Ashby hires a new police chief
By Karen Mann

After a four-month search, town officials appointed Paul Lundin as police chief this week.

Lundin a former White Plains, N.Y., police officer was expected to be sworn-in as chief at Wednesday's selectmen's meeting, which occurred after press time.

Selectmen and Lundin were expected to sign a three-year contract.

"I am pleased to have my name associated with this selection," said said S t e p h e n Unsworth, the B a d g e Q u e s t consultant who facilitated the search.

Lundin was one of 74 candidates who applied for the job.

"I was pleased with the tremendous response," said Unsworth. "There were many, highly-qualified individuals asking about the job."

The search began this summer after former Police Chief Steve McLatchy resigned. Unsworth worked with Interim Police Chief William George to screen applications and resumes.

The pair then interviewed candidates twice with Town Administrator Linda Sanders participating in the final round of interviews.

Lundin has worked for the White Plains Police Department for 21 years, and has served as a captain since 2003, according to his resume.

White Plains is a suburb of New York City and is home to more than 50,000 residents, according to the city's Web site.

Unsworth said that although Lundin comes from a bigger department, he will be a good fit in Ashby. He expects Lundin will quickly become a part of the community.

During his interview, Lundin expressed his desire to move his family to an area in which they will be comfortable.

Unsworth said Lundin has an impressive background and comes with a wealth of experience.

Lundin has a diverse resume in terms of experiences and leadership. He has commanded the operations, investigations, and patrol divisions within the White Plains department. He previously served as tour commander and executive officer of the patrol division. He was team leader of the special response team and instructor for ethics, firearms and tactics, and incident command system.

As a detective, he specialized in youth operations. Most recently he served as the commander of the central community policing district.

Although he is trained to serve on high-risk Special Weapons and Tactics teams, Lundin does not have a SWAT-like mentality, Unsworth said.

"He is soft-spoken and he would rather focus on the positive aspects of the job," he said.

Lundin has graduated from the FBI National Academy, and is a member of the FBI National Academy Associates and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Pace University and is pursuing a master's degree in public administration.