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Date: 10/28/2020
EAST LONGMEADOW – After nearly 40 years of service to the Town of East Longmeadow, Police Chief Jeffrey Dalessio has announced that he is retiring as of Jan. 15. Dalessio is a 34-year veteran of the police department.
“It’s just time to move on,” Dalessio told Reminder Publishing.
He started his career with the town in 1981 as a water meter reader and member of the Department of Public Works’ (DPW) street crew. He said that he had recently graduated high school, had worked a few jobs and decided that he preferred being outdoors to working inside all day.
After almost five years working for the DPW, Dalessio decided to become a police officer. “That was my goal when I got out of high school,” Dalessio said. When asked why how wanted to be an officer, he said, “The standard answer is you want to help people. I think it’s always stayed with me.”
Dalessio said that while he didn’t actively seek to move up in rank, he always took the opportunity to advance his career when it presented itself.
“I was pretty much satisfied being a sergeant, but when chief came along,” in April of 2016, he said, “I decided to throw my hat into the ring.”
Dalessio explained that the police department in East Longmeadow is a civil service, which relies on merit for promotions, so he had to complete an exam when he was hired and each time he moved up, from officer to sergeant to chief.
“After almost 40 years of public service, I’m ready. I think it’s time for the department to move forward,” Dalessio said, adding that it is good to change leadership every now and then.
Retirement won’t be too quiet for the chief, however. “I think I’m still pretty young not to be active. It might look like volunteering,” Dalessio speculated. That said, he acknowledged that he will be “kicking back a little bit.”
Over his time in working for East Longmeadow, the town has gone through its share of business growth, but Dalessio said it is still a small town community where people run into neighbors at the grocery store or at church.
“As I said in my letter,” to Town Administrator Mary McNally announcing his plans, “The town of East Longmeadow doesn’t make its people great. The people are what makes the town great,” Dalessio said. “I’ve made a lot of friends. There’s a lot of nice people out there that support the police department and the town and I’m forever grateful for that. I’m very proud to have grown up and lived in East Longmeadow all my life.”