The Fall River Police Department held a promotional ceremony on July 7, 2022, to swear in new leadership. Mayor Coogan opened the ceremony, acknowledging the importance of the moment for the city and the police force. He introduced several state and city officials present, including State Representatives Carol Fiola and Alan Sylvia, City Councilors Leo Pelletier and Andrew Aposa, and School Committeeman Kevin Aguiar. The highlight of the ceremony was the swearing-in of three key officers: Paul Garvin as the 16th Police Chief, Biden Castro as the new Deputy Chief, and Dave Murphy as the new Captain. Following the oath, Mayor Coogan formally introduced Chief Paul Garvin, who then delivered an acceptance speech. Chief Garvin thanked Mayor Coogan, the state delegation, city council, and his family, including his wife Kristen and children Jack, Catherine, and Claire. He described his leadership style as "stable and uncomplicated" and acknowledged the department's past challenges, emphasizing his focus on the future. He detailed his extensive career with the Fall River Police Department since 1997, having served in various divisions and roles. Chief Garvin expressed his determination to make the department one of the best by treating new, young officers fairly, training them properly, and fostering a healthy, hard-working culture. The ceremony concluded with Mayor Coogan inviting attendees for pictures with the new leadership.
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um I just want to thank everybody for coming out today uh it's a very very important moment in history of Fall River we're going to be swearing in our 16th police chief um and uh a new captain and a new Deputy uh these are the things that are important to keep the force running smooth and have the right leadership in place and I think we have it at this time with uh Chief gauvin I've known
0:24Paul for a long time um I've known his family for a long time and I appreciate his service to the city and I know he's going to be a fine example for the rest of the offices on that fourth moving the city forward we had a spectacular weekend in Fall River with the work by the Fall River Police Department under the leadership of of Captain uh captain Chief Garvin now
0:48and I think is very very important but before we get right to the swearing-in I want to introduce a few people that are with us tonight um we have we're joined by a couple of our state representatives Carol Fiola and Alan Sylvia we're joined by a few of our um City councils our partners in in government which work closely also with Chief govern City councilor Leo Pelletier City councilor Andrew aposa
1:13one of my colleagues on the school committee has also come up a lifelong friend to Paul's a school committeeman Kevin aguiar and these are the kind of people that are coming forward to support our new chief today we're going to be swearing in three offices our 16th Chief Paul Garvin our new deputy chief Biden Castro and our new Captain Dave Murphy as I said before these three important cogs are going to
1:41be what keeps on the fall of our Police Department going forward and I know you did not come here to hear me talk so I think we should do the swearing in right now and let these guys uh hopefully go right back to work guys would you please raise your right hand and repeat after me I state your name do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially and impartially perform the duties of
2:18State your position please with respect courage and integrity with respect courage and integrity in accordance with the Constitution of the United States for the Constitution of the United States the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the charter and ordinances of the city of fall river in China and audiences a city in the Fall River so help me God so help
2:48me God congratulations guys I'll now introduce the 16th police chief for the city of Fall River Chief Paul Garvin
3:14thank you Mr Mayor first I would like to thank mayor Coogan for this opportunity I wanted to say thank you to the state delegation and the city council for their help over the last several months and I want to say thank you to my friends my family and my colleagues who are here today thank you for supporting me my wife once paid me a compliment by telling me that I was stable and uncomplicated
3:40I know what you're thinking What A Catch the reason I bring that up today is because I'm certainly not perfect but I do think my leadership style that could probably best be described as stable and uncomplicated is a perfect fit for this department as we all know the past few years the Florida police department has seen its share of challenges but I didn't take this position to dwell in the past
4:12I firmly believe that you can't get to where you want to go to by looking in the rear view mirror I grew up in a city I'm a lifelong resident I grew up in the South End and I always knew that I wanted to be a police officer I graduated from Bishop Conley High School I immediately joined the Army National Guard with the intent to pay for college seemingly I took to their lifestyle
4:37their Traditions their rules their organizational way of doing things and they're sometimes their Outlook that there's only do and do not a way of looking at things I graduated from Bridgewater State College working Summers as a police officer for the Barnstable Police Department I started my career here at the Fall River Police Department in 1997.
5:02in the years since I've served in the Patrol Division Special Operations staff services and my favorite device intelligence unit has promoted to Sergeant and worked staff service and Professional Standards units and for the past 10 years I've been a lieutenant and a captain in both the uniform and Major Crimes divisions I've certainly been fortunate and blessed to have had a career with having
5:29the experience in every one of these organizations I take on his position at an interesting time for this department it's quite possibly the youngest we have ever been but I believe if you treat these new officers fairly train them properly indoctrinate them into a healthy hard-working culture that is conceivable that we will have one of the best police departments in the foreseeable future
5:55moving forward there are still some Matters from the past that needs to be dealt with despite inheriting some unresolved issues I am determined to prove this to prove to this community that this department is certainly something to be proud of I wanted to thank my children today Jack Catherine and Claire for their sacrifices they certainly have sacrificed in order that I had my chance
6:24and opportunities to climb my mountain I want to thank my wife Kristen for climb along with me and always encouraging me to continue to move on because we know in the end that's what really counts is Having the courage to continue on CE again I want to thank the city Administration for the confidence that you haven't that you expressed in me I will not let you down thank you
7:02okay believe it or not that wraps it up um anybody wants to get some pictures with our uh new leadership that will be great by me but again thank you everybody for coming out today it's really important and uh as Paul said back to work tomorrow thank you thank you sir