CHESTERFIELD – Jeffrey Fish, a longtime police officer in the hilltowns and beyond, is now the acting chief of the Chesterfield Police Department.
“I didn’t plan on doing it,” Fish, 49, said. “The opportunity was there.”
Fish, who has been a Chesterfield officer since 2017, was the only member of the town’s Police Department who applied for the chief’s position. However, Chesterfield Select Board Chair Roger Fuller said his application was greeted favorably.
“We’re very pleased that he actually applied for the position,” Fuller said. “Certainly the transition was made easier with him being familiar with our department.”
The Select Board appointed Fish on June 8, and Fuller said that he was appointed as acting chief because the town is currently exploring whether to regionalize its police force with Goshen.
Fish praised Chesterfield as a “great community.”
“I was given the opportunity to run the police department,” Fish said. “We have great, well-trained police officers here.”
He also gave credit to his fellow officers’ experience.
Fish succeeds former Chesterfield Police Chief Edward Murray, whose last day on the job was last Monday. Fish’s first day as chief was Tuesday.
Fish has been an Easthampton Police Officer for more than 20 years, something he dreamed of becoming as a child, and he remains employed in that department. He also retired in 2017 from the Hampshire Sheriff’s Office with the rank of captain.
Fish lives in Goshen, where he served 16 years as a police officer, before leaving his position there in 2017 due to the retirement rules involved with his retiring from the Sheriff’s Office.
This is Fish’s first time serving as a police chief, but he said that he’s not intimidated by the job. He also said that there “really isn’t a difference” between policing in the hilltowns and in Easthampton.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.