Curt Brown has a blog post here with a letter from the Police Brotherhood union on promotions. Curt has an additional blog post here about the promotions
There have been a couple of comments asking about the interim promotions which were discussed in executive session. The Select Board did not vote in open session to make the appointments because the Police Department leadership has the authority to make those interim promotions without action by the Select Board. Captain Soares did present the interim appointments as a plan to the Select Board in executive session before inquiring of affected individuals if they were willing to step up. I think that is an entirely appropriate use ...
... of executive session under Chapter 39 section 23B of Massachusetts General Law under subsection (3) or (8). The Select Board agreed with the plan and the police officers were asked.
The Select Board has a public discussion and vote on the interim plan on our agenda for our next meeting. There was no opposition to the proposed interim appointments.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Police Department leadership
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44 comments:
Bill
I don't agree with your explanation concerning interim appointments within the police department. Captain Soares didn't appoint himself as interim chief, how can he appoint interim deputy chief. This call is made by the select board. I do believe that Captain/acting police chief Soares can appoint someone to be in charge of detectives. This is an obvious slap in the face of the sergeants. Appointing a sergeant as interim deputy chief is a direct slap in the face of the lieutenants. The Dartmouth police union never should have allowed these positions to be take out of civil service. Same old politics as usual. This time the police union was in bed with the selectmen. Who was the union officials, during the change over. I bet it was Joe Vieira and his crew of Kool Aid Drinkers.
Frank,
I guess you forget there is an Active Chief who is more than capable of making those appointments.
I guess it also slipped your memory that in the past the most qualified person was put into a position regardless of rank.
Do you remember Lt Pacheco being the executive officer of Capt Silva??
Seems you have an agenda!!
I will admit this all sounds fuzzy to me. I have no issues with our police dept and think they do the best they can with what they have to work with. What I dont understand is this.....
How can an acting chief be appointed BEFORE the current chiefs vacates the seat?
(an acting position usually means the position is empty)
How can and acting deputy chief position be created, and yet the individual selected (Sgt Szala) was the only one from the police dept who applied for the job, and yet was found "unqualified" by the search firm the town paid to find a deputy chief? (he didnt even get an interview) Hmmm?
I will admit it all sounds odd, and will probably work itself out, but, it looks funny in the eyes of the public..
So what does it take and who has to agree to, to get these positions back under civil service?
The appointment is to take effect upon the Chief vacating the position. The other appointments were based upon recomandations of the police leadership and are temporary until a new Chief is hired.
Is this that difficult to comprehend?
As it relates to acting chief Gary Soares, the selectmen should stop this merry-go-round an appoint Gary as the Dartmouth police chief. As it relates to Bob Szala, I don't understand why he didn't take promotional exams and become a lieutenant. As it relates to the vacant captain position, I don't understand why the acting chief didn't appoint an acting captain. I'm all for Szala becoming the full time deputy chief, but isn't it keeping in step to make another sergeant and captain.
With this new board, it appears the only person(s) qualified to a leadership role is from another town or state. According to the select board, the town is going in a new direction, but I'm not convinced the direction is in the best interest of the town.
The selectmen will appoint a chief from outside the department and Gary Soares will revert back to captain. The selectmen will appoint a deputy chief from the outside and Bob Szala will revert back to running the detectives.
This will leave Captain Gary Soares, and Lieutenants, Rutch, Faria, and Brzezinski to advise the new deputy, and new chief. I wouldn't want to be the outsider. I give the new guy/gal six months and they will be looking for another position in another town.
Joe Michaud for represenative. What ever it takes, Joe Michaud must go. Isn't he the same politican who told us he would not vote for the two tier tax system? Joe belongs in the state house.
I read these posts and wonder why all the hoopla. The best and most qualified person should obtain the job, this job is not some minimum wage job, it is in probably close to 150,000.00 dollars with benefits. The job description should not be based on longevity, time served and favors owed, it should be based on a set of criteria, and the job description. The selection should be made by a company qualified to analyze resumes, and conduct a independent assessment center. Let history be our guide, the last time the town did a nation wide search which cost tens of thousands, the connected guy with an associates degree was chosen, when many other more qualified people had applied, i remember Enid making the statement on tv before the announcement that this was not a "bag job" and the most qualified person was hired. Lets cut to the chase, retirement is based on salary for you last several years of employment a promotion is the key to a fortune if you play your cards right, and grease the right politicians. A person from the outside would not receive this same benefit because they would never obtain the ten year tenure needed, to collect a pension so going outside saves the town money, and maybe the best person would be hired. Fear not the union's letter, that the police department will crumble if a favorite son is not hired. Look at the school department many times the lead personal are hire from outside the system and look at the caliber of people the school department has in the top management. Let all apply and many the best person win, fear not competition, it will make you stronger. Hopefully the selectboard will not crumble and a national search will be made, if not it means the good olde boy network made a power play, at the tax payers expense.
Get a clue and save us the speech. There are advantages of inside and out. Consider this Einstein. If you hire a chief from another Mass town/city, the pension is transferable. Ot goes your stupid theory of saving money.
Get a clue?
look in the mirror Einstein. I never said only choose a chief from mass, i siad to a national search and may the best candidadte be found. You need to get a clue if you think that looking at the advantages on saving money are "stupid" you must be a union thug trying to intimidate again..The sky is falling the sky is falling, hire from within, to stop the sky from falling.
i siad to a national search and may the best candidadte be found.
ODD, the JOB DESCRIPTION requires a thorough knowledge of the General Laws of Massachusetts. How do you expect and candidate from outside mass to be knowledgable in the MGL's and the thousands of caselaw decisions that Massachusetts police officers have?
Quite simply if the search comittee uses the guidlines of the job description the new chief will most certainly have to come from Mass.
Hiring a Chief, responsible for writing department policy, who has no idea about Mass LAWS is a lawsuit waiting to happen. NOT a good idea.
JOB DESCRIPTION,
Ever think that maybe a candidate may have attended LAW School in Mass, and maybe moved away, or at one time or another had worked In Mass as a cop and now wants to return, to their roots. Maybe Braton will leave LA and come home to Mass. Any hoot you sound like an insider to me who just wants the status quo to remain, pay big bucks for the favorite son rather that the most qualified son. Bye the way glad to see you have enough time to post from the PD's IP address you must be a hard worker or a favorite son.
Its sad a discussion leads to insults and name calling. Dont we all live in the same town? I like discussion and different pints but this blog encourages this bad behavior. sad
Bye the way glad to see you have enough time to post from the PD's IP address you must be a hard worker or a favorite son.
Wow, how low will you stoop to make a point. I was not within 15 miles of the Dpd when I wrote my comment.
Once again, lies lies lies. You should be ashamed of yourself for blatantly LYING. You are entitled to an opinion, but when you LIE to make a point you are adisgusting human being.
Once again, lies lies lies
I apologize i did not know that you were so unique that you had the same IP address as the dpd, or maybe it attached its self to you when you left work, and you posted from home. You should be ashamed of yourself! trying every roads block to stop somebody from the outside of getting the job. Oh yeah thats right you probably just work in town, and do not live in town.
I apologize i did not know that you were so unique that you had the same IP address as the dpd, or maybe it attached its self to you when you left work, and you posted from home.
If, and that is a big IF, you had any clue at all a simple check of my IP address would reveal my service is provided by Charter.net which is not even located in Dartmouth. You can lie all you want, but the truth is the truth. I am delivering the truth and you are still making up LIES.
I hope you get over your lapses in judgment and learn to tell the truth. I feel sorry for anyone you know that does not know you are a pathological liar.
I am delivering the truth and you are still making up LIES.
IF and on IF you were truthful you would admit that you are a cop, and do not want any change just that status quo. Then you question why somebody from the outside maybe chosen, and rightfully so never realized what a tight nit good olde boy net work that watches over this town, GOD help us all.
Results speak louder then words. During the Kaliz administration, New Bedford appointed a chief from outside the department. The new chief last a couple or three years, when informed that his contract would not be renewed.
Westport did the same thing, but the outside chief sued the town and received a $100.000 settlement. As a result, New Bedford has made all appointments from within the department. Westport has done the same thing. If the SB choses an outsider, the poor bastard ( person with unknown farther) will be on anxiety medication within the year.
As we all know, opinions are like rectum, everyone has one. Some opinions contain a certain amount of truth, while others are just spoken words. My above mentioned is facts, not politics. Most, if not all, professional search organization are more political then the select board. Then to have their favorite people who study to become a police chief. They attend seminars and mock assessment centers, all this in the name of gaining the advantage. Through out Massachusetts and every state in the country, there are people who travel from town/city, to town/city and apply for a police chief position. They are called professional want to be chiefs. Don't be food or believe that the search committee isn't in bed with a few of these well , extremely professional police chiefs. Dartmouth has always hired a chief from within the ranks of the Dartmouth police department. I can't remember any bad choices or scandalous investigations.
If the town, board of selectmen want to bring in an unknown then do it, but don't ever believe for a second that the appointed chief is anyone better then the people we have within the department.
As we all know, opinions are like rectum, everyone has one.
Why is everybody so afraid of investigating the possibility that the most qualified candidate maybe be from the outside. The last post is obviously a cop who is afraid of change.
Are the DPD getting first bid at the job, like a regular business? REMEMBER the argument a year ago was that Dartmouth should be run like a business...well here is the chance. Current employees usually get first BID.
Let the truth be told.
Most, if not all males, have a dislike for police officers. Most, if not all females, want to have a love affair with a police officers. No, woman don't come straight out and ask, but in their inner thoughts, they are fascinated with a man in uniform, especially a police officer. The man with the 44 mag strapped to his belt. This is the most noticeable reason why police officers have such a high divorce rate, second in the nation. The average life expectancy is 57 years. I personally know of six police officers, who have been married four times, to four different females. I wonder if this is the reason for the high mortality rate. Police officers have a type (A) personality, they are heterosexuals, dislike homosexuals, and child molesters. Theye known.
do their best work when a child is reported missing or hurt. I believe the high suicide rate is due to the hopelessness they have found throughout society, it can't be all the women they had.
Just about now, most, if not all readers are so pissed with this post, that they would shoot me dead, if they could only find me. I'm just some local town/city cop, with more degree's then you can find on a thermometer, and applied for the new chiefs position in Dartmouth. Hope to see you soon..
It doesn't get any uglier than this does it? Typical Dartmouth. Objectivity, clear and concise procedures, and trying to get things done in a professional manner. These do not apply to the public sector in Dartmouth, and unfortunately, probably never will.
Lets someone run the department that can archive accreditation, it has been promised since Steve Soares, Randi, Medeiros & Mark Pacheco. Pacheco stated on T.V that within 1 year after taking over the department would obtain accreditation. Pacheco made this promise in May of 2004, no accreditation yet. Every Town and city seeking accreditation in the area had achieved it. The bottom line is that inside selection = laziness, maybe somebody from the outside can achieve accreditation. It has been over twenty years accreditation has been promised with no results. The town has always paid high salaries to the chief and his staff with very low results. other that making unkept promises. Maybe an outside chief & deputy is the way to go, just a thought.
Every Town and city seeking accreditation in the area had achieved it.
This is not a fact, Actually it is B.S.!! Obtaining national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.(CALEA) Out of approximately 18,000 police departments in the United States, less than 600 are accredited by this independent agency.
3.3% of police departments are Accredited! Surely not an easy feat as the previous poster would have you assume.
Every Town and city seeking accreditation in the area had
achieved it.
Get your facts straight, chief souza in Fall River did it in less that three years, and in Freetown chief abbott took about four years, Steve soares started in 1985 [twenty four years ago] and every chief that replaced him has promised accreditation with no results, the simple fact that stay from with in formula = failure, maybe somebody from the outside will have more motivation and intelligence. Give the outside person a chance at the interview process, why are the good olde boys so afraid of change? The new person may uncover too many SKELETONS?
FALL RIVER —
The city’s police department has earned the highest level of accreditation after recently being recognized by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
The national accreditation comes after the department was able to show it complied with 409 of CALEA’s standards, including 334 mandatory standards. The department was also required to meet at least 80 percent of 75 optional standards and met that goal by achieving 91.3 percent of those goals.
The Fall River Police Department is now one of about 600 departments nationally to receive the recognition from 18,000 police departments nationwide. It is the largest municipal agency in New England to be fully accredited.
Seems my facts are STRAIGHT. 600 out of 18,000 is 3.3%. Show me the error in my math or in my logic. The FACTS I presented are FACTS, the B.S. you are spewing are speculation. You are the one who said every department seeking accreditation gets accredited. So sorry you are wrong and arrogant.
Seems my facts are STRAIGHT. 600 out of 18,000 is 3.3%.
Remove your head from the dark place that you left it. What I said was The Fall River Chief & the Freetown Chief achieved accreditation in less than 4 years. Stevie Soares started accreditation back in 1985, through out his tenure, and every chief in Dartmouth [randi medeiros& mark pacheco] since then has tried, to achieve this goal. Twenty four four years later Dartmouth has no accreditation. The morale of this story is always hire an inside candidate you will get what you wish for " LAZY, USELESS & INCOMPETENT LEADERSHIP" bye the bye you mention your 3.3% departments are accredited not every police department can obtain accreditation, you need certain number of officers, and a certain building style, of the 18,000 thousand departments you document, only a fraction can be accreditation, so STOP yourself when it comes to SPEWING MIS-INFORMATION. The average reader needs to educate themselves on CEALA Standards to understand you are an insider (COP) who wants no change in the STATUS QUE. Maybe you want to sit in a big chair. Be not afraid of change and may the best person obtain the job.
3.3 nationwide. The facts speak for themselves. I agree with the poster who claims that accredidation is a huge goal. The fact is accredidation would cost Dartmouth 10's of thousands of dollars we currently don't have. Chasing a goal at the expense of limiting taxes is insanity personified. Dartmouth has a great PD, seeking accredidation is rediculous at this point.
If 80% of department nationwide were accredited I would agree. It is clear that accredited departments are the minorty and receive no bonuses for reaching that milestone. Thank goodness we are not accredited.
LAZY, USELESS & INCOMPETENT LEADERSHIP
Didn't Fall River and Freetown both have layoffs recently? I don't recall Dartmouth having layoffs. If accredidation is SOOOOO good they surely shouldn't have had to cut jobs!!
LAZY, USELESS & INCOMPETENT LEADERSHIP
Fall River & Freetown did not have their votes give the police department a extra 520,000 dollars in override money to fund the cops, that is why they had layoffs, Dartmouth got the money if not they would have had layoffs as well. The bottom line is that the chief who is walking out the door promised accreditation in a 1 year period it has been 5 no accreditation. Accreditation cost very little money, but the insurance savings are HUGE. Ask your self this question how many time have you seen law suit articles about fall river & Freetown lately? I can remember a few about Dartmouth recently, accreditation helps prevent lawsuits.
accreditation helps prevent lawsuits.
This is the biggest farce I have heard yet. Accredidation does not give the officers any more training than they currently have.
Lawsuits are the result of greedy people looking for the town to settle quickly to avoid bad press. In all the recent lawsuits name one where the town was found at fault!! Just one if you can find it, because you can't.
Accredidation does not give the officers any more training than they currently have.
You are totally wrong it does provide more training and policy that everybody must follow, this prevent the town from having every officer complete a task in his or her own style. For instance a police for accredidation standards would preclude an officer from roadside strip searches, to obtain a cheap thrill. Justa thought
Can we stop this mud slinging people, we need to focus on what is important the safety and well being of the town residents. We need to hire the most qualified leader for the department, especially with more cuts happening as we speak from the Governors office.
For instance a police for accredidation standards would preclude an officer from roadside strip searches, to obtain a cheap thrill. Justa thought
For the record the (alleged) strip search on the side of the road was a Female Massachusetts State Police Trooper not a Dartmouth police officer.
The DPD does have policies and procedures which were and are followed, they are called S.O.P's.
fact: Freetown laid off 2 officers..well sort of. (1) of these officers was hired by Dartmouth. he was already a part time officer in Dartmouth and was full time in Freetown. His academy training was paid for by Freetown. Freetown was well aware of this situation and he was NOT considered laid-off. The other officer was laid off for 30days, and was returned to work forth-with once the other officer was formally on Dartmouth's payroll.
currently noone is on laid-off status in Freetown.
Freetown laid off 2 officers......... you could have stopped there the answer is YES.
Just curious if the same considerations should be made when replacing our town's Finance & Budget Director. Argueably the most pivotal, influencial and powerful position in town. This person will require State Law knowledge as well. while also having expetise in the area of municipal finance and who ultimately all department heads including a Police Chief reports to from a budget standpoint. How come no one is jumping up down shouting that we need to hire from within?? Well thats easy...it doesnt exsist. So the town will no have to find the most qualified person. Doesnt sound to bad to me.
So the town will no have to find the most qualified person. Doesnt sound to bad to me.
The most qualified person with intimate knowledge of Massachusetts finance, not a nation wide search.
Doesnt sound to bad to me.
I happen to agree with you choose the best candidate, you may find a golden child. The town pays a good salary they should have a large pool of candidates to choose from. May the best candidate obtain the job, from either the inside or outside. Good luck to all that apply.
Once again 3 out of the 5 board of fools are ruining the Town even more than before. We talk about change, well I am personally tired of outsiders invading MY town and forcing their out of state or town views on me. I personally like the idea of a Chief and Dep. Chief to be someone who has lived in the Town. Someone who has graduated from OUR schools, someone who has OWNERSHIP in the town. Family friends LOYALITY to the Town. Not a Hired Gun from somewhere else in the country. Yup, we need someone who has retired from a PD or left because" They Needed to Go In a Different Direction" YA RIGHT. I think we heard this before from the Bully. Yup it cost the Town a extra $7,500 to make the BC/BS equal to Tewksbury. Maybe we can make the SAME money saving deal with the "New" "Out of Town in order to save money and be more qualified"Chief. I think it is about time to go in a new direction. How about loyalty and trust. That would be neat. By not allowing the in house qualified candidate to compete with the other" hopfully not hand picked by the leader of the pack" candidates for the position is a kick in the butt to the people of this Town. In a sick way I hope he gets elected to the State House. He can do less damage to the Town that way. Well I will be waiting to see what Dog and Pony Show happens on the 8th of this month, because as we all know it is very important to get a chief in place before the election.
Great that we are getting new blood in this town. It's about time. Sometimes you can't have what you think you should have or think you are owed. If the best candidate is not in our department, so be it. Thank you, Select Board. This is a wise decision. MRI advanced three candidates for executive administrator, and the Select Board made a very wise choice in Mr. Cressman. There will be nothing any different this time in their recommendations for chief and budget director and and the Select Board will choose the best for each.
Anonymous said...
By not allowing the in house qualified candidate to compete with the other" hopfully not hand picked by the leader of the pack"
I find you post humoring, you did not complain when you in house candidate buddy vaulted past two other candidates that scored higher on the test, he was made captain and nobody complained about this. Just praise was given to the board for that decision. i guess when the good olde boy network is in your favor you praise the board, but when they go against the bully pulpit you spew from, you challenge the boards decision making process. you are probably a cry baby cop who wants the status quo.
First of all "DAVE" get your facts straight. He is not my buddy. Cry baby cop. Did you see that on TV or did you come up with that on your own. What ever happened to TOWN pride. I think the town tried this experiment before. Lets recall: DPW Superintendent- New Hampshire man / Supervisor Highway Yard - Connecticut man. Lets see what happened, "Law suits/liable suits/discrimination suits"Paid out MONEY to undeserving people. Production at DPW during their time / Lowest all time record..
Selectman got rid of them YA' Today, Townie Superitendent Hickox LONG TERM DEDICATED EMPLOYEE -/ -Life Long Resident- Highway Supervisor Pinheiro. "RESULTS", The best DPW we have had in years no problems.
Town of Westport Outside Chief. That worked out real good for them. I think it has cost them over $80,000 to get the best man for the job.
City of New Bedford Outside Chief. Provided him a house did not last long, Cost the city of New Bedford over $100,000 to get rid of him. Yup like I said New Direction for the Town Can WE Afford It. Hust keep on acting like your Idol "Tuff Tom Hodgson" 1.5 Million and Counting. KEEP THE TAX DOLLARS COMMING. You are a fool to believe the Select Board is doing the right thing, or I know you must have moved in to Dartmouth within the past few years. Made a liitle money and wanted to be one of us.
If we are to adhere to "town pride," we might as well still be under the good ol' boy regime. Look how far that got us.
We need to be vigilant in overseeing where our money goes and whom we elect into office. "Town pride" should not equate with allegiance to any
one person or any one segment of the population, except the residents of Dartmouth.
Point in question: How many pro-override people do we have to place into office before OVERRIDE is the next hot issue in town?
Pay close attention to the upcoming election.
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