Livingstone promoted to police captain post

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on February 29, 2008

Policing that uses a more problem-oriented approach to dealing with issues affecting Amherst will be brought by the town's newest police captain.

Scott Livingstone, a 31-year member of the department, this week was promoted to one of the two captain positions that became vacant in January upon the retirement of Capt. Tim Sullivan.

In his role as captain in charge of operations, which means overseeing both the uniformed personnel and the detective bureau, Livingstone said he will attempt to use more problem-oriented policing. This means targeting areas such as Sunset and Lincoln avenues, where the bulk of problems involving college students occur, while also maintaining an emphasis on community policing.

But he said to be effective in the problem-oriented approach, which attempts to deal with the root cause of crime and bad behavior by working with those residents affected, the department needs to continue to have sufficient resources and manpower.

For most Amherst residents, the internal changes at the top of the command structure within the police department will likely go unnoticed.

Livingstone, of Northampton, has been the lieutenant in command of the night shift. His promotion to captain was based on the recommendation of Police Chief Scherpa, Human Resources Director Eunice Torres and Town Manager Larry Shaffer.

"Captain Livingstone is a fine and splendid example of all that the Police Department stands for," Shaffer said.

Livingstone was one of four in-house candidates interviewed. "The quality of the candidates was quite outstanding," Shaffer said.

As captain, Livingstone said he will do less patrol-related work and have a more regular Monday through Friday schedule.

"I'm excited because it's going to be different from all the other work I've done before," Livingstone said. "It's going to be a pleasant change of pace."

While remaining partially on the night shift until early summer, Livingstone said he will be learning on the go during the first several months from his colleagues in the administration, Scherpa and Capt. Michael Kent.

Kent, who has been the captain of operations since 2000, will shift to Sullivan's former role of being captain of administrative services.

This position includes overseeing the training of officers, department accreditation, tracking racial profiling, seeking grants and working with the local TRIAD and SALT councils. Kent will maintain his role as liaison with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College and Hampshire College.

Kent said the change, after seven years of handling what he calls the "nuts and bolts" of the department, will mean more paperwork.

"It's good to have change," Kent said. "Overall, it will make me a better supervisor knowing how both sides of the aisle work."

Livingstone joined the department in 1977 upon graduation from Granby High School as a community service officer. He was promoted to sergeant in 1988 and lieutenant in 2000.

He is a trained instructor in crowd management and special operations and is the department's instructor in Breathalyzer operation, standardized field sobriety tests and detecting drunken drivers. He is also the current president of the Amherst Police Relief Association.

Livingstone is married to Rhys and has two daughters.