SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- The Hampden County Sheriff’s Office is cutting millions from its budget and local police chiefs said the ripple effect will be felt across communities.

Sheriff Nick Cocchi said - unless cities and towns can pay to keep them - extra patrols, specialized units, and crime analysts that departments rely on every day could disappear. “This removes a critical safety net for departments across this county. Specifically, Palmer, elimination of overnight patrols covering two shifts seven days a week,” he explained.

The sheriff’s office is rolling out the first phase of a possible multi-phase budget reduction plan, targeting up to $4 million in savings and eliminating at least 50 positions. “Why does this matter? Many of these services have been labeled discretionary at the state level in the Office of Inspector General’s preliminary report, but here on the ground in Hampden County, these have been essential to filling gaps in public safety. At this time, we must align our present operations with the realities of the state’s budget crisis,” Cocchi added.

In Chicopee, three of the six full-time analysts at the Real-Time Crime Center will be gone, Cocchi confirmed. Those analysts help solve crimes using data and intelligence from people who have been through the system. Their work reaches far beyond Hampden County. Authorities from New York City and Hartford have reached out to them routinely. “The rollback of their services is going to greatly impact not only the city of Chicopee, but Hampden County and beyond. The impact that they’re going to feel - it just makes my heart hurt. We’re still going to operate, but our services will definitely be impacted,” said Chicopee Police Chief Eric Watson.

Departments across the county have relied on sheriff’s deputies as a force multiplier, providing extra patrols and specialized units that step in when local departments are short-staffed. For West Springfield, that backup is critical. The department already has nine open officer positions and Chief Jay Gearing said recruitment isn’t keeping up. “The men and women of the West Springfield Police Department, they show up every day and they work hard, but make no mistake. We have eight open police officer positions and men and women aren’t showing up like they used to to fill those positions…and we just had another officer this weekend announce a retirement, so that’ll put us at nine,” he explained.

Within the next few months, Gearing said his department will have roughly 17 patrol officer openings.

Copyright 2026 Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.