A career police officer with a quarter century of service to the Town of Westport will be the town’s next police chief, following his appointmentby the select board Monday evening.

Detective Sgt. Christpher Dunn, who joined the department as a reserve officer before working his way up in the ranks, was chosen over Sgt. Robert Rebello, a 10-year department veteran who worked in the scientific field, taught and served a term on the select board before joining the force. Dunn will replace retiring chief Keith Pelletier, who is expected to work through the first week of 2024. Once the select board officially accepts Pelletier’s resignation, Dunn will be cleared for his first day on the job on Monday, Jan. 7.

Select board members had been expected to choose one of the two candidates at their regular meeting a week ago, but postponed the vote given the absence that night of board member Ann Boxler.

Board chambers were nearly full Monday evening as chairman Richard Brewer called the spefial meeting to order. He said that in fairness, he believed the best way to choose the successful candidate would be to ask select board members, in two separate shows of hand, to raise their hand if they chose candidate one (Dunn), or candidate two (Rebello).

Three board members — Brewer, Manuel Soares Jr. and Boxler — gave the nod to Dunn. In the second show of hands, two board members, Steve Ouellette and Shana Shufelt, gave the nod to Rebello.

“The conundrum is we have two qualified candidates in front of us,” Shufelt said prior to the vote. “It was a very difficult decision, personally, for me, because I don’t think we can go wrong either way.”

How’d they get here?

Dunn and Rebello were the only two department members to submit applications for the position, and were interviewed before the select board a week earlier following a preliminary search and interviews before a screening committee.

Dunn has served on the force for 25 years, starting out as a reserve officer before transitioning into the detectives’ unit and then making sergeant.

Rebello found his calling in a different manner. A lifelong Westporter, he earned a bachelor’s in environmental science with a minor in chemistry, working in that field until earning a master’s degree in education and becoming a teacher. Later, he became a reserve officer, joined the force as a patrolman and later transitioned to the detectives’ division before going back to school for a second masters in criminal justice, and making sergeant. He has been on the force for 10 years.

Both candidates spoke at length during their interviews on their hopes for the department, what they believe it does right and what it could be doing better, and how they would function in a department that is already short-staffed and, like other town departments, constrained by the town’s finances.

“Creativity,” Dunn said when asked about dealing with funding shortfalls and tight budgets.

“To me, everything’s on the table. I know that with Proposition 2 1/2 that did not pass, every department is facing significant cuts. So I think we need to be creative with that.”

He said that if he is named chief, he looks forward to working with the finance committee and town administration on the department’s financial issues.

“My goal is to optimize the budget,” he said.

Rebello’s answer hinted at creativity as well, in that he said one way to get around funding challenges is work smarter, and better.

“I would look at cross training individuals, so people didn’t have to be called in when we could utilize others in that role.”

Grants are another key area, he said, noting that through his work as the department’s grant officer, he’s brought in some $110,000 over the past two years.

Both officers said they’re proud of the department, and want to bridge the gap between it and the public through more outreach, a revamping of the old Explorers program at the high school, and other measures.

Doing so will not only help officers do their jobs more effectively, each said, but could also help bolster its ranks in the coming years, as more young Westporters learn about the force and what it does.

Westport is not Fall River or New Bedford, and both officers responded to a question about whether there is a lack of crime, or perceived lack of crime, in Westport, and what they think.

“We do a lot,” Rebello said. “It seems like we don’t do a lot because everything’s going well and there’s not a lot of crime, and you don’t hear about a lot of stuff going on. (But) when crime does happen, we solve it. We’re proactive. We do what we need to do and as much as we can do — we are short staffed (but) we do a lot with a little.”

“In the summertime we are not a quiet community,” Dunn said, mentioning that Westport has an opioid epidemic and is not immune to other types of crime — he mentioned the theft of catalytic converters specifically.

Both also said they’re the right candidate for the job — in Dunn’s case, he said his supervisory experience, the respect he’s earned from other department members, and creativity, set him apart.

As for Rebello, “every time I move forward ... I do everything with intentionality,” he said. “I’m excited about the opportunity. I’m 100 percent committed to the Westport Police Department and more importantly, to the Town of Westport. I think I’ve earned the trust and respect of my fellow officers.”