For the second Police Commission meeting in a row, officials received unappealing news from a member of the police department’s command staff in the form of a departure announcement.

Last month it was from Police Chief James Viadero — this month the news came from Captain Chris Vanghele.

Vanghele told commissioners about his planned departure at a January 4 meeting and said his last day will be January 28. He has been hired as the new police chief in Plainville.

That news ended any speculation that Vanghele might step up as acting chief or even as Newtown’s next police chief following Viadero’s departure to be chief inspector in the Connecticut Office of the Inspector General, also at the end of the month.

“It was an honor to work with him and he was a great wingman,” said Viadero of Vanghele. “If I was headed in the wrong direction on something, he’d help guide me. He’s a testament to good police work.”

Viadero noted one local officer told Vanghele when he was hired, he intended to leave after a few years. But Vanghele “inspired him to stay” well beyond that.

Vanghele made the announcement “with a mixture of gratitude and sadness.”

“It feels like yesterday that I was sworn in,” said Vanghele. “I’ll miss seeing the thousands of Newtown residents it’s been an honor to serve, and I’ll miss my fellow officers who have been almost like family.”

Vanghele was one of the two most senior officers in the department, with Sergeant Scott Ruczyk hired around the same time.

A ‘Good Opportunity’

Police Commission Chairman Joel Faxon said Vanghele in his years in the department had seen the town’s “good, bad, and unfortunate.” He said that Plainville will be a “good opportunity” for Vanghele to “Take the number one position without question.”

Faxon noted that Vanghele came to many Police Commission meetings as captain, and was “always well prepared.” He commended Vanghele for his recent organizing of the department’s 50th anniversary celebration as an “excellent event.”

“We appreciate all the work you’ve done in your time here and all the things you’ve given to the town,” said Faxon. “Plainville will be very happy to have you.”

Faxon also noted it was “tough to lose two” command level members of the department at once, but both Viadero and Vanghele have left the department on “excellent footing.”

“The foundation you have laid will work to ensure the agency continues to excel and the officers will continue to get along,” Faxon said. “I’m confident with this foundation in place we are in a good position to move forward.”

Police Commissioner Brian Budd commended Vanghele as “so committed and so passionate in a positive way” and willing to “commit selfless acts.”

“He put himself in the position to protect his flock,” said Budd. “He stood up and stood in a gap others did not want to stand in.”

As part of his 28 and a half years with the department, Vangele most recently was promoted to captain, the department’s second-in-command position, for five years. As the sole department captain he assists the chief in administering day-to-day operations, including the individual agency departments and the budget, and is the liaison for other towns and outside agencies.

Vanghele also previously served as a lieutenant for six years; as a sergeant for 11 years; as a school resource officer for two years; a statewide Narcotics Task Force member for two years, and a patrol officer for four years. He has acted as the department’s grant writer, and created the department’s Citizen’s Police Academy and was its coordinator for seven years.

He is a POST-certified law enforcement instructor in domestic violence and has served in that capacity for 16 years. During that time he has been honored for his domestic violence prevention work by the Connecticut Commission Against Domestic Violence, and the state’s Dept of Children and Families, among others.

Vanghele is also a past president, secretary, and treasurer of the Fairfield County Police Training Officer’s Association. Additionally, he was an associate professor at Post University, teaching classes in criminal justice.

Initiating Chief Search

With both departures, the commission is working to recruit and hire a new chief. Following a December 29 meeting that was, according to commission member Neil Chaudhary, erroneously conducted in executive session, the commission voted to place everything discussed at that meeting into the amended minutes for that meeting as the best way to make good on the mistake.

“We want to be as transparent as possible,” said Chaudhary. All of the items placed into the record pertained to search criteria for the police chief position, which is currently posted on the town’s website.

They discussed that candidates for the police chief position should reside in Newtown or within 25 miles of Newtown. Candidates should have at least five years of command experience with at least seven desired, and 15 years of law enforcement experience.

The commission discussed whether it was desirable to hire inside or outside the department, but “no consensus was reached” as it could not be known which was better “without seeing the applicants.”

Chaudhary said that following a discussion with the Freedom of Information Act Office regarding the executive session, they had recommended the formation of an executive search committee that would allow them to get together to discuss new hires without having to post a notice of a formal meeting that could be attended by the public. The past police commission did the same when it was conducting the police chief search that led to the hiring of Viadero.

“I don’t see a downside to doing this,” said Police Commissioner Joan Plouffe.

The Police Commission named all five of its members to the search committee. Chaudhary, however, expressed a desire to keep as much as possible in the public record. While he found it undesirable to have applicants’ resumes be public record prior to the decision, he did want the commission’s thoughts on the hiring process to be “transparent.”

“Hiring the chief is something the public should be involved in as much as possible,” said Chaudhary. “Anything that we discuss that can be made public should be brought back to the regular Police Commission meetings. Transparency is important.”

Faxon noted that any vote the committee takes would have to be done publicly. He suggested the executive search committee and executive sessions at regular meetings “could be used in tandem.”

“It will give more functionality but there will be many things we can discuss in public session,” said Faxon.

In addition to the police chief position and now the captain position, Viadero also said that the department had interviewed three candidates for the open student resource officer position, with an announcement expected to be made later this week. Viadero wanted an opportunity to talk with each of the candidates before a formal announcement was made.

“I think we made a good choice,” said Viadero, who said the candidate selected will spend several weeks mirroring current SRO Rich Monckton, who is also part of the detective division.

Reporter Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.