By Laura Hayes, Contributing Writer
HUDSON — Facing challenges staffing traffic details in town, Hudson just increased the maximum age for police officers who want to work details to 70-years-old.
This allows retired officers over the age of 65 interested in still working from time to time to do just that. It’s all thanks to an article voters greenlit at Hudson’s recent Town Meeting, May 1.
“Right now, they cannot do a detail if they’re 65 or older,” Executive Assistant Tom Moses said of retired officers during a February Select Board meeting.
Officers currently do traffic details for groups like the Department of Public Works or for individual homeowners doing work that extends into roadways, according to Chief of Police Richard DiPersio.
However, when the construction season is busy, the police department doesn’t have enough personnel to work every construction job, he explained.
“We can use our retirees for all those scenarios,” DiPersio said.
Before offering a detail to retired police officers, the opportunity is offered to full-time officers. Then, the town has retired officers as a next option.
From there, still unfilled details are offered to departments in surrounding communities.
Currently, that retiree pool consists of just one former Hudson officer. If he were to age out of eligibility in absence of this newly passed Town Meeting Article, Hudson would have had to defer all unfilled details to out of town departments.
“These are guys that know the community and retire after 32 years of service,” DiPersio said. “This gives them the opportunity to do it.”
The Hudson Select Board formally supported the change in February.
Select Board member Scott Duplisea specifically said at the time that he would rather see retired Hudson officers get first shot at those details over officers in other communities.
“Even though I’m not a policeman, I just turned 60, and I’m getting pretty close to that age that I would be able to do this if this was in there,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing.”
According to the Town Meeting warrant, this vote creates new special police officer positions. Officers have to have served at least 20 years of continuous, full service to the Hudson Police Department and ended their service in good standing.
