CHESHIRE, Mass. — The town is holding off on filling one of its full-time police officer positions until a new police chief is hired.

 

"I think at this point … we're getting by. Believe me, we need somebody, we need a couple of people, but we've gotten this far since February with what we have," interim Chief Timothy Garner told the Selectmen on Tuesday night.

 

"I don't want to say it's working, because obviously we need more help, but we're getting through." 

 

The department is authorized to have two full-time officers and a police chief. One of its full-timers resigned to pursue another position outside the area on April 17 and its former police chief, Michael Alibozek, was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex.

 

It is currently staffed with one full-time officer and Garner, who retired as chief in 2022, is serving as interim chief. 

 

During Tuesday's meeting, Garner emphasized that the new chief should be involved in hiring the officer, as they will be working closely together.

 

The town has been consulting with Russell Stevens, of Public Safety Consultants LLC, on the hiring of a new chief. 

 

Following the recent vacancy in the full-time position, Stevens suggested the town fill the full time officer position as soon as possible given the "significant service gap" of having only one person on staff that can do law enforcement, Vice Chair Shawn McGrath said during a Selectmen's meeting last month. 

 

At the time of the recommendation, McGrath was chair. During Tuesday's meeting, the board restructured, electing Selectwoman Michelle Francesconi as chair and McGrath as vice chair. 

 

The restructuring follows the Monday's election of Scott McWhirt, who took his seat on the board on Tuesday. 

 

During an April meeting, the board indicated a salary range for the police chief of $95,000 to $110,000. 

 

According to Stevens, the search for a new chief is projected to take about three months. 

 

Once the new chief is hired, the town can consider implementing a third full-time officer position, because of the lack of part-time officers. 

 

The town used to have a handful of part-time officers, but because of the 2020 police reform law, those positions have become difficult to fill. 

 

Since part-time officers are required to complete the same Police Officer Standardized Training (POST) as full-time officers, many opt to pursue full-time positions instead.

 

To address the lack of available part-timers, officials are considering hiring a third full-time officer. 

 

"You're hiring one quarter of the entire Police Department before the chief comes in. I would want to be part of that if I was coming in as the chief," McWhirt said, adding that the hiring of a full-time officer could also take some time because of POST training requirements.

 

Although no formal vote was taken, board members agreed during Tuesday's meeting to hold off on filling the vacant full-time officer position so the new chief can be involved in the hiring process — both for that role and, if approved, a third position.

 

The town will be requesting residents to participate in a survey to provide input on what they are looking for in a police chief. More details to come on how to participate. 

 

In other news:

 

Following a walkthrough with engineers, the fire station's meeting/training room remains closed. 

 

Department of Public Works Director Corey McGrath informed the board in April that the fire station needs to have a geotechnical study done because of the chance of a subsurface issue.

 

Hill Engineering has an additional cost for geotechnical engineering. As of Tuesday, McGrath anticipates having a quote from them soon.

 

In April the board agreed that a geotechnical study should be done before any fixes to the building are complete to avoid issues from arising in the future. 

 

The April meeting was Vice Chair Jason Levesque's last meeting. He has been on the board for seven years and is not seeking another term.

 

Levesque wished the board good luck and said he hopes the town knows they tried a lot for the budget.

 

"I think we tried to do a really deep dive, and started looking back at our expenses to try and trim a lot of the budget in the interest of the taxpayers and [I hope to] see that continue, as long as we scrutinize every dollar then it's well spent," he said. 

 

Levesque said he hopes voters know the board did its homework before presenting them with the budget.

 

"I think it was a big change that kind of occurred while I've been on, not my doing, but it was a good change," he said. 

 

The board thanked him for his time and wished him the best of luck on his next adventure.