Police Commission Gives Kehoe High Marks

By Andrew Gorosko

The Police Commission has performed its annual job performance review of Police Chief Michael Kehoe, terming his work as the town’s top law enforcement officer “outstanding.”

Police Commission members unanimously endorsed a written job evaluation for Chief Kehoe in early June.

The report covers the period July 1, 2001, to June 1, 2002. The one-page document provides a narrative account of Chief’s Kehoe’s job performance stating, “Chief Kehoe’s performance of his duties has been outstanding.”

The commission lauds the chief for the concision, comprehensiveness, and timeliness of his reports to them on police matters. Such reports allow commission members to make their decisions with sufficient information and with time for deliberation, the document states. “The [commission] relies on his advice and trusts his judgment,” it adds.

Chief Kehoe has effectively administered major projects, including the relocation of offices within the police station and the construction of the new combined dispatch center for police, fire, and ambulance dispatching, according to the commission.

The police chief is working with fire officials to upgrade the town’s emergency radio system, it adds.

Police budgetary matters have been carefully controlled and well administered, especially concerning police overtime spending, the evaluation states. Budgetary fund transfers and monetary encumbrances have been well documented and completed in a timely manner, it adds. Chief Kehoe holds a master’s degree in business administration.

Also, the police chief has sought out grants and cooperative programs with other law enforcement agencies to promote local highway safety, the report adds.

“The chief addresses problems quickly and takes corrective action promptly. He has displayed increased confidence in addressing complex and difficult matters,” the evaluation states.

Chief Kehoe has successfully utilized many management skills and has provided the leadership qualities that have produced a cohesive work force, it adds.

The police department’s recent successful 30th anniversary celebration “displays a new sense of commitment, cooperation, and pride by all personnel,” the report states.

The Police Commission approved a similar laudatory report on Chief Kehoe in 2001.

Chief Kehoe, 47, rose through the police department’s supervisory ranks rapidly. The Police Commission promoted him to the rank of sergeant in July 1997. He became a police captain in March 1999.

In July 1999, when the Police Commission placed former police chief James E. Lysaght, Jr, on administrative leave for unsatisfactory job performance, the commission placed then-Captain Kehoe in charge of the police department. After the commission terminated Mr Lysaght in March 2000, it named Capt Kehoe as the department’s acting chief in April 2000.

Mr Lysaght then challenged his termination in court, but a judge decided in April 2001 that the Police Commission was justified in firing him. Immediately after Mr Lysaght’s appeal period on that court decision had expired, the commission named Mr Kehoe to the post of police chief in May 2001.

The Police Commission’s current and previous glowing assessments of Chief Kehoe’s managerial abilities are in sharp contrast to the commission’s progressively more negative evaluations of Mr Lysaght’s performance before his termination as chief. The commission had hired Mr Lysaght as chief in July 1996.

Chief Kehoe’s current salary is $77,250 annually. Chief Kehoe, who started work as a patrol officer in 1978, served as the department’s youth officer and school resource officer before becoming a sergeant. He lives with his wife and family in Watertown.