As he answered his phone in the Falls Police Criminal Investigation Division office Tuesday afternoon William Thomson hesitated for just a second.
“Hello,” Thomson said and then paused. “Capt. Thomson, can I help you.”
As he hung up, the new detective chief for the Falls Police Department smiled and said, “Guess it’s going to take a little time getting used to this.”
What won’t take any getting used to is taking command of the division where he has spent 17 of his almost 25 years in law enforcement. Thomson, who has been the division’s detective lieutenant for the past three years, was promoted to the rank of captain on Monday and immediately named to succeed the unit’s long-time commander Ernest Palmer.
“I’m going to be fine tuning things a little bit,” Thomson said, taking a break from moving into his new office in the detective bureau. “But things are running pretty good up here, so I’m not going to upset the apple cart.”
It’s that consistency in operation that was one of the reasons police Superintendent John Chella tapped Thomson for the top detective’s post.
“They’ve run pretty good for six years (under Palmer’s command) and Bill has been here for the last three of those years,” Chella said. “Add in his experience (as a detective) in the bureau before that and I looked at that experience and a smooth transition. (Thomson) was the obvious choice.”
Thomson came a long way to get to his law enforcement career in the Cataract City. He was born in Los Alamos, N.M., where his dad worked for the federal Atomic Energy Commission. When he was appointed to the force in 1985, he moved to the Falls from his home in Springville, in southern Erie County.
“I always wanted (a law enforcement career),” Thomson said. “I think investigations are the fun part of the job. You have a crime, but you don’t have a suspect. So you follow through on leads, figure out (who did it) and make the arrest.”
Thomson says dramatic changes in technology have made a police investigator’s job both more interesting and effective.
“The impact (of technology) is we solve crimes now that we didn’t years ago,” he said. “If you didn’t have a witness or a fingerprint back then you were in trouble. Now with DNA and other (advances) we can find suspects.”
Chella said in deciding on Palmer’s replacement, he fielded calls from other law enforcement agencies who eagerly endorsed Thomson’s promotion.
“No doubt in my mind I did what was best for this department,” Chella said.
Thomson is a graduate of the FBI’s National Academy and a certified instructor for the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services. He’s received multiple awards for his police work, including one for talking a suicidal man off of a railing on the Rainbow Bridge.
In 2004 and again in 2006, he was honored by local and federal law enforcement agencies for his long-term work in investigating Laborer’s Local 91.
“I think (the Local 91 investigation) had the greatest impact on corruption and economic development in this city,” Chella said.
Thomson says his replacement as detective lieutenant will likely be named next week.
Crime
Related Photos
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William Thomson, the new chief of detectives for the Niagara Falls Police Department stands in his office at the Falls Public Safety Building. Thomson took over for former chief of detectives Ernest Palmer on Monday. DAN CAPPELLAZZO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPH
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William Thomson, the new chief of detectives for the Niagara Falls Police Department stands in his office at the Falls Public Safety Building. Thomson took over for former chief of detectives Ernest Palmer on Monday. DAN CAPPELLAZZO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPH
FALLS POLICE: A smooth transition for detectives
The new chief of detectives for the Falls is a familiar face with plenty of experience on the streets
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