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NORWALK, Conn. Deputy Chief Thomas Kulhawik has reason to be "amazed." The Board of Police Commissioners unanimously named him Friday as Norwalk's new police chief. He will be sworn in during a ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in City Hall.
Not everyone was in the mood to celebrate the announcement, however. The speed with which the appointment was made, including the short notice given for the special meeting of the police commission, caused one Norwalk resident to complain. She cited a lack of transparency and lack of concern for the city residents who were hoping the police department would conduct a nationwide search for a new chief.
Diane Cece, whose request for a point of order at the beginning of the meeting was denied, said she was discouraged and upset because she was treated disrespectfully while trying to exercise her rights.
Former town clerk Andy Garfunkel made a nationwide search for a police chief a key point in his campaign against Mayor Richard Moccia in last fall's election. Moccia stood firm in his assertion that Norwalk already had talent on hand and was re-elected with 52.91 percent of the vote.
Garfunkel indicated that Kulhawik has his support. "I'm not disappointed in the choice," he said after being contacted while on vacation. "I believe Deputy Chief Kulhawik is probably a wonderful nomination for the post. This was not a personnel issue, it was a procedural issue that I have with the decision-making process of appointing a new police chief."
Lt. David Wrinn will become the new deputy chief. Kulhawik said he expects his contract to be for five years, although details have not been worked out yet.
"They know the city," Moccia said of Kulhawik and Wrinn. "That's the most important thing, a continuation of the knowledge in the department."
Kulhawik has been a police officer in Norwalk for 29 years. He finished first in his recruit class at the Municipal Police Training Academy, getting the Samuel J. Luciano Award from the Connecticut Police Chief's Association one of only two officers in the history of the department to receive the honor.
Kulhawik was promoted to detective in 1987, sergeant in 1995, lieutenant in 2000 and deputy chief in 2007. He was assigned as commanding officer of the community policing division in 2001 and established the Sono Alliance, a group of concerned citizens working to improve the quality of life in Norwalk.
The violence in the city is a societal issue, Kulhawik said. "We're all going to have to work together," he said, naming the Sono Alliance as a partner in that effort.
"It's amazing," Kulhawik said of being named chief. "To be honest, just to even think what it means is very tremendous. It's a beautiful building, it's a $19 million budget. To think that I'm going to be managing that is pretty incredible, that they had the confidence in me to do that."
Cece said she went to the meeting as "a vocal proponent of conducting a national search" and congratulated Kulhawik and Wrinn afterward.
She was upset the meeting seemed to "come out of the blue." Cece checks the city's website every day and would have seen it if it was posted in the calendar it wasn't.
The lone announcement was available by clicking Agenda Police Commission July 6. It was posted Thursday, according to City Clerk Erin Halsey.
Next Wednesday's swearing in is already listed on the city's calendar.
The executive session that commissioners called to discuss the appointments lasted just more than five minutes, Cece said. It was called after she protested the agenda, saying that "personnel matters" was inadequate.
Moccia, Commissioner Pete Torrano and Corporation Counsel Robert Maslan said it was.
On her way out, Cece joked with three lieutenants about needing crime scene tape for three offenses: the process by which this meeting occurred; the lack of proper protocol for going into executive session; and the appointment of a new chief in the absence of a national search.
Moccia did not return a request for comment.
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