By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The Police Department is looking to address its staffing and overtime challenges in fiscal year 2026, Chief Nick Secatore said during the Select Board’s Jan. 27 meeting.
Secatore is requesting a $4,112,362 operating budget for fiscal year 2026, which he said represents a 3.1 percent over FY25’s $3,989,227 appropriation. Similar to the last several fiscal years, he is looking to hire an additional police officer with the next spending plan. He noted that Town Meeting has traditionally transferred $220,000 into the Police Department’s operating budget to cover overtime costs that exceed what was originally appropriated.
“I am asking to transfer the amount of money that we transfer on average into the department in a year, $220,000, into the operating portion of the budget,” said Secatore.
Secatore said adding the $220,000 into the Police Department’s operating budget will allow another officer to be hired as well as reduce increasing overtime costs.
“The trouble we get into is when we hit our maximum budgeted positions and we lose somebody,” said Secatore. “We cannot hire even if we know there is going to be a vacancy because we just do not have the money in the budget. I am asking to expand the budget so we do have that flexibility. As you all know, it can take a year to hire a recruit, train them and get them on the street ready to perform the job.”
Secatore said an economic development bill Gov. Maura Healey signed into law last November reformed Civil Service provisions that will allow police departments to opt into an “alternate path to hiring.”
“We are exploring that,” said Secatore. “There are options to get people in here that would not require a year of training. For the past 10 years, we have only had periods of three months or six months where we have hit full staffing. We need a little bit of breathing room.”
While Secatore is looking to hire an additional officer in FY26, he said the Police Department needs a “minimum” of 26.
Secatore noted that Fall Town Meeting voted to transfer $225,000 into the Police Department’s FY25 budget in November.
“I do understand that the funding sources are different, but we are not asking for a giant increase outside of that,” said Secatore. “It brings our staffing model in line with similar size agencies.”
Secatore said increasing the Police Department’s staffing would allow officers to work on initiatives with the schools, traffic enforcement and would allow the current grant-funded Community Outreach Team to be expanded. The Community Outreach Team is providing mental health and substance use prevention services to residents who need assistance.
In response to a question from Select Board Chair Dick Dalton, Town Administrator Rob Dolan said there are “two types” of police departments in Massachusetts.
“Many of these decisions were made after Prop 2 ½,” said Dolan. “One is to maintain high staffing and have less overtime or maintain staffing with more overtime. We are the latter. Last year, Chief Secatore convinced us in a very tight budget to anticipate a retirement that was coming, and we did that. We were able to get a transfer. He also requested an additional officer. We couldn’t fully fund them, so we funded them for half-a-year. During that same period of time that we were making advancements, we had someone transfer very quickly out of the department that was unanticipated. We also have a sergeant who has a very, very serious health situation. Both of them are requiring mandatory overtime of two shifts, which is costing us a tremendous amount of money.”
Dolan said the Police Department being down two officers “has no effect on the safety of the town.”
“On every shift, we have three police officers and a sergeant on the street at all times,” said Dolan. “That is four officers, three sectors and one supervisor. That is a very healthy model. The issue we now have is how much we can advance (Secatore’s) very real goal to give us some padding in case these things happen. I agree that we should advance his ideas, but the question this year is how much can we continue to advance them.”
Secatore said the Police Department was authorized to hire its 23rd officer on Jan. 1.
“We have not been able to get that person hired,” said Secatore. “If it is an academy route, it will be one-year.”
Secatore said he is “open” to implementing a “scalable approach” for his budget request. He asked that the Select Board continue studying the Police Department’s staffing model.
“This is a very large issue,” said Secatore.
Select Board Vice Chair Phil Crawford expressed concerns about Secatore’s FY26 budget proposal.
“What I don’t understand is if we are going to add a police officer or two, then you are going to add new positions or new duties for those police officers,” said Crawford. “How does that not bring us back to a problem with overtime?”
Secatore said adding another police officer would allow shifts to be covered without increasing overtime.
“If we put a fourth person on the street and someone were out for a shift, you wouldn’t be backfilling that shift with overtime,” said Secatore. “We don’t have the ability to do that now. If we had one extra person, we would not be spending the kind of money we are spending this year. I only want to come to Town Meeting floor with transfers when it is unexpected. I don’t want to be in a position where we are asking every year because that is how we are funding the regular budget.”
Crawford also asked how the Civil Service law change would work.
While Secatore needs to receive more information about the law change, he said the law will provide an “alternative path for hiring” by allowing the Police Department to hire people who are on the Civil Service list or hire people who are not. He said officers who work for non-Civil Service police departments can also apply to work for the LPD, which is a Civil Service department.
“It opens up a large pool of people,” said Secatore.
Dolan agreed.
“What is not being discussed is the incredible crisis and the lack of people who want to be police officers right now,” said Dolan. “The list is dry and every community is looking to hire. Lynnfield is a very, very attractive community in terms of conditions, pay and community support, but there is not enough people to fill the slots. If this were 15 years ago, we would have 50 people at the door.”
Select Board member Alexis Leahy asked if having 24 police officers would solve the Police Department’s challenges or if Secatore needs more.
“Is 24 actually going to solve something like this? Is that one additional body or is it really three?” Leahy asked. “What are you seeing in the turnover that exists in your time frame that would kind of give you not just the coverage model, but that bench strength model?”
Secatore said the budget request “would give us the bench strength model.”
“Twenty-four would go a long way,” said Secatore. “It would make our staffing model stronger. If we had 24, we would not be paying the overtime we are this year.”
Dalton requested that Secatore continue discussing his FY26 operating budget proposal with Finance Director/Town Accountant David Castellarin.
Secatore expressed his support for Dalton’s request.
“I am not asking for more,” said Secatore. “I am just asking you to put it in a different place. We don’t have to transfer money into this department every year. We are not trying to reduce the overtime that is within the budget. We are trying to live within the budget itself without transferring extra money. It can be done.”
Capital budget
Secatore is requesting a $249,500 capital budget for FY26, which includes three police cruisers totaling $180,000. He said each cruiser costs $60,000.
“Last year, we received one police cruiser when we usually get two,” said Secatore. “This year, we are asking for three to replace the one that we did not receive last year.”
Leahy asked Secatore if he has a schedule of vehicle replacements. Secatore agreed to the request.
Additionally, Secatore is also requesting $50,000 for computer and network equipment for the renovated Police Station that is currently under construction.
“This is not covered by the project,” said Secatore.
Secatore is also requesting $19,500 for ballistic equipment.