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Great Barrington Police Gains Accreditation

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Great Barrington Police Department has met all necessary requirements for full state accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission and will be the first department in Berkshire County to receive the award.

The department will receive its award at a ceremony, the date of which has not yet been determined.

"We are honored to be the first department in Berkshire County that will be recognized by the accreditation commission," Chief Police Chief William Walsh said. "I commend all of the officers and staff, as it is their day-to-day professionalism and hard work that made this achievement possible. This was a departmentwide commitment that has been several years in the making. The Town can be very proud of our police officers and our staff. In particular, Executive Administrative Assistant Cara Becker and Sgt. Paul Storti served on our Assessment Team and were paramount in this success. I want to thank both of them for their work on the 246 mandatory and 83 optional standards that we had to meet."
 
Accreditation is a long and self-initiated evaluation process by which police departments strive to meet and maintain the highest standards of law enforcement practice. It is considered the best measure of a police department against the established best practices around the country and region, and involves both an internal self-review and an external assessment by the commission's team of experts.

Under the leadership of Walsh, the department was assessed earlier this year by a team of commission-appointed assessors. The assessment team found the department to be in compliance with all applicable standards for accreditation.



The MPAC program requires that departments meet all the mandatory standards and percentage of the optional requirements. These selected measures include: jurisdiction and mutual aid; collection and preservation of evidence; communications; working conditions; crime analysis; community involvement; financial management; internal affairs; juvenile operations; patrol administration; public information; records; traffic; training; drug enforcement, and victim/witness assistance.

The commission offers two program awards: certification and accreditation, with accreditation the higher of the two. Accreditation is granted for a period of three years. Participation in the program is strictly voluntary.

SelectmenChairman Sean Stanton and Vice Chairman Stephen Bannon offered congratulations to the department on this "milestone achievement" at the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, Nov. 28.

"Accreditation demonstrates that our police department meets best practices and professional law enforcement standards," Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin said. "This honor is a result of years of hard work and dedication to both the department and town."


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Pittsfield Seeks Proposals for Human Services Funding

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City of Pittsfield announced that applications are now available for funding to public service agencies to provide human service programs to benefit Pittsfield residents. 
 
Funding is for the program year beginning July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.
 
Annually, the City undertakes a process through its Human Services Advisory Council (HSAC), an 11 member volunteer committee, which reviews the proposals and submits its recommendations
to the Mayor. 
 
Last year's recommendations resulted in 21 human service programs receiving a total of $206,250 from the City general fund and from the federal Community Development Block Grant Program. Programs and consumers assisted with those funds cover a wide range of services for a diverse population. 
 
Programs include but are not limited to: services for families with children, affordable child care vouchers, homeless services, housing stabilization programs, programs for residents with disabilities and senior citizens, and arts programs.
 
Applications can be obtained by email request to njoyner@cityofpittsfield.org. Applications are to be submitted to the Department of Community Development, Room 205 at Pittsfield City Hall no later than 4:00 p.m. on January 6, 2025.
 
In addition to submitting a written proposal, applicants will be invited to come before the HSAC to make a presentation during February or March that will be televised locally.
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