It took six months to pick a new police chief, but Belchertown’s leaders were wise to take their time and cast a wide net in choosing the next commander of their police department.
Police Chief Christopher Pronovost was sworn in this week and was among 31 candidates who applied. The former Amherst police captain is a solid choice to lead a police force in transition after the resignation of longtime Chief Francis Fox Jr.
Fox resigned in September after a Granby police report surfaced indicating he appeared to be driving under the influence of alcohol during a traffic stop on Super Bowl Sunday last year.
The incident cast an unfavorable light on the department and damaged morale and public confidence.
When three finalists for chief were offered up by a search committee, no internal candidates were among them. It’s understandable that Belchertown officers, and some residents, were disappointed to learn that their favored candidate, Sgt. Kevin Pacunas, did not reach the finalist stage. The truth of the matter is that Pacunas faced stiff competition.
One officer decried the panel’s choice of finalists, saying the department had hit an “all-time low” and that town officials were “negligent” in doing what was best for the town.
A chief from outside would have to “learn all of our names and all of the streets,” Steven Henn Jr., the police union president and a Belchetown lieutenant, wrote in a letter to the Select Board in January.
The hiring process appears to have been fair and thorough, however. The Select Board created a nine-member search committee to vet candidates. The panel included three current and former police officers, educators, as well as church and civic leaders.
Responding to the criticism and allegations of impropriety, the search committee chairman, Jerry Grasso, said his panel did not delve into what happened with the former chief. He said it forwarded the names of candidates believed to be best suited for the job.
There is no evidence to suggest that was not the case.
While he comes from outside the department, Pronovost is no stranger from a strange land. On the contrary, he’s an experienced officer with years of supervisory experience in a larger department 10 miles away along Route 9. Belchertown borders Amherst.
We believe Pronovost will learn the names of Belchertown’s 30 or so officers and dispatchers fairly quickly – if he doesn’t know some of them already. And what better way to learn the town’s streets than by getting out in the community to introduce himself.
Pronovost may not have the institutional knowledge an internal candidate would bring to the job, but with this new chief, Belchertown gets the fresh ideas, perspectives and skills that new blood can bring to a position. Fox had worked for the department for nearly three decades.
Pronovost, 54, had been captain of operations in the Amherst Police Department since 2000 and a member of that force for the past 26 years. He earlier served as a police officer in Granby. He has taught constitutional law through the Western Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association since 2003 and is an adjunct instructor and student advisor at Holyoke Community College.
His resume is impressive, but as he hits the ground, Pronovost has work to do to gain the confidence of residents and members of the force he commands.
Belchertown surely wants to move on from the turmoil of the past year. Rallying around Pronovost is the best place to start.