Two current members of the Marion Police Department are hoping they have what it takes to fill, as Board of Selectmen Chairman Jody Dickerson put it, the “big shoes” that current Police Chief Lincoln Miller will leave behind when he retires effective December 31 at the end of this year.
The selectmen opted to seek police chief candidates from within the department before posting the position outside, offering the chance to apply to Marion Police candidates holding the rank of sergeant or lieutenant. Out of four possible applicants, two stepped forward: Lieutenant John Garcia and Sergeant Richard Nighelli.
“The replacement for Chief Miller is going to be some big shoes to fill,” said Dickerson. “Today we will be starting a new chapter in the history of this department.”
Interviewing Garcia first, the selectmen asked him questions about community outreach, leadership, and of course, managing a municipal budget.
Lieutenant Garcia, a police officer of 33 years with 31 of them in Marion, was promoted to sergeant in 2000, then lieutenant in 2004. He is also the unit commander of the Search and Rescue Team, of which he has been a member for 12 years.
Garcia said he is most proud of his contributions towards Marion PD’s state accreditation, becoming only one of five accredited police departments in Plymouth County.
“It was a tremendous amount of work, something that is quite an accomplishment,” said Garcia.
When questioned about how he envisions his first six months as chief, Garcia first pointed to the importance of redistributing responsibilities amongst the department, especially with an imminent retirement of one senior sergeant.
“In addition,” Garcia said, “I would like to see the department more involved in community programs.” He added that he is a firm believer in community outreach, citing examples such as firearm safety classes and “bicycle rodeos.”
“I know you’ve always been involved in the community since the beginning,” said Dickerson before the board asked Garcia about what he would do to enhance community policing.
Garcia said he was currently seeking grants to fund bike helmets for the public, and he envisions an after-school program for kids interested in law enforcement and learning about fingerprinting as well as other interesting activities.
“Something fun so they can get to know us as people,” said Garcia.
As for leadership, the trait Garcia finds most important in a community like Marion is compassion.
“You have to also look after the needs of the people,” Garcia said. “They need to know that somebody’s watching their back.”
And moving the department forward into the future and motivating officers, said Garcia when asked, can be achieved by rewarding good work when deserved, and again, the redistribution of tasks.
“[The officers] need to know that they’re doing a good job,” Garcia said. “Those that are doing well need to know and be given some of the choice assignments.”
Garcia said he attends Council on Aging meetings whenever he can to better serve the population by establishing a connection to understand its needs. Serving the elderly population, Garcia said, was “near and dear to my heart.” As part of Search and Rescue, he said he is trained to respond to ‘wanderers’ and is highly specialized in assisting people with Alzheimer’s.
An effective police chief must also succeed in commanding respect, as selectmen pointed out – something Garcia said has to be earned.
“I think that one of the main things is just being fair,” said Garcia, “being fair across the board. If they have a need, to try and address their concern.” For example, Garcia said, “If equipment goes unrepaired, it starts to wear on the morale of the department having them come in with broken equipment.”
And as every department head knows, it is a challenge to obtain and manage monetary resources. In order to efficiently maximize limited annual resources, Garcia said he had been “fairly successful” in the past acquiring grants, specifically when the Town wanted to buy Tasers.
“To put it politely, I think I have a reputation of being ‘fiscally responsible,’” Garcia said.
Selectman Steve Gonsalves, concerned about the younger residents and especially the ‘tween’ agers, wondered how Garcia would reach out to the younger people and engage them effectively.
“We haven’t been overly comfortable with social media,” Garcia admitted. “We need to get somebody in here who’s more comfortable with that media. Kids, the tweens … are very adept at social media, so we need to find ways to reach out to them and … I think humor is one of those areas.”
When it came to reflecting on his career and the ‘mistakes’ along the way he would have done differently, Garcia couldn’t really think of any.
“I’m here,” said Garcia. “I think I’m pretty satisfied.”
The selectmen asked if Garcia thought there was a need at Sippican School for a more full-time school resource officer, to which he said no.
“I personally don’t think that it’s warranted to have somebody at the elementary school full time,” said Garcia, although having a presence to establish relationships, such as lunch dates with police would be welcomed, he added. “What we don’t want … [is] the only time they see a police officer in the school [to be] when there a problem.”
“I think we learned a lot from you,” said Dickerson to Garcia. Garcia replied, “Thank you for the opportunity to interview for the position. Thirty one years in the department I’ve seen a lot of changes. When I started we had manual typewriters…. I’ve been here for a lot of those changes. It’s pretty much adapt or die, and I’m still here.”
Sergeant Richard Nighelli has been a police officer for 15 years, with 11 of them as sergeant. His first two years were spent in Nantucket until Chief Miller hired Nighelli in Marion. He is the operations commander of the South Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council Swat Team, second in command, and has trained with elite forces from all over the country. Nighelli said he is proud of this, and he was also on the ground in Watertown after the Boston Marathon bombing.
During his first six moths as chief, Nighelli said he would focus primarily on getting a feel for his position and orienting himself to his new responsibilities.
“I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t be successful in that position,” said Nighelli. “See what’s going good, what’s going bad, and to see that the department is running as efficiently as possible.”
Nighelli would also like to engage kids more, possibly by establishing a cadet program or junior explorer program, maybe even a community police academy.
Trust is what Nighelli deems an important trait of an effective leader. “Being able to communicate. If you can’t communicate you can’t be an effective leader. You have to get your message across to the troops.”
“You have to advocate for the department,” said Nighelli. “You’ve got to be a good leader, you have to be able to think quickly, have clear thoughts…. You have to be a good decision maker.”
In order to move the department forward, Nighelli says officers need to feel “empowered.”
“And whether that be to ask them what’s working, what’s not, create open dialog….”
Selectmen asked Nighelli how he would command the respect of his subordinates.
“I believe I’ve already commanded their respect,” he said. “I’m going to treat them with respect. I feel that when you treat them with respect, they’ll give you respect.”
Nighelli admitted he doesn’t have extensive experience managing town finances, but he could handle it. “I will say that I’m willing to learn. I don’t know everything about finances, but I’m willing to learn. I’ll reach out to the right people, not only in town but outside of town – how they have implemented programs and paid for them,” he said, adding, “I’m not there yet but I’ll get there.”
As for reaching out to the younger residents, Nighelli said social media is important in that regard. “Twitter, Facebook … We get information out there, but also I think it’s really important that when something [happens] … a press release should be done right away. I think that’s to eliminate any type of rumor that’s out there.”
“Social media,” he said, though, “it’s a tough subject because you have an elderly population who are not involved in social media and the millenials who are.”
Nighelli said he has made some mistakes over the course of his career he wishes he could have done differently, but did not name anything specific. “I feel like ‘mistakes’ is negative, [but] I think they are learning experiences.”
“Bingo!” Selectman Gonsalves said.
“I’ve had several learning experiences in my career. I can’t pinpoint an exact example, but I do know that there have been some examples … and I look back and say I could’ve done that better.”
He continued, “There’s no bigger critic than myself and me. I always look at myself in the mirror and ask how I can do things better, and I try to continue to grow and to learn.”
Nighelli said he would enhance the sentiment of public service within the force by reinforcing commendation of deserving officers.
“If officers go above and beyond … I’d like to implement a commendation program that is a little more subjective,” saying it would boost morale within the force. “The amount of greatness that I see on a day-to-day basis…”
Nighelli says he does see a need for increased police presence at Sippican School.
“I’m looking forward to working with the principal … telling her what we can offer, asking them what their needs are,” he said. “We spend so much money on schools and our children, why are we not going to have someone go in there and not talk about the effects of … drugs … issues going on at home…. They might tell that police officer.”
“It has to be a commitment from the school, too,” Nighelli said. “There needs to be open lines of communication.” He also said he would establish a police officer lunch program with the kids. “There’s incentive for [officers] to go down there…. They’re going to be encouraged to … be visible down there.”
In closing, Nighelli said, “It’s humbling to be sitting here in front of you. When I came to the town fifteen years ago, I never thought I’d be sitting in this position. I feel that the board has helped the department in a way, that you’re sending a message to the younger officers here that they can one day be the police chief. I think that’s a powerful message you’re sending.”
“Police officers have a lot of bad things that they see on a daily basis,” said Nighelli. “My support network at home is unmatched. My wife … without her support I would not be sitting here.”
Both candidates received a “homework” essay assignment due the following Monday afternoon.
The Board of Selectmen will make a decision on its next step towards hiring a new police chief by mid-October, Dickerson stated.
Marion Board of Selectmen
By Jean Perry
