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Newly promoted detectives, clockwise from top left: Allyn Wright, Maegan Moran, Samantha Romano, and Larnell Jackson.
City police commissioners unanimously signed off on 10 new promotions designed to fill vacancies in the detective bureau.
That happened at Tuesday night’s latest regular monthly meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners. The virtual meeting took place online via Zoom.
The commissioners voted unanimously in support of Interim Police Chief Renee Dominguez’s recommendation to promote 10 current city police officers to the role of detective.
According to the city’s latest monthly financial report, as of the end of January, the city’s police department had 11 vacancies in the detective bureau. It also had 43 budgeted detective positions filled at that time.
Interim Chief Dominguez at Tuesday's meeting.
The newly minted detectives include:
• Officer Maegan Moran. She is “one of our best investigators on the crash team,” Dominguez said Tuesday night. She’s also worked in the special victims unit (SVU) . “She is a fantastic asset to any of the divisions she would go to.”
• SVU Officer Samantha Romano.
• Shooting Task Force Officer Allyn Wright. He is doing a “fantastic job” and his current division colleagues are “very upset they’ll be losing him,” Dominguez said. But it’s time for him to move on to “bigger investigations” and advance in his career.
• Officer Larnell Jackson, who has worked in the narcotics unit and has been involved in the annual “Cops and Ballers” community basketball tournament. “He just is the total package. He understand what it means to do community policing.”
• Shooting Task Force Officer Bleck Joseph.
• Shooting Task Force Officer Paul Vakos.
• Officer Gregory Dash, a military veteran and trained medic who has “saved numerous lives with tourniquets” during his time with the NHPD.
• Officer Stephen Jacques, who works in the department’s pistol permit unit.
• Officer Christopher Boyle.
• Officer John Moore.
“These candidates were outstanding,” Police Commission Vice-Chair Donald Walker said. He said multiple candidates brought up again and again during their interviews with the commission “the integrity that a police officer must have.”
“This is a very impressive group. I think they’ll do outstanding work when they get into the detective bureau.”
Police Commissioner Tracey Meares agreed. She gave a “special shoutout” to Officer Wright, “who has turned being a survivor of discrimination and hate into a professional pursuit of justice. It was incredibly inspiring.”
Congratulations to the new detectives. However, the "shoutout" by Commissioner Meares to Detective Wright “who has turned being a survivor of discrimination and hate into a professional pursuit of justice. It was incredibly inspiring.” Curious praise with no context. What is this all about?