SOUTHWICK – On Oct. 27, the Southwick Select Board officially posted an application for the next Chief of Police. The three Select Board members decided to have the first posting strictly internal; allowing Southwick Police officers who are qualified, to apply.
Select Board Clerk Russ Fox. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
“I certainly think we owe it to the members of the police force that we have,” said Select Board Chairman Doug Moglin.
By allowing the police chief process to start internal, Moglin believes that it gives officers throughout the department to gain experience and work their way up the ladder, and possibly have an opportunity in the future to earn a higher position like Chief of Police.
“Your next police of chief 20 to 30 years down the road should come from that system,” added Moglin.
The internal posting will close on Nov. 17. Proceeding that, the Select Board will most likely interview any internal applicants that are qualified for the position. In the job description that was approved on Oct. 2, qualified candidates are required to have at least 12 years of experience in law enforcement and 5 years of supervisor experience.
Select Board Clerk Russ Fox has been through the Chief of Police process several times and feels that the internal application process will be successful.
“We’re fortunate that we have candidates with a lot of experience,” said Fox.
Once a new Southwick Police Chief is selected, Fox believes that it’s important to make sure that the individual gets involved in the budget process with the new fiscal period beginning on July 1, 2018.
“We should want someone who has an understanding of how the budget works,” said Fox.
According to Moglin, the plan also involves hiring a new chief sooner rather than later so there’s an overlap with the current chief, Dave Ricardi. The overlap would allow the new commander in charge to learn things from Ricardi.
Dave Ricardi, who has serving as Southwick Police Chief the last four years, is set to retire in June 2018.
