What type of Chief should come next?

MANCHESTER — The town held a public meeting to discuss what attributes the new Police Chief should have and what direction the Police Department should take going forward.

"A community like Manchester is not looking for aggressive law enforcement," said former State Police Colonel James Baker, the Town's consultant in the search for a new Chief. "[They're] looking for someone who can educate, intervene, and then arrest someone."

Manchester Town Manager John O'Keefe said that they would prefer the candidate to have a bachelor's degree, but that experience would be accepted. O'Keefe said they would be looking for a Sargent's rank or higher.

There was also another character trait that O'Keefe said he felt was very important for the next Chief of Police to possess.

"We're looking for someone who's a very effective communicator," said O'Keefe. "I think that's important especially in a small town."

Manchester attorney Bradley Myerson said there was one thing he would like the new Chief to realize.

"I want our new Chief to have a sense of the community," said Myerson. "To really understand what makes Manchester special and to respect that in how he or she goes about being the Chief. I think that the right person can do it without sacrificing their own personal talents and skills that resulted in their being selected in the first place."

Myerson continued to say that he felt there were two kinds

of officers; police officers and peace officers. Myerson said he always felt Police Chief Manfred Wessner — who announced his retirement in December 2009 — was the latter. Furthermore, Myerson said it was the skill set the Wessner possessed — which he said included excellent people skills, a sense of compassion, accessibility to the people of Manchester and the ability to listen, among others — that made him such an good Chief of Police.

The topic of conversation later turned to the question of whether or not it was essential for the Chief of Police to live in Manchester. O'Keefe said that if it was an essential requirement that they would "somewhat limit the pool" because not all the candidates may be able to afford to live in Manchester.

"That's a hard one," said Myerson. "Because I would hate to lose the right candidate because that person simply can't afford to live in Manchester."

Select Board member Steve Nichols felt both arguments were valid, but said he had heard some members of the community voicing their opinion on the matter.

"Your community folks are looking for a Chief to live in town," said Nichols. "Not necessarily your core officers, but I think in talking to people they're looking for the Chief of Police, the Chief of the Fire Department the Head of the Rescue Squad to live in town."

Another issue raised in the discussion was that the town wanted someone who was going to be a proactive manager.

The group also talked about the possibility of creating a Citizen Advisory Panel composed of a diverse group of individuals — such as lawyers, parents, people representing the elderly, etc. — that would meet periodically and raise issues to the Chief. Furthermore, O'Keefe said that it should be the type of forum where the Chief would inform the panel of new measures the Police Department was planning to implement to receive feedback from the panel or people in town who have questions about the Police Department. However, O'Keefe said the incoming Chief would have to be willing to participate in the panel.