Walking Beat with John Cashin: Police Chief Settles into Role
By MAX HART
As far as police chiefs go, John G. Cashin is not your average Joe.
The Bronx-born Mr. Cashin is a mild-mannered thinker with a wry
sense of humor who holds two masters degrees, will fly around the world
for a chance to look at an original DaVinci, and can quote T.S. Eliot as
quickly as he can recite criminal law statutes. You are just as likely
to find a book of Shakespeare on his desk as you might a pair of
handcuffs.
And now, he is the chief of the Tisbury police department.
On Tuesday, the selectmen welcomed Mr. Cashin to Vineyard Haven at a
swearing-in ceremony at the Katharine Cornell Theatre. With the aid of
his own cheering section made up of family and friends, the captain from
Norwalk, Conn., officially relieved acting chief Timothy Stobie of his
duties.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cashin spent his first day on the job acclimating
to his new office, his new officers and his new town. In an interview
during a lunchtime walk along Main street, the chief sat down for a
meatball sub and an iced tea and talked about the challenges of the
position, his goals and his expectations - not only for his
officers or constituents, but for himself.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2006/09/08/content/john_cashin_desk_sm.jpg" "I am looking forward to becoming an integral part of this
community and this department and doing whatever good I can for
them," he said. "I want to convey that to the town, and to
my officers - that I am there for them. As chief of police, I told
the selectmen, I want you to look at me as sort of a consultant on
public safety matters and law enforcement - I am your expert on
the subject matter."
Still beaming from the previous night's ceremony that was the
culmination of 25 years of service as a police officer, Mr. Cashin said
becoming the Tisbury police chief was the realization of a lifelong goal
to lead a department in a community just the size of his new town.
"This place is a treasure, and when the job came up, I
thought, you've got to be kidding me," Mr. Cashin said.
"I have been here before and always enjoyed coming to the Island.
I always wanted to live in a place like the Vineyard."
But as excited as he is to discuss the job, he is equally quick to
look ahead to the work he wants to do - namely the establishment
of a strong and trusting relationship between the police department, the
board of selectmen and the town. He is aware of the tensions and
internal conflicts that have marred the tenures of previous chiefs and
wants to end any existing animosity. And he said that sustaining a
positive relationship with the selectmen and his officers are two of his
biggest goals.
"The foundation is here for a tremendous community-oriented
initiative," he declared.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2006/09/08/content/john_cashin_swearing_in_sm.jpg" Changes that Mr. Cashin envisions for the department include
promoting officers to higher ranks and improving training practices. He
also wants Tisbury to consider a move toward carrying less-than-lethal
weapons, such as electronic tasers. Another area where Mr. Cashin hopes
to make inroads is the Brazilian community. Mr. Cashin, who taught
himself Spanish to communicate more effectively with the community in
Norwalk, said he plans to do the same with Portuguese.
One issue common to the Island - substance abuse - is an
area of expertise for Mr. Cashin, who holds two masters degrees in
criminal justice and counseling. He also trained as a peer support
officer for his department in Norwalk.
But it is Mr. Cashin's reputation as a strong communicator and
someone who fits in among his fellow officers that he said is his
biggest asset.
"I work for the town but I also work for the officers to a
large degree," he said. "I really want them to understand
that I want to work with them. And I don't want to be just the
chief, I want to be one of the guys - shoulder to shoulder, back
to the wall."
Outside work, Mr. Cashin's many interests include reading,
history (he is somewhat of an expert on the psychology of Jack the
Ripper), theatre and collecting antiques. He is a seasoned traveller who
enjoys visiting countries for their art, whether it is flying to England
for a DaVinci exhibit or to Xi'an in China to see the ancient warriors.
"I'm sort of eclectic in terms of what I like to
do," he said. "I'm very big into theatre. I like film,
I enjoy art quite a bit. When I travel, a lot of it has to do with art
and trying to track down pieces of art that I'd like to see that I
feel are important. I have theories, actually, that certain books,
certain pieces of music, certain pieces of art, certain places in the
world - I think it is almost a person's responsibility, if
they can, to see these things.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2006/09/08/content/john_cashin_badge_sm.jpg" "And I love to go fishing, so I am looking forward to that
while I am here," he added.
Much of his curiosity he attributes to being the youngest of eight
children. He has six older sisters and an older brother, many of whom
accompanied him to the ceremony Tuesday and erupted into applause after
he was sworn in. Some waved a banner that read "Hail to the Chief
- Congratulations, John!"
"Family has always been important to me," he said.
"And I think that is why community policing is so important to me
and why my style fits in here. I'm not saying that the transition
to the Vineyard is going to be easy, but I think it is going to be more
in terms of learning curve - in terms of learning the nuts and
bolts of the Massachusetts statutes, the policies and procedures in
terms of what the officers are used to here."
For a final thought, Mr. Cashin returns to his favorite poem,
written by T.S. Eliot.
"There is a stanza in The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock that
starts ‘No! I am not prince Hamlet, nor was I meant to be,'
and it basically goes on to say something like, ‘I am a minor
player who will swell a progress or start a scene, but I am not the
major hero or the major catalyst of change.' And I really related
to that and I still do. I don't see myself as doing much of
anything that anybody else couldn't do."
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