City names former Troy police captain Centanni new police chief
WATERVLIET, N.Y. » Mayor Charles Patricelli has named Joe Centanni as the new Watervliet police chief.
Centanni retired from the Troy Police Department in January 2020 after serving 25 years with the department.
The Watervliet Police Department has been operating under Acting Police Chief Lt. Brian Strock since May 2020, which is when city officials furloughed and eventually parted ways with former Police Chief Anthony Geraci.
While with the Troy Police Department, Centanni served in the patrol bureau for many years, volunteering as a field training officer and was later promoted to sergeant.
Centanni also served as a detective sergeant before his promotion to captain. His previous assignments include patrol, planning and analysis, inspectional services and his most recent assignment in the detective bureau. Centanni was also a member of the emergency response team for 12 years. He was also in charge of an internal affairs report with the Troy Police Department
related to the 2016 killing of DWI suspect Edson Thevenin.
The city’s decision on the next police chief was expected to be announced over a week ago, however, Patricelli explained that getting some paperwork in order was the reason for the delayed announcement.
“We learned the [hiring] process a little bit better, especially in the conditions of the waiver process,” the mayor said. “All but one candidate needed the waiver process because they were all retired from law enforcement. We wanted to make sure that was all done
properly.”
Patricelli said he expects Centanni to start his new role in the beginning of April and will oversee a 23-member police department. Centanni will earn $90,000.
“Joe has been in the running [for Watervliet’s chief position] a few times as a number two candidate most of the time and that kind of made it hard to say, ‘hey, why not Joe,” Patricelli said. “I think it’s going to be a good working relationship with him.”
The mayor also thanked Strock for stepping up as acting police chief for a second time in his career. Patricelli noted that Strock stated that he was not interested in the chief’s position.
“He’s done a remarkable job, he was absolutely fantastic,” Patricelli said about Strock. “He’s got a good sense of humor, he handles the pressure well, he’s very professional and he was great to work with [as acting police chief].”
Current Troy Police Chief Brian Owens was one of the announced candidates interviewing for the position in Watervliet, however, Owens said he pulled his name from consideration last week.
Patricelli had nothing but praise for Owens saying that he stood out as a great candidate and that Troy is lucky to have him lead their department. Patricelli also said he is happy that Owens decided to stay with the Troy Police Department, saying that “it will be a win-win for everyone.”
Owens noted that was exploring his options when he was considering leaving for Watervliet.
“Last year was certainly difficult for all of us, so there was an opportunity to apply for something similar to what I was doing, but at a much more manageable pace and scale with a smaller department,” Owens said. “But last week I made the decision to stay where I am.
“I’m happy to be where I am; I’m lucky to be where I am, and I’m looking forward to continuing to move forward with what we’ve been working on [in Troy].”
Owens said that once his name was reported as a finalist for the position across the river in Watervliet, many people within and outside the Troy Police
Department began to express their support for him to stay.
“The decision was based on people for sure, so the people within our department, but also people within the community,” he said. “I guess if there’s one good thing that came out of [all of this] is that I had so many people reach out and just express their appreciation and support. They hoped that I would stay with the [Troy Police Department], so that was very encouraging to hear.”