http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-stam.chief4nov09,0,3813947.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Zach Lowe
Staff Writer
November 9, 2004
STAMFORD -- Police union officials criticized Mayor Dannel Malloy yesterday for not including Stamford officers among the finalists for the police chief position, but privately many officers said they preferred the new chief come from outside the department.
Last week, Malloy announced he had narrowed the choice to three finalists: Arthur Kelly III, a consultant with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and former chief of the New Bedford, Mass., Police Department; Brent Larrabee, former police chief of the Framingham, Mass., Police Department; and Karen Krasicky, deputy chief of the Bridgeport Police Department.
Sources have said the internal candidates who made the interview stage were Assistant Police Chief Frank Lagan, Assistant Chief Richard Priolo, Capt. Richard Conklin and Capt. Thomas Wuennemann.
Lagan is serving as interim chief until the new chief is named early next month, Malloy said.
"I think it's embarrassing that none of our guys were really being considered," said Officer Michael Merenda, president of the Stamford Police Association. "I question why Chief Lagan is good enough to be interim chief but not good enough to be a finalist."
Malloy said all three finalists are "great candidates" and dismissed criticisms that he ignored internal applicants.
"I've hired chiefs from the inside and the outside, so it's not as if I begin this process from any particular stand point," he said.
Malloy hired retired Police Chief Louis DeCarlo from within the department in 2001 to replace Dean Esserman, who came to Stamford after serving as chief of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department.
The criticism was made public when city Rep. John Zelinsky, D-11, faxed a letter to Malloy on Friday asking, "Who better knows our community, our problems and the needs of our residents than our local officers?"
Sgt. Paul Vaccaro, a member of the police union's board of trustees, said at least one internal candidate deserved to be among the finalists.
"I think one of our officers should have been named," Vaccaro said. "We have lieutenants on staff that would make good chiefs."
Vaccaro acknowledged that many of the rank-and-file officers want an outsider who will not be afraid to make changes and fight for equipment updates the union has clamored for.
Merenda has said the department needs a more reliable radio system, in-car computers and several specialty units, including a K-9 unit.
Vaccaro said budgetary constraints limited DeCarlo's ability to pursue those upgrades.
"I think a lot of the guys are frustrated with what they see," Vaccaro said. "They are looking for a change."
Merenda said morale among the officers is low, and his predecessor as union president, Sgt. Joseph Kennedy, said the department needs a chief with new ideas and a commitment to change.
"I think people are looking for an outsider, someone who will shake things up," Kennedy said. "If you get someone from in house, they are looking toward retirement, but an outsider is going to want to accomplish something in Stamford they can put on their resume, even if they are using the job as a stepping stone."
Kennedy and Merenda said the new chief's approach is more important than being an insider or an outsider, particularly as the union begins contract negotiations with the city in January.
"What's really important is that we get someone who is going to make this place better," Merenda said. "We need someone to sit down with the union and work out all the problems in this department."
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