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Main Page Police chief search begins, Position exempted from Civil Service
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Posted by: DeputyFife

SALISBURY
Police chief search begins

Position exempted from Civil Service

By Caroline Louise Cole, Globe Correspondent | December 15, 2005

Town Manager Neil Harrington has begun the process of searching for a permanent police chief after the state Legislature and governor's office approved Salisbury's request to remove the post from the Civil Service system.

Salisbury's Police Department has been headed by an interim chief since 2002, when Larry Streeter left the job to become the head of the Newton, N.H., Police Department. Since then patrol officer Richard Simmons has been serving as Salisbury's acting police chief.

With Harrington's backing, Salisbury's Town Meeting voted, 77 to 70, in May 2004 to petition the Legislature for permission to take the post out of the jurisdiction of the state Civil Service Commission. The town's home rule petition was passed by the Legislature Nov. 10 and then signed into law on Nov. 22 by Secretary of State William Galvin, acting in the absence of both Governor Mitt Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, Harrington said.

In removing Civil Service protection for the Police Department's top executive, Salisbury is following the lead of 254 of the state's 351 cities and towns, according to Felix Browne, a spokesman for the state's Human Resources Division.

In the Globe North circulation area, 17 of the 37 Massachusetts communities still maintain Civil Service oversight, according to information Browne provided.

Harrington, who took over the management of the town after Simmons was promoted to acting police chief, said he sought the change to give him more latitude on whom he hires.

''I was not confident that we would get the best person for this job based on the results of the Civil Service test," Harrington said.

Harrington said he hasn't decided how long a contract to offer to the successful candidate and hopes to have a new chief in the post by March. He added that he is planning to advertise the position on the Massachusetts Municipal Association's website and in several regional publications. The annual salary range is $70,000 to $85,000, he said.

Simmons's salary is at the upper end of that range, Harrington said.

The move to take the position out of Civil Service was protested by the town's police union largely because maintaining Civil Service protection would have pretty much guaranteed that the town would have been forced to hire a chief from among those on the town's police force because of Civil Service promotion and preference rules, according to Mark Thomas, the union president.

''This is a sensitive issue for us because we lost a close vote at Town Meeting, but right now we are looking forward to having a permanent chief in place," Thomas said.

Thomas noted the union still has a complaint outstanding with the Civil Service Commission that Harrington's predecessor erred when he promoted a patrol officer to the acting chief's position over three sergeants who outranked him.

Civil Service was created in the late 1800s to keep politics out of the process of hiring police and firefighters. Candidates must pass a promotional exam administered by Civil Service. Their test scores can be enhanced by such factors as whether they are veterans of the armed services or have a family member on the force.
Communities then must hire from the top three candidates on the Civil Service list for that position, according to Harrington.

Communities often seek to remove Civil Service protection for chiefs because of the difficulties in firing an ineffective hire, said William Ryan, a former mayor of Haverhill who as a current City Council member has opposed the constraints of Civil Service and Civil Service hiring rules.

Haverhill removed its police chief from Civil Service in 1994, according to Cynthia Ittleman, the staff counsel for the Civil Service Commission.

''I wasn't on the council when Haverhill voted Civil Service out, but I supported the move wholeheartedly because I think people tend to be more accountable when they have a contract and not life tenure," Ryan said.

Ipswich's Board of Selectmen also recently debated the pros and cons of removing its police chief from Civil Service, finally deciding to stay with it, according to Town Manager Robert T. Markel.

''It was being considered because our current police chief indicated last spring he might retire, though in the end he hasn't notified us yet of his intention to leave," Markel said. ''What got the discussion going is the realization that if you don't close the list to everyone but local candidates, you most likely will end up with applicants who scored in the '70s on the test but get bumped to the top of the list because of preferences. That's not a very attractive idea."

And, like Salisbury, because Ipswich has a relatively small Police Department without any officers holding the rank of lieutenant or captain, the pool of local candidates is limited, Markel said.

''We don't have a very deep bench, as they say in sports," Markel said.

Ryan said he thinks Haverhill has done well by opening up the hiring process to a broader pool of candidates.

''Since we made the change in the mid-'90s we've had just three chiefs," Ryan said. ''Chief [Alan R.] DeNaro has been with us for three years now, and he is popular and effective."

Ryan, however, said he was disappointed when the City Council voted, 8 to 1, last spring to make it virtually impossible to fire the chief by requiring a three-member panel to convene on the issue.

''Even though I like Alan, I felt that we had to be concerned about the next person in the job," Ryan said. ''Under this provision, the chief has the right to appeal the decision of this panel to the District Court, which essentially means we can never get rid of him because the appeals will go on forever."

In Revere, Mayor Thomas Ambrosino said he finds the Civil Service hiring rules too constraining and was pleased when Revere was allowed to exempt its chief in 2001.

''Civil Service does allow alternative selection systems, but it is a cumbersome process, especially when you can just petition the Legislature to remove the position [from Civil Service]," Ambrosino said. ''I don't think that having to select a person based on how he did on a test is the best way to choose a leader. There are other factors that should be part of the evaluation."

In Lynn, Mayor Edward ''Chip" Clancy said he thinks the reason the issue hasn't been raised there because Police Chief John Suslak is so effective.

''Our chief is the product of the Civil Service system. He moved up through the system, and he is doing great," Clancy said.

Harrington said he knows the pros and cons of both hiring systems but felt Salisbury needed the maximum flexibility in who will lead the department the next few years. He said he is expecting several members of the department will apply for the post and he promised any local candidates will get fair consideration.

''I'm going to be looking for someone with a certain number of years of supervisory experience," Harrington said. ''I also am going to be looking at their educational qualifications carefully."

Caroline Louise Cole can be reached at cole@globe.com.

Posted by: RPD931

Quote:

In Revere, Mayor Thomas Ambrosino said he finds the Civil Service hiring rules too constraining and was pleased when Revere was allowed to exempt its chief in 2001.

''Civil Service does allow alternative selection systems, but it is a cumbersome process, especially when you can just petition the Legislature to remove the position [from Civil Service]," Ambrosino said. ''I don't think that having to select a person based on how he did on a test is the best way to choose a leader. There are other factors that should be part of the evaluation."

Perfect reason to abolish the circus all together.

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