Hail to the chief.

Interim Police Chief Kevin Walsh was officially announced as the new Wareham chief of police by Town Administrator Derek Sullivan at Tuesday night's Selectmen meeting.

Sullivan said Walsh scored the highest out of the five applicants on the Nov. 6 "assessment center" exam used to determine the new head of the Police Department.

Five applicants for the chief's position, all members of the Wareham Police Department, took the exam last month. The exam was conducted by outside consultants and was made up of 45, equally-weighted exercises that used role playing and task simulation to replicate on-the-job situations.

Walsh became acting chief in July 2013 when then Chief Richard Stanley went on medical leave. Stanley went on to retire in November of 2013, at which time Walsh became the interim police chief.

Sullivan thanked the other four applicants for their efforts. He said he will now enter into contract negotiations with Walsh that would likely be completed by early January.

Walsh did not immediately respond to a request for comment.