Stoughton Police Chief Posting Could Come Next Week

STOUGHTON, MA — The Stoughton police chief opening could be posted as early as Monday, selectmen said.

Tuesday, Selectman Robert O’Regan said the job description and application should be ready for a vote on Nov. 7. The posting was originally supposed to be done by October but O'Regan and Selectman Peter Brown, who were tasked with crafting the job posting, said more time was needed to create the process for what happened after applications are submitted.

If the board approves the application, the job will be posted on Nov. 9 with a Nov. 30 deadline for applicants. A list of finalists is expected in January.

Plymouth-based BadgeQuest will be hired by the town to do screenings, reviews of personnel materials provided by the candidates and an assessment center. Conducted by three police chiefs, the assessment center will place the candidates in scenarios they may see as Stoughton’s top cop. Following the assessment center, BadgeQuest will provide the selectmen with scores and finalists.

“We’re going to do this right so there’s no questions, no cronyism, it’s all done in the open,” Selectmen Vice Chair Robert Cohn said.

Selectman Joseph Mokrisky urged the board to not prolong the process.

“This has taken too long, I think it should have been accomplished by now,” he said. “It seems like it didn’t take this long when we did a national search for the last chief.”

The next police chief will be an internal candidate. Lt. Donna McNamara has served as the interim chief since Paul Shastany’s retirement eight months ago.

Image: file photo