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Police chief warns overtime and paramedic cuts would strain emergency response
Summary
Southampton’s police chief said proposed overtime reductions and potential paramedic cuts could create persistent unfilled shifts, increased reliance on mutual aid and officer-safety concerns, with the town’s ambulance stabilization fund at zero.
At a public budget forum, Chief Ellensworth (identified in the meeting) warned that cuts to overtime and paramedic positions described in the base FY27 budget would materially affect public-safety operations and response times. The chief said roughly $90,000 in overtime is proposed to be cut — about 82% of the current overtime budget — which he estimated equates to roughly 255 shifts and the loss of one full-time-equivalent officer.
Chief Ellensworth described recent incidents that exemplify the risk: multiple emergencies occurring simultaneously, a call at a residential facility for people with severe behavioral needs that required a police officer and ambulance crew, and a major Route 10 crash that relied on the state police and neighboring departments because local units were committed elsewhere. He said the town has about 900 calls for service annually and roughly 140 mutual-aid calls last year.
On ambulance services, officials confirmed the ambulance stabilization fund has no balance. The chief and other officials explained that while the town bills for ambulance responses, staffing and coverage rely heavily on regional part-time personnel and mutual-aid agreements; reduced local staffing could force more frequent reliance on outside services and reduce town-collected ambulance revenue.
Chief Ellensworth said the department attempts to maintain two officers per shift for safety and to manage multiple calls but that losing overtime coverage and a likely departing officer (due to prolonged negotiations) would increase single-officer shifts and response-time risk in the more distant sections of town. He emphasized paramedics "save lives" and cannot be replaced by volunteers.
Officials did not present an alternative staffing plan at the meeting. Residents asked whether downgrades in response capacity could affect homeowners’ insurance ratings; officials said that possibility exists but they had not completed an analysis.
The town is asking voters to consider override options that would preserve municipal staffing levels under the 2.5M scenario and preserve one full-time paramedic under the 1.9M scenario; the base budget would reduce overtime and likely eliminate one paramedic position.
