Politics & Government
Wenham Police to Develop Transition Plan Following Chief's Retirement
Wenham Selectmen will hear a transition plan for the Police Department on Tuesday night, with plans for the department following the retirement of Kenneth Walsh.
A transition plan for the once Police Chief Kenneth Walsh retires later this month will be presented to the Board of Selectmen next week.
Interim Town Administrator Mark Andrews said on Tuesday that he is having Walsh develop the plan. Walsh’s plan will be submitted to Andrews, who in turn will review it and it will be presented to the three-member Board of Selectmen when it meets next on Tuesday, June 10 at 7 p.m. at .
“I’ll bring it to the board next Tuesday,” Andrews said.
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Last week, Walsh . His last day on the job in Wenham is scheduled for July 28. He will become the director of campus safety at Endicott College.
Andrews, who called Walsh an “almost 30 year police veteran,” said he is a senior member of the town’s leadership team.
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“It won’t be easy to replace him,” he said.
The first step is to determine what happens immediately after Walsh’s departure. The board will likely appoint an interim chief.
“We’re trying to take this 10 yards at a time,” Andrews said, using a football analogy. “I would think the board would be looking at a bridge period.”
Andrews said he has already received a lot of feedback and input about what the next steps should be for filling the position.
After Walsh announced his retirement last week, some commenters on Hamilton-Wenham Patch suggested it was again a good time to examine a possible merger of the Wenham and .
That is not being considered right now, Andrews said.
“I’m not begging the question,” Andrews said. “I don’t know that is on the radar at all.”
Right now, the department is that were , plus the addition of a 10th full-time officer in time for the start of the Reading Police Academy on Aug. 20.
“Those are the things at the forefront,” Andrews said.
And Walsh’s retirement will not slow down the department’s work to see accreditation, Andrews said.
And even after Walsh’s retirement, Andrews said Walsh would be “a phone call away.”
Before that, “I intend to use his time wisely over the next few weeks,” Andrews said.
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