PLAINFIELD — The town’s new police chief grew up in Plainfield and worked for years at police departments in the South, including for the city of Atlanta.
The Select Board hired Justin Litchfield on Tuesday to replace Stacey Hudson, who notified the board in April that she would be resigning her position on June 1.
“I was fielding inquiries from all over the country,” Select Board Chairman Howard Bronstein said. “We interviewed two other candidates, a retired Boston cop and an officer in Hadley.”
Bronstein said that Litchfield, 44, has had a lot of police experience as both an officer and a trainer.
Litchfield said that he grew up in Plainfield, where he was a firefighter and police officer for 11 years before relocating to Georgia where he served as an officer with the Atlanta Police Department. He later served as a deputy sheriff in Charlotte County, Florida, before returning to Plainfield.
Litchfield came back to his family home in Plainfield two months ago to help care for his mom and take up farming.
“I joined the Fire Department when I got back here and when I heard about the opening for police chief, I thought, why not apply?” Litchfield said.
Bronstein said that Litchfield has been hired as the “administrative chief” until the state Municipal Police Training Committee can certify his credentials from his previous departments and determine if he will need any additional training to return to police work in Massachusetts.
“We hope that within the next two weeks we can get his credentials approved and get him working as a chief with full police powers,” Bronstein said.
According to Bronstein, the Plainfield Police Department currently has two part time officers and two reserve officers.
“Plainfield is a very small town with a population of 596. Our police salary budget is only $5,000,” he said.
Litchfield will make about $400 a month, with an additional hourly pay rate for each call he goes out on, Bronstein said.
He said that many residents in town have expressed confidence in Litchfield and several have thanked the Select Board for hiring him.
Hudson served as police chief since 2014. According to Assistant Fire Chief David Alvord, she joined the public safety team almost 20 years ago, first as a firefighter/EMT. She became a police officer in 2005.
Alvord described Hudson as talented and hardworking and said that he is thankful for the 20 years that she dedicated to keeping Plainfield safe.