MONTAGUE – There may be a new permanent police chief in Montague come Dec. 1, according to Town Administrator Steve Ellis, and one of the three people in the running is the town’s former acting police chief, Lt. Christopher Bonnett, who was arraigned in Franklin County District Court on June 29 on a charge of assault and battery on a household member, after an alleged altercation with his girlfriend earlier that day.
Of the five interested candidates, three participated in the Civil Service assessment center — acting Police Chief Chris Williams, Sergeant James Deery and Bonnett, who is currently on administrative leave.
Ellis said Bonnett was legally allowed to take the assessment center, because Civil Service sergeants, lieutenants and acting chiefs are eligible to participate, no matter their standing.
All three candidates completed and submitted their education and experience information to Civil Service, according to Ellis. The assessment center will go to Civil service, which will rank the candidates, and the results will be sent to the Selectboard.
“Within two weeks of Oct. 26, we’re hoping to have word back with a ranked-order list of candidates,” Ellis said to the Selectboard this week. “There will not be specific details as to each examination, but a ranking of who ranked best.”
If the board receives the rankings from Civil Service on time, Ellis said the Selectboard will decide on the new police chief on either Nov. 19 or 26.
“The Selectboard will look at the rankings and use their best judgemental to select the next police chief,” Ellis said.
He said the Selectboard is aware of Bonnett’s legal process, as far as court dates.
The court case for Bonnett was transferred from Franklin County District Court to Holyoke District Court in August. Bonnett’s pretrial hearing was held on Oct. 26, and his first appearance is scheduled for Nov. 14, with bench trial on Dec. 5. Bonnett’s attorney, Michael McHale, said the case was transferred to the Holyoke District Court so that there is no one with any ties to Bonnett working on the case.
“It was transferred because the Northwest District Attorney’s office would have a distinct conflict of interest handling the case,” McHale said.
Bonnett was named the acting police chief in October 2017, replacing Police Chief Charles “Chip” Dodge, who was placed on administrative leave by the Selectboard. Dodge, who had been chief since 2012, resigned in March as part of a separation agreement reached with the town.
Bonnett has been a lieutenant since 2016.
After Bonnett’s arrest and arraignment, Christopher Williams, a staff sergeant with the department, was appointed acting chief by the Selectboard.