THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 6, 1994 TAG: 9408060219
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
William F. Corvello, who has filled in at the helm of the Police Department since Jay A. Carey Jr. was forced to resign in May, was named chief of police Friday.
City Manager Ed Maroney said in an afternoon news conference at City Hall that Corvello, during his two-month stint as interim chief, has ``demonstrated his outstanding leadership qualities and his skill in law enforcement management'' and ``has earned the respect of the department and the community.''
Maroney said a deciding factor in appointing Corvello was his street experience, something that Carey was criticized for not having after two Newport News police officers were gunned down on city streets.
Corvello, 63, who spent 37 years with the Virginia State Police before retiring in 1992, said he considered the appointment a ``high honor'' and announced that he will soon embark on an analysis of how the department hires, promotes and trains its police officers.
It will mark the second stage of Corvello's evaluation of the demoralized Newport News Police Department, which lurched from one disaster to another during the last two years of Carey's tenure as chief.
The first part of his department evaluation, Corvello said, has been under way during the past two months under orders from Maroney and is nearly complete. It concentrates on officer safety and community policing.
Corvello said it includes a detailed look into the deaths of police officers Steven R. Rutherford and Larry D. Bland, both of whom were shot in the line of duty this year. The evaluation, he said, studies whether the city should begin putting two officers in some patrol cars as a precaution.
Corvello would not comment on his findings but said part of the study has been sent to Maroney for consideration.
Despite Corvello's pledge to re-structure the way police officers are chosen and promoted, he said he is convinced that the department is basically sound. He also said that he maintains respect for Carey.
``There have been some problems, but there are good people in this Police Department, right to the core,'' Corvello said. ``I know Jay Carey and have great respect for him as an individual. He is a man of deep character.''
Carey was forced to step down on May 27, and seven other officers were demoted or otherwise reprimanded for their part in a botched pizza-delivery sting operation that claimed Rutherford's life in January.
At a May news conference announcing Carey's resignation and the other personnel moves, Maroney said that ``negligence of duty cannot go unpunished.''
Maroney acted after an investigation conducted by an independent panel appointed by Gov. George F. Allen and an internal police investigation determined that the sting operation should not have been conducted.
Just before Carey resigned, officer Larry Bland was shot and killed after he made a routine traffic stop on the morning of May 13.
In May 1992, two Newport News patrol officers were arrested and charged with stealing more than $100,000 in automotive equipment from several businesses in the Denbigh section of the city. Both later pleaded guilty.
Corvello said Friday that his decision to return to police work was in part because of his ties to Southeastern Virginia. He said much of his time as a state trooper was spent in this part of the state, especially on the Peninsula.
Corvello served as superintendent of the Virginia State Police from March 1990 until his retirement in August 1992. ILLUSTRATION: William F. Corvello
by CNB