NL council favors residency requirement for new police chief

NEW LONDON ? The next chief of police for the city of New London would have to be living within the city limits within a year of taking the job, according to a requirement backed by the city council yesterday.

The city has received nine applicants for a police chief to replace Tom Cipolli, who resigned April 2. Cipolli lived in the Burlington area during his time as police chief, a situation council members expressed unwillingness to repeat.

A separate committee is handling the search for a police chief. Mayor Mike McBeth, along with council members Ed Pilch and Mike Westerbeck are on the committee; they brought the residency question to the full city council for guidance.

But, as Pilch noted, two of the three council members not on the committee ? Mark Hempen and Joseph White were not at Tuesday?s meeting, either. ?The reason we put this on the agenda is to get the other three councilmen?s opinion,? Pilch said, ?and we don?t have but one.?

According to McBeth, White had expressed a strong preference for the new police chief to live in New London. He did not say whether he had discussed the matter with Hempen.

For more, see our May 6 print edition.