New police chief named

WINSTED — Town Manager Dale Martin named William Fitzgerald as the town’s new police chief at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Monday, April 6.

Fitzgerald will be taking the place of former Chief Robert Scannell who left last October to become the Town Manager of Watertown.

Sergeant Kevin Kinahan served as the town’s interim police chief after Scannell left.

Fitzgerald said he has served for 31 years in the Newport, R.I., police force, where he is currently a lieutenant. 

Martin said the contract between the town and Fitzgerald is provisional because the town is waiting to receive the required background checks from the state, and that the town has not chosen a date to swear Fitzgerald in.

In an interview outside of the meeting, Fitzgerald said that he has to transition out of the Newport department before he moves to Winsted.

“It is an honor and a privilege,” Fitzgerald said after he was introduced to the board by Martin. “We’re writing a new chapter in the police department in terms of programming. Some of the things that I did in Newport that were successful I will be bringing here. I want to meet the residents and businesses owners so I can see what kind of police department they are expecting. I would like to make this police department a model, just like we did for Newport. To me, it is integral that the police department has partnerships between the community and schools and that will be our major focus.”

According to the United State Census Bureau, Newport has a population of 24,027 as of 2013, while the population of Winsted is 7,712 as of 2010.

In an interview outside of the meeting, Fitzgerald said the Newport Police Department has 120 employees with a budget of $19 million.

“In Newport we work as a team, not a team of one person, and that’s what I’m going to bring here,” Fitzgerald said. “My job will not be the sole thinker, but I will make new leaders. How ridiculous it is not to train others for a leadership position. I expect my people to train patrol officers to be supervisors.”

Fitzgerald said he knows that he will be facing challenges once he starts at the police department.

“I don’t want to go to a police department that is boring,” he said. “I’m looking for an exciting challenge. I could have been a chief anywhere. I turned down a position in New Hampshire because they wanted me to be a hatchet guy. I’m a fun guy and a happy guy, and I can’t do that.”

Fitzgerald said he will be looking at the department’s policies, procedures and resources when he starts.

“Usually, to be honest, the expectations of the public are high,” he said. “We have to equalize the public’s expectations into reasonable expectations. The public gets a lot of expectations from television. And who’s fault is that? It’s the police’s fault because we never educate anybody.”

Back in December at a special selectmen’s meeting, Kinahan said that Winsted is not a safe place to live.

Fitzgerald said he disagrees with Kinahan’s statement.

“You don’t have drive-by shootings in Winsted, do you?” Fitzgerald asked this reporter. 

According to Martin, Fitzgerald will start some time in early May. His salary will be $80,000 per year and his contract will be open-ended.