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David Bemis officially named Bellows Falls police chief

By Patrick Adrian [email protected]
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — Acting Bellows Falls Police Chief David Bemis has officially been named the department’s permanent chief, Acting Village Manager Chuck Wise announced Tuesday.

Bemis, who has served on the department for 20 years, was sworn in Monday as the permanent chief and successor to former Police Chief Ron Lake, who resigned from the department in March.

Bemis will receive an annual salary of $72,618, Wise told the Village Trustees on Tuesday.

On Tuesday night, the Village Trustees held an emergency meeting to grant trustees and members of the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the chosen hire.

Some trustees and citizens expressed disappointment about the hire of Bemis, saying they had hoped the Village Search Committee — who recommended the hire of Bemis — would have chosen a successor from outside the Bellows Falls Police Department.

“Given the issues surrounding the police department over the past three (or more) years, it would have been an opportunity to start fresh,” said Trustee Wade Masure. “To bring in a new set of eyes and fresh mind or different set of skills to rebuild the police department.”

Despite his differing preference, Wade stressed that he was ready to support Bemis in moving the department forward in a positive direction.

The Bellows Falls Police Department has been in a state of turmoil for several months. Lake is facing sexual allegations by the village’s former police dispatcher, Alisha Beam, a 17-year employee who departed shortly after Lake. Beam has also filed a suit against Lake, Bellows Falls Police Officer Mario Checchi, the village of Bellows Falls and the town of Rockingham.The complaint, filed on March 23 in the U.S. District Court, includes claims of sexual harassment, defamation and an intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Beam also alleges that former Municipal Manager Wendy Harrison failed to follow through on a promise to investigate Beam’s grievances.

Village President Deborah Wright expressed strong criticism over the choice to hire internally from a department plagued by several years of poor performance and negligent leadership.

“I believe the decision was severely shortsighted, the committee mislead, ill-informed and overshadowed by police-like professionals with conflicts of interest and separate agendas that influenced the committee’s few civilian members who have little to no contact with our village’s police on a daily basis,” Wright read from a prepared statement.

Resident James Mitchell said that, to demonstrate the inside influence on the process by law enforcement officials, Checchi had publicly predicted that Bemis would be the chosen hire two months ago, even though the committee only submitted their recommendation last week.

The Village’s search committee was comprised of eight members: two Village trustees, James McAuliffe and Jeff Dunbar; Acting Village Manager Chuck Wise; Walpole Police Chief Michael Paquette; Windham County State’s Attorney Tracy Kelly Shriver; Trevor Whipple of the Vermont League of City and Towns; Michael Malick of Greater Falls Community Justice Center; and local business owners Jill Jamse of Chroma Technology and Julian Johnson of Jamaican Jewelz Catering.

McAuliffe, who chaired the committee, said the committee interviewed five candidates for the position and voted unanimously to recommend Bemis.

“I thought the process was very good and the best candidate was selected,” McAuliffe said.

McAuliffe criticized Wright’s comments, saying the trustees should model community leadership and support the chief to fulfill the village’s expectations.

“To apologize [to the community] for a process that was authentic and fair instead of wishing Bemis luck is, I think, a gross failure in leadership,” McAuliffe said. “As a trustee, I am happy to congratulate Dave Bemis and wish him the very best as our new police chief.”

Dunbar said he was “dumbfounded” that officials would challenge the selected process for not delivering the results they wanted.

“I think it’s a huge display of disrespect to those in our community who gave their time to this committee,” Dunbar said. “We all have the same interests to move the community forward, and it’s discouraging to see so much resistance.”

Trustee Stefan Golec urged the board to “move forward” and focus on improving targeted concerns in the community such as speeding and drug activity.

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