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Image capture from Google Maps, June 2025. Westwood Police Department will soon have a new chief of police, following Select Board's interviews of three finalists on July 17, 2026.
7-16-2026 8:29am
Three Finalists Named in Search for Next Westwood Chief of Police
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Three finalists for the position of Westwood’s next police chief have been named following an “exhaustive process,” and will be interviewed by Westwood Select Board on Friday, July 17, Town Administrator Connor Read announced during the board’s July 13 hybrid meeting held at Westwood Public Library.
The three finalists are Michael DiLalla, acting chief and administrative lieutenant with Westwood Police Department; Nick Jamali, operations lieutenant with Duxbury Police Department; and Russell O’Neill, deputy superintendent with the Community Service Division of Brookline Police Department.
Each of the three finalists has been vetted by Westwood’s executive function group consisting of the town administrator, deputy town administrator, town counsel, assistant fire chief, director of public works, director of human services, town clerk, director of information technology, superintendent of public schools, and the director of community and economic development, said Mr. Read.
Following the group’s review, four candidates were invited to participate in an assessment center conducted by John Parow Consulting & Associates, a consulting firm hired to assist the town with the candidate search. The candidates were presented with a number of performance tasks: an inbox exercise, a community meeting, writing a report on pros and cons of using body cameras, a scenario requiring a tactical police response.
For the tactical-response exercise, the candidates were tested on how they would respond to the hypothetical event of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arresting workers in Westwood.
“We know that ICE can come into a community and cause disruptions,” said retired Police Superintendent Ken Lavallee, one of the town’s consultants. “And we know that the police departments all across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, across the country, need to have an extensive evaluation of what to do if an event like that takes place,” he said.
Chief Lavallee noted that the assessors wanted to observe how the candidates would make sure state laws were followed while doing everything possible to prevent violence, protect free speech, keep the peace, anticipate media involvement, and maintain communication with protesters, the town administrator, and ICE.
The candidates also participated in role-playing exercises and answered questions designed to show how they each might respond to Westwood-specific concerns. Examples of those concerns included policing issues related to the University Station shopping center; internal issues, including promotions and interpersonal conflicts; and concerns about traffic and speeding.
Three of the four candidates were unanimously recommended by a public safety panel to advance in the selection process, said Mr. Read. He named the public safety panel members as including himself, Westwood Fire Chief Steven Lund, Assistant Fire Chief Colin McCarthy, Public Safety Communications Director Brian Kamp, retired Norwood Police Chief William Brooks, and Paul McLaughlin, retired superintendent-in-chief of the Bureau of Investigative Services of the Boston Police Department.
Retired Fire Chief and consultant Jack Parow said that the “extensive” and “exhaustive” process was the same for both external and internal candidates. Each candidate was faced with the same assessment center tasks that were designed to be as realistic as possible.
“This has been one of the most comprehensive, most professional processes I’ve ever been with since I’ve been doing this work with Jack [Parow] in the past six years,” said Chief Lavellee.
He described how, when asked by another town administrator about the process, he held up Westwood’s process as an example, directing the questioner to talk to Westwood’s town administrator.
“The town of Westwood did a tremendous job putting this entire process together,” he said.
Mr. Read noted that nearly the exact same process was used in the town’s recent search for a new town administrator, the role he now holds.
“I might be biased, but I thought that was an okay process that you all did,” said Mr. Read with a smile.
“I think you’re going to find that all three candidates are going to be excellent choices for your job as police chief,” said Chief Lavellee.
Westwood Select Board members plan to interview the three finalists in-person beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning, July 17, at the Carby Street municipal building. While the interviews will be recorded, they will not be livestreamed, to avoid giving any unfair advantage or disadvantage to any finalist, said Mr. Read.
The board plans to make its selection at its meeting to be held at 6:00 p.m. on Monday evening, July 20, in the large conference room of Westwood Public Library at 660 High Street.
