Capt. Eric Nichols is set to take over as Taunton police chief Nov. 1

TAUNTON Capt. Eric Nichols, whose police career began in 1998, is set to take over as Taunton's police chief on Sunday, Nov. 1, succeeding Chief Edward J. Walsh. The City Council appointed him in September on the condition that he signs an employment contract, and City Solicitor Matthew J. Costa asked councilors to meet in closed session on Tuesday, Oct. 27, to finish the contract's terms.

The council's vote came on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Its minutes record eight councilors present and eight in favor on the roll call, with Councilor David Chaves recusing himself. The motion ratified a recommendation the Committee on Police and License made the night before and set Nov. 1 as the start date. Councilors then sent the contract talks to the same committee.

How the city got here

The search began after councilors voted not to back keeping Walsh on past 65. On March 24, the council's Committee of the Whole voted 6-3 against backing a home rule petition at the State House that would let the city extend his employment for up to five years. Councilors Phillip Duarte, David Pottier and Council President Barry Sanders voted yes. Councilors Debra Botellio, Edward Correira, David Chaves, Deborah Carr, John McCaul and Scott Martin voted no.

Supporters, including Mayor Shaunna O'Connell's administration, said the department needed steady leadership while it moved into the city's new Public Safety Facility and faced upcoming changes in state police standards and training rules. Sanders said the city needed Walsh to help hire his successor. Opponents said the rules should apply to everyone. McCaul said state law sets 65 as the mandatory retirement age, Chaves said an extension could set a precedent and slow promotions, and Carr said it could hurt morale. The committee then voted 9-0 to give the hiring to the Committee on Police and License.

At that committee on April 7, Walsh laid out the choices. The chief's job has been under civil service since 1946, and taking it out would require a ballot question, he said. The city could bring in a sitting civil service chief, hold an open exam or hold a promotional exam open first to the department's captains. He put the cost of the assessment at about $10,000.

The only finalist

The civil service list certified two captains, Daniel McCarthy and Nichols. McCarthy withdrew in a letter before the interview, Duarte, the committee chairman, told the council. On Monday, Sept. 21, Nichols answered questions for more than two hours. Chaves had recused himself, and the other councilors attended. Duarte and Correira then voted 2-0 to send his name to the full council.

Nichols became a sergeant in 2008, a lieutenant in 2011 and a captain in 2024, according to the committee minutes. He has worked in internal affairs and now oversees the administrative division, training, the school resource officers and planning for major city events. The assessment counted for 80% of his score and education and experience for 20%, and he scored 82 out of 100 on the assessment, he told the committee. Asked by Carr about his Medal of Valor, he described a meeting in the council chambers where a man with a knife threatened the people there. Nichols said he used a table to keep his distance and calmed the situation without using deadly force, which earned him the medal.

What he told councilors

Nichols said his short-term goal is immediate, unfiltered communication, inside the department and with the public through social media and the press. He wants schedules that appeal to younger officers so more of them stay. Over the long term, he said, the job is managing the high cost of fast-changing technology such as drones, cameras and artificial intelligence while making sure it is used safely, legally and within constitutional limits.

On money, he said he would review everything the department spends, check the budget every month and look at whether collective bargaining and changes in training could cut overtime and training costs, freeing money for technology. The traffic division is strained and enforcement has dropped, he said, and he plans to use data to send traffic officers to the areas with the most problems.

The department's co-response program pairs a mental health clinician with officers on crisis calls, but it has only one clinician and needs more, Nichols said. In the neighborhoods, he wants community meetings first, to hear what residents want, and he wants to revive programs that protect older residents from scams.

Botellio told the council she has known Nichols for 28 years and that two words stood out in her old files from when she interviewed him: integrity and honesty. She said he will make an excellent chief, according to the minutes.

What comes next

The appointment takes effect only once a contract is signed. In his Oct. 23 letter, Costa asked for the Oct. 27 closed session under the Open Meeting Law exemption for contract talks with non-union employees. The signing is not yet on the public record, and minutes of the Oct. 27 meeting have not been posted.

Walsh retires Saturday, Oct. 31, after 42 years and two months of creditable service, according to a Sept. 22 letter from the city's retirement board on the council's Nov. 2 agenda.

Walsh has already asked the council, after consulting Nichols, to request a civil service list to hire six full-time officers. His Oct. 10 letter, on the council's Oct. 20 agenda, cited recent and planned retirements in the department.

Nichols will lead the department from the city's new Public Safety Facility at 90 County St., which the city marked complete with a ceremonial key presentation on Oct. 14. The city is now taking proposals for the former police station at 23 Summer St.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.