Oetinger retires, Moyer new chief

Passing the baton to a teammate, Police Chief Tom Oetinger announced his retirement yesterday and the Police Commission followed his recommendation by naming Captain Mike Moyer, his near contemporary and longtime colleague, to succeed him.

"This was a very calculated decision," Oetinger said, explaining that he took stock of his personal and professional situation as well as circumstances of the department. "It was a good time," he said. "I've spent 29 years in police work and I'm ready for a career change. Things are good here," he continued. "The organization is in a good place and on a good course. That's the time to go, not when things aren't right."

In a radical change of career, Oetinger has taken a position as outreach coordinator and adjunct instructor at Granite State College, once the College for Life-Long Learning, where he will develop and pursue strategies to encourage working adults to continue and further their education. "That's what I did," he said,"get my bachelor's and master's later in life. I strongly believe in the fruits of education and this is a great opportunity for me, and something completely different."

Oetinger grew up in northeast Philadelphia and after a spell studying criminal justice at Temple University joined the campus police of the University of Pennsylvania before his 19th birthday. In 1980, after his rookie year with the Philadelphia Police Department, he was among 800 officers laid off amidst a political and budget crisis. "I was a policeman without a department," he said.

With a sister living in Gilford, Oetinger came to New Hampshire, interviewed for a job with Laconia Police Department and began work as a patrolman before the year was out. He rose through the ranks, serving as a field training officer, detective, sergeant, lieutenant and captain, before becoming succeeding Bill Bakes as chief five years ago.

"It's what we've accomplished," Oetinger said of his tenure as chief. "This s a good place with good people," he declared. "That's the key, not that they've got a good chief. I was the caretaker of that chair," he said, pointing to his desk chair. "The boots on the ground get it done day in and day out."

As chief Oetinger emphasized core values. "Our values identify us," he said. "I challenged people to live our values." At the same time, he pictured policing as a "service profession" and combed the private sector for "best practices" that could be applied to further the department's mission. "We changed a lot of the ways we do business," he said.

Oetinger pointed to the application of technology to case management, record keeping and crime mapping and particularly to the introduction of "problem oriented policing," an approach that addresses the underlying sources of crime and disorder. "Traditional policing — identify the bad guy, catch the bad guy and prosecute the bad guy, " he described as "very expensive and not very effective. We can do that. We're good at that," Oetinger said, "but that alone doesn't get it done." He said that officers were recruited and trained to be problem-solvers

"We've implemented stuff that really challenged patrol officers," Oetinger said, "and they've taken the stuff and run with it. We've never met resistance to any changes," he went on, "and there has not been one grievance filed in five years. Not one! You're not going to find that in other departments."

Oetinger expected a seamless transition. "Leadership development has been a big thing with us. Mike (Moyer) is philosophically aligned with the direction the institution is taking."

Meanwhile, Oetinger will be preparing to teach the introduction to ethical philosophy. "It will be fun. It will engage me, challenge me. That's what a career is all about."