It was early in the morning hours of October 26 when Montague Police Sergeant Chris Bonnet and his partner Mike Sevene heard the first shots fired.
They were on patrol in downtown Turners Falls and, upon hearing the gunfire, headed into what those in law enforcement know as the "hot zone." With some help from the neighbors in the area, Bonnet and Sevene determined that the shots had come from a Fourth Street apartment. When they arrived, the door flew open to reveal a man wielding a .357 Magnum. Bonnet and Sevene wrestled the suspect to the ground and disarmed him before he could fire another shot.
For the people living in the neighborhood, the incident was no doubt shocking and unsettling. But it's all in a day's work for guys like Bonnet and Sevene, who put their lives on the line each and every shift to keep the streets of Montague safe. So it might seem ironic to some that after their act of heroism (for which both have received department commendations), Bonnet and Sevene returned to a police headquarters with no shower facilities and no decent place for them to change their clothes.
If drugs had been discovered during the incident, they would have been placed in an old former mailbox marked "evidence" rather than in a proper holding container. And once the pair finished their report of the incident, it would go into a folder that would be jammed into any one of a half-dozen makeshift filing cabinets next to walls with exposed wires, under rain- and water-stained ceilings.
These are everyday working conditions for the men and women of the Montague Police Department, but not for much longer. On Nov. 6, the residents of Montague approved, by a two-to-one margin, a Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion to fund construction of a new $6 million police facility on Turnpike Road, next to the current Turners Falls Fire Station.
The vote marks a 30-plus-year effort to get such a project passed. And by doing so on the fourth try, Montague has bucked what has become a disturbing trend among some area towns, which seem perfectly content to force their cops to work in absolute squalor.
It's likely that the Montague PD would have remained in the bowels of town hall had Police Chief Ray Zukowski not decided to show the public exactly how bad the situation was. He not only called on reporters and photographers to document the conditions, he also invited any resident interested to come in and take a tour of what may right now be the worst public facility in the entire commonwealth.
"I think the vote reflected the public's understanding that there is a real need here," Montague Police Station Building Committee member Jay DiPucchio said. "This is not easy, though. There are a lot of other projects out there and the cost is tough, but the time to do it is now."
For his part, Zukowski couldn't be happier to see the town support not just the project, but the men and women who keep their streets safe every day and night.
"It's very heartening, but it's not just for us," Zukowski said. "This is something that benefits the entire community, and I hope people realize that."
