Amherst police chief asks for new administrator

High-risk, low-frequency events are “the things you don’t always do in the police department, but when you do them, you better get them right,” the chief said.

A request for the creation of a civilian administrative position from the Amherst Police Department was approved Nov. 5 by City Council for further review and a possible vote.

The position was requested in hope of providing additional training for sworn officers, said police Chief Joseph Kucirek.

The command structure has had three positions including a chief, captain and lieutenant since before 1962, according to a request letter sent to City Council members from the Police Department.

“It’s simply that there are too many things that three police administrative people are dealing with these days compared to 15 years ago or 50 years ago,” Kucirek said during the meeting.

The administrator position would aid in training for the “civilian side” of high-risk, low-frequency events, including officerinvolved pursuits, weapon calls and patching radio stations, to name a few, Kucirek said.

“From my perspective, I’m concerned about our past and where our future is going to go as far as completing some of our training,” he said.

High-risk, low-frequency events are “the things you don’t always do in the police department, but when you do them, you better get them right,” the chief said.

“You better make sure that people that are doing them know what the policies are, know what the procedures are and know what the particular application for the item is and how to apply that,” he said.

Additional information about the position, including salary and responsibilities, were discussed during an executive session in part of the meeting.

In 2014, the Police Department began discussing frequency and types of training that should be more integrated.

Those now include search and seizures, defensive tactics, weapon retention, domestic violence, care custody of prisoners, stun gun deployment, sexual assault, active shooter response and breaching tools, Kucirek said.

“We have never trained on breaching tools, and with today’s day in age in society, with the active shooter in schools, we’ve been buying more breaching tools,” he said.

Several Council members showed concern that the position only would be applicable for a short period of time.

“I do understand that the need to have training, for both civilian and non civilian, and I appreciate the fact that, you know, that’s something that you’re pushing,” said Councilman Brian Dembinski. “I wonder if this has a lifespan of a certain time period, then afterwards, we’re all finding work for them to do.”

Kucirek said putting a time limit on the position will limit the pool of applicants and training always will be a need for the Police Department.