What Do You Want in the Next Police Chief?

Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr. invites the public to share their thoughts on Peabody’s next police chief during a community forum on Tuesday, May 6 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in City Hall’s Wiggin Auditorium.

“As we begin the process of selecting Peabody’s next police chief, public input is extremely important to me,” Mayor Bettencourt said. “I look forward to hearing the different perspectives that these types of community forums provide.”

The city recently advertised to hire a police chief and for the first time the new chief will not be selected via the Civil Service process. Last year the City Council authorized Mayor Bettencourt to waive the Civil Service procedure and the state Legislature passed a home-rule petition to allow for the same.

“Working outside of the Civil Service hiring procedure provides a great deal of flexibility in terms of finding the very best person for the job,” Mayor Bettencourt said. “In addition to utilizing an assessment center and a three person candidate qualifying committee, the public input we receive will carry a great deal of weight.”

Former Salem Police Chief Robert St. Pierre has been serving as Peabody’s interim chief since last fall. St. Pierre is available to serve until July 1, 2014, by which time Mayor Bettencourt expects to have a new chief in place.  

To help the city with the process of finding a chief, Mayor Bettencourt hired Illinois-based Resource Management Associates. The executive search firm has drawn up the job description and will cull through an initial list of applicants.