We are a small rural police force consisting of four full time officers; Chief, Sergeant, two Patrolmen, and several part-time officers. We are located in the northern section of Franklin County, Massachusetts and border the State of Vermont. We investigate all crimes, enforce motor vehicle violations and have the ability to respond to all types of calls. We work in coordination with the Northwest
ern District Attorney's Office and the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit for larger, major crimes. We oversee our Animal Control Department with assistance from the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, who provide a shelter for unknown or loose dogs. Our major equipment includes the police cruiser fleet. We have five police cruisers; 2022 Dodge Durango PPV, 2019 Chevy Tahoe PPV, 2018 Dodge Durango SSV, 2016 Dodge Charger, and a 2014 Ford Police Utility. The full-time personnel have assigned cruisers, which makes for faster responses and extends the service life of the cruiser to 6-8 years. Other emergency equipment includes but not limited to; a Polaris 4-wheeler ATV (4x4), a Snowmobile, and a Rescue Sled. In the event we need to transport our rescue equipment throughout town or for a mutual aid response, we have a fully enclosed trailer which has the ability to house all of our equipment. Other misc specialty equipment pieces are night vision and thermal imaging. In 2007, the Town built a new public safety complex, which is where we are stationed. The safety complex also houses an office for the Emergency Management Director and the Bernardston Highway Superintendent. We are extremely grateful for such an investment from the Town residents and to all the Town Hall staff that made this happen. We recently conducted training with surrounding law enforcement agencies, including fire department personnel to incorporate a county law enforcement ATV rescue team. We also completed training to be certified ground pounders and seeking certification for land navigation. We feel this training would be invaluable due to our location and terrain.
