Although there were no homicides in April, Springfield police were busy with several stabbings and shootings.
SPRINGFIELD - At 12:01 a.m., Springfield police are scheduled to assume responsibility of homicide investigations in the city, ending a one-month trial run where homicides were to be investigated by state police assigned to the Hampden District Attorney’s office, instead of Springfield police detectives.
Poet T.S. Eliot famously described April as the cruelest month, but you couldn’t necessarily prove it in Springfield. Although Springfield had six slayings since Jan. 1, April came and went without a single new homicide.
Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni, who in March directed troopers with the Crime Prevention and Control Unit to take over any new homicide cases during April, said Friday that the experiment was a success, if only in theory if not practice.
“I’m certainly grateful there wasn’t one (homicide),” Mastroianni said.
He said if similar circumstances arise in the future, and he feels Springfield police are swamped, he will not hesitate to do it again.
He said where the change proved successful was with the degree of cooperation shown by Springfield police, state police and Mastroianni’s office, he said.
Springfield police and state police have worked together over the years in many aspect of police work, but Mastroianni said he had some concerns there could be hard feelings among some Springfield officers, especially if they perceived the move as a punishment.
“There was some questions, but right from the outset in the police station there was remarkable cooperation by everyone to make it work,” he said.
Mastroianni said there are no plans to revisit the change in the future, but he said he will not hesitate to do so again “if there is a time when the Springfield detectives are overburdened.”
At the time he announced the change, the Springfield homicide unit was dealing with six separate homicides in a six-week span between Jan. 26 and March 13.
Mastroianni pointed out that one of the reasons for the move was to free Springfield police to play catch-up on outstanding cases.
And in the investigation of the death of Craig Fish, the city’s sixth homicide, that is exactly what happened, he said.
Springfield detectives charged Roger L. Nay with murder on April 12, almost a month to the day of Fish being stabbed to death on Maple Street.
Capt. Peter Dillon of the Springfield Police Detective Bureau said that unless the plan changes, he was told his homicide unit will get the first call on any new cases as of midnight Saturday.
“As of midnight, the Springfield police will handle any new homicides in the City of Springfield.”
Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Springfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said assessing how well it worked is difficult because the change was never put into practice.
“How do you comment on something that did not happen,” he said. “In our opinion, no murder is a good murder, and we hope it continues.”
Just because there were no homicides in April, it does not mean the city was free from violent crime and gunplay.
Despite no homicide investigations, Springfield detectives still had a lot on their plate, in particular in the last two weeks when there was a sharp increase in violent assaults, he said.
“We still responded to other crimes being committed,” he said.
According to police data, from April 1 when the state police took over homicide investigations through April 28, there were 9 shootings resulting in injuries. Four of people suffered serious injuries.
There were also 23 stabbings, 14 of which resulted in significant lacerations.
Delaney said violent crime typically picks up in the city once the weather starts getting warmer and the days longer.
“Summer is really different from other seasons,” Delaney said. “There are more people out on the streets (and) crime seems to go up.”
Springfield police are readying summer deployments that to increase visibility, such as bicycle and walking patrols, particularly in high crime areas, he said.
“Visibility is the key,” he said.