Police Chief Robert Haigh’s decision to make some sort of reduction in Greenfield police staffing was inevitable. His decision is a direct result from the City Council’s vote last May 2022 to cut the police budget by $425,000. The vote was uniformed, reactive and punishing. As predicted, our public safety is now compromised.

The Public Safety Commission (PSC) meeting minutes for 2022 are public record. The May-August 2022 PSC minutes share the ongoing discussions with the Police Department. The discussions were about financial scenarios focused on how to mitigate harm to public safety within an unexpected and significant budget contraction. A few of the City Council members did attend these PSC meetings virtually, and were aware of the difficult choices the Police Department was facing to meet the new budget limits.

The City Council has the authority and the responsibility to fund the police up to basic staffing levels to protect our public safety in Greenfield — and in our neighboring towns — during the nightshift. After fulfilling our fundamental public safety needs, we can continue our engaged dialogue with our Police Department and our Greenfield community, to address our racial biases.

Susan White, former Public Safety Commission member

Greenfield

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