Highland gets new police chief
There’s a new chief in the town of Highland.
The Town Council at its Monday night meeting swore in Commander Ralph Potesta, an officer with 33 years on the department, as its 16th-ever top cop. Potesta, 58, replaces Chief Pete Hojnicki, who retired in 2020 but continued in the role as a civilian until Feb. 6.
Potesta, who said he graduated from Highland High School in 1985, joined the department September 25, 1989, when Clerk-Treasurer Mark Herak — then a councilman — made a motion to hire him. He thanked the Town and Police Commission for having faith in him.
“This town is my heart and soul; I was born and raised here, so it’s my home,” he said. “I’ve got huge shoes to fill (following Hojnicki), but I’m ready for the challenge. He’s been a great mentor to me.”
Becoming chief of the department on which one’s served is often a goal of police officers, Potesta said, and with 33 years on, he was no exception. He said his biggest goal for the department right now is recruitment and retention.
“We’ve been working with the Town Council on creating and establishing incentives to recruit good candidates, but it’s tough. When I was hired, I was up against 100 other people,” he said Tuesday. “This recruitment period that ends Friday, we have only 17, and the last one we had maybe 12.”
Hojnicki, who’d been with Highland for 35 years and to whom Herak said he presented his chief’s badge in 2002, credited the department for some of the town’s lowest crime rates in 50 years and thanked Potesta, as well as Commander John Banasiak; former Commander George Georgeff; his former assistant LuAnn Stirling; Support Services Administrator Ken Balon; and all the supervisors, officers, civilian staff and volunteers who made it happen. But he saved his deepest gratitude for his righthand-man, Assistant Chief Pat Vassar.
“A colleague, confidant, and mentor committed to not just the Police Department, but the entire town; whose wisdom, talents, and ethics are above reproach,” he said of Vassar. “His faith, fearlessness and friendship are something I will always admire and cherish. I couldn’t have, nor would I have wanted to, do this job without him.
“From bosses to co-workers, young and old, I always found something positive in nearly everyone I ever worked with. Whether you realize it or not, I learned something from you and throughout my career have mirrored these qualities I admired. I’m humbled to have been a part of so many winning teams, so thank you for letting me be a part of them.”