SOUTHWICK – Seven candidates for two police reserve officer positions interviewed with the Board of Selectmen this week in an open session.
The candidates were each asked one pre-determined question by all three selectmen.
Police Chief Mark Krynicki, along with Lt. David Ricardi and Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart, whittled a field of 14 candidates down to the seven who were interviewed by the board. Krynicki said there were originally 35 applicants for the two positions. They went through an initial interview process and several were eliminated. Two sergeants and a patrolman then further narrowed the candidates. Krynicki said this week the candidates were all qualified.
“Any one of them would be an asset to the department,” he said.
Krynicki actually sponsored several of the candidates who paid their own way through the reserve police academy.
The candidates are Ross Henke, David Massai, Adam Roberts, Christopher Roeder, Alejandro Sanchez, Kyle Sanders, and Adam Szymanski, whose experience range from none at all to 20 years as a police officer.
Sanchez was the most experienced of the candidates, with 17 years on the Springfield Police Department and several years as an officer in the Hatfield/Sunderland area. Sanchez has been a detective, as well as a DARE officer, and is a professor of criminal justice. He said he was interested in becoming a reserve officer to give back to the town.
“My wife is from Granby and I’m from Holyoke, and we moved to Southwick last year,” he said. “I think it’s a great community and I want to be part of it.”
Massai, who is raising his young family in town, has no police experience aside from the police academy. He also received field sobriety training and radar certification. Massai said he is very involved in the community, which would be an asset to the department.
“I want to have strong involvement with as many people in the community as I can,” he said. “I am here to stay.”
Roeder graduated from the reserve police academy in 2011 and is a member of the West Springfield Special Police Force. He was also a member of the military and while deployed in Afghanistan, his mission was to train Afghan police.
Sanders is also a member of the West Springfield Special Police, while Szymanski works as a part-time officer in Monson, and Roberts is an officer in Granville.
The men responded to the questions, which included how they would deal with a difficult person, what their police training entailed, and their views on the importance of good relations between the police and community.
Krynicki said the police chief determines the number of reserve officers in a community.
“I based it on our need and our ability to equip them and pay them,” said Krynicki. “In Southwick, we have 12 reserve officers.”
Selectmen Chairman Arthur Pinell said the board hoped to announce the two reserve officers during its Dec. 17 meeting after consulting with Krynicki.
