GOSHEN – Longtime police officer William Bissell is set to become Goshen’s interim police chief at the end of the month.
“I’m going to do it for the town,” Bissell said.
Bissell’s two other colleagues on the Goshen Police Department, husband and wife police chief Jeffrey Hewes and Donna Hewes, are set to retire on June 29. Bissell’s appointment as interim chief will be effective June 30.
“I am the only one left on the department at this time,” Bissell said.
Bissell was appointed by a vote of the Select Board at its June 14 meeting. Bissell’s wife is Select Board member Kristine Bissell, and she did not participate in deliberations on his appointment, nor in the vote to appoint him.
Bissell, 54, has been a Goshen Police Officer since 1988 and he has served as interim police chief once before, prior to Jeffrey Hewes’ appointment as chief. In addition to being a police officer, Bissell works as an automotive technician.
Bissell said that he hasn’t “decided yet” on whether or not he will apply for the permanent police chief’s job, saying that he’s waiting to see what the Select Board does with the department post-Hewes retirement.
“I need to find officers,” Bissell said, on what his plans are as interim chief. “That’s my main first concern.”
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.