Town troubled by allegations of funds misuse swears in new police chief
Westmorland city officials said it was a tough decision but they finally got their man. New Police Chief Perry Monita was sworn in on Tuesday morning.
City Mayor Larry Ritchie said, “Three police chiefs interviewed him. And they asked him a series of questions, as they did all the candidates. And he ranked number one in their esteem. Our city council made the absolutely best choice,” Ritchie said.
Monita was selected even though he has no police chief experience. Other candidates did have that experience.
Mayor Pro Tem Mary Ann Smith said, “It’s starting right now, this very moment. He is our official chief of police.”
Chief monita said he was excited about the opportunity and agree there’s a lot for him to learn.
“The first thing I plan to do is meeting with my city clerk and going over my specific duties here at the department,” Monita said.
He’s focusing on priorities.
“Foremost is looking at training and equipment, getting those taken care of. And like I said, meeting with both the city clerk and on Wednesday night I’ll be meeting with the city council,” Monita said.
Police officers in the department are ready to point out department needs.
“Equipping the officers appropriately and set out a plan to make a bigger difference, just a difference all around,” Sergeant Eladio Reyes said.
“More operations, more patrolling, let the community see us more out there, let them see that we’re more involved with them,” Officer Kayla M. Soto said.
“We want to be able to reach out to the community and to other agencies that we’re here to serve and protect, and remember our code of ethics and show the respect to the community. We’re going to be sending a lot of our officers to training; I’m big on training and education,” Lieutenant Maximus Barabino said.
Chief Monita replaces former police chief Fred Beltran, who left after funds misuse allegations came to light. City officials told us they had no comment about how investigation was going.
