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Date: 3/10/2021
HAMPDEN – The Hampden Board of Selectmen voted at its March 8 meeting to name Det. Scott Trombly the new police chief.
Selectman John Flynn said that the board had had three “good, qualified candidates” from within the Police Department – Trombly, Sgt. Thomas Yvon and Sgt. Tawrin Seega.
Flynn, who had voted for Trombly when he applied for chief about 15 years ago, noted that the detective did not have as much leadership experience as the two sergeants, but said the most important characteristics were a rapport with staff and the vision for dispatch. Chair Donald Davenport said the most important aspects of the new chief are education, experience and leadership.
Fellow board member Mary Ellen Glover said that the key attributes for her were leadership, education and the ability to build trust with the community. She said that residents have told her Trombly deals with issues “amicably” whenever possible.
The board will now negotiate a contract with Trombly and, if successful, he will begin as chief by April 1.
The board conducted a hearing to determine the dangerousness of a dog that had been involved in multiple issues with a neighbor. Teresa Majewski presented a complaint to the board about the dog of her neighbor, Laura Nelson. Majewski told the board that there had been several incidents, beginning in April or May 2020, in which Nelson’s dog, Tiger, jumped the stone wall between properties and came toward Majewski and her 24-pound dog, Rudy.
Majewski said the first two encounters consisted of Tiger, a dog weighing approximately 100 pounds, approaching and being shooed away, but in June 2020 the dog did not fully retreat and when she brought Rudy inside the screened-in porch, Tiger began “attacking” the screen door and pacing around the house for about five minutes. When Nelson collected her dog, Majewski said, she told Nelson to keep Tiger off her property.
Six months later, however, on Jan. 1, Majewski said that she had gone inside for a moment while Rudy was tied up outside and she heard “yelping, crying and screaming.” When she came outside, she said, “Tiger was straddling [Rudy] and had him pinned to the ground,” with the smaller dog’s neck in Tiger’s mouth. Majewski picked up a nearby pitchfork and said that she stabbed Tiger several times to get her off of Rudy. When Majewski took Rudy in the house, she said, Tiger jumped at the screen door and she opened the screen door and stabbed Tiger with the pitchfork again.
Majewski said although there was no blood at the time, Rudy developed an abscess and when the veterinarian shaved the dog’s neck, there were teeth marks on his neck. Hampden Animal Control Officer Shelley Sears documented the injuries sustained to Rudy.
Nelson did not dispute the events. Instead, she admitted that when she adopted Tiger, the dog was more than she could handle at the time. Moving forward, she said that she “would be proactive with this dog.” To that end, Nelson detailed the steps she had taken to ensure another incident would not happen, including the installation of a run for dogs up to 150 pounds, future installation of an underground electric fence, the removal of a dog door allowing unfettered Tiger access to the outside and upcoming enrollment in a dog training course after she receives the coronavirus vaccine. She also said that Tiger was on prednisone for skin allergies at the time and since discontinuing the medication has had a calmer personality.
Flynn discounted the electric fence as a solution, saying “If a dog wants to, it’s going through,” the electric perimeter.
Davenport explained that the classification of a dog as “dangerous” under Massachusetts law came with a requirement to impose one or more of several actions to prevent further issues – humane restraint, confined to the owner’s premises, muzzled and restrained when off property, the owner required to carry $100,000 in liability insurance or euthanasia.
Majewski said that she did not want the dog euthanized, but that she was “terrified” and that Tiger was “a very intimidating dog – she’s huge.”
Glover commended Nelson on the steps she had taken but said that the dog is dangerous as it currently stands. Flynn asked Sears if a dangerous dog can later be reclassified if reformed, but she said that was not generally done. Sears recommended the dog be confined to a kennel with a top and bottom and that she be muzzled when off the owner’s property.
After the board ordered the restraints, Nelson said, “Whatever makes Teresa comfortable and gives me a chance to get this dog proven to be a safer dog.”
On the topic of dispatch, Director Anthony Gentile shared with the board that the regional dispatch had been approved for the $36,635 start-up grant, which includes radio communication and data between towns. He has also applied for the state’s E911 development grant, which will pay for Hampden’s first-year assessment and upgrades to the two police departments. He said that grant, totaling $696,315, is awarded in the summer. Gentile said the dispatch partnership has the full backing of the state.