The city of Holyoke, Massachusetts is searching for a new police chief, and the public weighed in during a special forum this week. Many said they want a reformer who can tackle a number of changes called for in a recent audit of the department.
Holyoke Police Chief David Pratt retired at the end of July after 31 years with the department, including three years as top cop. Serving in the interim is Police Captain Isaias Cruz.
For the past month, the city's been advertising the role, with an Aug. 30 deadline for applications.
Evaluating candidates will be the city's Police Chief Search Committee, which hosted a public listening session Tuesday night - in an attempt to learn what locals want to see in the next head of the department.
Russ Stevens of Public Safety Consultants LLC serves on the committee.
“We're here to listen to you, the people in the audience and the people that are at home, that are logging on right now - we're here to listen to you as to what you would like to see in your next police chief,” Stevens said to the audience while seated beside fellow committee members.
Streaming the event was Holyoke Media, which hosted the listening session in its studio and provided audio for this report.
Once the mic was handed over to attendees, it wasn’t long before issues outlined in a 2023 audit of the police department came up.
Released in Jan. 2023, the report by Municipal Resources Inc. summarized a lengthy review of operations at Holyoke PD – finding low morale among officers, staffing issues and high demands on patrol personnel among the biggest concerns.
In its conclusion, MRI went as far as to say the department “represents a substantial risk to the city,” with issues ranging from fleet management to aging equipment to the fact that only 64 percent of Holyoke PD’s designated patrol force perform patrol duties – the rest unavailable, assigned to various "ancillary duties" such as evidence oversight or record management.
Steve Superba, a Holyoke resident and former Northampton police officer, seized on another matter from the audit – the lack of a formal field training program for new officers.
“It's been 18 months since the police risk analysis report came out and I don't see any substantive things done,” he said, responding to . “For example, you're in the newspaper regarding a field training mentorship. That's not a field training officer program. So, I mean, you can expound upon that, because that's the only substantive thing I saw, and I don't believe that it's a field training officer program. But beyond that, I don't see any other substantive stuff.”
Superba was responding to a committee member and Holyoke Police Sgt. Joseph Zurheide, who described progress the department had been making since the audit.
Published earlier in August, a report from the department claimed improvements were being made – including new firearms to replace “un-reliable units,” improved police station surveillance and security, use of force tracking software and the hiring of seven new officers expected to graduate from the academy in October.
More candidates were being vetted, according to the report. The audit suggested officer availability “falls short by 17 to 30.”
The department progress report also conceded at least six “long term or tabled projects,” including active shooter training and the pursuit of accreditation with the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission.
As to what’s “needed to accomplish” the goals, the department listed a need for a “funding source” as well as staffing when it came to accreditation.
Another matter brought up in the audit and the listening session - community engagement.
“I'd like to see the new leadership definitely work on what community policing is,” Resident Theresa Cooper-Gordon said, adding that she would like to see patrolmen walking through city neighborhoods. “Community is extremely important, and in order for us to change our community and for the officers who work in our community to know the community, they have to be in the community.”
She and others called for the future chief to meet with the community more regularly, whether it be listening to residents directly or detailing progress made on the department’s goals.
The listening session lasted about an hour, but before its end – the tables turned a bit. Holyoke City Councilor At-Large Israel Rivera asked the committee what they themselves are looking for in the next chief.
The committee is made up of at least three current Holyoke PD employees, six members of the Police Relations Committee, as well as Ward 1 City Councilor Jenny Rivera and City Personnel Director, Kelly Curran.
One Police Relations Committee member is Quilana Rivera. Answering the councilor’s question, she said there’s likely no perfect match for the role, but at the end of the day, hopes to find a chief who can do “a little bit of everything,” from being tough on crime to not being satisfied with the status quo.
“I want to see a chief that's willing to work on things and not [be] complacent, and not look at things and say, ‘Well, this is fine,’” Rivera said. “I want to see a chief that's willing to work on things - that's what I'm looking at, whether it be internal or external.
Russ Stevens says with the application deadline approaching, the job post will go up again if there are not enough qualified candidates. One way or another, the committee aims to select three candidates who will be publicly interviewed.
