Five years after Haverhill firefighters requested additional staff for the department, union members returned to the City Council Tuesday to provide an update on staffing amid one-time grant funding that is expected to run out in two years. Councilor Melissa J. Lewandowski spoke to the progress. “We have seen phenomenal gains to the operation of our fire department over the last year and this has a direct correlation to lives saved and to that advocacy,” she said. Local 1011 President Tim Carroll thanked councilors for their support along the way.
Police said there were no injuries during a three-hour standoff that began Wednesday afternoon with a person who had barricaded himself inside a Methuen home. Methuen Police Chief Scott J. McNamara said police discovered the unnamed person had apparently barricaded himself inside a Huntington Avenue home when police were dispatched there around 3:40 p.m. Police said the person was “sought in connection with the investigation.”
Police established a perimeter around the home and called for assistance from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, or NEMLEC, SWAT team, which includes specially trained negotiators. At about 6:45 p.m., the person surrendered without further incident to members of the SWAT team.
State Sen. Bruce E. Tarr says there are many positives in the recently approved $4 billion economic development bill, but there’s more ahead in January that will shape how the borrowing bill takes effect. Making an appearance on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program, Tarr explains the next move is that of Gov. Maura T. Healey. “What I often say is that the legislature writes the menu and the governor decides what she wants to eat, so it’s a two-step process.”
Tarr, who serves as senate minority leader and whose district includes such area towns as Groveland, North Andover and West Newbury, also delivers a word of caution.
Police in Haverhill will buy non-lethal weapons, while Lawrence Police will add a new marked cruiser as a result of grants awarded under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. Congresswoman Lori Trahan said Wednesday Haverhill is receiving $34,493 to continue the police department’s purchase of nonlethal equipment to help de-escalate situations involving volatile, aggressive and assaultive individuals. She added the department used a similar grant last year to begin the purchase of tasers and ballistic shields for officers.
