A Day on the Job – 2011

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Contact: vegaforholyoke@gmail.com

The following is Holyoke City Councilor Aaron Vega’s firsthand account of his “Night on the Job” with the Holyoke Police Department.

When I was planning and thinking about my day on the job with the Holyoke Police Department, I imagined running down alleyways after bad guys, or a high speed chase through Holyoke, or maybe witnessing a big drug bust. Alas, it was not how I imagined it, which is a really good thing.

In the few months new chief of police James Neiswanger has been in Holyoke, I’ve been able to talk with him and get to know him. I had told him about my days on the job with the Holyoke Fire Department and Department of Public Works, and how I would like to do a ride-along with the police. He quickly agreed that this was a good way for a city councilor to understand what men and women in uniform go through day to day.

I arrived to the station at 4 o’clock on a Thursday afternoon and checked in with the command officer. He showed me the dispatch center, how the surveillance cameras work and outfitted me in a bulletproof vest. Suddenly things were getting real.

After a few jokes about keeping my head down and getting to see the “real Holyoke,” I was teamed up with patrolman Patrick Leahy. Leahy has been on the force for four years. His older brother is a police officer in Las Vegas, his younger brother is a new recruit on the Holyoke force, and his other brother James is on City Council with me.

Leahy was excited to have me along. We quickly got to talking about his adventures on the force and how it all works. That night, and most nights, there are five patrol cars designated to areas of the city (similar to the ward delineations) and two cars that serve as backups and can canvas the entire city. We were car seven, assigned as a backup. Concurrently, there were detectives and undercover officers on duty throughout the city.

Our first call was to assist an undercover agent who had a road rage incident with a civilian. This is when we got to throw the lights and sirens on and fly up Cherry Street and over Homestead Avenue. It’s interesting how many people don’t know how to get out of the way of a police car with sirens on. Next, we got to assist the detectives and undercover officers by picking up an individual who had been arrested in a drug exchange. We brought the suspect — he was very calm and familiar with the routine — down to the station, and booked him. There I saw the process of getting booked, checked out the holding cells and got the full tour of the station.

We spent the bulk of our night driving through the city. We patrolled Pulaski Park and made sure the “shooting den” there was not occupied. It wasn’t, but there were plenty of needles, baggies and other paraphernalia left behind. We drove though alleyways and recorded the amount of illegal dumping. We waved to some kids and saw others run away. We talked about the difficulty in stopping the drug flow on our city streets. I told Patrick about the calls I get from residents of frustration over seeing open-air drug sales or people who claim to know where drugs are being sold. We drove through some of Holyoke’s higher-crime neighborhoods, but all was quiet.

Each day for the men and women on the police force is unknown. Will there be a drug bust, a robbery or a chase that day? Will the next call be from a resident whose purse was stolen or from someone who is suicidal, or worse?

So what did I learn from my night with the Holyoke Police Department? Let me assure each reader of this story that the police department is working hard to keep our streets safe. They know about the “hot spots” in town and they want us to help them by calling in anonymous tips. Without witnesses, convictions for drug sales and gang-related activity are very difficult to come by. In addition, there are citizen crime watch groups happening all over the city, a joint effort of the sheriff’s department, Holyoke police and city residents.

If you want more information about your neighborhood crime watch group, you can contact Edward Caisse of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department at (413) 858-0225.

The Holyoke Police Department’s anonymous, 24-hour crime tip hotline is (413) 533-TIPS (8477). You can also Text-A-Tip to 274637 (crimes). Start your message with “solve”

Together we can build a safer and cleaner city as we work to move Holyoke Forward.

The following is Holyoke City Councilor Aaron Vega’s firsthand account of his “Day on the Job” with the Holyoke Department of Public Works.

When I was setting up my Day on the Job at the Holyoke Department of Public Works, Superintendent Bill Fuqua must have thought I wanted the clean DPW tour. Then I spoke with Solid Waste Supervisor and Recycling Coordinator Tim Price and his eyes lit up when I told him I was in for a real experience.

Meeting the guys on trash detail at 7:00 a.m. was quick and I don’t remember many of their names but they had humorous advice for me.

“Get ready for a good workout.”

“Don’t puke.”

“Don’t fall in the truck.”

I was handed a reflective yellow vest and new gloves, and I was in the truck. First stop: Lyman Terrace.

With barely enough room in the alley, 30-plus-year veteran Ramon Flores navigated the trash truck through while Louis Lafountain and I swung trash bags and emptied trash barrels into the back. The smell was pungent to say the least, and I was glad I didn’t have a big breakfast beforehand.

From Lyman Terrace to Lower Westfield Road to Kane Road and the neighborhood behind McMahon School, I got my workout, never fell into the truck and even got to ride alongside it.

There was a rhythm to the work. Swing another barrel in. Turn the lever to compress the trash. Hop back on the truck. Move to the next street. Repeat. I was told by many that “If you can make it on the trash detail, you can do anything.” I believe them.

One aspect of my day that was almost harder to stomach than the smell was the lack of recycling. It was recycling day, and many people did a great job of separating, but I saw so many plastic bottles in the trash and hoisted so many bags with the sound of glass bottles rattling against each other. A lot of homes did not recycle at all.

Tim Price picked me up after about four hours on trash pick-up duty and gave me the full tour back down at “the yard.” He educated me about the recycling and reuse projects going on in our city. Holyoke does well with its recycling program–much better than many surrounding communities, even those with single stream recycling. Many of our programs have saved, and even earned, the city money. Still, there is only a compliance rate of about 48%.

Once you begin to understand the cost of trash removal, the amount of work that goes into it, and once you know the savings a city can enjoy from strong participation in recycling, it can be disappointing to see the lack of it. Do we need more education? Is enforcement the answer? Should we fine residents who don’t recycle and reward those who do? What does it mean for Holyoke to be a green community if a majority of residents don’t recycle? My mind was racing with these questions.

Before my day was over, I spoke with Bill Fuqua about operations at the DPW and the kinds of improvements we both would like to see. Ultimately, I now have an intimate understanding of what goes on at the DPW and how the men and women who work there do so with little acknowledgement or praise. The next time you see a trash worker or other DPW employee be sure to thank them for all they do. I know I will.

This story also appeared on MassLive.com on July 14, 2011.

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Contact: vegaforholyoke@gmail.com

The following is Holyoke City Councilor Aaron Vega’s firsthand account of his “Day on the Job” with the Holyoke Fire Department.

Late last year, I was lucky enough to fulfill a childhood dream, even if only for a day. I spent the day with the Holyoke Fire Department to better understand what our fire department does, how it works, and what a “day in the life” is like for the men and women of the HFD.

For that one day, I joined Company D at the Fire Department Headquarters on High Street and was soon in full gear alongside new recruits performing drills in an abandoned building next door. Captain Gubala instructed the new firefighters on what to do and what not to do, and explained to me how a fire moves and breathes, and how to fight it.

Of course, the most impressive part of the day was joining the Company on Truck 1 on a live call. This is where it all became very real. A call came in, and, without missing a beat, the firefighters were in the truck, heading into the unknown.

It was in these brief moments of uncertainty that I found the utmost respect for what these men and women do – they keep us safe, they are ready to run in when everyone is running out, and they do it all with humor, passion, and know-how.

When I was growing up in Holyoke in the 70s, firefighters were my heroes! Today, they continue to be men and women that I respect. I’m not writing this to put the men and women of the HFD on a pedestal — I do not think they would want that. But, I am here to say thank you to all firefighters, past, present and future, for doing what you do without the need for reward.

Lately, there is much talk about overtime in the department budget and there has been some rearranging of leadership, but I know through it all that the Holyoke Fire Department is working together toward the collective goal of keeping Holyoke residents safe. That is something many of us can learn from.

My day with the Holyoke Fire Department was educational and entertaining: from lunchtime conversation with the company, to going along on inspections, to walking into a mock fire wearing full gear and breathing apparatus (which really should be experienced by everyone).

And even though the live call I experienced was, thankfully, merely a lunch fire that was easily extinguished, I saw the readiness and talent of our department and know they will do everything they can to always keep us safe.

Aaron Vega
Holyoke City Councilor at Large