Defund Framingham Police? Chief Says Department Is Understaffed

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The proposed fiscal year 2022 budget for Framingham police funds the department at virtually the same level as fiscal 2021 with just a $17,212 increase. That leaves no room to hire personnel above the 2021 level, which Chief Lester Baker says is below some standards.

Baker presented the department's $16.29 million 2022 budget request to the City Council Finance Subcommittee on Tuesday night. In a wide-ranging discussion, Baker talked about the department's staffing levels, the school-resource officer program (SRO) and whether Framingham might get body cameras for officers.

Baker said Framingham police had lost four ranked officers and 11 patrol officers over the past year. The department is also trying to fill two civilian roles and hire crossing guards.

The FBI standard is to have about 21.4 police personnel — including civilians and police officers — per 10,000 residents, which would mean about 168 employees in Framingham. The department is at about 157 right now, the chief said.

"Quite frankly, your police department is doing a lot with a lot less bodies than we should have," he told the Councilors.

Framingham, which no longer uses the civil service exam to hire police, will have an exam for new recruits in August. The department is also sending three cadets to a June police academy, and has offered a Boston University Police sergeant a lateral transfer.

In the year after the George Floyd murder, activists have called for police budgets to be reduced and repurposed to hire social workers, mental health counselors and teachers. Finance Subcommittee Chair Adam Steiner asked Baker if the department would consider reducing the number of officers to hire more social workers.

Baker highlighted that Framingham pioneered a co-response model in 2003 where social workers respond with officers to divert people away from jail and into services to treat mental health, addiction and other problems. But Baker also said he hasn't considered reducing officers to hire more social workers fearing it would force officers to work longer hours.

Steiner also asked Baker about the SRO program. The Framingham High School Black Student Union and the group Framingham Families for Racial Equity in Education (FFREE) have been asking for an end to the SRO program for about a year. Baker said the only upcoming change would be to stop officers from disciplining students.

"Yeah, it has been done in the past. Going forward we will not take part in that," Baker said of using officers for discipline.

Baker also told Councilors that he is expecting a directive from the state's new Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission on body cameras. Only a handful of communities in Massachusetts use them so far, but Baker said Framingham would be interested.