CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – The City of Chicopee has announced Captain Patrick Major as the next Chief of Police.

Major has been a member of the Chicopee Police Department in various capacities since 1992. He also served in the U.S. military and has a degree in criminal justice from Quincy College. At a news conference in Chicopee Friday morning, Chief Major shared his goals for the city’s police department.

“I truly look forward to providing a professional, respectful, and dedicated police department, serving the needs of public safety, as well as proving to you that we as police officers are a part of this community,” said Major.

Paul Winspeare, the city’s HR Director, said candidates were reviewed based on their earned civil service ranking, a case study assignment, and final panel interview.

“The structural three part weighted system was designed to eliminate subjectivity from the selection process, while evaluating the operational and strategic elements of this position,” said Winspeare.

Mayor John Vieau was joined to announce the new chief with city councilors, school committee members, fire chief, and other elected officials to announce city hall Friday morning.

Major will officially replace William Jebb, who retired last year after 34 years of service.

The Chief ceremony comes about a week after the city’s Superintendent, Lynn Clark, was charged with lying to investigators about sending dozens of threatening messages to a chief of police candidate. That candidate withdrew their application.

22News asked Chief Major for his thoughts on the selection process in the midst of the investigation, “I enjoyed going through this process. It was rigorous, it was difficult. Myself and Deputy Chief Gawron being two finalists and we went through it as a team basically and that’s what I’ll continue as Chief, is being a team member and working with our officers together.”

Chief Major said his goal for his department is to make sure every officer gets home safe.