WESTFIELD – During Monday night’s meeting the Westfield Police Commission discussed the promotions lists within the department.
The commission needs to hire one captain, one lieutenant, and four sergeants. Currently, they have until February of 2019 to fill those positions. But, the commission could look at extending the time to fill those vacancies since they are the hiring authority for any positions in the police department.
The Westfield Police Commission discussed the department’s promotional list on Monday evening. (Photo courtesy of Greg Fitzpatrick)
“It’s something we really need to focus on,” said Police Chief John Camerota.
All candidates for captains, lieutenant, and sergeant positions would need a certain amount of time to prepare for their civil service exams.
“They need that six-month period to start studying,” said Camerota.
Commission Chair Karl Hupfer and member Leonard Osowski agreed with Camerota to further discuss these openings in the department at their next meeting on April 9.
One of the reasons why a number of high positions in the department are open is due to Camerota announcing his retirement, effective June 21, 2019. Now that the commission has to find a replacement for Camerota, they will have to decide how they’ll want to assess the candidates going for the chief’s position. This could include interviews and other assessments.
The City of Westfield would also have to post and advertise the vacancy since it’s standard protocol for all city positions.
Camerota has been the Chief of Police for 20 years and has been a full-time officer at the Westfield Police Department since 1980.
In January, the commission appointed officer Michael Gibbons as a Sergeant after Sgt. Alex Baginski announced his retirement.
