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Date: 4/16/2015
EAST LONGMEADOW – Police Sgt. Patrick Manley, who has served on the Police Department for more than two decades, will be retiring on April 24. His son Daniel Manley, a police officer in the town, will be appointed his father’s successor effective April 26.
At its April 7 meeting, the Board of Selectmen alongside Police Chief Douglas Mellis interviewed two candidates for the position – officers Daniel Manley and Michael Sousa.
Following the approximately 15-minute interviews, the board appointed Manley to the position.
Daniel Manley told Reminder Publications he is pleased to be able to take his father’s position after he retires.
“It’s really nice that it was able to work out that way,” he added. “It’s an honor for me; I’m sure it also makes him feel proud as well knowing that I’ll be doing what he was able to do for many years.”
Manley said the department is composed of 28 patrolmen, six sergeants, and one police chief.
“The biggest difference is that I won’t be the primary officer being sent out on a call,” he explained. “I’ll be the supervisor trying to help the patrolmen that are now going out on all the calls.”
During the interview, Selectman Angela Thorpe asked for the reason why each candidate is most qualified for the position.
“One of the reasons why I may be the most qualified candidate is the number of years I’ve actually been working on patrol, which is a little over eight years now,” Manley said.
He added that he has bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and political science and has previously served as a member of the School Committee.
Sousa said he’s had years of experience in leadership roles in the military. He has completed three tours of duty overseas and has been in the U.S. Army Reserve for three years as a sergeant and staff sergeant.
Board of Selectmen Chair Paul Federici asked the candidates how they would improve their current shifts if appointed to the position of sergeant.
“There’s a lot of areas where it could improve, for instance, more manpower,” Manley said. “Another would be adding a detective position at that shift to assist with any major crimes that occur, but unfortunately all these things involve money and the town doesn’t always have all the money. I certainly do believe that the town itself does very well with the amount of money it does use.”
Manley also responded to a question posed by Selectman William Gorman regarding decision making as a police sergeant.
“First and foremost, I would rely on what the responding officers, the first officer’s, opinion [was] and what they saw occur,” Manley said. “Certainly get as much information as you can during the call and after the call. The more information you get, the better you can make good judgments and weigh [a patrolman’s] opinion at the highest level.”
He added that he is a long-time resident, having grown up and graduated in the public school system, stating that “this is where I want to be” in the next five years.
“The most knowledge that I actually bring to the table I would say is my ability to talk to people,” he noted. “I’m usually pretty good in a volatile situation to try to calm things down. It doesn’t always work, but the first thing you want to try to use is your silver tongue to just make things better.”
Federici posed a question related to “working in a small town” and having to deal with someone who one of the candidates knows in a situation.
“Unfortunately, I’ve had to handle this kind of situation in the past,” Manley said. “What I’ve done in that type of situation is I take a back seat or an assisting officer role. It’s always best to have somebody who doesn’t have a possible agenda so nobody can say there was any sort of bias.”
When Manley became part of the police department one of the most important thing was earning the respect of his fellow patrolmen, he noted.
“That’s one of the things that I would try to encourage in the new recruit; to earn that respect and let them know that sometimes it takes a little bit of time,” he added.