Late last year, Pittsfield, Massachusetts Police Chief Michael Wynn announced that he would retire in July. A three-decade veteran of the department, Wynn took command of the Pittsfield PD in 2007 and became permanent chief in 2017. Mayor Linda Tyer announced today that Captain Thomas Dawley will be Wynn’s successor on an interim basis as the search for a new permanent chief plays out. Dawley, who was promoted to captain last year, has been with the department for over 20 years. WAMC spoke with Tyer to find out what informed her decision to go with Dawley, as well as the hiring process for a permanent chief.
TYER: I have selected Captain Dawley to serve as Pittsfield’s Interim Chief of Police. And I selected Captain Dawley because he has outstanding academic credentials, including a whole, career-long professional development. And he has also led the department and supervised the young men and women of the department in in very successful ways. And I find that his leadership style is the right is what's needed for this moment of transition.
Break down the timeline for us. You are not seeking reelection, you will be no longer be mayor in 2024. How long is Dawley expected to hold this position? And will you or he be involved in the selection of the permanent police chief, theoretically, that will follow him?
That's a great question, and this is what I'm hoping will happen- I'm hoping that as soon as the next mayor is elected, that very shortly thereafter the election, that person and I can work together to establish the protocols and the criteria for the assessment center that would be held to select the next chief of police so that as soon as possible in January, that assessment center can be held and the next mayor will have a list of candidates to choose from. So essentially, in the month of November and December, it's my hope that the mayor-elect will work with me to get this process underway.
Can you explain Pittsfield hiring process as it relates to civil service, Massachusetts? How is that going to impact this search?
Right, so the chief of police here in the city of Pittsfield is part of the civil service employment process. So, we will have to follow some of the guidelines and criteria established by the civil service when we conduct the search. Fortunately, the civil service has created some flexibility for communities in the form of these assessment centers. And so that would be the process in, in my opinion, the best process for selecting the next chief.
Other communities in the Berkshires have opted out of civil service, citing a number of complaints about it ranging from requirements to bureaucratic concerns to other issues with it. Any thoughts on that concept that maybe civil service is not the best way to attract candidates to a community?
I think that's true. I think the civil service process is challenged in a lot of ways. For example, it does make it more difficult for us to hire diverse candidates. It makes it difficult for us to- We have to do a lot of, for example, in the police department, a rigorous background check to ensure that we're selecting the best qualified candidates. In my opinion, though, I think it's that the state is putting communities in an unfair position by sort of forcing us to do these one-off, we’re leaving civil service process. This is a problem that is affecting every community in the commonwealth, and I really wish that the state would engage on this issue and help with a statewide reform of the Civil Service Commission.
What do you think the most important things will be for Interim Chief Dawley to address when he takes over control of the Pittsfield Police Department come July?
I think that the most important thing is that he has a great deal of respect among the members of the Pittsfield Police Department, he is well respected in community circles. I think that his calm, confident leadership style is going to be really important to keep, you know, and will offer continuity and stability during this transition.
