Community roots run deep for Belchertown Police

BELCHERTOWN — Kevin Pacunas is one of Belchertown’s “homegrown” police officers, as he describes it.

The police chief moved to Belchertown in 1981, graduated Belchertown High School in 1986 and joined the police department a decade later. The rest is history. Thirty years, to be exact.

“I like it here. All my family and friends are here,” he said. “You’re familiar with it, and police officers don’t really like change. I’m one of those people.”

Pacunas is not the only “townie” officer celebrating a milestone anniversary this year. Lt. Bruce Jenkins enrolled in the police academy in the same year as Pacunas, and the two department leaders are now commemorating 30 years in Belchertown public safety. Patrol officers Adam Brougham and Valerie Austin have worked alongside them for 25 years.

“A lot of people start somewhere else and come here, or use this as a stepping stone to go to state police or somewhere else,” Austin said. “But I just knew I was going to stay here.”

Belchertown has grown in both population and development since Pacunas took his first ride-along and Austin’s family friend convinced her to become an officer. There were no stoplights, grocery stores or McDonald’s back then, just as there were no body cameras or police accreditation. The one thing that has stood the test of time, however, is their investment in their community.

“It’s a great town to live in. They’re [police are] already living here. Their connections are here,” Pacunas said. “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and I think most of the officers over here realize that.”

Pacunas never wanted to be a chief. He was happy as a patrol officer and sergeant for most of his career. Yet once he was appointed as lieutenant in 2017, he realized he’d rather be his own boss. He took the chief position in 2022.

Similarly, Austin initially had no interest in police work as a teenager. She had her sights set on paramedicine until a former Belchertown officer nudged her from health care to the criminal justice system. The family friend had to talk her through the academy and tests, but eventually she gained confidence and passion in her work. When she became a mom, Austin took the role as court officer and domestic violence liaison so her schedule could fit around her family.

The beginning of the veteran officers’ careers was vastly different from young officers’ experiences today. Younger officers value their time off more than Pacunas’ generation. Despite the handful of veteran officers, more than half of the 23 officers in the department are at the beginnings of their careers.

“When I came on, everybody was fighting to work more, getting more overtime,” Pacunas said. “It’s tough, because the veteran officers expect the younger officers to think and have their same expectations.”

Policing also has acquired more responsibility and types of public safety. Crisis intervention was not practiced when Pacunas become a patrol officer, but its implementation has substituted social and mental health mediation for arrests and charges.

“It’s actually been very helpful because we’d be going back to the same call, same person, same house for the same thing over and over,” Pacunas said. “Making arrests or charging people with criminal law violations wasn’t effective.”

Community trust in police departments was shaken in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in 2020. While Pacunas acknowledges police reform brought about positive changes like the reduction of excessive force, he felt frustrated that officers in western Massachusetts were lumped in with something that happened 1,200 miles away.

“We took it personally,” Pacunas said. “It made it harder to be a police officer. We were ashamed to be police officers sometimes because everyone’s looking at you through a different lens.”

Police in Belchertown have worked to build that trust back and that’s partially due to Oliver, the department’s comfort dog. The black English Labrador breaks down barriers easily. As Oliver’s handler, Austin has seen the pup’s impact firsthand with defendants in the courts, elementary school students learning to read and the victims of domestic violence and sexual assault she works with.

“They know they can call over here if they have somebody that’s struggling, we’ll go over and sit with them,” Austin said.

The comfort dog program is just one of the many community programs the department offers, from child car seat inspections to youth academy. In fact, Pacunas’ favorite era of his 30-year career was his time with the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.

“Even as the chief now, I’ll run into a former D.A.R.E. officer, and they’ll say, ‘Hi Officer, Kevin,’ not chief,” Pacunas said. “That’s how they know me, and I’m fine with that. I like it.”

Every officer has a countdown to retirement in their heads, Pacunas said. He estimates he has two years left before he turns in the badge. For Austin, it is around eight years, or whenever Oliver’s last day at the station falls.

“It’s not because I don’t like my job, because I do. I love my job, but I’m just looking forward to doing something else,” Austin said.

The post Community roots run deep for Belchertown Police appeared first on Daily Hampshire Gazette.