A November retirement has caused a chain reaction in the ranks of the City of Warren Police Department.

The department has made in-house appointments for captain, two sergeants and community service officer.

“With the retirement of Captain Jeffrey Zavinski in November of 2018, the position became vacant and necessitated the movement of several officers,” Chief Brandon Deppen said.

“The promotion process is based off of a written examination and oral board interview,” Deppen explained. “The written test started with a reading list of seven text books and supervisory materials. The candidates were given 60 days to prepare for the test.”

He said the oral interviews were “conducted by three members of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association. The Chiefs asked each candidate a series of questions and scored them according to their answers.”

That process resulted in Sgt. Joe Sproveri being promoted to captain.

“He is a 13-year veteran of the department and held the position of sergeant for the last seven years,” Deppen said. “He is currently the accreditation manager and will continue in that position. I look forward to working with him in the future to continue to improve the department.”

Sgt. Jeff Dougherty has been assigned as community service officer, Deppen explained.

“Sgt. Dougherty brings a wealth of knowledge to the position from his 14 years of service in the department,” Deppen said. “He is excited to take this position and to become the face of the department.”

Both of those moves open sergeant positions on the patrol staff.

“Detective Anthony Chimenti and Officer Joe Bees have been promoted to sergeant and will take over the supervisor responsibilities in the patrol division,” Deppen explained. “Sgt. Chimenti has 16 years of service with the past 11 being the department detective. Officer Bees has five years of service and is very involved in the drug work of the department.”

Deppen noted that the detective role would be filled “in the future. Those duties will be covered by the patrol staff at this time.”