Sheriff’s Departmen’s funding woes end many partnerships

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno discusses the importance of the city’s partnership with the Sheriff’s Department in patroling Forest Park during a 2023 press conference as former Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood and Sheriff Nick Cochi listen. Behind them are members of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit.
Reminder Publishing file photo

Municipal police departments around Hampden County have long received help from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, but Sheriff Nick Cocchi recently announced that his department can no longer fund those partnerships.

The Sheriff’s Department is facing the loss of $26.5 million that was cut from its fiscal year 2026 allocation from the state.

Rizzuto said Hampden County is not alone. Sheriff’s Departments across the state have lost roughly $100 million in expected funding. The cessation of partnerships with municipal police departments was framed as the first phase of cuts, reducing the workforce by 50 positions and saving about $4 million.

“The Legislature is quite clear; they do not think law enforcement support in these communities is worth funding. Not our delegation,” Rizzuto said, referring to the state senators and representatives from Hampden County, “legislative leadership — they have their own priorities.”

Rizzuto said the commonwealth is under financial constraints, largely due to cuts in federal spending. Massachusetts lost $3.7 billion in federal funding last year, with about $3.3 billion in cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill and $398.9 million cut by the Trump administration. The cuts included $96.9 million in funding for public safety and security.

Across the county, 26 POST-certified deputies regularly staffed 28 shifts to reinforce agencies with insufficient personnel. These staffing gaps will no longer be filled, unless paid or reimbursed by the agency or municipality. The Sheriff’s Department filled specific roles in some communities. Among the municipalities that the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department had been supporting are Springfield, Chicopee, West Springfield and Holyoke.

“The sheriff’s presence was an asset to our community, allowing us to concentrate on calls for service and traffic enforcement in other areas of town.” said West Springfield Police Chief Jay Gearing. The Sheriff’s Department had provided targeted speeding details and traffic patrols, as well as patrols of Bear Hole Reservoir and the Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway.

“The Police Department will have to cover the reduction in coverage provided by the sheriff. The positions will not be unfilled,” Gearing said. “The sheriff’s absence will be felt more as a reduction in services,” but he assured, “West Springfield will continue to be a safe place to live and visit based on our current patrol model.”

Springfield Police Department Public Information Officer and Media Relations Specialist Ryan Walsh told a similar story about the impact on that city. The Sheriff’s Department will no longer provide personnel to serve restraining orders during the day shift, which it has done since 2023. Instead, Walsh explained, Springfield police will take over issuing those 10 to 20 restraining orders per day, as they do on other shifts.
The Sheriff’s Department has had a permanent presence in Forest Park, often including the mounted units, since 2020, and Walsh said that their high visibility was useful. Now, the park will be included in regular patrols of the area, and bike units will patrol the park in the summer months.

The relatively new Safe Travels program, begun in September 2025, saw officers from the Springfield Police Department, Sheriff’s Department and Amtrak Police Department collaborate to have a dedicated presence at Union Station. With the end of Sheriff’s Department participation, Walsh said, “We’re just losing a handful of personnel there.”

Walsh said the changes were not expected to affect the Police Department’s budget. Some overtime hours may be redirected to cover the bike patrol units. Walsh said he did not believe the other ways in which the Sheriff’s Department supports the Springfield Police Department would be affected by the cuts. These include having deputies assigned to warrant teams and the transfer of some arrested individuals to the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow.

In Holyoke, the Sheriff’s Department has regularly assigned deputies to assist the Holyoke Police Department during large events such as the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Road Race and Parade.

Additionally, the sheriff typically has two deputies who run programs to connect at-risk individuals with addiction recovery and treatment resources. During the last fiscal year, that unit recorded 2,857 successful outreach contacts, 1,049 referrals, and transported 338 people to treatment and Medication Assisted Treatment programs.

Those positions will no longer be staffed unless the city funds them, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Holyoke Police Chief Brian Keenan said the announcement came as a surprise.

“I was shocked,” Keenan said. “Our mantra here is doing more with less, so we’ll get through it. My concern is the recovery center where our detectives go out with sheriff’s deputies and meet with people [who] have overdosed. It’s going to be a little more challenging to get done, but we will.”

Keenan said he is concerned about the future of the Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Basketball Program, which is funded and staffed by the Sheriff’s Department.

“I’m hoping that won’t go and starve because that really helps a ton of kids that don’t have a lot of other things to do,” he said.
He added that the city could also lose community service support provided by the Sheriff’s Department, including maintenance work at municipal buildings. “They do a great job helping with municipal buildings and cleaning up, painting, and really filling the gap where DPW work needs to be done with the community service stuff,” Keenan said.

Other programs could be affected by these cuts at the Sheriff’s Department, according to Keenan, including a couple that were introduced last year.

In July 2025, Holyoke and the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office launched an After Incarceration Support Systems satellite office at 310 Appleton St., bringing reentry and support services closer to city residents. The programs included Holyoke Police Department’s Street Outreach Program, the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department’s All Inclusive Support Services for formerly incarcerated individuals, and Holyoke’s Community Response Advocate, a newly created position providing guidance, referrals, support services and answers to individuals with questions or difficulties.

Keenan said the location has made services more accessible, and the AISS program has been especially valuable.

“It makes it a lot easier because somebody getting out of jail doesn’t necessarily have a license or transportation,” he said. “If you live in Holyoke and have to take two buses to Springfield, it’s going to take you four hours.”

Although he stated you can’t always quantify wins and losses, Keenan credited those sheriff-supported programs for reducing overdose deaths in the city.

“The reduction of overdose deaths, which was 18% last year, is directly attributed to a lot of the programs the Sheriff’s Department funds and works in conjunction with the Holyoke Police Department,” Keenan said.

The Holyoke Police Department will look for grant funding to help offset these service losses that were announced, according to Keenan. He said the recent developments may also affect overtime spending.

“It certainly won’t be optimal, but we’ll limp through it,” he said.

Keenan shared a message to the residents who may be affected by the loss of programs and reaffirmed his support for Cocchi and his department.

“Your city is safe. Holyoke Police officers work hard for you; we’re out there 24 hours a day, and we support the Hampden County Sheriff,” Keenan said. “We’re thankful for our partnership with Nick Cocchi. We’re confident he’ll get through this. I’ve known Sheriff Cocchi for 32 years. He’s an incredibly resilient person, an incredibly smart person, and if anybody can figure this out, he can. He’ll get through this, we’ll get through this.”

Chicopee also finds itself in a difficult situation following the cuts. The Sheriff’s Department currently staffs three full-time analysts at the city’s Real-Time Information Center, a five-person operation that uses camera networks and AI-assisted software to support investigations and public safety efforts across Hampden County.

Additionally, POST-certified deputies serve 209A restraining orders in Chicopee and act as force multipliers when city patrol staffing is down. Those positions will no longer be filled unless reimbursed by the city or another agency.

Travis Odiorne, speaking on behalf of Interim Police Chief Eric Watson, said the department would not comment further at this time.
“I spoke to the chief about this, and he feels that everything was covered in the sheriff’s news conference and doesn’t want to make any comments on it,” Odiorne said. “Since the cuts mainly affect the sheriff’s office, he believes all comments should come from his office.”
While the potential for further rounds of cuts certainly exists, Rizzuto said, “We’re hoping we don’t have to. We’re waiting to see what happens with the budget” which the Legislature is working currently on. “We’re hoping for a dialog with the governor’s office.”