Newton Police Committee Approves $330,000 in Free-Cash Spending for Guns, Recruitment, and Training

NEWTON — June 3, 2026 — Newton's Public Safety and Transportation Committee unanimously approved $330,000 in police spending and debated a state traffic-camera bill during its June 3 meeting. The committee voted 5-0 to approve a $225,000 free-cash appropriation to replace end-of-life 40-caliber service pistols with 9-millimeter firearms equipped with red-dot reflex sights and weapon-mounted lights, and then voted 5-0 again to approve a $105,000 package covering a recruitment-marketing campaign, a local police-hiring register to bypass the increasingly thin civil service list — which drew only about 2,700 statewide applicants in 2022, down from roughly 30,000 three decades ago — use-of-force training with national consultant Eric Daigle, and an independent evidence-room audit. Chief Timothy Cahoon, appearing via Zoom from vacation, credited Sergeant Danny Valenti with groundwork on the firearms procurement. The committee then took up House Bill H3754, which would let cities opt into a traffic-camera enforcement program; state Representatives Greg Schwartz and Amy Sangiolo, both co-sponsors, briefed the panel, while Cahoon said he could not support the bill "in its current form," citing Massachusetts Chiefs of Police concerns about owner rather than operator liability and the removal of officer discretion. The committee voted 6-0 to take no action, with Chair Tarik Lucas indicating a formal endorsement resolution will come before the full council.