Mount Kisco Village Board Appoints New Police Chief
For the first time in more than two years, Mount Kisco will have a permanent police chief.
During an early Monday morning meeting, the village board voted unanimously to appoint Sgt. Joe Spinelli to lead the department.
Spinelli was scheduled to begin heading the nearly 30-member police force effective today (Tuesday). His prorated salary for the remainder of 2014 will be $112,000 and he will serve a one-year probationary period.
Mayor Michael Cindrich said Patrick O’Reilly, the department’s Officer in Charge who has led the department for the past two years, did not seek the permanent position. O’Reilly will stay with the department as a lieutenant.
Four candidates, all from within the village’s department, were interviewed by the board of trustees for the post, Cindrich said.
Spinelli is president of the Mount Kisco Police Benevolent Association but because he was appointed chief he will likely resign that post, Cindrich said.
The mayor praised Spinelli for his professionalism and mentioned how he has the support of the rank and file.
“He has, obviously, the support and the respect of the men. And it wasn’t my decision alone. It was based on the numerous interactions with the village board,” Cindrich said.
He stressed that Spinelli’s appointment does not alter the village’s desire to consolidate its police services with the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, a process that has been ongoing for about three years.
“We’re still going to continue to advance the idea of requesting supplementary police services from the county police,” he said.
Spinelli will become the town’s first permanent chief since the unexpected retirement of Steven Anderson in 2012. Cindrich said the village went more than two years without a fulltime chief “because the Westchester County Department of Public Safety requested that we not create a hierarchy within the police department because they would not be able to absorb those people if we did consolidate services.”
However, they were then told by a different county official that the department couldn’t continue to operate without a permanent chief in place.
“It was a demand that the position be filled by (the county) commissioner of human resources,” the mayor explained in why the village decided to now move forward with a permanent chief.
When the process of potential police consolidation began in 2011, Cindrich thought the move would take place by the middle of the following year.
“Why it didn’t take place is not because of any neglect on the village’s part,” he said. “It’s being held up by the internal operations of Westchester County.”
“We have all of our papers submitted to the Westchester County police,” the mayor added. “We’re waiting for their reaction to what we submitted.”
Though Spinelli has publicly supported consolidation that did not factor into the decision to promote him, Cindrich said.
Spinelli could not be reached for comment on Monday.
