After it was all over, Christopher Dunn joked that he wasn’t much for speeches. But the sea of friends who came out to watch him be sworn in as Westport’s new police chief Monday evening said all that needed to be said.

Dunn, a lifelong Westporter and career cop, was sworn in just after 5 p.m. by town clerk Kristin Stinson in a short, five minute ceremony in the police department’s training room. He brought family members and stood with his mother Jacqueline and brother-in-law Stephen Griswold as Stinson administered the oath of office. When it was over, the crowd broke into applause.

Monday’s oath was mostly ceremonial, as Dunn's hiring had been made official by a unanimous vote of the select board in November.

Formerly a detective sergeant, Dunn was one of two department members to apply for the chief’s position after former chief Keith Pelletier announced his decision to retire last summer. He was named to post over fellow candidate Sgt. Robert Rebello. It wasn’t an easy decision, board members said before choosing him.

“The conundrum is we have two qualified candidates in front of us,” select board member Shana Shufelt said in November. “I don’t think we can go wrong either way.”

Dunn is a lifelong Westport resident who joined the force as a reserve officer before transitioning into the detectives unit and later making sergeant.

He told board members during a public interview last year that he believes he has the management and administrative skills to take on the roll, and said his aims include making the department’s contributions more visible, strengthening bonds within the department and working to optimize the force's services in the face of budget constraints that have left no town departments unscathed.

“To me, everything’s on the table,” he said.