Berkshire District Attorney's Office Awarded Over $200 K in Grant Funding

07:30AM / Tuesday, January 14, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire District Attorney's Office has been awarded $206,779.58 in grant funding to support community initiatives, training, and equipment.

The grant funding will be primarily used to fund youth community programing; provide community training surrounding law enforcement topics; fund training for Berkshire District Attorney staff and the Berkshire State Police Detective Unit; and provide equipment for the Berkshire District Attorney's Office.

"I am thrilled to receive this grant funding once again. This funding enhances community programs and strengthens law enforcement training and resources," District Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue said. "These grants are essential in allowing my office to proactively support initiatives that build protective factors in youth and create safer communities for everyone in the Berkshires."

The Commonwealth awarded the Berkshire District Attorney's Office $125,486.58 from the federal Project Safe Neighborhood grant.

Through this grant funding, the Berkshire District Attorney's Office will:

Provide funding for community programs:
- Partner with Roots Rising to fund program spaces for at-risk youth
- Fund the second year of the Violence Prevention/Voice Projection project. The project works with at-risk youth and aims to elevate their voices. This is led by two licensed clinical social workers, Kelly Heck, LICSW, and Areil Ramirez, LCSW
- Partner with Berk12 to provide community programs aimed at strengthening knowledge surrounding multiple law enforcement related topics
Purchase Equipment for the Digital Evidence Lab housed in the Berkshire District Attorney's Office
Purchase safety equipment for members of the Berkshire County Law Enforcement Task Force

Shugrue also thanked Representative Smitty Pignatelli, who served as a State Representative from 2003 to 2024.

"Smitty's dedicated advocacy for our office, and county as a whole, has played a vital role in securing grant funding for our community," he said. "These grants bring investments back to the Berkshires which at times can be overlooked."

Language Justice Solutions received a portion of the Safe Neighborhoods grant funding.

"Language Justice is the practice that allows each person the right to communicate freely and fully in the language they feel more comfortable with. As we work to move forward with this initiative, we are aware that language barriers affect those seeking services as well as those providing them," Maria Elisa Fuller, executive director of Language Justice Solutions said. "We must continue to support efforts to advance language justice practices. Not only is this a practice of social justice, but it is also crucial for public safety, due diligence, and integrity of an investigation by law enforcement and prosecution."

Roots Rising also benefitted from the Safe Neighborhoods grant.

"We are grateful to the Berkshire DA's office for their investment in our Youth Crews," Jess Vecchia, executive director of Roots Rising, said. "For many teens, our Youth Crews are a vital introduction to the workforce, setting them on a path toward future opportunities and success. It is more than just a job - through this program, our teens develop essential skills for becoming successful adults in an increasingly complex world."

Also, The Commonwealth awarded the Berkshire District Attorney's Office $81,293.00 from the Human Trafficking Enforcement and Training Grant Program funded by the State of Massachusetts. Through this grant funding the Berkshire District Attorney's Office will:

Fund law enforcement overtime for investigations involving suspected human trafficking
Training for Berkshire District Attorney Office staff, including the State Police Detective Unit. The training funded through the grant (as well as travel) includes:
- A workshop focused on the complexities of prosecuting cases involving domestic abuse and how to overcome them.
- Funding for three BDAO staff to attend the national Violence Against Women Conference held in Texas.
- Advanced funding for the State Police Detective Unit to enhance their investigative techniques in regard to digital evidence
Funding for the completion of a language accessibility project through a partnership with Language Justice Solutions, Maria Elisa Fuller and Alex Valdivieso.

Tags: district attorney, grants,

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Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

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