Retired Auxiliary Police Lt. Gerry Crawford listens as the members of the city’s Police Commission – Leonard Osowski, Chairman Karl Hupfer and Felix Otero – discuss a motion to appoint him director of the Westfield auxiliary police force. Crawford was appointed unanimously. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
WESTFIELD – The Westfield Police Commission bolstered the city’s auxiliary police force Wednesday evening by appointing eight new members at their meeting in City Hall.
Westfield Police Chief John Camerota said “The city doesn’t run without the auxiliary police department. Ninety nine per cent of the functions that go on in the city are successful because of the auxiliary police.”
The auxiliary force supplements the full time officers by patrol assignments, particularly on weekends, and the auxiliary officers also work, as volunteers, at special functions in the city helping with traffic and crowd control. The officers are also usually appointed as Special Officers so they will be available to work paid details such as ‘road jobs’.
Lt. Gerry Crawford had commanded the auxiliary force since 2003 until he retired in 2010 but Camerota said that he convinced Crawford to come back in an administrative role to serve as the director of the force. The commission acted to appoint him at the meeting.
Camerota said that Crawford started work as an auxiliary patrolman in 2001 after an unrelated civilian career. He said “I got to know him when he was an auxiliary (officer) and he impressed the hell out of me” so Camerota promoted him to lieutenant and gave him command of the force.
Auxiliary officers tend to fall into two categories.
Many of the officers are young men working to gain experience on their road toward a full time career in law enforcement while others are older persons, often retired from law enforcement careers, who want to ‘give back’ to their community.
Crawford presented the commission with a roster of eight candidates who were interviewed briefly by the commission.
Stephen A. Lent is a Belchertown resident who has worked as an auxiliary officer in Belchertown but said that he hopes to gain more experience working in a larger department to further his goal toward a law enforcement career. He is employed full time as an armed security guard for Bank of America, he said.
Joshua A. Detloff is a Worcester native who currently lives in Southwick and hopes to become a full time police officer. He currently works as a department manager for a retail store in Connecticut.
Gregory D. Lajeunesse said that he has worked for the Hampden County sheriff’s department for 18 years and has attained the rank of corporal. He said he is hoping to extend his career in law enforcement when he retires from his work at the jail.
Ethan J. Egerton said that he is a city native and joined the U.S. Navy after graduating from Westfield High School where he became a corpsman, working as a combat medic with Marines during his Navy career. He said that he has always wanted to be a police officer like his stepfather, a Colorado state trooper. He said he now is a carpenter and owns his own construction business.
Michael E. Dupis said he lives in Springfield where he has worked for about four years as a special police officer at Baystate Medical Center. He said that he is hoping to “further my career in law enforcement.”
Christian A. Auclair is a Russell native who was schooled in Westfield. He said that he works as a correctional officer in Connecticut and works with other correctional officers who serve as auxiliaries and have been happy doing so.
Jarod M. Clark said that he earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice at Westfield State University and currently works as an ATM technician for an armored car service. He said that his father was a police officer in a small town in eastern Massachusetts and he hopes to become a full time police officer.
Michael Rowbotham said that he grew up in the city and graduated from Westfield High School. He said that after he graduated from the University of Massachusetts he was commissioned into the Medical Service Corps of the U.S. Army where he served until he retired in 2005.
Since then, he said, he has been living with his wife on North Road, has been involved with Red Cross in Westfield and is a volunteer coach at WHS. He said that he thinks service as an auxiliary officer will be a good way to stay involved in the community but said that he has no further law enforcement ambitions and plans to stay retired.
The first five candidates have completed the part time/intermittent police academy and Camerota pointed out that the remaining three applicants will have to graduate from that program before they can work. All the candidates will need departmental training he said.
“They’re all great candidates” Camerota said. “We’re very excited to start working with them, we certainly need them.”
All eight candidates were appointed by unanimous votes of the commissioners.
