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Pittsfield Police Chief, City Council President Dies At 79

The Pittsfield city seal
The City of Pittsfield, Massachusetts
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City of Pittsfield

A former Pittsfield, Massachusetts police chief and city councilor died Christmas Day.

Gerald Lee, who was living at the Berkshire Place nursing home on South Street, had cancer. He spent decades in Pittsfield’s police department and 12 years on the city council starting in 2000 – becoming council president in 2004. Mayor Linda Tyer describes his death as the end of an era.

“Whether he is a family man or a Pittsfield police officer and then the chief, a member of the city council and the council president, he has left behind a lasting legacy," said Tyer.

Lee was 79.

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018 after working at stations including WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Berkshire County, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. You can reach him at jlandes@wamc.org with questions, tips, and/or feedback.
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