The Bristol city council appointed acting Chief of Police Mark Morello the city’s new Chief of Police at a special meeting yesterday.
A 24-year veteran of the Bristol Police Department, Morello has, until last evening, held the position of acting Chief of Police since the retirement of former Police Chief Brian Gould in April.
Morello had held the position of Deputy Chief of Administration before April 6, when he assumed the position of acting chief. Previously, he was Deputy Chief of Patrol Operations, a lieutenant with responsibility for internal affairs and community relations, as well as lieutenant overseeing communications, specifically 911 dispatch.
The Middletown native is a child of immigrants who came to United States as teenagers from Sicily. He is a graduate of Xavier High School and holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy and government with a minor in criminal justice from Eastern Connecticut State University and is near attaining a master’s in public safety at the University of Virginia. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Quantico, Va.
The process for hiring a new chief involved the Daigle Law Group, an established testing authority that Bristol has used in the past, with a pool limited to current Bristol police personnel.
What followed were written and oral exams. The panel for the oral exam was comprised of professional personnel in the law enforcement field.
After testing, the top five scorers were submitted to the Board of Police Commissioners, who then appointed one candidate from that list for the promotion.
The final step in the process was a vote by the city council.
If the commissioners’ recommendation had been rejected, a second would be recommended, until the eligibility list is exhausted. If that happens, then an open competitive exam process begins.
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