FALL RIVER -- Capt. Jeffrey Cardoza, a 29-year veteran of the Fall River Police Department, has been selected as the city’s new police chief by Mayor Paul Coogan from a slate of three city police officers.
Coogan announced Cardoza's selection Tuesday.
“Although it was a very difficult choice between all three candidates and they all came with strengths that would be an asset to the Fall River police department and the city of Fall River, Capt. Cardoza had a little more experience in some areas than the others and came with strong recommendations and did a good job in both interviews,” Coogan said a few hours before holding a press conference at One Government Center to introduce the new city police chief.
During the press conference, Cardoza said he was both "proud and humbled" to be part of the Fall River Police Department organization.
"I can honestly tell you that you don't get where I am if you don't have a lot of good mentors in your career and I was fortunate to work with a lot of great chiefs, a lot of great patrol officers and a lot of great supervisors who were able to take me under their wing, so to speak, and teach me the right things to do," said Cardoza. "The best advice I ever received was that any decision you make, you make it for what is best for the community and what's best for the organization."
Cardoza also came with recommendations by former police chiefs Daniel Racine and John Souza.
He said his focus as police chief will be on community policing.
After his introduction as the city's new chief, Cardoza said he believes his background, growing up in Fall River, is an important aspect of his role leading the Fall River Police Department.
"I grew up in a three tenement house, my father worked on the loading dock for Globe Manufacturing for 38 years and my mother bagged groceries at A & P," said Cardoza. "I have lost family members to the opioid crisis. As tough as that was, I think it made me a better person for this job, I think it prepared me for this job. It's obviously a major concern and I think community policing will have an impact on that."
Cardoza said he discussed with Coogan concentrating on preventing drug addiction and getting that message into schools with the help of school resource officers.
"I think there is a place for us to be involved with that by getting to the kids before the kids get to the drugs," said Cardoza.
According to Cardoza’s resume provided by Coogan, he joined the Fall River police force in 1991 and worked his way up the ranks to captain where he spent 10 years between 2010 and February of this year heading up the major crimes division and intelligence units. For the past few months Cardoza oversaw the staff services division.
He received a master’s degree from Anna Maria College in public administration in 2014 and a bachelor's degree in administration of justice from Roger Williams University. He also received an associate's degree from Bristol Community College in criminal justice. He was born and raised in Fall River and graduated from BMC Durfee High School.
His LinkedIn account shows that he graduated from the FBI National Academy Class 275 and the Trilogy Program hosted by the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Associaton.
Cardoza’s appointment has the support a number of city councilors, including City Council President Cliff Ponte who called him “a great communicator and leader.”
“Mayor Coogan has been working toward finding a leader in the police department to lead our men and women in the department. Capt. Cardoza will be a great police chief,” Ponte said. “His experience and leadership and respect amongst the department will serve not only the department well, but also the city.”
City Council Vice Chairman Pam Laliberte-Lebeau, who has been a vocal champion on the council regarding public safety employees, said she was “very happy” with Coogan’s decision to promote Cardoza.
“I have had the pleasure of working with him for years. He is going to make an excellent police chief,” Laliberte-Lebeau said.
City Councilor Linda Pereira worked with Cardoza when she was an investigator for the Bristol County District Attorney’s office.
“He is an individual that is honest, has integrity and is fair, so I am looking forward to working with the new chief. When I worked with him on cases through the district attorney’s office I found him to be exceptional and very, very caring of victims,” said Pereira.
Cardoza was one of three Fall River Police Department brass who Coogan interviewed for the position that included Deputy Chief of Administration Charles Cullen, who is serving as interim chief and Capt. Michael Duarte.
Coogan’s appointment will now go to the City Council for its approval and Cardoza will act as interim police chief until that takes place .
Coogan began the police chief search process nearly two months after former Police Chief Albert Dupere resigned from the post on March 6.
His resignation as police chief came after Coogan and then Dupere himself were shown secretly recorded video by an investigative reporter from the Providence television station WPRI. The footage, shot over two months between December and January, reportedly shows Dupere at the St. James Pub on several Friday afternoons socializing with subordinate members of the police force.
The video has never aired.
Dupere denied being at the bar during the police department’s official business hours with staff and drinking on the job, although he did admit he traveled to the local pub in a police issued vehicle.
He resigned after learning Coogan did not intend to renew his contract when it expired in November.
As a condition of his chief’s contract, Dupere had the ability to return to the civil service rank of deputy chief, in which he is now currently serving.
Email Jo C. Goode at jgoode@heraldnews.com.