Updated at 9:10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015 to include additional comments on use of force and policing as a profession from Police Chief James Neiswanger, a comment from Capt. Matthew Moriarty, details about the badge pinnings and how the reason some of the promotions are called provisional is related to the scheduling of Civil Service tests.
HOLYOKE -- The city has a new police captain and a provisional lieutenant and two provisional sergeants after a promotion ceremony Thursday (Feb. 26) that included Police Chief James M. Neiswanger discussing how use of force is an issue in the country.
Most of the time police make reasonable decisions in using force when the situation is serious enough, Neiswanger said.
"And quite truthfully, I think the majority of the public doesn't want us to walk away, either," Neiswanger said, in the ceremony at Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St.
City Clerk Brenna Murphy McGee then administered oaths to Matthew F. Moriarty, a 13-year veteran promoted to captain from lieutenant, Joseph Garcia, a 27-year veteran promoted to provisional lieutenant from sergeant, Richard Conner, a 33-year veteran promoted to provisional sergeant from officer and Patrick T. Leahy, an eight-year veteran promoted to provisional sergeant from officer.
Moriarty thought of the family and friends who have supported him as the ceremony drew toward the moment when he would take the oath and his wife Michelle would pin the captain's badge on his uniform, he said.
"It's a driving force to me, to do the best that I can, to push the envelope, that I would be letting down so many if I didn't do that," Moriarty said.
Leahy's brother, Brian Leahy, flew overnight from Las Vegas, where he is a police officer, to pin the sergeant's badge on him.
Conner's wife Joy pinned the badge on him while Garcia received his badge from Holyoke Police Lt. David Fournier.
"I'm very proud to be a mayor of a city that has such a dedicated force in the Police Department," Mayor Alex B. Morse said.
Neiswanger reminded Moriarty, Garcia, Conner and Leahy to remember that being a police officer was only half their lives while the other important half was their families.
Police officers who can look themselves in the mirror know they are doing what they think is right, he said.
"Do not let this job consume you....Your family members are your greatest asset and they will be there to support you in the good times and when things go bad," Neiswanger said.
Arresting people is only one part of the job and usually happens without incident, said Neiswanger, but using force sometimes is necessary.
He didn't mention the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers in New York and Missouri that prompted riots in other states and marches and other demonstrations, including through the streets here, saying instead police use of force is a hot topic in the country, "these are certainly strange times in our country."
Police mostly get it right in using physical force when a arresting a suspect, he said.
"But we are human," he said.
In such times when police have violated laws, he said, an investigation is proper. It also would help if police explained their actions more often than they do, he said.
"We don't always do that," Neiswanger said.
He asked that people remember that the easy job is to judge after an incident while police officers more often than not make reasonable decisions when an incident sparks into a clash.
To the four promoted officers, Neiswanger asked them to think about why they became police officers. He joined the force for reasons beyond the desire for a job with benefits, he said.
"It's always been much more than that for me. It's been a calling, and I think it's a noble profession," Neiswanger said.
The starting yearly salary for a captain is $100,130, for a lieutenant $86,263, for a sergeant $74,649.65 and for an officer $50,509, Personnel Administrator Robert Judge said.
Those who receive provisional promotions are paid at the same rate as someone at the permanent rank.
The promotions are called provisional because currently the state Civil Service list, from which cities and towns choose candidates for promotions based on test scores, lacks lieutenants and sergeants. Tests to establish lists for such positions are scheduled for next year, said Rory Casey, Morse's chief of staff.