Mansfield Police Chief Dino Sgambellone may be moving to New Mexico to serve as the Los Alamos police chief.
At the Oct. 9 METRICH Enforcement Unit meeting, Sgambellone announced his “likely” retirement in mid-November. The Los Alamos County Council meets on Oct. 29 to determine Sgambellone’s appointment as the new chief.
Sgambellone stated that Capt. Ken Coontz will be his replacement as the METRICH project director. “I have complete confidence in Ken Coontz who would be my replacement for the project director’s position. He is both capable and informed about our process,” stated Sgambellone.
Coontz joined the Mansfield PD in 1993 and was promoted to captain in May of this year. In October 2010 until May 2013, he served as the METRICH commander. He currently serves as the deputy project director for METRICH.
He explained that he had already starting managing the METRICH grants several years ago—“a huge task because funding for [METRICH] is everything; we need funds for complex drug cases to be completed,” stated Coontz.
Coontz declined to comment on whether he would also be taking on the role as the Mansfield police chief. Mayor Tim Theaker will choose the city’s next chief, and, of course, this decision is pending Sgambellone’s official retirement.
Sgambellone is a 1986 graduate of St. Peter’s High School. After graduation, he attended Berklee College of Music and then transferred to the Ohio State University at Mansfield. In the fall of 1987, he enlisted in the Air Force, where he spent two years. Then he enrolled at Michigan State University, ultimately returning to Mansfield.
Upon his return to the city, Sgambellone explained that he decided to take civil service tests for both the fire department and police department, not certain which route he would choose. He chose the police department.
In 1996, he was selected as officer of the year and in 1997, supervisor of the year. Sgambellone was appointed commander of the METRICH Enforcement Unit in 2005. And for the past three years, he has served as the police chief.
Noting the transfer to Los Alamos, Sgambellone explained, “My family has always liked the southwest; we’ve vacationed there several times. And I was stationed there in the late 80s when I was in the service. So I’ve been evaluating different locations for a while and when an opportunity came up [in Los Alamos] I decided to try to take it.”
