PROVIDENCE
-- Rafael P. Hernandez Jr., an undersecretary for public safety in Massachusetts, said yesterday that he misses "the front lines" of police work.
And, he told the search committee, he understands about coming into a department from the outside.
Hernandez was the second of six finalists being interviewed for police chief yesterday. Interim Chief Richard T. Sullivan was interviewed yesterday morning.
Providence police chief candidates
Six candidates for Providence police chief are being interviewed by a diverse 18-member search committee, appointed by Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. and cochaired by retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph R. Weisberger and retired Superior Court Presiding Justice Anthony A. Giannini.
PROVIDENCE
-- When he was sworn in on Feb. 1, 2001, interim Police Chief Richard T. Sullivan inherited a troubled department.
People didn't trust the police. Morale had plummeted, he said. Every day there was news about problems at the department.
"I thought it was the worst time to take over as police chief," Sullivan told the search committee yesterday morning.
But he was intent on becoming Providence's permanent chief. During his 90-minute job interview at City Hall, Sullivan told the committee about spending the last 13 months working to improve the department's morale and its relationship with the people it serves.
As he faced the committee, the media, and some of his fellow officers, the 26-year police veteran said, "I feel as though I've been preparing for this position my entire life."
Sullivan was the first of six candidates interviewed by the search committee. He's also the only Providence native and Providence police officer being considered for the job.
Since he was sworn in as chief, Sullivan said, he's worked 16-hour days, seven days a week, to improve relations with the community and the press, and raise officers' morale.
Sullivan met with numerous community groups and assigned officers as liaisons. He moved to train the entire department in community policing. He led a recruiting drive that emphasized hiring members of minority groups.
He attended roll calls, handed out surveys to officers, solicited their suggestions, and developed a policy for making the department more open to the media.
He also handled a backlog of more than 100 civilian complaints, some of which languished for two years. Those complaints will be cleared by next month, he said.
Meanwhile, the number of complaints have dropped, from eight a month to just six since Jan. 1, Sullivan said. "That right there shows the police officers and the community are working together," he said.
Morale is rising. So is public opinion: Sullivan noted a Brown University study that found 56 percent of residents were satisfied with the department. "I believe the next chief can move ahead from these clouds and problems," he said.
The interim job has been a job interview. Many of the questions he was asked yesterday were the same he's answered dozens of times over the past year, at City Council meetings, at neighborhood organizations, from the media, and his own officers.
Some committee members were already familiar with his work.
State Sen. Maryellen Goodwin prefaced a question about civilian review boards with praise for his work with her constituents in Elmhurst and Mount Pleasant.
Instead of a question, state Rep. Paul E. Moura, who is the House senior deputy majority leader, offered his thanks for Sullivan's "commitment and personal sacrifice" on the job. "Whatever happens with this process, I'd be amiss not to thank you," he said.
Added Bishop Robert E. Farrow, of the Holy Cross Church of God in Christ United, "I just want to wish you the best."
This upset committee member Kenneth Brown, of the city's Blue Ribbon Commission, who loudly addressed former Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph R. Weisberger, a cochairman of the search committee.
"We're not here to make recommendations on how well the chief is doing," Brown said. "This is a screening committee."
At the back of the room were more than a dozen police officers, all in support of Sullivan. As he concluded the interview, they stood and shook his hand.
