After the retirement announcement of Guilford Chief of Police Butch Hyatt in late May, the department did not have to search far for his replacement. Former Deputy Chief of Police Chris Massey has now stepped into the role of chief, and Officer Salvatore Nesci will occupy the position of deputy chief.

Though Hyatt’s tenure as chief was not long compared to previous administrations, he retired with an important legacy of progressive policing that both Massey and Nesci said would be integral to how they will lead the department.

Chief Massey, a Guilford officer for more than 15 years, said he is eager to continue the department’s community-based policing policies.

“Our department has been very progressive over the years. It’s been particularly helpful that we’ve been accredited by both COLEA [Commission of Law Enforcement Accreditation] and POST Council [Police Officer Standards and Training]. That has kept us at the forefront for law enforcement and following best practices. One of the benefits of being an accredited agency is that our roles are pretty clearly defined in regard to what needs to be done in our respective positions,” said Massey. “That accreditation promotes a lot of efficiency within the department. We are stepping into an already working and well-functioning organizational model. Moving forward, we are certainly going to be looking to bring some changes to the department and continue to try and push the department further and challenge ourselves to be better for the town.”

Nesci has been with the Guilford department for more than two and a half years, after serving in Meriden as both an auxiliary and patrol officer from 1992 to 2016 before joining Guilford’s department. He also continues to teach Emergency Management and Homeland Security courses at Post University as an instructor.

Both officers praised Hyatt for his service and policing strategy, which they said they hope to continue following and improving.

“Those are some huge shoes to fill. Chief Hyatt is a very respected member of the law enforcement community. He had many years of admirable service, and he is certainly going to be missed. You won’t find a single person who will say a bad word about him. He gave his heart and soul to this job, and although it was only a short time he was here, he gave us a lot and helped push the agency in a very positive direction, and we are going to continue to push it in that direction too,” Massey said.

Massey said he always had his career eye on administration and is quite eager to take on the responsibilities of chief.

“It was always on my list of accomplishments that I wanted in my career. Certainly, as I settled into the department and went from officer to supervisor, I realized that this was the type of role that I wanted to be in,” Massey said. “It became more and more apparent to me as I worked that I wanted to move up into the front office and eventually try and take on the role of chief of police.”

According to Nesci, he, too, has always had his career goals set for supervisory roles and is also excited for the challenges and responsibilities of his new position, having come from a family with a long tradition of law enforcement service. In many aspects, Nesci was born to serve.

“I aspired for an upper command position not so much for the position but for the value that it brings to the profession and the value it brings to the community. What did we leave to help the profession continue on into the future? And if that is a good set of values…that’s why we aspired to take on these roles,” Nesci said. “I have a family connection to the law enforcement profession. My grandfather in Italy was chief of police in his community, and I guess you could say it was intrinsic for me. I was born to do this and be in this profession. My brother also worked in law enforcement for 30 years, and my sister worked for the LAPD. When I came into the profession, I quickly realized that I wanted to leave my legacy on law enforcement as well. You start as a patrol person, and your legacy begins with the relationships you build with the community and with individuals. But then you look at the bigger picture and ask how can you impact larger components of the community. And that is, assuming a position of leadership within an organization and then guiding that organization in a community policing model so that you can impact…the profession. The Chief and I are like-minded in that we are both very people-centric people, and we value the community, and we value our employees.”

Both Massey and Nesci said the department’s progressive style of policing will continue to be implemented and that the department’s most immediate focus will be on educating residents on how to protect themselves from vehicle break-ins and thefts, which as most residents know, have been increasing across the Guilford, the shoreline, and the country as a whole.

“With respect to crime, certainly vehicle theft and thefts from motor vehicles are something that around the state are seemingly on the rise. We’ve been fortunate to have recently received a grant where we are going to be able to focus on our approach in handling these types of crimes, primarily through prevention. We are going to try and increase our footprint from an educational standpoint for the community. We do have an excellent social media presence, and those posts typically end with “Lock it, or Lose It,” but we want to try and explore other avenues to try and get our message out there because not everybody uses social media. We are also looking to do some things on the backend with respect to our patrols and increasing patrols via a data-driven approach…and hopefully, that will result in some enforcement and curb some of these offenses, at least in the town of Guilford,” Massey said.

Nesci said his goals for the department are focused on building atop the solid foundation they have inherited.

“The Chief and I have talked greatly about this, and it comes down to continuous improvement. This is a great department; we are, as the Chief mentioned, driven by best practices but can never rest on our laurels. We enjoy a great deal of community support here in Guilford, but we have to strive for continuous improvement. I like to say that the Guilford Police Department is the benchmark that other law enforcement agencies are going to measure their own success. I think that is our goal, to develop innovative ways to foster better relationships with the community and be ambassadors for the profession outside the community.”

The Guilford Police Department is currently seeking high-quality officers and personnel. Potential candidates can find more information regarding available opportunities at www.policeapp.com.