Seklecki, with the department since 1983, will lead the Holyoke force until Pluta hires a new chief.
FILE – Holyoke Police Department Capt. Frederick Seklecki demonstrates a bar code reader used in evidence room inventory control. Seklecki will be interim chief when Police Chief Anthony Scott retires on April 30, Mayor Elaine Pluta said on Thursday.HOLYOKE – Capt. Frederick J. Seklecki will be the interim chief when Police Chief Anthony R. Scott retires April 30, Mayor Elaine A. Pluta said Thursday.
Seklecki, a 28-year veteran, will lead the Police Department until the city hires a new chief, which Pluta said she expects to be in June.
“He knows the department. He’ll do a good job,” Pluta said.
Scott, who turned 65 Tuesday, has been chief since 2001. He must retire within the month in which he turns 65, under state law.
A search committee is reviewing 40 candidates who applied to be chief from New England and New York. The committee will recommend three to five finalists to Pluta, who has sole authority under the city charter to hire the police chief.
Seklecki began with the department Jan. 26, 1983.
In his nearly three decades on the force, Seklecki said he has done nearly every job in the department. That includes foot and cruiser patrols, crime scene investigations and his current duty as head of the Technical Services Bureau. The bureau handles processing and storing of evidence, maintenance of electronic equipment, firearms training and crime data reporting.
“It’ll be a little bit of a change of pace. Chief Scott’s been great, he’s been bringing me up to speed,” Seklecki said.
Other captains have more seniority than Seklecki but were ineligible to be interim chief: Capt. Alan G. Fletcher began Aug. 11, 1968, but he is a candidate for the chief job here, and Capt. Arthur R. Monfette began Oct. 20, 1978, but he is on the search committee, Pluta said.
