Milford To Begin Police Chief Search By Convening Committee

MILFORD, MA — Approaching four years without a permanent police chief in place, Milford will soon convene a committee comprised of residents and local officials to search for the department's next leader.

The Milford Select Board will hold a special meeting Thursday meeting to assemble a police chief search committee, which will include four residents picked by the select board, two Town Meeting members, plus officials from the Personnel Committee, police union and select board.

The town will also likely hire a consultant to assess the needs of the police department before the search, according to Select Board member Paul Mazzuchelli.

Milford has had a rocky few years finding a police chief ever since a 2019 select board vote not to renew former chief Tom O'Loughlin's contract. Since 2019, the town has had two interim chiefs, a chief terminated, a candidate who declined the job and a lawsuit over the select board's failure to find a new chief.

O'Loughlin, a local attorney, won a seat on the select board in 2020 and is now the board chair. He became chief in 2001 before stepping aside in June 2019 after a 2-1 vote not to renew his contract. Former interim chief Michael Pighetti took over for O'Loughlin in what was supposed to be a temporary assignment.

In early 2020, the select board offered the chief job to Baltimore police Maj. James Rhoden Jr. He turned the offer down, and so Pighetti was hired as chief.

But after about a year, the select board placed Pighetti on administrative leave to investigate the circumstances of a January 2021 traffic stop initiated by the chief. In October 2021, the select board terminated Pighetti over that stop.

Interim Chief James Falvey, who is still on the job today, was given a two-year contract after Pighetti's termination. Falvey's contract expires at the end of September.

In March, Milford resident Harold Rhodes sued the town, alleging the select board had not followed a town bylaw that compels them to form a police chief search committee. That case was dismissed on Tuesday with the impending formation of the chief search committee.