Pittsfield Police Department Announces Citizen Police Academy

03:00PM / Wednesday, March 26, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Police Department has announced its spring 2025 Citizen Police Academy session.

The academy aims to provide community members with information about department operations and contemporary policing issues.

The department is seeking applications from citizens, volunteers, community-policing partners, business leaders, students, and educators. The class size is limited to 20 participants.

Classes will be held on Wednesday evenings from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., beginning April 30 and concluding June 18, 2025. Classes will take place at the Pittsfield Police Department and Berkshire Community College.

Applicants must be 18 years of age or older and reside or work in Pittsfield. All applicants will undergo a criminal history background check, and certain prior criminal offenses may result in disqualification.

Interested individuals can contact Sgt. Shaun Gariepy via email at [email address removed] to request an application and recruitment materials. Applications are also available at the police station's front lobby.

The application deadline is Monday, April 18, 2025.

Applications can be submitted in person at Pittsfield Police Department Headquarters, via email to sgariepy@cityofpittsfield.org, or by mail to 39 Allen Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201.

Applicants not selected for the spring session will be placed on a waiting list for future classes.

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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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