PHILLIPSTON – Interviews to find the next chief of police will be conducted this coming Wednesday, June 27.

After a short discussion at their meeting Thursday night, Selectboard members Bernie Malouin and Nicole Gough – board member Gerhard Fandreyer was not in attendance – decided to interview those they consider the top three of the six applicants—Sean Sawicki, Bill Chapman and Ron Militana. Board member Gerhard Fandreyer was not in attendance. Interviews are scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. at the Phillipston Memorial Building and will be open to the public. It was not stated if a decision on the next chief would be made then. 

The candidates

Sawicki began his law enforcement career as a patrol officer for the Town of Shutesbury, where he worked from 2013 to 2016. In November 2016 he took a job as patrol officer in Templeton, serving that community for nearly two years. Sawicki joined the Phillipston Police as a patrol officer from 2018- 2021, when he was promoted to his current rank of detective sergeant. A 2008 graduate of Amherst High School, in 2016 Sawicki received certification from the state police academy to serve as a full-time officer.

Chapman started his career in 2009 as a part-time officer for the Town of Royalston, which he held until 2014. While serving in Royalston he joined the Phillipston department as a part-time patrol officer in 2012 and continued in that position until 2023. Since that time, he has served as a full-time officer in neighboring Templeton while also holding down a part-time officer in Westminster.

Chapman has also worked as a staff instructor for the last three years in charge of overseeing recruit training at the Boylston Police Academy, under the auspices of the state’s Municipal Police Training Committee. He is also a K9 handler and was recently elected to the Royalston Selectboard.

Militana hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he currently lives. From 2013 to 2019, Militana served as a special agent/resident agent in charge in the Baton Rouge Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit. He retired in 2019, but was rehired as a special agent in 2022 to help meet staffing demands created by the pandemic. He is currently assigned to the U.S. Office of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General.

Prior to moving to Baton Rouge, Militana was a supervisory special agent for HSI in Calexico, California from 2009 to 2013. He also served as a special agent for the U.S. Department of State in Arlington, Virginia, from 2006 to 2009. He holds a master’s degree in defense and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

If Militana is unable to meet for an interview, Malouin and Gough said they would then consider the application of Robert Deschenes of Hubbardston. Deschenes has been a patrol officer, court officer, evidence control officer, and sexual assault investigator with the Templeton Police Department since 2019. He also served as a part-time patrol officer in Phillipston from 2021-2023. From 2006 to 2016 Deschenes served as a patrol officer and later sergeant for the Barre Police from 2006-2016. He served in the same capacity for the Hardwick Police from 1997 to 2006.

Chief’s salary concerns

Phillipston Police Chief Kevin Dodge tendered his resignation in March. The Selectboard is hoping to find a successor by July1, the date Dodge’s resignation becomes official and the start of the new fiscal year.

The advertisement for the job states the position pays an annual salary of $79,394-$93,642. However, meeting the top end of that range may prove problematic.

At the Annual Town Meeting on May 8, voters approved an FY25 budget that cut the top pay for the police chief to just under $87,000. A Special Town Meeting will be held on Tuesday asking voters to reconsider the budget passed in May.

A new budget proposal from the Selectboard and Finance Committee would cut the approved FY25 budget from $2,711,000 to $2,658,000 – while also increasing the top pay of the police and fire chiefs, the public works director, and the administrative assistant to the amount originally recommended by town officials in May, which would cover the top range of the police chief’s salary.

The Special Town Meeting gets underway at 7 p.m. at the Phillipston Memorial Building.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@aol.com.