LYNN — Public safety officials presented their proposed fiscal year 2027 budgets to the City Council, reporting decreases in crime, progress in hiring new personnel, and continued concerns about aging fire apparatus.

Police Chief Christopher Reddy presented a final FY27 budget of $26,808,887.

Reddy highlighted that the overall crime rate across the city dropped 12% in 2025. Firearm-related crimes fell 15%, which is “a multi-year downward trend driven by targeted enforcement, strategic deployment decisions, and strong community partnerships.”

He added that staffing continues to increase in the department, with added personnel to the downtown bike unit, traffic enforcement, and gang unit investigations.

The department has 184 staff members, with eight officers in the police academy and five scheduled to start at the academy in July.

Reddy said the department expects to send an additional resource officer to Lynn Schools in September.

He added the department also anticipates adding positions to understaffed and investigative units, including domestic violence and drug enforcement units.

Reddy said last year the City Council asked him what staffing level was needed for the department: “I said then, and I still believe now, that an appropriate staffing level is about 220 sworn officers supported by an increase in non-sworn professional staff.”

Fire Chief Dan Sullivan presented a $25,078,060 proposed FY 27 budget.

He said the department currently responds to approximately 16,500 incidents per year: “That’s not how many times our apparatus moves; that’s every time we are sent on a 911 call.”

Sullivan said the department currently employs 164 firefighters on apparatus with additional workers in administration, fire prevention, and training.

The department’s total staff of firefighters is 180.

Sullivan said the department is expecting a new ladder truck this fall.

“This will help with our challenges with keeping our ladders and the engines in service,” he said.

Sullivan added that the Fire Department has been working with the Public Works Department “to do everything we can to keep our apparatus in service.

He said he and other officials anticipate returning to the Fayette Station, which is currently undergoing renovation, by the end of June, with nine on-duty firefighters budgeted for each of the four shifts operated out of the station.

Regarding the department’s equipment, Sullivan said the four latest engines obtained by the department are experiencing similar issues, including radiator and electrical problems: “I just don’t have any trust in the apparatus manufacturers right now. The federal government is going after the apparatus manufacturers.”

He said “the smart thing” for the city to do is to obtain used equipment from other municipalities.

“Instead of spending $2 million for a ladder and having it have all of these problems, to just get something to get us through until the apparatus manufacturer can catch up,” Sullivan said.

Interim DPW Commissioner Mike Donovan said the department currently has two diesel mechanics on staff. They intend to send three additional mechanics to the fire apparatus school.

He added that the DPW is also looking into diesel training for the other department mechanics.

Donovan presented a $6,960,133 budget.

He said the upcoming fiscal year will bring an increase to “training of DPW employees, including mechanics. The intent is to rebuild the DPW garage, foster more in-house repairs rather than outsourcing work, to further train our employees to be able to handle the types of vehicles that are coming to the garage, and to increase training and working conditions for the road crews and park crews.”

Donovan said the department is currently auctioning several “elderly and worn-out” pieces of equipment.

He added that two new pieces of equipment ordered through a previous budget will be arriving this fall.

“We’re in the process also of realigning the fleet to determine what we need to have in-house and what we need to rent in the short term until the city can build the DPW fleet back to where it needs to be,” he said.