.

Other budget and operational details - Fire staffing counts: the budget book projects 37 firefighters in 2024 and 43 firefighters in FY26 after SAFER hires. The town expects to move toward continuous 24/7 coverage at South Station once hires and dispatch changes are completed. - Volunteer/special police changes: Officials said state requirements have reduced the number of volunteer special police who previously covered parades and details, pushing more work into paid lines or into civilian traffic units (CTU) the town is creating. - Coastal ambulance: Thompson said the town’s current arrangement with Coastal ambulance costs the town $0 per year and that the Coastal contract expires next June.

Questions from the Finance Committee repeatedly focused on step increases, COLA and how one-time or grant sources offset recurring costs. Finance committee member Matt Phillips and others asked whether moving dispatch to civilian positions or losing special officers contributed to increases in regular pay and overtime; chiefs said some increases reflect step movement and contract-driven COLA, and some costs will be carved out into separate line items (for example, SAFER-funded salaries and dispatch costs will be tracked separately after appropriation).

Votes at a glance (actions taken at the Feb. 10 meeting) - Minutes (Feb. 3, 2025): approved unanimously. - Promotions: promotion of Lieutenant David A. Beals Jr. to deputy chief of police, effective 02/27/2025 — approved unanimously. Promotion of Sergeant Nathan Ferbert to lieutenant, effective 02/27/2025 — approved unanimously. - Wareham Street water main change order #2 (extension to Cherry Street) in the amount of $844,089.17: approved unanimously; financing noted as from the original appropriation for the project. - Several one-day beer & wine liquor licenses and event approvals, including Best Buddies Challenge (05/31/2025): approved unanimously. (See the meeting record for full action list and motions.)

Context and next steps Town staff recommended tracking the new civilian dispatch and SAFER-funded positions in separate line items as the FY26 process continues. The chiefs said the CAD and station alerting technology will be refined over the coming weeks and will change how calls and hydrant/location data are delivered to responding units. The Select Board and Finance Committee will continue to review departmental line-item details as the town compiles the full FY26 budget for Town Meeting.

Ending note: Both chiefs said hiring and technology investments are intended to increase on‑road staffing and firefighter availability while improving dispatch capability; some proposed costs will be offset by grants, forfeiture proceeds and one-time funding choices discussed during the meeting.