State police troopers to back-up locals

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on April 11, 2008

Aiming to assist local public safety departments in combating problems caused by college and university students as the weather warms, state police troopers assigned to the Northampton barracks will be stationed in Amherst during Friday and Saturday nights this spring.

The Troop B Community Action Team, which works alongside local departments in a number of area communities to fight crime, is expected to be in Amherst and Hadley and near the University of Massachusetts campus on weekends until graduation.

State police Lt. Cary Maroni said Tuesday that sending in the Troop B CAT, as the team is known, is a way to assist the departments and increase visibility of enforcement. "We will be augmenting Amherst police during their busiest time of the year," Maroni said.

The Community Action Team has previously worked with Holyoke police to fight drug trafficking and in Springfield to deal with gangs.

Maroni said the idea for the enforcement came from Maj. Leonard VonFlatern, who meets regularly with area police chiefs and tries to identify projects that will benefit communities.

Though it may seem unusual for state police to commit so many resources to Amherst, which has full-time, round-the-clock coverage, Amherst police Capt. Michael Kent said his department has built a good working relationship with the state troopers. They have traditionally helped out later in the season when large gatherings, such as the Hobart Hoe-down, occur.

"We usually have a large complement of them during the first two weeks of May," Kent said.

What is different this year will be their extended presence in Amherst, which Town Manager Larry Shaffer told the Select Board Monday he appreciates.

"We have to look at opportunities to bring in resources from outside the community to assist us in those areas and at times we need the resources," Shaffer said.

Gerry Weiss, chairman of the Select Board, said he was happy to hear about the extra patrols.

Kent said Amherst police will continue to handle all calls in its jurisdiction, just as UMass police will respond to all calls on campus. But the state police presence will mean another option for more immediate help. "This gives us a buffer of more officers available," Kent said.

Already, mutual aid agreements allow Amherst, UMass and Hadley police to assist one another when major parties need to be dispersed.

Most of the time, though, Kent said he expects the state troopers, who will work from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., to be operating independently through their own supervisors, likely focusing on motor vehicle enforcement, such as drunken drivers, as well as minors in possession of alcohol.

There is no financial cost to Amherst residents for the beefed-up state police presence.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.