DAVID ARROYO
WESTFIELD – City police officials are taking steps to address a manpower shortage in the department’s patrol division. An August meeting of the Police Commission was scheduled to take the first steps necessary to deal with the problem.
The commission selects full-time officers from candidates on a list of reserve officers and the highest ranking candidate on the current list, David M. Arroyo, was appointed as a permanent full time officer at the commission’s meeting Monday.
“We’re going to have a public safety manpower issue if we don’t get people on board,” said Police Chief John Camerota , and asked the commission to schedule a meeting in August to appoint reserve officers to a new list.
The commission typically does not meet in August. Most of the city’s boards and commissions, including the Police Commission, usually limit summer meetings, when residents and members are often on vacation.
Camerota said that Capt. Michael McCabe has been working on background checks of 21 candidates on a list of candidates for the reserve force provided by the Civil Service Commission. He said those checks would be complete by the meeting, which was scheduled for Aug. 20, and the commission will be then able to select their choices for a new reserve list.
The size of the reserve list is capped at 19 officers by state law.
Reserve officers, once trained, may be scheduled to work as needed without being appointed as permanent full-time officers.
McCabe said that he also expects a re-employment list should also be complete then. He explained that officers who have been laid off from departments in other communities must be hired in Westfield, before any candidates are selected from the reserve list, if any indicate a willingness to be an officer in the city.
He said, however, that he believes there is only one person qualified for inclusion on the re-employment list and said that he believes the deadline for declaring interest in a job in Westfield has passed.
Arroyo has been working police shifts as needed but will now be scheduled to work full time for the department.
Camerota recommended his appointment as a replacement for Officer Bridgette Adams who had been appointed as a permanent officer but resigned due to family concerns before the effective date of her appointment.
Camerota urged for Arroyo’s immediate appointment, saying “We’re having problems putting officers on the street.”
Arroyo, a Westfield native, was appointed as a reserve officer last summer and has been working to earn an associate’s degree in criminal justice, while also working shifts at the department as needed.
At an earlier interview with the commission, Arroyo said that he wants to be a police officer “to give back to the community which made me the man I am today” and said that in 10 years he hopes to be working in the detective bureau. He wants to work in other areas, too, in order to get a feel for the whole department.
With the recent promotion of two patrol officers as acting sergeants, and after the commission accepted the resignation of Officer Michael Garcia, who left to pursue employment opportunities in the construction industry, McCabe said the patrol force still has three openings. At least two others are looming, as impending retirements and absences due to medical issues await resolution.
Because procedures require that the number of candidates to be considered for appointments should equal twice the number of open positions plus one, they cannot be filled until the state certifies a new reserve list. The current reserve list include only four candidates, Sean Conners, Gary Hagar, Sean Brown and Joel Christofori.
At its most recent meeting, the commission also appointed an officer to the auxiliary police force, contingent upon his completion of required training.
The auxiliary force is a volunteer group who primarily are used to assist with special functions, such as parades and festivals, and major disasters. Auxiliary officers are also qualified to work as paid officers on private details, such as road construction projects.
Camerota has said that the auxiliary group is primarily composed of two groups of officers.
He said it includes retired officers who want to give back to the community, and younger officers who are getting experience and hoping to establish careers as police officers.
Lt. Ronald Minor, the commander of the auxiliary force, recommended Patrick Harper of Southwick as a new auxiliary officer.
Harper is a graduate of Fitchburg State University with a degree in criminal justice. He told the commission that he was born in Westfield.
Minor said that Harper will need to complete academy training and his appointment by the commission was made contingent upon completion of that training, which is not expected before September.
In an unrelated appointment, the commission also appointed new full-time animal control officer.
Kerri Francis has been a volunteer at the municipal animal shelter for two-and-a-half years and has been working as a part-time animal control officer for seven months.
Ken Frazer, the director of the shelter, said she has volunteered her time at the shelter “above and beyond what the shelter requires” and called her “a great asset to the city.”
Camerota concurred, saying “She’s done a great job so far.”
Animal Control officer Kenneth Frazer (second from left) recommends Kerri Francis (left) to police commissioners Leonard Osowksi and Felix Otero before they appointed her to be a part time animal control in the city. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
