By Sandy Meindersma
Massachusetts Telegram & Gazette
RUTLAND, Mass. — Police Chief Donald Haapakoski is on the job in town, and he is looking forward to getting know residents and business owners.
“This is a good, tight-knit community,” he said. “I’ve been to the Chili and Chowder Challenge and the Fourth of July parade, and it always amazes me that it’s all volunteers.
“I was at the Rutland Business Association meeting, and I told them they could contact me at any time.”
Chief Haapakoski said he plans to set one night a week aside to hold office hours, so that people can drop by and share their concerns.
“I’m not in this alone. I’m always available to anyone who wants to talk to me,” he said.
Chief Haapakoski comes to the Rutland Police Department from neighboring Oakham, where he had been chief for 8-1/2 years. He was also chief in Holland for two years, and served 14 years in the Ayer Police Department. In Ayer, he came up through the ranks, from patrolman to sergeant to lieutenant and then to chief.
“I started in 1974, with the city of Worcester, as a community service officer, which was a grant-funded position that was the beginning of community policing,” he said.
The chief has also served on a variety of boards and commissions, including Worcester’s Human Rights Commission, the Ayer Lions Club, Ayer Industrial Development Commission and the town of Ayer personnel board.
He serves on the traffic and highway safety subcommittee of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association. He is also a member of the International Chiefs of Police Association, the Central Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association and the New England Chiefs of Police Association.
Sheila H. Dibb, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the board is thrilled to have the chief on board.
“It’s a fresh start and a fresh perspective,” Mrs. Dibb said. “We’re looking forward to a very long relationship.”
The chief said Rutland presents a great opportunity for him, since he is already familiar with the department. Oakham uses Rutland’s dispatch center for its emergency calls.
“And the dispatch is expanding - it’s a huge opportunity for the town to save some money and be on the cutting edge of regional dispatch. I’m really looking forward to working with Nathan Kenney and Tom Ruchala on it.”
One of Chief Haapakoski’s first duties will be to appoint a new sergeant, a task that he thinks could take up to a month.
“I want to review the applications, speak with the candidates, run some scenarios with them and make a judgment,” he said.
A ceremonial swearing-in and welcome reception for the chief will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 1 at the Rutland Public Library, 280 Main St. The public is invited.
Copyright 2010 Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Inc.