Published: 1/29/2021 10:03:16 PM
Modified: 1/29/2021 10:03:14 PM
WINDSOR — The town of Windsor has hired Norwich Police Chief Jennifer Frank as its new chief, marking her return to a larger department where she worked for three years as a police officer and school resource officer.
Frank, who has served as police chief in Norwich for the past two years, will replace Windsor Police Chief Bill Sampson, who is taking a job in Middleton, Mass. Sampson’s last day in the office was Friday, and Frank is expected to start in Windsor around March 1, according to a notice to Windsor residents from Town Manager Tom Marsh.
“While this decision may seem to have been reached quickly, the effort has taken some time. Chief Sampson informed me some months ago that he was exploring other opportunities to advance his career. Since that time we have examined a variety of options to find his replacement. We always came back to the excellent fit Chief Frank would provide,” Marsh wrote.
He said Frank has a “strong work ethic, a commitment to community” and a “fair and balanced approach to policing.” Her salary in Windsor will be $107,000.
Windsor has a bigger department — 10 full-time and five part-time officers, compared with Norwich’s four full-time and two part-time officers — and Frank said she looks forward to returning to the town.
“There is something about the community that is difficult to summarize in words; it is a feeling, it is a sense of community, belonging ... in many ways it feels like I am coming home,” she said via email.
Frank, who turns 43 in about a month, joined the Norwich force in 2018, and she replaced longtime Norwich Police Chief Doug Robinson when he retired in early 2019.
Emails to Norwich officials on Friday seeking the police chief’s salary and what plans were being made to replace Frank were not returned.
A former social studies teacher who taught in the Mascoma Valley Regional School District, Frank holds a master’s degree and doctorate in education from Plymouth State University.
John P. Gregg can be reached at 603-727-3217 or jgregg@vnews.com.