WESTFIELD – The members of city’s Police Commission addressed a shortage of supervisory police officers Monday evening and appointed as acting sergeants veteran officers Joseph E. Maxton and Jeffrey Baillargeon.
There is no civil service promotion list and no examination for sergeant’s rank has been scheduled so permanent appointments are not possible. The new acting sergeants may serve until an exam is scheduled and a promotion list is generated.
The two sergeant slots are open because one sergeant has been sidelined due to a medical issue and is not expected to be able to return to work until after Sgt. Raymond Manos retires in October. A second sergeant chose to relinquish his responsibilities and return to patrol status.
Current officers eligible to take the sergeant’s exam were canvassed and those who were interested were invited to submit a letter expressing their interest in a promotion.
In addition to the two officers selected, letters of interest were received from community policing officer Douglas Lavalley and traffic bureau and code enforcement officer Harry F. Sienkiewicz.
Commission Chairman Karl Hupfer was unable to attend the meeting due to a medical concern but the remaining commissioners, Leonard Osowski and Felix Otero, constituted a quorum and made the appointments.
Sienkiewicz, who is on vacation out-of-state, did not attend the meeting but the other candidates were present and were interviewed briefly but he commissioners.
Maxton cited his “years of experience” as his primary qualification and said that, in his 28 years with the department, he was worked with the patrol division, the detective bureau and the community policing unit, making him “versatile”.
He also said that he understands the chain of command and pointed out that, in the heat of the moment, the decision of the shift commander needs to be acted upon and if there is any discussion needed it must take place after the immediate problem is resolved.
Baillargeon, a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army, cited his leadership experience, both in the military and in the department where he serves as the firearms instructor, the Taser instructor and the tactical instructor.
He said “I think I’ve earned the respect of both my fellow officers and my superiors in the department” during his 17 years in the department’s patrol division.
Lavalley said that he would make a good sergeant because of his well rounded experience gained in his 12 years with the department and said “I feel I have a good grasp of the mission the police department has serving the community and I think I have the respect and good relationships with a lot of officers. I have the integrity and character to carry out the duties of that position.”
Sienkiewicz was not able to speak for himself due to his absence on vacation but his current supervisor and colleague, Lt. Jerome Pitoniak, spoke on his behalf.
Pitoniak said that he knows Sienkiewicz well, having worked closely with the 18 year veteran of the department in a variety of positions since he became a police officer and Sienkiewicz was one of his field training officers.
He pointed out Sienkiewicz’s service in several areas of the department and said “He’s a hard working guy, probably one of the hardest working guys in the department.”
“Integrity wise, you can’t beat the guy for that” Pitoniak added.
Chief John Camerota recused himself from the discussion about the four candidates saying to his two captains, Michael McCabe and Hipolito Nunez, “You two guys are going to have the toughest job tonight because I can’t voice my opinion because my nephew’s involved” as he asked them to make their recommendations.
McCabe praised all of the candidates and said “I think that you guys (the commissioners) have a very good group to chose from.”
When pressed he said “If I were to rate them … in a temporary position I would go by seniority.”
Nunez said of the candidates “They’re excellent officers, they’re a credit to our department.”
“In my personal opinion, we need strong guys, individuals with command presence” he said. “The recommendations I’m going to make are guys that I see other officers look up to” he added.
“So, if I had to pick, my first choice would be Jeff Baillargeon and my second choice would be Joe Maxton. Nothing against the other two officers but I think they still need some more seasoning.”
Otero said that he was proud that the choice the commission was faced with was so difficult but he said “Seniority rules a lot for me so my recommendation would probably be, or would be, Officer Maxton as the first choice. And then, because of the experience in the military, and actually he does have a lot of seniority as well, I’m going to also recommend Officer Baillargeon for my second choice.”
Osowksi lauded all four candidates but said, since he couldn’t appoint all four candidates, “I’m going to have to go with the seniority. I’m going to go with Joe Maxton and Jeff Baillargeon.”
Otero made the motions to appoint Maxton and Baillargeon as acting sergeants and Osowski voted with him on both motions.
The two new temporary sergeants will serve in their positions until the commission can choose permanent sergeants from a list of candidates certified by the state’s civil service commission. That won’t be available until after an examination is scheduled, administered and scored.
McCabe explained after the commission meeting that the sergeant’s exam is generally scheduled in October and the city’s commission has already applied for city officers to be allowed to take the test.
Once the exam is scored, generally by January, the civil service commission will generate a list of candidates and the commission will be able to consider the highest scoring candidates for permanent positions.
McCabe explained that the number of candidates to be considered is based on a formula of twice the number of positions available, plus one.
Therefore, McCabe said, “the pressure is on” the new acting sergeants to place in one of the top five positions on the list so they can be considered for permanent positions as sergeants.”
