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Westborough residents and police urge support for mobile command vehicle amid safety pitch
Summary
Speakers at the Town of Westborough meeting urged support for a warrant article to buy a mobile command/communications vehicle, citing search-and-rescue uses, event coordination and a reduced town cost after grants and a foundation gift. Questions remained about usage metrics and procurement details.
Todd Alexander, a board member of the Westborough Police Foundation, told the select board the foundation supports the warrant article authorizing purchase of a mobile command post vehicle and highlighted the foundation’s recent financial support for department projects. “We respectfully ask for your support for this article,” Alexander said.
Adam Boyce, also a foundation board member speaking as a resident, recounted a family member with dementia who was found three hours after going missing and said the vehicle would improve searches. “Time is everything when somebody's missing, and I think having a vehicle like that would certainly help,” Boyce said.
The Police Chief presented the vehicle as an operational tool that speeds response and improves on-scene coordination. He described the vehicle as a ‘‘force multiplier’’ and said it provides two workstations, real‑time resource tracking, the ability to stream drone video to officers and officers’ access to records-management systems on site. “Minutes matter,” the chief told the board.
On costs, the chief said the vehicle’s original price was $474,000, and after re‑specifying equipment, pursuing grants and receiving a Westborough Police Foundation contribution, the figure under consideration for town funding is around $282,000 (the chief cited interim vendor estimates and a foundation gift of $50,000 and a grant of roughly $35,000). He also said the capital expense planning committee had previously voted to fund the full $474,000.
Board members and residents asked for more quantitative justification. Members asked how often the vehicle would be used; the chief estimated the vehicle would be useful across roughly 15 or more community/town events a year, noted the department logged 33 drone deployments last year, and said the vehicle would also support search warrants, prolonged investigations and large public events. Several board members and one resident urged the department to track usage metrics and percentage-of-incident use so the town can evaluate value over time.
On procurement and operations the chief named Accelerated Media (Auburn) as one vendor that upfits such vehicles under state contract; he said the base vehicle is a Ford Transit van and that the most significant cost reductions came from removing optional, high‑cost equipment. He characterized the vehicle as a communications and coordination platform rather than a militarized asset, responding to a concern raised by one board member about appearance and community perception.
The meeting record includes claims the department’s all‑hazards policy and state/federal agencies (MEMA/FEMA) ‘‘require us to have a command post,’’ an assertion made by the chief during his remarks; that claim was presented as the chief’s interpretation and was not resolved by a legal citation or formal vote during the meeting.
The board did not record a formal vote on the warrant article during the portion of the meeting in the transcript. The discussion closed with requests for more detailed usage statistics, maintenance and vendor information and a suggestion to track early measures of value if the vehicle is approved.
