Harrison Police Chief: Breaking Down The Candidates

The Harrison Town Board will announce the lifetime appointment of a new police chief at some point in the next seven days.

The board is completing a three month selection process following the retirement of Chief David Hall in December. Chief Hall left after 30 years of service, accepting a retirement incentive package offered to town employees as a budget saving device.

Under state law, the town board has 90 days from the time of the previous police chief's retirement to make a decision, creating a deadline of March 31.

The three month process has been a long, and sometimes bitter one.

Contenders for the position have to first pass the civil service test. By law, our town board is required to choose one of the candidates with the top three results from that test to fill the position.

Accordingly, in December the town board sent out letters to the three candidates with the highest scores from the county civil service test. The three candidates are Acting Police Chief Anthony Marraccini, Lt. Douglas Buschel and Lt. Lawrence Marsall. All three currently serve in the Harrison Police Department.

The board asked the three candidates to submit their resumes and to answer a number of job related questions specific to the current needs of the Harrison Police. The questions included how the candidates would manage the department with the reduced staffing numbers required by the current town budget, where they saw the department in five to ten years and their thoughts regarding future departmental challenges and how they would handle them. The candidates were also given a sample police situation and asked to detail how they would manage it.

The candidates were required to submit all of their responses and paperwork by Jan. 21.

The resumes they submitted indicate a combined 81 years of police department service at various levels. Here is a more in depth look:

Lt. Douglas Buschell is the longest serving officer, having joined the police department in 1977. He has an associate's degree in criminal justice from Westchester Community College, a bachelor's degree in criminal justice -- Summa Cum Laude - from  Mercy College and a master's degree in leadership and strategic management from Manhattanville College. He is an adjunct professor in criminal justice at Mercy College and an instructor for the Westchester Police Academy.

Buschell made sergeant in 1986, lieutenant in 1992 and detective lieutenant in 1994. He has commanded all three divisions of the department, including commanding the detective division for 13 years.

Capt. Anthony Marraccini joined the Department in 1984.  Prior to that he attended Fordham University and undertook various criminal justice courses at Pace University.  

He became a K-9 handler in 1985, sergeant in 1992, lieutenant in 1994 and captain in 1997. He has served as captain for the past 13 years with responsibilities covering daily operations in all divisions of the department.  Upon the retirement of Chief Hall in December, Marraccini was appointed Acting Chief of Police during which time he oversaw major cases including the murder investigation at Manhattanville College and the Toyota Prius accident.

Lieutenant Larry Marshall has a bachelor's in criminal justice with a minor in public safety from Mercy College. He attended the FBI National Academy for Police Officers in Quantico, VA.  

He joined the police department in 1988, made sergeant in 1994, and lieutenant in 1997. From 1997 to the present he has been in the patrol division where he is responsible for overall day-to-day operation of patrol officers, including scheduling, planning, coordination, budgeting, training, complaints and grants.  

Marshall has assisted in supervising all major criminal investigations for the department, at times taking the lead supervisory role.  

While the board was reviewing these backgrounds and responses from the officers, there was heated debate over the involvement of Councilwoman Marlane Amelio, who is related to Captain Marraccini by marriage; her niece being Marraccini's wife. The matter was referred to the state comptroller, where it was determined that the relationship was not close enough to warrant Councilwoman Amelio's preclusion from the decision making process.

Further discussion has arisen over whether a police chief should have an outside business, as Captain Marraccini has a construction company in the town of Harrison. Once again, it has been determined that this should not preclude Marraccini from the position.

The next step in the process is a meeting of the town board in executive session on Wednesday at 6pm, at which time the position will be discussed further.

While it is possible that tomorrow's meeting will determine the new chief, the board has refused to make a firm statement on that, leaving themselves the possibility of further meetings over the next seven days.

When the decision is made, the appointment will be announced at a town board meeting, at which time Mayor Walsh has indicated she would expect the board to vote for the chosen candidate to take office effective immediately.

A sentence from this article regarding the voting preference of Councilwoman Marlane Amelio has been removed. Marlane Amelio has not expressed support for any of the candidates to Harrison Patch directly at any point during the selection process.