Southborough’s police chief will be named in two weeks

After several months of searching, selectmen will name Southborough’s permanent police chief at a meeting on November 17.

The selectmen will interview the four finalists starting at 6:30 pm on Monday, November 16, with the finalist being named at the selectmen’s regularly-scheduled meeting on Tuesday, November 17.

Both meetings will be open to the public.

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The Reality is....
14 years ago

Why rush the lawsuits ?

j guerin
14 years ago

There could be issues. Reality could be correct. It is only money!

Giveitarest
14 years ago

And what if there are none. . . marty? Can we stop hearing this same old song? Please?

Richard
14 years ago

Give it a rest, Lawsuits are going to happen. Whether they will be successful, who knows. A lot of things have been swept under the rug and no one has said anything about this sorry situation. Your way to deal with it is to say you don’t want to hear anymore. I guess that means you have heard all you need to hear and are satisfied that people who wanted this job were treated fairly. What if your son or daughter was applying for the job? Would you be saying you have heard enough? If you believe the town handled this correctly, then your comment makes sense. Many others in town can’t say this because we have not heard any explanation about the way this was handled. You can bury your head in the sand and say enough is enough and be done with it. Or if you are troubled like so many others, you can hope that residents will go to the meeting to demand an explanation. If no explanation is given, then burying your head in sand will win the day.

Giveitarest
14 years ago

It will be interesting to see how many residents attend next week and voice their opinions and how many stay at home, voicing their opinions on this blog instead.

An Applicant
14 years ago

Please notice that I did not refer to myself as a candidate. I was only an applicant. My application never even prompted a call to any of the five references required with the application.
In the law enforcement community it is not very difficult for someone to get a feel for the field of competition when it comes to an open hiring process. Now that I know who the Candidates are, I can say to a degree of certainty that my qualifications at least met or exceed the chosen ones and I spent far too much time trying to figure out what happened.
In retrospect, shame on me ! I should have figured things out much sooner when I found out that Mr. Rooney resigned and Mr. Unsworth was left out of the screening process.
I really thought I would have loved to return to Southborough. Now I think it would have been a poor choice for me because no matter who gets the job, there will always be that “shadow of doubt” hanging over the appointment. Thats the real sad part.
I have better things to do than file lawsuits for discriminatory hiring practices even though I do believe that I was not treated the same way another applicant (candidate) was treated and I am planning on attending the meeting on the 17th. Hopefully, the Selectmen will explain away some of the rumors and back room conversations that said this was a “bag job” from the outset.

minimom
14 years ago

attendance at the meeting……will be small. It’ll be the “usual suspects”. I could do a poll right now of 50 people and I’d guarantee that I’d get 10 people to say that they are even aware of the controversy – not necessarily interested. Most people don’t seem to be interested in the issue – if they see it at all.

Lieut
14 years ago

Applicant, I too find myself in the same situation and share your frustration. For those who think this comment and those of others are sour grapes, here is a bit of background.

I have been a law enforcement officer for more than three decades. I have been a supervising/ranking officer for at least twenty years. I had applied to two previous Chief positions, and both times made it to the finalist stage. My application to Southborough met with the same result as Applicant’s. Not even a reference check, telephone call or interview. This is a first for me.

I thought at first that there must have been a lot of more qualified people looking for this job and that I was simply underqualified. That is an easy thing to take and understand. Then I was told about Mr. Rooney’s resignation and I read a copy of his letter. I re-read his letter with horror and confusion. Then I saw who the eight finalists were. Without boasting at all, anyone with any law enforcement experience will tell you that my background and accomplishments far exceed any of the so-called finalists.

I discussed this matter with many police chiefs, lawyers and police commissioners in the area and gave them copies of Rooney’s letter. You see, I am part of a very small community of law enforcment personnel and we meet and talk about similar interests frequently. They were shocked and amazed that a town could allow such a thing to happen. To a person, no one has ever seen the type of process that took place in Southborough. No one. Ever.

Applicant, one positive thing that came out of this is knowing that our qualifications were not reviewed by anyone who knew anything about hiring a police chief. Therefore, not advancing to the next stage had nothing to do with us or our backgrounds.

It is clear that there is no way the Selectmen can defend the actions of the committee. If they do, I would be once again amazed (which from this town, may be possible.) Once Mr. Rooney resigned and the Selectmen knew that Mr. Unsworth was not participating, they should have taken action immediately. From what I’ve read, how could they rely on the chair of the committee when red flags were popping up all over the place?

For the Selectmen to support the committee’s action, they will have to say that Rooney’s concern about Mr. Unsworth’s role was not important. They will have to say that the committee alone was able to review resumes and conduct interviews better than or with more experience than Mr. Unsworth. If the residents of your town can swallow that pill and accept that explanation, then I have been sorely mistaken in my esteem for your town.

Finally, Minimom if the people in your town do not know about this issue or just do not care, what does that say about your town?

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