SOUTHWICK – Just days into a new calendar year means that all of the town departments have to go through their budgets and the issues and items within their departments that they want to focus on.
During Tuesday night’s Select Board meeting, the Southwick Fire Department’s budget was discussed. Chief David Ricardi joined the Select Board to go over his upcoming intentions in the budget.
The items that Ricardi mentioned included seven items under operations, two under capital costs, and looking for three new line items. The overall cost of the nine items adds up to $45,860.
One of the key items was to find money in the budget for training RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) officers and school resource officers.
The Chief Development Fund would include the training needed, which is a cost bump of $500 from last year’s budget.
“The cost of training has gone up and I want to see us use some of the money to start getting a portion of the command staff trained with that additional money,” said Ricardi during the Select Board meeting.
Southwick Police Chief Dave Ricardi goes over the department’s needs in the budget with the Select Board. (WNG File Photo)
Tasers were then brought up, as Ricardi is looking for $400. The reason for the cost is due to the fact that some officers on the force still need to go through training with tasers. The training would cost $60 for each officer.
Ricardi is also seeking to hire three new reserve officers and eight potential officers will be interviewed. According to Ricardi, once the three reserve officers are hired, an increase in the costs would go up in result of that.
Medical supplies are another item that Ricardi mentioned. With Narcan (Naloxone) being an important medical tool that the department uses, the medical supply cost will be going up $1,000.
Ricardi spoke about the use of Narcan being effective and very important for the officers to use, as it has been successful numerous times.
“We do use it, and we have to have it in stock,” said Ricardi.
The largest cost coming from one singular item, came from the two brand new police cruisers that Ricardi hopes to have in the near future. As of right now, the cost for the cruisers is at $37,500.
By February or March, Ricardi hopes that he’ll have a more accurate number for the cost of the new cruisers.
