PITTSFIELD — A proposed $16.4 million police budget won preliminary approval Tuesday, but not before city Councilors debated the value of ShotSpotter technology and reviewed rising costs for ammunition, training and overtime.

The proposed spending plan represents about 7.1 percent of the city's overall $232.8 million budget.

Here are the top five takeaways from the proposed fiscal year 2027 police department budget that was approved by the city’s Committee of the Whole, ahead of a final City Council vote next week on whether to adopt the budget for fiscal year 2027, which starts July 1.

Pittsfield Police Chief Marc Maddalena answers questions from the Committee of the Whole regarding the police department's proposed budget of $16.4 million for fiscal year 2027.

1. It's a 6.3 percent increase over last year’s budget.

Last year, the city proposed a $15.5 million budget for the police department. This year’s proposed budget of $16.4 million includes an 11.7 percent increase for services and supplies, as well as a 5.6 percent personnel cost increase.

It’s a slightly higher increase than the past two years. The proposed budget increased by 3.1 percent in fiscal year 2026, and 4.4 percent in 2025. But it’s much less than the sharp increase in 2024, which saw the proposed budget rise 20 percent over 2023 (though the department ultimately spent almost $500,000 less than expected that year).

2. Ammunition has the highest line-item increase over last year, at 37.1 percent.

This year’s budget sets aside $73,900 for ammunition, which is $20,000 more than it budgeted for last year.

Police Chief Marc Maddalena said additional training mandated by the state has driven up costs, as well as ammunition in general becoming more expensive.

The budget item covers a variety of supplies, including non-lethal ammunition such as rubber bullets or pepper balls. It also covers relevant training for officers. Or, as Maddalena sums it up: “It’s more than just bullets for our guns.”

Maddalena added that the department is preparing to purchase new weapons, as some of the ones currently in use are nearing the end of their lifespan. The department will also need to pay for officers to train to use the new equipment.

3. The city approved funding for ShotSpotter, but some want more evidence that it’s effective.

ShotSpotter, a technology that uses hidden microphones to instantly report potential gunfire to local authorities, has been used in Pittsfield since 2017. Maddalena said ShotSpotter would cost the department $220,000 this year, and that the current contract will expire in 2028.

Now used in more than 180 communities throughout the country, ShotSpotter claims it allows for faster police response times to shootings but has been criticized for its inaccuracy. Maddalena said that ShotSpotter has pinged the department 67 times since July 1. Of those alerts, he said, only 12 indicated actual gunfire — an accuracy rate of about 18 percent.

Despite those false alarms, Maddalena said ShotSpotter had ultimately been beneficial for the department.

“Once it was set up and put into effect, and the community started seeing how quickly we were responding to these ‘shots fired’ activations, it certainly acted as a deterrent, for sure, certainly helped us in investigations over time,” he said.

The Pittsfield Police Department's proposed fiscal year 2027 budget represents about 7.1 percent of the city's overall $232.8 million budget.

City Councilor Keith Warren questioned the software’s effectiveness, noting that other communities have canceled their contracts. He made a motion to remove funding for ShotSpotter from the budget, which failed 10-1.

However, councilors discussed the technology at length before the vote, and some indicated they’d like to see more evidence of ShotSpotter’s benefits, including future discussion regarding its effectiveness and its potential misuse as surveillance technology due to its recording capabilities.

4. Some overtime costs are rising again, but a few will stay the same.

Overtime costs were a significant expense for the department last year. This year, overtime for special investigations, special events, holidays and community outreach will each see a 12.5 percent increase. Dispatchers will also see an overtime increase of 6 percent.

However, the department’s scheduled overtime budget of roughly $1.5 million will not be rising. The budget for drug enforcement overtime will also stay the same, at $264,026.

In total, overtime costs will come to about $2.1 million, or 13 percent of the overall budget.

5. The department currently has eight officer vacancies, but new recruits are on the way.

Pittsfield Mayor Peter Marchetti said Tuesday that there were eight officer vacancies in the department, but six people are currently enrolled in the police academy to fill them. Ten more names have also come forward on the civil service eligibility list, he said.

Marchetti also said he had denied a request to add six new officer positions.

Like all city departments, Pittsfield police were asked to reduce their initial budget request by 2.5 percent to make ends meet in an especially tight budget year. A police captain position has been removed, and a new executive administrative assistant position has been added.

Some savings were possible without cuts, however. The department’s social worker and co-responder positions are now being funded through Opioid Trust Settlement funds.

In response to an email from The Eagle, Maddalena said the department currently has 89 sworn officers, including those completing academy training, and is budgeted for 97. Additionally, three retirements are expected this summer.

"We reduced our Captains from four to three for now due to budget constraints, but this person did not reduce us to 96," Maddalena wrote. "We remain budgeted for 97."

Recruits in the academy are expected to graduate on July 31. Maddalena said the department hopes to send 10 additional recruits to the academy this September.