ROYALSTON — Public safety costs money, and Police Chief Curtis Deveneau is asking for a little bit more this year to extend the amount of time his officers are on the street.
Built into the department’s expected $107,086 budget request for this upcoming cycle is $5,354 to increase daily patrols by one hour.
“If we increase one hour this year, next year we might see a decrease in the emergency fund. We can use that to compensate,” Deveneau said at Tuesday night’s Selectboard meeting.
As it stands now, officers work six-hour shifts. Pay for additional calls that require off-duty officers to be called comes from a separate account. It costs taxpayers more to call in someone who’s off-duty than pay for an hour’s wage.
While constituents will pay more more upfront for an extra hour of patrol time, Deveneau argued that initial costs will be offset by savings realized at the end of the year.
Initially, he pitched for an additional $10,708.88 to cover an extra two hours of patrol time, and walked his request back halfway at the suggestion of Selectwoman Linda Alger.
“When we did this two years ago we did it in two-year increments,” Alger said, referring to when the police department increased the amount of days officers worked each week from five to seven. “It’s easier to sell.”
Mirroring that approach, which successfully garnered public support, Deveneau agreed to ask for an additional one hour this year, and a second hour next year. He also said there aren’t many grants, in general, available for local law enforcement.
Another new cost this year is Narcan, an opioid drug antidote that Deveneau wants local officers to carry with them in case they respond to a drug-related emergency. Deveneau said Narcan has been used for emergencies in town before by first responders.
The expected cost for 20 units of Narcan, enough for every officer to carry two doses — one for someone else, one for the officer — is projected to be $1,461, or $71.80 for two units.
“I cannot not have my staff carry it,” Deveneau said, highlighting the speed at which Narcan works to help someone overdosing from drugs. The antidote has a shelf-life of a few years.
While the fact that Narcan is necessary in the first place is unfortunate, Selectboard agreed it’s needed.
“The opioid crisis is significant in this area. It is absolutely heartbreaking,” Alger said.
Deveneau noted that the budget also doesn’t reflect a capital request for money (how much hasn’t been decided) to purchase a new police cruiser.
Overall, this year’s budget proposal, including Deveneau’s request for more patrol hours, represents a roughly $3,000 increase over last year’s budget of $97,982.40.
Looking ahead, the Selectboard will continue to review individual budget items through the end of March. Then, a final vote will be taken by the three-member Selectboard in time for annual town meeting, during which Royalston constituents will have the final say on all budget items.