Message from Police Chief Paul to the GB Community

As the Chief of Police for the Great Barrington Police Department, I apologize to anyone who was negatively affected by our involvement at the WEB Dubois Middle School on December 8, 2023. Over the years, our relationship with our schools has been positive and collaborative, so together we worked with the school to try to navigate this sensitive situation. If our involvement caused distrust and alarm, that was not our intention. I promise you our actions were not meant to disenfranchise anyone or influence school curriculum.

We are aware every day of larger issues that can stoke anger, hatred, and lead to discrimination. It’s been my personal goal as your police chief to head a department that can act as an ally to our community in times that can be polarizing. Whatever your race or gender, ethnicity, legal status or mental health, we strive to serve you all equally. I wish to emphasize again to our residents, teachers, students and wider community that it is not our role to seek out, censor, or “ban books” in our schools.

I appreciate that I cannot take our alliance with our community for granted. The professional actions of police do, and will, come under scrutiny. It is our job to act with integrity and professionalism. We make our best efforts to be transparent about our work.

If there is an opportunity to be included in these discussions going forward, we welcome a seat at the table