On Friday Suffield officials met to address the issue with their interim police chief, who the state said was no longer certified to have the title or to even be a police officer in Connecticut.
Anthony Riello has been the interim chief in Suffield for just over a year.
But as of Friday, Riello is no called the superintendent of the Suffield Police Department.
He said nothing will change moving forward, except for the fact the town is now in compliance with connecticut law.
First selectman Melissa Mack said, "We think this is the perfect solution to the problem because it really continues Mr. Riello in doing good work he was hired to do."
Town offcials responding to this letter dated one week ago, from the state's police certification agency stripping riello of his role as chief.
He failed to comply with training required by law over the past year he's been the interim chief.
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Mack added, "Personally, I was only made aware of this issue on Friday. I would've hoped I would've been given notice (that) our police chief certification was coming to an end and given the opportunity to secure the problem in a reasonable amount of time."
Riello, who retired after decades in law enforcement in Massachusetts, reiterates he never planned on completing those courses, per discussions with the town when he was hired, given his temporary status.
He stated, "I certainly respect what they think, so I went home and changed. Don't want them thinking I was impersonating a police officer."
Moving forward, Riello is no longer carrying a gun or badge, but everything else he says is status quo.
Riello said, "Nothing's changed. Change of command is still the same, was never arresting people, never hired to do that. Did it for 35 years. I was hired to lead the department and that's what I'm doing to help us move forward."
The first selectwoman said when Riello's contract is up, she's confident the police commission will name his permanent replacement.
Meanwhile, officials from the police officer standards and training council said they're satisfied with this result.
