Positions had been unfilled since 1980s

By George P. Hassett

Captains Paul Upton and Michael Cabral were promoted to two new leadership positions within the Somerville Police Department this week.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone immediately approved Police Chief Anthony Holloway’s picks for the acting deputy chief jobs, a department post that has been left unfilled since the 1980s. The promotions are effective beginning Sunday, Sept. 28.

As acting deputy chief of operations, Cabral will oversee the commanders of the neighborhood substations, special operations and other captains, lieutenants and patrolmen. In his role as acting deputy chief of support services, Upton will oversee investigations, professional standards and development, E-911 operators and  civilian positions within the department.

While Somerville has had the ability to appoint deputy chief positions for decades, under past police staffing plans the positions had been left unfilled since the 1980s.  In July, the Board of Aldermen approved a proposal from Curtatone and Holloway to take the two deputy police chief positions out of civil service, allowing Holloway to hire deputies based on their experience, job performance and qualifications instead of their performance on the state’s civil service test.  The change, which received the backing of the Somerville Police Superior Officers Union, also requires that the deputy chiefs be reappointed every year. The deputy chief jobs will not be made permanent until the state legislature approves the change.