Underneath a cloudy sky after Thursday’s rain, Webster residents poured in to – finally – meet their new, full-time police chief.
“Everyone seems happy with the situation,” resident Caryl Buckley said.
The town’s safety complex was crowded with residents chatting, munching on food and standing in line, waiting to shake the hand of Ben Liberatore. The retired Connecticut State Police Trooper started his new job Oct. 18.
After the town did several rounds of advertising, the job was posted as a part-time position this past summer. Following negotiations with the Webster Select Board and Oral Review Board that searched for chief candidates, everyone agreed Liberatore could work full time, since he received retirement benefits from Connecticut.
That way, select board Chairman Bruce Johnson said, “He didn’t have to worry about working overtime one week. He could totally engage with the community.”
Liberatore has a three-year contract with Webster and is being paid a $70,000 salary without benefits, Johnson said. That’s the same hourly rate as the former part-time police chief, Robert Dupuis.
In his last full year as Connecticut state police commanding officer and acting lieutenant, Liberatore made $167,511 in earnings plus fringe benefits, according to public employee database CT Sunlight Project.
As a retired state employee of 24 years, Liberatore also collects a pension from Connecticut. The CT Sunlight Project shows that the average annual pension for the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection is just under $155,000.
Libertatore said Thursday that finding a job in New Hampshire was his goal for retirement. He’s previously spent time living in Nashua, and though he’s never really spent time in Webster, Liberatore said so far, things are going well.
“The people are great,” he said. “It’s a very small town.” People there, he added, are always offering help.
And getting only between 10 and 15 calls in two weeks, as compared to his time in Connecticut, is refreshing.
“It was an easy transition,” Liberatore said.
The transition isn’t over – Liberatore is still looking for a house to rent in town with his family – but the new chief is already thinking of how he wants to improve the department. He said he plans to update its technology, hire some part-time officers, and build a better rapport with the community.
“Get the community to bring their trust back to the police,” he said. “Because I’m here for them.”
Liberatore seemed well on his way Thursday night as he greeted community members. He left a good impression on those he met.
“He seems qualified when you read his credentials,” said town health officer Nancy Van Loan. “So far, so good.”
“Very sociable,” resident Nancy Cummings said. “I like chiefs that are sociable so I can wave when I drive by.”
Standing near the exit of the Webster safety building, Buckley said she was glad the long “and sometimes painful” police chief search process was over. The former chief, Dupuis, tendered his resignation last October, and the position had been empty since his departure in February.
The issue became contentious at times about whether the position should be full- or part-time, and who should be hired.
At one point, interim chief and now lieutenant Philip Mitchell was the only officer on the department after former officer Dan Shapiro resigned.
But now with Liberatore, resident Jere Buckley said, “We have high hopes he’s going to be a very good fit.”
Buckley’s wife, Caryl, added, “It feels good. It feels like things may be settling down and hopefully things will be a lot less contentious in town.”
The select board chairman, Johnson, hopes that, too. Wearing a shirt reading “Back the Blue: Webster PD Supporter,” he said Liberatore was the town’s first choice as chief, and he is expected to be there for the long term, maybe 10 years.
“We want him to feel welcome here,” Johnson said. “We want him to succeed here.”
(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)