Holyoke Police Chief Search Extended After Candidate Withdraws

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – Holyoke’s search for a new police chief has hit a snag after one of the finalists withdrew from consideration. The application process has now been extended by two weeks.

Holyoke Police Chief Dave Pratt has served the city of Holyoke for more than three decades, but he announced in May that he would retire effective July 31. That’s when Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia assembled a search party with the goal of recruiting no more than three people. potential candidates. Garcia told Western Mass News there were nine applicants in total, and the selection committee was able to narrow it down to two finalists. He told us the final interviews were scheduled for this week, but had to be postponed after one candidate dropped out of the race.

“I quickly reconvened with the advisory group to understand what direction people wanted to go and reach consensus, and ultimately what came out of that conversation was not to restart the process, but to extend it for another two weeks, just to make sure.” that there are other candidates who could apply,” Garcia explained.

Garcia noted that they wanted to make sure the city of Holyoke did not select a default candidate, selected only because there were no other options.

“The candidate who stayed in this process is absolutely amazing, and I can’t wait to interview him at the public meeting, in the final public interview, to make sure no stone is turned over,” Garcia added.

Garcia told us that the person who dropped out was actually an internal candidate, while the other remaining finalist is an external candidate, which he finds interesting given the debate going on in town.

“There is a lot of talk in society. The conversations there are about what people want. There are people who say, “We don’t need an outside candidate.” There are people who say, “Hey, we need an external candidate.” We should not choose anyone for whatever reasons or arguments the groups have,” Garcia said.

Garcia assured us that this extension will not be a major setback for the city, since the interim chief is doing an excellent job and is willing to remain in office as long as necessary. The last date to apply for the post of Chief Constable is now November 11th.

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