Police Chief Says Police Layoffs Would Hurt

The loss of two police officers would prevent Nor­folk police from offering traffic direction at H. Olive Day School and might prevent Norfolk from partici­pating in a regional SWAT team run by the Metropoli­tan Law Enforcement Council, Norfolk Police Chief Charles H. Stone Jr. told selectmen this week. Selectmen have asked town department heads to submit budgets that spend 4 percent less for the com­ing fiscal year than for this current fiscal year. A 4 percent decrease in the Police Department’s budget would force Stone to eliminate two police of­ficers’

jobs, and the last two hired would be laid off. They are Detective Nate Fletcher and Officer Mark Vendetti.

Stone didn’t use names during the selectmen’s meeting, but he noted that Fletcher is Norfolk’s mem­ber of MetroLEC. “He’s one of my hard chargers. He does a really good job on the street, and he’s going to be gone on July 1st if this goes through,” Stone said during the selectmen’s meeting this past Monday night.

Stone has noted in the past that at 17, Norfolk al­ready has fewer police officers than Federal Bureau of Investigation guidelines suggest for a town of its size. Town Administrator Jack Hathaway said the town can ill-afford to lose Fletcher and Vendetti. “Talk about bang for your buck — these are two excellent officers,” Hathaway said.

Selectman Jim Lehan noted that some town resi­dents think the traffic direction on Main Street at H. Olive Day School is a paid police detail, but it isn’t. Stone assigns an on-duty officer there when available, and the officerhas to leave if a call comes in. Stone said Norfolk police are busy as it is, and that he doesn’t want to see the department shrink. “There’ll be a problem, and I just don’t want to see anyone get hurt as a result, whether it be one of us, or one of the taxpayers that we serve,” Stone said.