For the past several years, on her birthday, Marva Isaacs has cooked up a feast, complete with jerk chicken and macaroni and cheese for her friends at the Schenectady Police Department. Her April birthday is months away, but the Schenectady woman will be busy in the kitchen a little sooner than she planned.
"Chief Kilcullen, he's a wonderful man, I'm going to miss him," said Isaacs.
A send-off is likely in the future as Chief Brian Kilcullen leaves his post with the Schenectady Police Department for an opportunity just across the Vermont border. While Kilcullen hasn't resigned just yet, Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy says the public safety board approved him for the position. Final approval isn’t for another two weeks.
"He always would do things for us in the neighborhood, I could call him and say this is going on and he would be there," said Isaacs. "I don't know what we're going to do without him."
Keeping an eye on neighborhoods and following up is something McCarthy says Kilcullen does well. The chief's announcement surprised him.
"He's been very instrumental in terms of the data driven policing," said McCarthy. "We've seen crime rates continually decline since he's been chief over the past four years."
The department has been paying a lot of attention to Schenectady's Hamilton Hill- a neighborhood that saw multiple shootings this past summer. After she lost her grandson to a shooting years ago, Isaacs now serves as president of the Hamilton Hill Neighborhood Association. The organization hosted a well-attended rally after the shootings this summer.
"It was really awful, but the chief stepped up," said Isaacs. "We had more police officers out there than you can ever imagine. I don't know what's going to happen."
The chief is out of town and was not available for comment. He released a statement through the Rutland Police Department saying in part, "I look forward to serving Rutland’s residents with integrity, professionalism and responsiveness. My wife, daughter and I are excited for the opportunity to become part of the Rutland community."
McCarthy says it will likely take months to fill Kilcullen's position in Schenectady. If everything goes as planned, Kilcullen should be starting in Rutland on November 2. Kilcullen has been the chief in Schenectady since January 2013, and has been a member of the department since 1994.