On Thursday, March 20, the North Branford Police Commission officially hired Branford's current Police Chief, Kevin Halloran, to become North Branford's next Police Chief beginning May 1, 2019.

Halloran met with the commission in North Branford on March 20 to sign his contract for a five-year-term beginning on May 1, 2019 through July 1, 2023, said Town Council member Marie Diamond, who is the council's police commission liaison.  North Branford Police Commission chair Victor Pietrandrea signed the contract with Halloran on behalf of the town.

Diamond noted the commission will hold a formal ceremony to introduce Chief Halloran to the North Branford community on Monday, April 29, 6 p.m. at North Branford Intermediate School. A Branford resident who grew up in North Branford, Halloran is married with two children.

Halloran joined the Branford Police Department (BPD) as an officer in 1989 and was a Captain when he was promoted to BPD Chief of Police in September, 2011. Zip06/The Sound has reached out to Halloran for a comment on his new role and his years with BPD. An update will be added to this story.

As he was approaching 30 years of service to BPD, Halloran discussed with the Town of Branford and its police commission his intent to retire from the department within the next few years. In 2017, the Branford Police Commission stepped up its work to provide for a succession plan for police department leadership. As part of that process, the commission re-instituted the position of Deputy Chief. In June, 2018, the commission hired North Haven Deputy Police Chief John Mulhern as BPD's current Deputy Police Chief.

The Branford Police Commission continues undertaking steps to hire the town's next chief. Halloran will remain on duty as Branford's Chief of Police through the month of April.

During Halloran's rise through the ranks with BPD, among many contributions to the force, he was instrumental in developing data-driven ComStat (Comparative Statistics) as part of Branford's policing efforts. As Chief of Police for NPBD, Halloran intends to help the department strengthen its use of data-driven crime analytics help predict, prevent and combat crime.

On March 19, in anticipation of hiring Halloran, the North Branford Police Commission asked the Town Council to appropriate $7,500 to purchase a crime analytics software program, LexisNexis, which Halloran will institute at NBPD.

The tech, which has a track record of helping to solve cases more quickly, allows police to access regional analysis and automatically links data found in public records, offender databases and other databases in the law enforcement community, speeding up information gathering for the department and its detective bureau.  On March 19, the Town Council voted unanimously to approve the appropriation to purchase LexisNexis for NBPD.

When he begins his new job on May 1, Halloran will succeed retired North Branford Chief of Police Matthew Canelli, who served with NBPD for more than 40 years before stepping down in July, 2018. Following Canelli's retirement, the police commission appointed Lieutenant James Lovelace to serve North Branford as Acting Chief of Police. Lovelace will continue to serve as Acting Chief through the month of April.