Juliann Flaherty
UPDATED, Jan. 22: Capt. Juliann Flaherty has been appointed Arlington’s acting police chief, Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine has announced. She is the first female to be a top officer for town police in its history.
This appointment has been made because of the planned retirement of Chief Fred Ryan, who has served the department as chief for nearly 20 years. The retirement takes effect Jan. 13.
See first interview, by ACMi >>
While the process of recruiting and selecting a permanent chief moves forward, Flaherty will assume of the role of acting chief. This appointment may last as long as a year based on current discussions regarding the appointment process for the chief’s position.
Flaherty was selected from a pool of seven internal applicants, three police captains and four police lieutenants. The selection committee included Chapdelaine; Sandy Pooler, deputy town manager; and Caryn Malloy, director of Human Resources.
“I am very pleased to appoint Captain Flaherty as acting chief of the Arlington Police Department,” Chapdelaine said in a Jan. 9 news release. “Her breadth and depth of police experience, combined with her dedication to the community policing model that has been in place in Arlington for many years makes her a great fit for this role. I look forward to working with her in her new role as she strives to maintain the high standards of the department.”
Flaherty has worked for the Arlington Police Department for 24 years, the last eight in the position of captain where she has most recently commanded the Support Services and Logistics Division of the Department. Flaherty previously served as acting chief for two months in 2017.
She has served as the department’s liaison to the Rainbow Commission, Marijuana Study Committee and Surveillance Study Committee and was also the department’s representative at Permanent Town Building Committee meetings during the renovation of Police Headquarters.
Flaherty holds an master’s in public administration from Western New England College and a B.S. from Salem State College, and has completed many specialized trainings, including a recent program in Leadership in Homeland Security at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Jan. 9, 2019: Select Board discusses process for acting, permanent chief
This news summary was published Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, and updated Jan. 22, to add a link.
