How to pick a new police chief?

With the impending retirement of Chief Richard Stanley, Wareham is faced with a decision about how to select his successor. And it’s not as easy as posting a “help wanted” ad and interviewing applicants.

Because the position is governed by Massachusetts Civil Service laws, the town needs to select one of three possible paths: (1) Get a list of top candidates out of this coming spring’s state Civil Service exam, (2) hire a consultant to administer private Civil Service tests to officers already on the town’s police force or (3) find someone who is already chief in another community and do a “lateral transfer” to the Wareham Department.

Conversations with Selectmen Chair Peter Teitelbaum, Town Administrator Derek Sullivan and Wayne Sampson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, make it evident that each method has its pros and cons, so the “right” choice less than obvious.

“We are very early on in the process,” Teitelbaum explained.

Sampson said the first step for the town is deciding whether it wants to hire from within the department. Both cost and the time it will take to get a chief selected are also considerations when looking at the three options.

Lateral Hire

A lateral hire is the process of selecting a current police chief from another area, even out of state. This method was used when the town named Stanley chief in 2011.

Stanley was previously police chief in North Andover. In fact, when first in Wareham as part-time interim chief after Thomas Joyce’s retirement, Stanley continued to serve as full-time chief in North Andover. As such, he had already achieved Civil Service chief status.

While the process of negotiating Stanley’s full-time relocation to Wareham took a little more than six months, that length of time had little to do with the lateral transfer process. That process alone, officials agree, could take as little as a few weeks.

“If they have someone they were interested in, who was also interested in coming to town, the process would really just be signing off on some paperwork,” Sampson explained.

“You would have the widest discretion in the shortest amount of time,” he added.

The downside? Finding that person who, already a chief, wants to relocate to Wareham.

Sole Assessment

If the town decides to hire from within the department, it could do so by hiring a private consultant to administer the state Civil Service exam to local police officers and conduct additional tests of skills and abilities of those who remain candidates based on test results.

Known as a “sole assessment,” the process requires four officers of the same rank apply for the chief’s position, beginning with the highest ranks.

In Wareham’s case, there are two lieutenants, and seven sergeants. So, to be eligible to use the sole assessment process, at least four sergeants would have to apply for the chief’s position. Once that criteria was met, both lieutenants could also be part of the process.

The town would have to pay for the sole assessment, but according to officials it would take just a few months.

May Civil Service exam

Less expensive but more time-consuming would be reliance on the regularly scheduled state Civil Service exam administered around May. In that case, the state bears the cost of all testing.

Should the town choose this route and be open to candidates from throughout the state, the state would provide a list of candidates, ranked based on exam results and other criteria used by the Civil Service system.

Should the town choose this route and hire from within, it could choose to put qualifying Wareham candidates through a state-provided version of the assessment tests when next available. While this route would cost the town very little, it could be more than a year before a new chief is selected.

Heading forward

Using any of the methods, the final decision is up to Sullivan, with the advice and consent of Selectmen who must approve the new chief’s contract.

As of now, Sullivan said he does not have a preference as to how to pick a new chief. The topic will be discussed at a future selectmens meeting.

In regard to using the Civil Service process, interim Chief Kevin Walsh said, “Towns are doing away with that sort of thing.”

Regarding the salary of the next chief, outgoing chief Stanley began at $166,600 per year. This ranked among the top police chief salaries in the state.

Teitelbaum says that discussing salary for another chief is premature.

“It would depend on the negotiation,” he explained.

Sullivan echoed Teitelbaum’s stance, adding the town has no ideal salary for a new police chief. Sullivan will lead negotiations once a new chief is selected.