By RUSS OLIVO

WOONSOCKET — Interim Police Chief Eric L. Croce wasn’t sure what he was getting into when he was assigned to temporarily lead the scandal-wracked police department nearly six months ago, but he knows what he’s about to leave behind — a home.

“It’s a chapter of your life,” says Croce. “It wasn’t two or three weeks. You become invested in the men and women on the job. You become attached.”
“I’ll definitely miss it,” he says.
It’s no secret the 44-year-old detective lieutenant from the Rhode Island State Police wanted to keep the job, or that he was Mayor Susan D. Menard’s top choice for the permanent assignment. But when a screening committee in charge of the search for the next police chief scored nine semifinalist applicants several weeks ago, Croce did not finish among the top three, preventing the mayor from choosing him.
Now, Croce says, he'll be “in and out of the office” until Major Tom Carey of the St. Petersburg (Florida) Police Department is sworn in, probably no later than Sept. 15.
Still, Croce says he’s proud of what he accomplished as a pinch-hitter, and he believes he will leave the 101-member force in far better shape than he found it.
Croce took over on March 5 after the back-to-back resignations of Chief Michael L.A. Houle and Deputy Chief Richard Dubois. Both longtime veterans of the police department, Houle and Dubois turned in their badges after former Patrolwoman Marsha Bish, the chief’s ex-wife, went public with allegations that the two officers had doctored the scores on her qualifying exams, enabling her to get the patrolwoman’s job. There has since been a police investigation of those allegations, and the results have been forwarded to state prosecutors.
It wasn’t the first time Houle or Dubois had been embroiled in controversy during a trouble-plagued era of the police department. Dubois had long been involved in a contentious legal battle to hold onto his rank amid procedural questions regarding his appointment. Houle, meanwhile, struggled to overcome allegations ranging from improperly disposing of evidence to wielding an uneven hand in matters of internal discipline. The International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the police union, regularly plastered him with unflattering commentary on job performance, demanding his removal.
The chain of events that led up to their resignations fueled a public perception that the department was spinning out of control.
The atmosphere that Croce encountered when he arrived at the police department did not live up to the negative hype. But there were problems.
“It wasn’t chaotic for me,” said Croce, adding, “I firmly believe there was a lack of discipline and a lack of chain of command.”
Now police officers can be seen saluting their superiors, much like soldiers in a military barracks.
Indeed, says Croce, one of the things he can say he is most proud of having accomplished during his tenure as chief is restoring the quasi-military respect for rank that belongs at the core of in a well-run law enforcement agency. “The inner turmoil has subsided and I feel I have righted the ship,” Croce said in an interview at City Hall this week.
Croce says he has come to hold the uniformed personnel and detectives of the force in the highest regard - men and women he says he would have been honored to serve as their permanent chief.
Anyone who has spent any time talking to Croce realizes he has taken to heart the oft-voiced criticism that the police department doesn’t respond aggressively enough to so-called quality of life complaints, like loud motorcycles and barking dogs.
But Croce said the police are doing the best they can to keep the city a comfortable, safe place to live - it’s just that there are too few police officers and they are often besieged by more pressing concerns.
“They’re good people,” says Croce. “They’re overworked and they could use more manpower. People have to realize the nature of the crimes they’re dealing with here and how they’re being handled successfully. That’s a message that needs to get out there.”
Croce has no bigger booster than the mayor, who says he quickly gained control of the administrative woes of the police department and corrected them. She says Croce takes a direct, hands-on approach to solving problems, and doesn’t overanalyze them. She praises him as a “Type A” personality - the kind of person who often assigns work to others but then gets so concerned about how the job will turn out that he ends up doing it himself.
“It really fell into place rather quickly,” said Menard.
The mayor’s 13-year tenure in the executive office has been marked by sporadic strife with the police union and high turnover in the chief’s office. Depending on whether you count interim chiefs, there have been either five or seven top cops in the city since Menard was first elected. But she says she can remember no more harmonious a time in relations with the department than during Croce’s tenure.
“I knew I needed someone strong and who wouldn’t need time to learn,” said Menard. “He’s done that and he’s made life peaceful for the last six months. He’s an excellent chief and any community would be lucky to have him, including Woonsocket.”
Croce politely dodged a question about why State Police Supt. Brendan P. Doherty tapped him to fill the interim chief’s position when Menard put in the request. But Menard said she told Doherty she was looking for someone with strong administrative skills, a high level of regard for internal discipline and experience with budgets.
Menard said she has been pleasantly surprised to learn that Croce can not only balance a budget, he’s a penny pincher, running the police department the way you’d expect someone to run their own household.
Croce says he knows the mayor has a reputation for meddling in the affairs of the police department, but he says he’s seen no evidence of it.
“She helped me when I needed it,” said Croce. “I didn’t bother her with things she didn’t need to know about.”
A native of Providence, Croce lives with his family in Scituate - home of the headquarters of the State Police. Croce spent the lion’s share of his career in the detective bureau, investigating an assortment of violent crimes, from homicide to child molestation. He had been the officer in charge of the Traffic/Planning & Research division for about a year before arriving in Woonsocket.
Some policemen may tell you that they wanted a career in law enforcement because they were interested in public service and doing good deeds. But Croce, whose stepfather was a Providence policeman, says he had one reason for following in his footsteps.
“I wanted to put bad guys in jail.”
Lean and rugged, Croce still has a youthful, almost boyish look, save for the gray creeping above his close-cropped sideburns. It seems hard to believe that, after 22 years with the state police, he will be ushered into retirement after just three more, at the age of 47. That’s because retirement from the state police is mandatory after 25 years.
But Croce says he isn’t quite ready to go off into that good night. For now, he has his state police job to return to after he leaves the Woonsocket Police Department. Perhaps, he says, he will eventually become one of the many state police lieutenants who have become chiefs of municipal departments in Rhode Island over the years. He’s keeping his eyes open.
No matter what path he chooses, Croce’s ability to identify and solve problems guarantees he will end up on top, says Administration/Public Works Director Michael A. Annarummo.
“He’ll always be successful simply because he can do that.”