Warren looking at new chief

[Coyote33]

Favored sergeant not one of 3 finalists for chief’s job

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Favored sergeant not one of 3 finalists for chief’s job

By J.P. Ellery CORRESPONDENT


WARREN— Three sergeants are in the running to be police chief here, but a popular sergeant who has a lot of local support for the appointment is not one of them.

A police chief search committee yesterday announced that the finalists for the job are Sgt. Bruce D. Spiewakowski of the Dudley Police Department, Sgt. Michael L. Befford of the Spencer Police Department and Sgt. Brice I. Leslie of the West Brookfield Police Department. One of them would replace Chief Glenn F. McKiel, who stepped down in July to become chief in Manchester-by-the Sea, north of Boston.

Sgt. Joseph R. LaFlower, who has been in charge of the Warren department since former Chief McKiel left, applied to be chief here, but he did not meet the educational requirement, according to Donald G. Nickerson, a search committee member.


“It’s not a reflection on him,” Mr. Nickerson said. He said the committee had to follow the requirements placed in the advertisement for chief.

Hundreds of residents had signed a petition urging the Board of Selectmen to appoint Sgt. LaFlower as chief, but selectmen said this was not a personality contest and it was likely the search committee would follow the advertised criteria, which called for a minimum of a bachelor’s degree.

Sgt. LaFlower is not a college graduate, but has 21 years’ experience on the local department, which he felt more than qualified him to assume the chief’s job.

Sgt. Spiewakowski, 42, has been a member of the Dudley Police Department for 20 years and a sergeant for five of those years.

“I would like to move up,” he said, “and that opportunity won’t avail itself to me here.” Sgt. Spiewakowski said Dudley Police Chief Steven J. Wojnar, is younger than he is and appears to have a long career ahead of him in Dudley.

Sgt. Befford has been a sergeant since joining the Spencer force in 1998. Prior to that he was a member of the North Brookfield Police Department for just over 11 years, he said.

He applied for the chief post in Warren because “it’s the right size community, the size I was looking at,” he said, “and I’m fairly familiar with the community.” Warren’s population is about 5,000.

An attempt yesterday to contact Sgt. Leslie was unsuccessful. The other two sergeants were at the police station when contacted by telephone, but Sgt. Leslie was not on duty at the time he was called. Sgt. Leslie has been a member of the West Brookfield Police Department since 1998 and sergeant for just over two years.

Chief McKiel was making about $82,000 a year when he resigned.

 

[Mikey]

I don't know any of the candidates but let’s hope they support gun rights. I would hate to see my neighboring town change its ways.

 

[Chris]

You gotta love it when people will look at a piece of paper with far more importance than the abilities of the person.

I've met an awful lot of people in my industry with EE or CS degrees who could not engineer themselves out of a cardboard box. And don't even get me started on people with business degrees.

 

[Len-2A Training]

We had a Lt. here who applied for the chief's job. They DQ'd him since the criteria they set was min of BS and MS desired. He had been the Admin Sgt, then Lt. for years. We had a similar "hearing" where many including myself spoke up on his behalf (I had worked with him a fair amount as a Special/Reserve PO) . . . it all went in one ear and out the other. He retired as a Lt. ~7 years ago with >40 years on the PD. Good man and probably as capable as our current chief.

 

[KMaurer]

We had a Lt. here who applied for the chief's job. They DQ'd him since the criteria they set was min of BS and MS desired. He had been the Admin Sgt, then Lt. for years. We had a similar "hearing" where many including myself spoke up on his behalf (I had worked with him a fair amount as a Special/Reserve PO) . . . it all went in one ear and out the other. He retired as a Lt. ~7 years ago with >40 years on the PD. Good man and probably as capable as our current chief.

I suspect that this education requirements has become pure boilerplate for HR, regardless of the job, in order to limit the number of resumes they have to actually read. It eliminates a lot of perfectly qualified people and doesn't really serve any useful purpose. About 15 years ago HR put a "BS, MS preferred" requirement in the job posting for my new secretary. Thankfully I caught it in time and insisted they remove it Once it's in the posted job requirements, it's almost impossible to get around it without law suits from unsuccessful candidates with the degree.

Ken

 

[Len-2A Training]

Especially when the consider people who may have "earned" their degrees by sending in a match book cover with a check!

I seriously doubt that they do any verification of credentials (accredited as a real college)!

I had an employee at DEC that asked me about tuition reimbursement from one such place. I had a long chat with the director of the CA accrediting agency who admitted that the "college" in question had a staff of ONE and operated (perfectly legally under CA laws) out of a GARAGE!! They were indeed "accredited" by CA!!

 

[Chris]

Especially when the consider people who may have "earned" their degrees by sending in a match book cover with a check!

Seen worse than that.

Was a story that came out after I was at Banyan for almost a year that a job applicant had used the credentials of another person. When they checked the University they found that the applicant had graduated almost 2 years before he'd even finished high school.

Reminds me a lot of laws. More worthless pieces of paper unless backed up with real actions.

Always hire the person, not the paper.

 

[Big_Red]

Times have changed. Back in 1998, when I got laid off from a then in-house consulting tech job, it took me exactly 5 days to find another job without needing a degree...Fast forward to today...I have been looking around for a job closer to home. On average I send out 4-5 resumes each month. Guess how many interviews I've had. None. Yup, I've had no calls of any kind. Not even a phone interview. I've been a network/systems admin for the past 8 years and have done PC support prior to that. I definitely have the experience and would like to think that I know my stuff. What I do not have is the "college paper". Somehow, these days what's on the paper is more important than what's in the head. That's just is not right.
In my case, I decided (forced myself) to go back to school. It will take me several years to get a degree but I feel I must have it to remain marketable.