WESTFIELD – 2015 has gotten off to a great start for Westfield Police Chief John A. Camerota, who was granted a pay increase in his annual salary in December.
Starting January 1, Camerota received an annual salary of $164,617.09, a decision ratified by Mayor Daniel M. Knapik and Karl Hupfer, chairman of the Westfield Police Commission.
Camerota, who has served as police chief since 1998 according to the Westfield Police Department’s website, is now one of the highest paid city police chiefs in the region.
According to the agreement signed by Knapik, Hupfer and Camerota, the chief’s pay will be 20 percent higher than his highest paid captain.
The funding for the increase is subject to appropriation in the FY15 budget.
Chiefs in other western Mass. cities are similarly well-compensated, with Holyoke Police Chief James Neiswanger earning $144,430, Chicopee Chief William Jebb bringing in $115,096 and Agawam Chief Eric Gillis earning $110,338 in base salary, along with $29,901 in direct benefits. Neiswanger was appointed in 2011, while Jebb and Gillis were sworn in last year.
Gillis’ predecessor, Robert Campbell, earned $163,574 in 2013 after serving 41 years in the department, according to Agawam Tresurer/Collector Laurel Placzek.
In Hampshire County, Amherst and Northampton Police Chiefs Scott Livingstone and Russell Sienkiewicz earned $133,110 and $148,003 respectively in FY14.
When asked of Camerota’s new salary, an increase of over $30,000 from his salary in 2011 when he was the city’s highest paid employee, Knapik said that Camerota’s 16-year tenure, coupled with what he calls a progressive attitude toward policing, makes him worthy of a bump in salary.
“In the past, John hasn’t always taken a pay raise, so when he was up for a contract renewal, he was in a situation where the senior captain’s pay was within $1,000 or $2,000 of his pay,” said Knapik, adding that a tiered, five-year approach was taken to restructuring Camerota’s contract, similar to that of the city’s teachers.
Knapik said that he believes Camerota will retire in 2016 and that the next chief will be brought in at about $140,000 and wouldn’t be entitled Camerota’s current salary range until they’ve logged 15 years as chief, with a salary step occurring every five years.
“I’ve been in city government for 14 years and Westfield scores very high as it relates to ‘suicide cities’ in it’s crime statistics,” said Knapik, adding that Camerota took a proactive role in training his officers for every situation.
“When Columbine happened, John went out and trained a tactical response team so we’d be able to go out on patrol for active shooters,” said Knapik. “Some of the communities in Hampshire County are now doing active shooter training – we’ve been doing it for 15 years almost. (John) has been an innovator in that, community policing and also with his philosophy.”
Knapik recalled Camerota coming before the City Council when Knapik was a Ward 2 councilor asking them to adjust city criminal statutes related to minor offenses such as underage possession of alcohol or public urination, offenses that warranted arrests and are now ticketed infractions.
“His rationale was that he didn’t want to brand a young person a criminal for making a mistake,” Knapik said. “Under the old rule, if you got caught urinating in public, you’d be arrested and labeled a sex offender, but now under non-criminal disposition, you get a ticket.”
“John has always been about running the Police Department with the best interests of the community and reaching out to the kids in the community,” he concluded. “And though it seems like a lot of money, for 16 years on the job, the results speak for themselves. A guy like John comes around once in a very long time.”
