By Andrea Gregory

The city has announced the top three picks for the high-ranking job of running the Somerville Police Department. The city has been without a permanent police chief for more than two years. Robert R. Bradley has been filling the vacancy, serving as acting chief. Now, he will need to convince the mayor he is a better choice than two Florida-based candidates who join Bradley as finalists.

In addition to Bradley, Miami-Dade Police Maj. Ruben Galindo and Clearwater, Fla. Police Capt. Anthony Holloway are in the running.

Galindo has a 20-year history with the Miami-Dade Police Department. He is a graduate of the University of Miami with a Masters in Public Administration. He is also fluent in Spanish. He did not return a phone call before The Somerville News presstime this week.

Holloway has served in Clearwater for 21 years. Holloway was on vacation this week and could not be reached for comment.

However, the public will have the opportunity to hear from all three candidates at a public forum on July 10 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at City Hall.  The public also will have the chance to ask the police chief hopefuls questions.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone said he is looking forward to seeing how the candidates interact and communicate with the public. When making his decision, Curtatone is looking for the whole package, he said.

“I want to be able to have a conversation with all of them,” said Curtatone, adding that means he might “dig a little” into all of them including the hometown finalist. “There is no substitute for strong and accountable leadership.”

Curtatone told The Somerville News he was eyeing Bradley to hold down the position permanently in 2005, based on the acting chief’s skills and qualifications. Since that time, the position has been taken out of civil service and the city hired an outside recruitment agency for $21,000 to broaden the pool of applicants.

“We’ll see. We are proud that one of our own is a finalist. He’s a friend, but he’s known all along this was going to be an open process,” said Curtatone. “It is important to measure everyone up against the top. We owe it to the city. Cream rises to the top.”

Taking the chief‚Äôs job out of civil service opened the city up to a wider applicant search. After the agency hired by the city conducted its nationwide search, a team of nine locals was asked to submit a minimum of three finalists. Curtatone said he is trying to keep an open mind during the process. Although it is a coincidence that two of the top picks live in Florida, Curtatone said he believes it is necessary to pay a site visit to their communities. 

“I’m not looking forward to going to Florida in the middle of July,” said Curtatone, who is planning a two-day trip after the public forum.

Curtatone said he plans to pay Bradley the same type of visit as the other two.

The Bradley story

Bradley joined the Somerville Police Department on Aug. 3, 1969. Born and raised in the city, he said he always wanted to be police chief. Joining the force came just five years after graduating from Somerville High School.

“I have always wanted to be chief of the Somerville police,” he said. “This is my ultimate job.”

Although he has only held down the duties of a chief on a temporary basis, Bradley has gotten a taste of his dream job and would like to hold onto it.

“I am hoping I will have the opportunity to finish what I started,” he said.

Bradley took on the job of acting police chief in March 2005. The following summer the city was given the results from a committee charged with reviewing the problems and challenges the department faced.

“We’ve already made a lot of inroads into (the findings of) that report. We’ve been implementing those changes,” said Bradley. All the problems, he said, are about a year or two away from being tweaked out.

Under Bradley’s leadership, training has been reinstated, following a three hiatus that began before he stepped into the position. Last year each officer met the state mandate requiring a minimum of 40 hours of training per year. The year before each officer completed a minimum of 64 hours based on his initiative, he said.

Bradley said he has worked to provide his department with $1.4 million of new equipment to help the operation run more smoothly and efficiently. He said there has been a mix of funding sources, including Homeland Security, the state and the city.

In January 2005, the Somerville police budget was $600,000 in the red. If the department stayed on the same track it was projected that it would end up spending $1.2 million more than its budget, said Bradley. However, he said things quickly started to turn around. The department managed to stay in budget in both fiscal years 2006 and 2007.

Bradley said one of his first goals was to “stop the bleeding and return fiscal responsibility to the Somerville Police Department.”

“We are in a rebuilding phase,” he said. “The ship was sinking and we had to plug up the holes. We did that.”

Bradley said he hopes to continue steering the department towards what he feels is a good direction. However, even if picked for the job of permanent chief, Bradley said he is not sure how long he will stay. He would sign a three-year contract, but for now is not making promises beyond then.

He also said he is confident the city will make the right choice. He said he looks forward to meeting the other candidates, and if he is passed over, he is willing to help with the transition. He said he would still hold the rank of captain and would have the opportunity to stay with the department if he wanted to.

The city is asking residents to  submit questions for the candidates by e-mailing them to ChiefSelection@ci.somerville.ma.us. Questions should be sent no later then July 9.