TURNERS FALLS — The new acting police chief, the department’s third head in 10 months, will look to mend the “tarnished” image of Montague Police Department, he said following his appointment by the Selectboard Monday night.
While Staff Sgt. Chris Williams was given the official nod to be the new police chief in town, it came, serendipitously, on the same night the board was ready to move forward with a decision on whether to continue to consider using a civil service exam as the way to hire a future full time chief.
First off, the decision to appoint another acting chief of police was made in the follow-up to the arrest of its prior acting chief, Christopher Bonnett, who had been appointed following the departure of the last full time police chief, Charles “Chip” Dodge. Bonnett was charged just over a week ago on assault and battery to his girlfriend in Greenfield District Court, and pleaded not guilty. He is now on paid administrative leave while the judicial process plays out.
The town is hopeful that this time around, everything will work out smoothly, as is the new chief, Williams, who is in his 24th year full time on the force.
“In light of what has been going on in our department,” Williams began. “Our image has been tarnished.”
He said he hopes some additional training, the hiring of a full time staff so there can be more officers on the street, interacting with the community, and more outreach in general can help out the situation. Town Administrator Steve Ellis, when introducing him to the public at the meeting, noted he views Williams as having the full backing of his fellow officers.
Williams made a couple of administrative decisions before the board, appointing John Dempsey, the second-most tenured officer on staff next to himself, as acting sergeant. He moved to make Daniel Miner the new school resource officer, noting he spoke with the superintendent earlier.
Addressing the broader issue at play, the board unanimously voted to approve an agency to guide the civil service process to hire a full time chief.
As Williams works to strengthen up the Montague Police Department, hoping to get it back to being fully staffed and increasing community outreach when possible especially in response to the opioid epidemic, he and the other sergeants in the police department will likely be eyeing the full time chief position.
There is no official timeline on this process yet, but there are a few early parameters Town Administrator Steve Ellis laid out.
The cost to run the civil service exam through the agency will likely be about $5,800, Ellis said, if the three or four expected internal candidates apply.
The hiring group was suggested by Ellis, who fielded two bids to handle this process and chose the cheaper one. He recommended to the board Integrity Testing, LLC, but said there is an “interesting wrinkle here.”
The group was founded in 2012 by retired police chiefs Alfred Donovan and Richard Stanley; Donovan was the lead internal investigator on the Dodge case. The agency said Donovan will not be a part of this hiring process and instead include other former chiefs and a current acting chief to help, Ellis said.
It is Ellis’ plan to include a community group in the hiring process, which will ideally be made up of members from across the villages of Montague, ranging in demographics. This group will be able to contribute in the process, but does not ultimately decide who is the next chief.
The board hopes to have a contract with Integrity Testing to vote on by July 23rd.
Residents posed questions on whether civil service was the right decision still, following the issue with Bonnett.
Member Michael Nelson said he was steadfast in his views that civil service was the right choice and if they were to change now, it might be viewed that they only had selected to go with civil service to best give Bonnett the chance to be the future full time chief.
Chairman Richard Kuklewicz said at the time of the decision to switch to civil service, amidst the stir over the investigation with Dodge, that it was “more reactionary than really measured and thoughtful.” He is now committed to the process and letting it play out to select the next chief, and then from there, once there is stability for the department, the board and the community, decide what should be the best practice moving forward.
“I do believe we have had a couple of exceptional, unusual things happen that, to me, are not evident of a systemic issue in our police department but just happenstance in their lives,” Ellis said.
Regardless of the process to this point — and in lieu of a group led by David Detmold that spoke before the board minutes earlier about the opioid crisis in town and how it may be hurting downtown Turners Falls — he expressed pride in the Montague Police.
“Through all of this, the department officers have been there on the street to protect us and do what they can,” Kuklewicz said.
You can reach
Joshua Solomon at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264