East Lyme Appoints First Police Chief

East Lyme has selected its first police chief as the town gets closer to developing an independent police department.

Michael Finkelstein was unanimously voted in as chief by the East Lyme Police Commission on Tuesday, said First Selectman Mark Nickerson.

"Certainly an honor to have been selected. I look forward to discussions on the process as it moves forward," Finkelstein said.

Finkelstein is currently the mayor of Ledyard.

He's been selected for the job, but still needs to pass a background check and deliberate the terms of his contract, Nickerson said.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I have always had a passion for law enforcement in my blood," Finkelstein said.

Finkelstein was a police officer with the Ledyard Police Department for 26 years, 10 of which he served as lieutenant.

If all goes accordingly, he will start in the next 60 days, but no later than July 1, when “the State Police contract rolls over,” Nickerson said.

When it comes to a potential move, Finkelstein said he will have to discuss the transition with town leaders.

"Everything will be done to make it as smooth as possible with limited impact on the Town. Ledyard is in outstanding shape," Finkelstein said on Tuesday.

“We’re not forcing him out the door, but when he resigns, he’ll be ready to go,” said Linda Davis, chairwoman of the Ledyard Town Council.

According to Davis, the council is already taking steps to find a replacement. Town statute states that replacement would need to be a republican, the same political party Finkelstein is part of. She would become acting mayor until then.

Davis said she wants the person selected for the interim roll to run in November, so the town doesn’t have multiple leadership changes. It’s the first time the town would have to appoint a new mayor, she added.

Fred Allyn III, a town councilor and chairman of the town’s finance committee, said he’d be up for filling the seat now and running in November to finish out the last two years of Finkelstein’s term.

Allyn had an interest in the town mayor position before, but the timing wasn’t right.

“We need to run the town as a business. It is essentially a business that is run by the tax dollars,” he said.

Knowing Allyn is stepping up, eases some concern about leaving, Finkelstein said.

“To know that someone that’s very capable of stepping in and really picking up the ball, and keeping the town running the way it is, certainly is a huge relief to me.”

East Lyme is the next Eastern Connecticut town to rid of a resident state trooper and hire a police chief.

Finkelstein was mayor when the town of Ledyard officially became an independent police department. He said if everything works out, he can bring that knowledge to East Lyme to help make the transition smooth and successful.

With the costs to maintain a resident trooper going up to about $212,000, a local police chief is the better option, Nickerson said to NBC Connecticut in the fall. Especially since the department already has the equipment and 22 full-time officers.

The starting salary for the police chief will likely be between $95,000 to $105,000, Nickerson said.

The town has had three resident state troopers in the past two years, he added.

Talks for an independent police force aren't new. Nickerson said they date back to the 1980s.

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