ATHOL — The next chief of the Athol Police Department has a background on the beat with municipal departments in Massachusetts and as a special agent with the FBI.
Town Manager Shaun Suhoski has selected Russell T. Kleber to head the department on Chief Timothy Anderson’s retirement July 11.
The search to replace Anderson began three months ago, with a search committee narrowing a field of 20 to three finalists; Kleber, Athol Police Lt. Kevin Heath and Lunenburg Police Lt. Michael Luth.
Kleber has 29 years in law enforcement, beginning as a police officer in Charlton in 1987 and switching to Auburn in 1992, where he specialized in crisis intervention and domestic abuse, according to his resume.
He began working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1996 as a special agent in Providence, R.I., moving to the Boston office in 2003 and to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., in 2010 as a full-time instructor for new recruits and domestic and international police. He is set to retire from the FBI as a supervisory special agent.
Kleber holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Anna Maria College and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Westfield State University.