The four eligible officers – Lt. Jack Buckley, Lt. Paul Covino, Lt. Michael Fahey and Lt. Mark Rudolph – will be interviewed next week.

As longtime Police Chief Leo Sacco celebrates his last day on the force today, the City of Medford is preparing to select its next Chief of Police.

Four Medford police officers took the civil service exam and are eligible to serve as Chief of Police: Lt. Jack Buckley, Lt. Paul Covino, Lt. Michael Fahey and Lt. Mark Rudolph. The exam is a full-day process outlined by the state and administered by an outside company.

A committee organized by Mayor Stephanie M. Burke will interview the four candidates during the week of Dec. 3. The committee consists of Burke, Director of Diversity and Inclusion Neil Osborne, City Solicitor Mark Rumley, Chief of Staff Jennifer Dever Wood and Woburn Police Chief Robert J. Ferullo Jr.

Burke expects to select a final candidate in December.

"I may want to do second interviews the following week with one or two candidates," she said.

Only the top three candidates with the highest scores can be considered for the position under civil service law. The company that conducted the civil service exam has not yet released the four candidates’ scores, according to Sacco.

“All four are strong candidates,” Sacco said.

The Chief of Police is responsible for overseeing Meford’s more than 100 police officers, as well as civil employees of the Police Department. The Police Chief also sits on the Medford Human Rights Commission and acts as the public face of the department.

Sacco, who has served as chief for the last 28 years, said the job requires a willingness to listen, to work hard and to understand opposing viewpoints.

“I think the biggest thing is listening and understanding, and giving people an opportunity to speak,” he said.

Building relationships with residents is another important part of the job, Sacco added.

“It’s not about you as the chief, it’s about what’s best for the organization and what’s best for the community,” he said.

Zane T. Crute, president of the Mystic Valley Area NAACP, requested in September that Burke consider candidates for the position from outside of the Medford Police Department and called for a transparent search process.

Since then, representatives from the NAACP have met with Burke multiple times about the search process, according to Crute.

"The mayor laid out her strategy for selecting the new chief of police. The group was not pleased that only internal candidates would be considered," he said.

Burke said she chose to only consider internal candidates in the search because of their familiarity with Medford.

"I made the determination that we had very strong superior officers within the department, they know our city well, they know the people of our community and I thought that was a large asset," she said.

During the interview process, Burke plans to include questions sent to her by the NAACP as well as two local groups focused on immigrant safety and justice, Safe Medford and People Power. Those two groups were instrumental in passing a safe communities policy in June, which stipulates that the Medford Police Department will not consider immigration status when interacting with residents.

"The mayor did assure [us] that the selection would respect the current immigration laws in place," Crute added.

The most senior captain in the department, Captain Barry Clemente, will serve as interim Chief of Police prior to the appointment of a new chief, as outlined by Medford's code of ordinances.

"Captain Clemente is a wonderful police officer, and he would have been a wonderful candidate for chief if he had chosen to participate in that process," Burke said.

She added that she wishes Sacco the best in his retirement.

"He will be missed," Burke said. "He has taught his superior officers well and they’re ready to take on this next challenge."