SOMERVILLE POLICE CHIEF SELECTION PROCESS UNDERWAY

The Selection

Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 11, at 6 p.m. in the Academy Room at the

Public Safety Building to discuss the timeline for the search, the public

hearing held last week and the public survey that will be available on the

City's website and in hard copy at locations throughout the city. The

committee's meetings are open to the public.

Chief Thomas

Pasquarello announced in late 2013 that he would step down in order to care for

a family member. Charlie Femino has been serving as Acting

Chief of Police since Dec. 1, 2013. The City underwent similar nationwide

searches in 2007 and in 2010.

Working with executive

recruiting firm Waters Consulting Group, Inc., the selection panel will compile

a list of qualified candidates from a national applicant pool.  The panel will be chaired by William Roche,

Director of Personnel for the City of Somerville, and also includes the

following member:

• Alderman at Large John Connolly;

• Sonja Darai, Director of the Somerville
  
  Multicultural Affairs Commission (per City ordinance);

• Dorothy Kelly Gay, resident (BOA Appointee);

• Adrianna Lafaille, resident (BOA Appointee);

• Sassiane Estany, Teen Empowerment Associate
  
  Program Coordinator (Mayor Appointee);

• Effrain Mendoza, resident (Mayor Appointee);

• Mike Kiely, Somerville Police Department, Somerville
  
  Police Patrolmen Association

• Dan Cotter, Somerville Police Department,
  
  Somerville Police Superior Officers' Association

In addition to the selection

panel, Mayor Curtatone will also seek input from key stakeholders throughout

the community. The Waters Consulting Group representative Chuck Rohr met with

key stakeholder groups and organizations across Somerville last week after the

public hearing to solicit further feedback on what those organizations are

seeking in a new police chief. Community members can provide feedback through

the online survey that will be posted to the City website, rating the

importance of various police chief candidate attributes. Paper copies of the

survey will also be available at the Somerville Police Department, City Hall

Welcome Desk, all Somerville Public Schools, and the Central Library and its

East and West Branches. The collected community feedback will then be provided

to the Police Chief Selection Committee and used to draft the brochure that

will advertise the open police chief position.

Police Chief Finalists

will be presented to the community for a citywide interview later this year. Mayor

Curtatone is expected to make a final recommendation to the Board of Aldermen in

fall 2014.   

For more information

on the Police Chief Selection Committee and process, please email ChiefSearch@somervillema.gov.