PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Public Safety Advisory Committee is going to get a fresh start.

 

The committee is successor of the Police Advisory Committee, which was re-formed in 2012. Last year, the committee was expanded to include all of public safety.

 

But that was before the election that ushered in a change of leadership in City Hall. Many of the members of the committee resigned with the induction of Mayor Linda Tyer; she has appointed some new members but there are still vacancies. The new group met in May and determined it needed more direction from the administration.

 

Tyer and the leaders of the three public safety departments — Police, Fire, and Health — met with the group on Thursday to give an overview of the public safety structure and to start the process of determining what the committee's role will be moving forward. The next meeting will focus on revisiting the ordinance that created it, as well as briefs on the Open Meeting Law and ethics.

 

Tyer hopes that this series of meetings will bring both the administrators and the committee to a common understanding of obligations and responsibilities. On Thursday, Tyer and the chiefs said they'd like the committee's help in advocacy for projects and review of complicated issues such as new ordinances.

 

"We're hoping we can turn to you for advocacy," the mayor said.

 

The Police Advisory Committee had that role as well and has been credited with helping to bring on a crime analyst, put up fencing on East Street to stop jaywalking, review fines for parking and other violations, and urging support for more police officers and a new police station. 

 

"The most valuable role is advocacy when we are working on things that are not well understood or controversial," Wynn said, adding that the group can serve a role in understanding the array of public safety issues and explaining it to people who may not be as in tune with all of the details. 

 

Understanding all of the details begins with taking a ride alone with police officers, and diving deep into understanding issues in the city such as the opioid scourge.

 

Committee member Kathy Lloyd, who is knowledgeable about the issue, said it is certainly a role she can take and went on to tell a story about how she went to an area littered with used heroin needles to clean it up, not realizing that the precautions she took with rubber gloves and a specialize container wasn't enough to prevent catching a disease.

 

"I had zero idea what kind of danger I was putting myself and my children in just by cleaning," Lloyd said.

 

So what should people do if they see used needles? Call the Health Department or an ambulance service that will come pick it up and dispose of them properly.

 

Health Director Gina Armstrong said many people are unaware of the hazards associated with used needles and their removal should left to her department. The committee can help advocate to expand programs such as that and communicate with the public to help protect citizens.

 

"The city does have a 24/7 plan in place where you can report that if you become aware of discarded needles," Armstrong said.

 

Armstrong also urged the members to watch PCTV's recording of the documentary "Heroin: Cape Cod USA" and the panel discussion among local officials regarding opioid epidemic that was held at Berkshire Community College last month. Combating opioid abuse transcends public safety realms, she said. 

 

Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski said his firefighters will be carrying the overdose reversal drug Narcan in the next month or so. Firefighters have answered some 8,000 calls a year; 64 percent are medical calls. Understanding and advocating for that program is a role the committee could serve, he said..

 

There are other jobs in public safety that transcends disciplines as well. Czerwinski said he works with the mayor and Armstrong in emergency preparedness. The Fire Department will coordinate with police on investigations and serve in helping to get them tools and equipment needed. 

 

"We all kind of fit under this emergency management umbrella," Czerwinski said.

 

Further, the Fire Department is trained for an array of hazardous materials incidents, technical rescue, confined space rescue, structural collapses, trench rescue, and handles many types of inspections. The department will inspect oil burners, propane tank installations, and be present for firework displays. Those tasks might not all be known to the public.

 

The Police Department also has many overlapping responsibilities — even responsibilities outside of the city at times. The Berkshire County Special Response Team is under Police Chief Michael Wynn's command and if there is a large-scale issue in a neighboring town, officers will go there to help out. 

 

While the public knows about the patrol officers and what they do, many don't know the various other tasks from drug enforcement officers to detectives to a full-scale crime scene services unit. The city is one of the few municipalities that handle homicide investigations in house instead of passing them off to the state police. And few departments have crime scene services.

 

Beyond that, there are school resource officers, intelligence, youth services, public relations, information technology, dispatch for police, fire and emergency medical services. Wynn is also oversight on firearm permits as well.

 

In the Health Department, the most known work is inspections of restaurants and housing but Armstrong says there is a lot more to the job. The inspections also include mobile homes, septic systems, body art studios, and tanning salons. The department has launched a partnership between local groups for projects to promote healthy living. The public health nurse plays a role in planning for sheltering in case of emergencies as well as monitoring and investigating communicable diseases.

 

The Health Department also heads the anti-blight program through which it fields complaints about tall grass, illegal dumping, unsanitary conditions, or residents putting trash out before trash day (including nearly a full apartment worth of stuff littering a curbside for days). 

 

Thursday's conversation was the start in taking all of those responsibilities and finding a role for the Public Safety Advisory Committee to play. 

 

"This is not going to be somewhat encapsulated, it is going to be somewhat broad," said Chairman Larry Tallman.