Holyoke Mayor, Hampden District Attorney, Chief of Police, address recent uptick of public safety issues.

Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, joined by Hampden District Attorney, Anthony Gulluni, Holyoke Police Chief David Pratt, and Holyoke City Council President, Todd McGee, held a press conference on Thursday, September 8th, 2022 at Holyoke City Hall, to discuss the increasing public safety incidents that have occurred recently in the city of Holyoke.

Mayor Garcia said there have been five homicides this year in the city, two of them recently in the past few days.
Also, he recognized that justice should not only be seen from the perspective of the courts, but in terms of access to health services, assistance in cases of mental health and addictions, job and housing opportunities, which are factors of quality of life, that helps avoid public safety incidents.

For his part, District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said that the implementation of tools such as the ShotSpotter gunshot detector has been very helpful in investigating cases in Springfield for the past ten years and called the opinions of elected officials who express themselves negatively towards the police, irresponsible. This in reference to comments issued during the special session of the Municipal Council on September 1 by Councilman José Maldonado-Vélez.

Holyoke Police Chief, David Pratt, stressed that the Holyoke Police Department will work tirelessly to reduce gun violence in the city, thanks to the joint efforts of the mayor and district attorney, as well as collaboration with other agencies at the state and federal level.

Mayor Garcia thanked Chief Pratt and the Holyoke Police Department for their response to the incidents and their efforts to protect the city.

Although the discussion of the city council to accept federal funds from the U.S. Department of Justice for $50,000 was tabled in the special session of September 1st, the City Council president, Todd McGee, stressed that it can be resumed in future sessions to return to be discussed and cast a new vote.

Mayor García stated that regardless of the outcome of that vote, he will go ahead and implement the initiative to install the ShotSpotter gunshot detector and at the same time seek funds, possibly from ARPA, to increase the coverage area to 80% of the areas where the highest number of incidents involving firearms are reported.