Fall River City Council appoints Kelly Furtado permanent police chief

Interim Police Chief Kelly Furtado has been approved to be the permanent chief.

In a request made again by Mayor Paul Coogan, Furtado was appointed by a 5-4 vote.

Councilors Cadime, Tith, Ponte, and Camara voted against.

Furtado was making $190,000 as interim and will now make $215,000 as the one-year contract was approved by the Council with Cadime, Camara, Tith, and Ponte voting against.

At the previous City Council meeting three weeks ago, two objections were made by City Councilor Shawn Cadime and Cliff Ponte which moved the request to tonight’s meeting.

In a meeting that was contentious at times on April 8th, the Fall River City Council voted no to making Furtado the permanent chief and giving her the $215,000 contract which is less than comparable communities.

Also, at Tuesday’s meeting, the Council approved a home rule petition to make the police chief position based on civil service in the future. It heads to Beacon Hill where the process is expected to take 6 months to a year.