Salem Police Union: We Don't Support New Safety Complex

By the Salem Police Relief Association

The Salem Police Relief Association/NEPBA local #22 represents the Sergeants, Patrolmen, Detectives and Dispatchers of the Salem NH Police Department.

Recently there has been much talk about the new combined Police and Fire safety complex. Whatever representations have been made to the citizens of Salem, the truth is that we do not support the new safety complex.

We do agree however that our current building has fallen into disrepair. The reason for the current condition of the building is years of non-existent maintenance and repair due to a lack of proper funding.

Over the past several years, most of the maintenance and repairs to the building have been done by our own officers. The expenses for materials and equipment was donated by the Salem Police Relief and Benevolent Association when the town would not help.

There are more important issues that we feel should be addressed before spending $23 million on a building.

According to the safety complex proposal, the amount of criminal incidents has increased 32 percent since 2011. What people are not being told is that during this same time frame, the town has cut personnel, training and services due to lack of funding.

The citizens of Salem have lost the entire Community Services Unit, a Prosecutor, three Records Clerks and the Safety Officer. The Patrol Division has operated at minimum staffing for an extended period of time during 2014 and will again this year. At times there will be only five patrolman on the streets, the same amount of officers as 25 years ago.

Also, a person cannot come to the Police Station and leave with a copy of a police report because the Records Department is no longer open to the public. We lost the Community Services Unit, which would host dozens of events each year for child safety and education. We no longer offer a program where we fingerprint children in the event that they go missing. We no longer have a Safety Officer who would handle all citizen concerns regarding traffic safety and provide guidance in crime prevention and safety measures.

Recently, several important officer training sessions had to be cancelled or postponed for lack of funding. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of properly trained officers on the streets. During the past year, there were dozens of horrific events that took place across the country and in many cases, officers’ training came into question.

We strongly believe that it is short-sighted for the Board of Selectmen to approve a $23 million dollar safety complex while they continue to cut and/or underfund existing personnel, training and services. The citizens of Salem are smart enough to realize that a new building will not preserve the safety and quality of life that the residents deserve, but rather a sufficient number of well-trained Officers will.

In closing, we would like to thank the citizens of Salem for their continued support. They can be assured that even in these adverse conditions we will continue to protect them and their families. However, we cannot support the new safety complex with its $23 million price tag while the town continues to cut personnel, training and services.

Submitted by The Men and Women of the Salem Police Relief Association.