Panel Seeks Revised Format

For Police Chief’s Job Review

Police Commission members are reviewing various formats for job reviews of the police chief to better describe on paper their consideration of his performance as the town’s top law enforcement official.

Police Commission members discussed the topic at a December 2 session attended by Police Chief Michael Kehoe, plus commission members Chairman Carol Mattegat, Duane Giannini, and Brian Budd.

Mr Giannini said a revised job performance format would be keyed to the police chief’s leadership role at the police department. Mr Giannini gave members two draft documents that would be discussed at the panel’s January 6 meeting.

Mr Budd said he would like to review how other law enforcement organizations conduct performance reviews of their police chiefs. Such a review would provide Police Commission members with a basis of comparison, he said.

The key to having an effective review of the police chief is to have a sound measurement process of the chief’s work performance, said Mr Giannini.

Chief Kehoe has fared very well in the Police Commission’s past annual reviews of his job performance. In his most recent evaluation, which was conducted for the 2007-08 fiscal year, Ms Mattegat termed the chief’s performance “excellent.”