This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Crime & Safety

Does a New Board Mean a New Manchester Police Chief?

The measure may have been squashed last year, but newly elected Manchester aldermen say they are in favor of renominating Lt. Tim Walsh as Manchester's police chief. However, others still have concerns.

For nearly two years, Manchester's acting police chief Lt. Tim Walsh has been waiting to take the word “acting” from his title. The wait may soon be over.

Mayor David Willson said he plans to nominate Walsh for the job of police chief once again.

“Tim has been doing an excellent job as acting chief,” Willson said. “I would like to nominate him again.”

Find out what's happening in Town And Country-Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Willson had once before nominated Walsh in August of 2010, after interviewing close to 40 other potential candidates. The Manchester Board of Aldermen then voted on the measure.

Aldermen Don Ryan, Michael Clement and John Diehl voted in favor of Walsh. Aldermen Marilyn Ottenad and Hal Roth voted against him. Alderman Bob Tullock abstained from the vote, preventing the mayor from having to vote if there had been a tie. Willson tells Patch he would have voted in Walsh's favor if Tullock had voted "no" and Walsh would have had officially become chief of Manchester’s police force.

Find out what's happening in Town And Country-Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I was surprised,” Walsh said. “I just assumed that everybody would say either 'yes' or 'no'."

For the last 20 months, Walsh has been lieutenant of special operations, emergency management director and police chief after the department's previous chief was let go. As lieutenant, Walsh was automatically put into the acting police chief position as a result. After the most recent election, some board members say they are ready to give Walsh the title he has earned.

“Yes, I would vote in favor of him,” Clement said. “I think he is a very honest, good man. I think he has the strong support of the entire police department.”

The two new board members, John Schrader and Paul Hamill, also said they plan to vote in favor of Walsh.

“Tim is a great guy,” said Schrader, who beat Don Ryan for the Ward 3 Aldermanic seat. “He’s been on the force for twenty-plus years, so I am all for it. If they bring it up in the next couple weeks, I will be happy to vote in favor of him.”

Paul Hamill, who will become Ward 1 Alderman after defeating Tullock in the election, said Walsh, who has been part of Manchester's police department for 28 years, has the experience necessary for the job.

“His time on the force has provided him with significant institutional knowledge as to what policies and procedures work and the fact that he lives in Manchester has provided him with a knowledge and understanding of the residents,” Hamill said.

Ottenad, who voted against Walsh last year, said she did so because she did not feel comfortable with the interviewing process.

“There were over 40 applicants, and some were truly qualified, and they were not brought before us,” Ottenad said. “I am not saying, and I said it at the time, the mayor did anything wrong. It’s just that there were some that were as qualified or more qualified, but they were not brought before us. ”

She said several members of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) had also urged her at the time to vote against Walsh.

“Going back from memory, what I remember is that there were projects that were set up by members of CERT, and they were not followed through by Tim Walsh,” Ottenad said. “What exactly he didn’t follow through on, I don’t know. But they were so disgusted that they were ready to offer their service to West County EMS rather than being connected with the Manchester Police Department.”

Ottenad said that was in the past, however, and she may reconsider her decision after talking to several residents.

“Since the last vote on Walsh’s appointment, I have heard from people in Ward 2 and other wards who disagreed with my vote and gave me other reasons on why he should be police chief," Ottenad said. "If the vote is put before us, I plan to contact the CERT members who talked to me recently to discuss his most recent performance. If I had to vote today, I am leaning on voting ‘yes’.”

Alderman Roth, who also voted against Walsh last year, said he still has concerns with making Walsh chief of police.

“I’d vote for anybody who is trained, has experience and is competent—but he has to be an independent thinker,” Roth said. “He was lacking in one of those areas.  I want somebody who operates independently from outside influences.”

Roth did not elaborate in what those outside influences were. Roth, however, said he was also displeased with last year’s nomination process.

“We were only presented two candidates,” Roth said. “I saw the paperwork of 16 of them who had outstanding credentials. I wanted to see more people. We had some guys with some slick-looking résumés.”

Willson, however, does not plan on interviewing any other candidates again. He said that process was over with last year, and Walsh is still his choice. 

“We will see what happens, we are going to bring it up again,” Willson said.

Walsh, meanwhile, said he will stay out of the politics of the board and just wait for the decision.

“I am hopeful to get the job,” Walsh said. “It will be up to the people who got elected. If they support me, I am grateful for their support. Regardless, I will come to work every day and do the best job I can."

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Town And Country-Manchester