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Furtado would be the least qualified, yet highest paid police chief in Fall River’s history
I heard a rumor that interim Fall River Police Department (FRPD) Chief Kelly Furtado applied to be the police Chief in New Bedford. It didn’t make sense but I thought I’d check into it. Last week, I asked FRPD’s public information officer about the rumor, but he did not respond to my call or text (I think I’ve been cut off from communication from the FRPD). So I asked the New Bedford’s Mayor’s office and I was told that that information isn’t public. I asked some of my cop buddies and they told me “she does’t qualify to be Chief in New Bedford.” I thought that was odd.
If you haven’t heard, New Bedford is also hiring for a new police chief. I looked up New Bedford’s Chief of Police job posting and Furtado doesn’t meet two of the three minimum requirements; at least 5 years command/executive level experience and minimum Bachelor’s degree. She does meet the minimum of 15 years of law enforcement experience, but her highest level of schooling is graduating high school. She also doesn’t have 5 years command experience. New Bedford is also allowing people from outside of their police department to apply and offering a lot more money ($230,000 to $250,000) while Fall River is only hiring from within and offering $215,000 to Furtado. Here are New Bedford’s required and preferred qualifications.
New Bedford’s minimum requirement for police chief applicants.
I reached out to some of Fall River’s former police chief’s to find out their highest level of schooling and the four previous chiefs all had a Master’s Degree and one with a law degree while Kelly Furtado has a high school diploma with no college degree (Mayor Coogan confirmed that with me).
- Kelly Furtado: High School diploma (2024 – present)
- Paul Gauvin: Master’s degree (2022 – 2024)
- Jeff Cordoza: Master’s degree (2020 – 2022)
- Albert Dupere: Master’s degree (2017 – 2020)
- Daniel Racine: Master’s degree (2010 – 2016)
- Jack Souza: Law degree
I’ve contacted several former police chiefs to see if a Bachelor’s degree requirement is important and they’ve all stated yes. While years of police experience is important, being a chief is more than doing police work. It’s managing budgets, dealing with national law enforcement agencies, etc. Leadership time and high education is important and something New Bedford and other cities require. Why not Fall River?
While being the least qualified from an educational and leadership experience standpoint, if her contract is approved, Furtado would be the highest paid Fall River Police Chief at $215,000 per year. The previous two police chiefs started out at $185,000 per year with Gauvin earning $192,000 in his last year. This means Furtado will earn $23,000 more than Gauvin.
