Somerville Announces 3 Police Chief Finalists, Public Interviews Set

SOMERVILLE, MA — The City of Somerville has announced the three finalists for the position of chief of the Somerville Police Department and residents have a chance to learn more about these candidates next week.

The finalists are Benjamin Murphy, Lt. Carmine Vivolo and Din R. Jenkins Sr.

On Tuesday at City Hall, 93 Highland Ave., the three candidates will be interviewed publicly by the Police Chief Search Committee. Murphy's interview is scheduled for 10 a.m., Vivolo's at 1 p.m. and Jenkins at 2:30 p.m.

The interviews are open to the public and also available live on Zoom and on the City's GovTV — Comcast channel 22 and Astound (RCN) channels 13 and 613. Beginning on Thursday, the interviews can be viewed on demand on the city's YouTube channel.

Charles Femino has served as Somerville's acting police chief since the retirement of longtime Chief David Fallon in December 2020.

In February, the City of Somerville announced that it had chosen Northbrook, Illinois-based GovHR to lead a nationwide search for the next chief.

A community search committee —featuring constituents, subject matter experts, local elected officials, and city staff — also was established and community feedback was gathered during public listening sessions.

Guided by the feedback from the committee, GovHR put forward recommendations for candidates, officials said.

In September, the Search Committee conducted in-person interviews with five of those candidates.

According to officials, the questions for the sessions were based on community input and the committee's diverse experiences, knowledge and roles in the community.

Eventually, the list of candidates was reduced to three finalists: Murphy, Vivolo and Jenkins.

• Murphy recently retired as the deputy police chief of the New Britain (Connecticut) Police Department. He spent 21 years with the department.
• Vivolo grew up in Somerville and Medford and has been a Somerville police officer for 30 years. He became a lieutenant in 2006 and has supervised the narcotics and gang units.
• Jenkins is the deputy chief for the Boston Housing Authority Police Department and Public Safety Department. He also runs a training company that specializes in diversity, equity and inclusion training.

"The City of Somerville's Police Chief Search Committee has worked hand-in-hand with the executive search firm GovHR to diligently source and present qualified individuals for consideration for the position of chief of police for the city," said Anne Gill, director of Human Resources for the City of Somerville and the committee chair. "To that end, three finalists will be publicly interviewed for the second time to determine the best fit for this critical, highly visible position."

In addition to the public interviews, each of the three candidates also will meet with Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne.

The mayor then will advance one candidate for the mayoral appointment of police chief, submitting that appointment to the Somerville City Council for confirmation, city officials said.