{"id":2622,"date":"2022-01-19T18:02:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T23:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/?p=2622"},"modified":"2022-01-19T18:11:26","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T23:11:26","slug":"surprise-norwich-has-a-permanent-police-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2022\/01\/19\/surprise-norwich-has-a-permanent-police-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"SURPRISE: Norwich has a permanent Police Chief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SURPRISE.jpg<\/em><\/a>  \u00a9 User:Westsara\/Wikimedia Commons\/CC-BY-SA-4.0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Interim Police Chief Simon Keeling is now the permanent Police Chief for the Town of Norwich. That is surprising news. Not because of the person selected but because of the timing of the decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rewind to the April 28 Selectboard meeting. After hearing public comment over the course of two meetings, the Selectboard voted against<\/strong> immediately hiring a police chief. “Motion failed (yes – Layton, Calloway; no – Brochu, Gere, Arnold)” say the draft meeting minutes<\/a>. [Aside: why are minutes from April still in “draft”?] Instead, the Selectboard planned on a town-wide discussion about the future shape of the Norwich Police Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happened that the Interim Town Manager felt the need to take this hiring action now? Before the town-wide discussion and in the middle of budget season? The public record does not say. No Selectboard member publicly inquired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, I queried by email Selectboard Chair Roger Arnold and Interim Town Manager Roderick Francis about the hiring. Two of my questions were: What was the process used in selecting Chief Keeling? and Why select a new police chief now? Neither public official responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selectboard authority <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Some might say the Selectboard does not control who the Town Manager hires. But, that statement is only partially correct. By statute, a Town Manager is subject to the direction and control of the Selectboard. At the meeting on April 28, the Selectboard paused the hiring of a Police Chief. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the Selectboard plans to ask voters at Town Meeting in March for permission to spend $50,000 on a consultant to study the Police Department<\/a>. Clearly, the shape of the Department and the type of person who heads it<\/em> are matters the Selectboard wants to weigh in on, after engaging the public. And, after hearing from the consultant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these circumstances, it would seemingly take a bold Town Manager, and an even bolder Interim<\/em> Town Manager, to hire a Police Chief, without at least some form of Selectboard approval. Did that happen here? I don’t know. But recent draft meeting minutes don’t suggest any discussion along those lines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact me at norwichobserver [at] @gmail{.}com <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interim Police Chief Simon Keeling is now the permanent Police Chief for the Town of Norwich. That is surprising news. Not because of the person selected but because of the timing of the decision. Rewind to the April 28 Selectboard meeting. After hearing public comment over the course of two meetings, the Selectboard voted against immediately hiring a police chief. “Motion failed (yes – Layton, Calloway; no – Brochu, Gere, Arnold)” say the draft meeting minutes. [Aside: why are minutes Continue reading SURPRISE: Norwich has a permanent Police Chief<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-police-and-fire","category-transparency"],"yoast_head":"\nSURPRISE: Norwich has a permanent Police Chief - Norwich Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2022\/01\/19\/surprise-norwich-has-a-permanent-police-chief\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SURPRISE: Norwich has a permanent Police Chief - Norwich Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Interim Police Chief Simon Keeling is now the permanent Police Chief for the Town of Norwich. That is surprising news. Not because of the person selected but because of the timing of the decision. Rewind to the April 28 Selectboard meeting. After hearing public comment over the course of two meetings, the Selectboard voted against immediately hiring a police chief. “Motion failed (yes – Layton, Calloway; no – Brochu, Gere, Arnold)” say the draft meeting minutes. 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