Police Department Administration to be Reorganized

With the police department having a deputy chief for the first time in years, Chief David Ridberg is reorganizing the command structure of the department's administration.

Effective Monday, the department will have three captains heading three divisions; with Deputy Chief James Heavey leading another.

"We have not added or taken away any divisions. We are providing all same services," Ridberg said. The department will have a command structure of three captains reporting to the deputy chief and chief. Until Heavey's promotion, the department's four captains reported to the chief.

"It's not too different from what we have now," Ridberg said. "Deputy Chief Heavey will be taking over the professional standards function, that is a division that is responsible for internal affairs, personnel and hiring issues. He will be a liaison like a personnel officer; testing policies and procedures; the testing for new hires; policies and procedures."

Ridberg added, "We knew there would be a deputy chief for months, so we have been thinking about this for a while. We wanted to do this with a minimal amount of change for the most officers."

Capt. Timothy Berry who headed up the operations division will be in charge of the patrol division and the community impact section, which Heavey headed up prior to his promotion two weeks ago. The domestic violence and Crisis Intervention sections also will be under Berry's command.

Capt. Mark Kordick, who has lead the professional standards division will take over the operations division which is comprised of marine and traffic section and the public safety dispatch center, according to Ridberg. Kordick also will be responsible for the department's computer technology.

Capt. Mark Marino will continue as commander of the detective division.

Ridberg said there probably will be further transfers within the department with changes made to the assignments of some lieutenants. Those changes will be decided next week, he said.

The reorganization also puts into place a succession plan in the administrative structure for when Ridberg retires sometime next spring.