Hurteau Appointed Chief of Police in Southampton Village After Passing Civil Service Exam

Suzanne Hurteau has never been a fan of roller-coaster rides. On Monday morning, she was finally able to get off one she’d been on for the past two years.

At an organizational meeting that followed the swearing-in of new Southampton Village Mayor Bill Manger Jr. on July 3, Hurteau was unanimously appointed as the permanent chief of police of Southampton Village.

Manger and the village trustees made the announcement on Wednesday, June 28, after learning that Hurteau passed the necessary civil service exam.

“She passed the exam with flying colors,” Manger said that day. He said the board agreed she was the best pick and noted that he was about two months into his first term as village trustee when he voted to hire Hurteau as a full-time police officer in 1997.

Hurteau took the oath of office in front of a standing-room-only crowd in Southampton Village Hall on Monday that included both current and former members of the Southampton Village Police force, including former chiefs Thomas Cummings and William Wilson Jr. — who also served as chief of the Southampton Town Police Department — as well as chiefs of other nearby departments, such as Southampton Town Police Chief James Kiernan and Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley.

Notably in attendance was Suffolk County Deputy Commissioner Anthony Carter. Carter had been provisionally appointed Southampton Village Police chief in December 2022, in a 4-1 decision, with the former mayor, Jesse Warren, voting against the provisional hire. A few weeks after the appointment, Carter resigned. He was on hand on Monday to extend his congratulations to Hurteau.

The oath of office was administered by Southampton Village Clerk Cathy Sweeney, with former Chief James J. Sherry — who hired Hurteau — holding the Bible on which she placed her hand.

Hurteau received a standing ovation after her swearing-in and made a few remarks to the room.

“I was never a fan of roller-coasters, not as a kid and not as an adult,” she said. “The last two years have been a roller-coaster of a ride for the police department, to say the least.

“Without a permanent chief, there was a lot of uncertainty as to who would lead the department for the next chapter,” she continued. “Uncertainty breeds stress, worry, division and ineffectiveness. Although we had a few minor hiccups along the way, there was not anything we could not handle. And there was not any event that placed a dark cloud on our department.

“I’m proud of each and every member of my staff for persevering, remaining professional, and most of all being resilient during the time of uncertainty.

“I applaud Mayor Manger and his board of trustees for making this very important decision a priority on day one of their administration,” she added. “I look forward to continuing the good working relationships I’ve developed with each one of you as trustees. We are extremely grateful that this chapter in the department’s history has been put to bed.”

Hurteau went on to thank the community for its support and gave special recognition to her wife, Ashley, who she said has “been my rock through this journey.”

“The whole [department] should thank her, really,” she continued. “She would be cool as a cucumber, and my voice of reason, when I would come home sometimes and my mood would be the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane. Thank you for sticking by me and keeping me grounded.”

Hurteau finished her remarks with a vow to uphold her duties to the best of her abilities.

“The goal of every chief should be to leave the department in better shape than when you inherited it,” she said. “And I intend to do exactly that.”

Hurteau took two civil service exams in March, a promotional exam and an open competitive exam. She was the only person who took the promotional exam, offered to Southampton Village Police Department employees with the rank of lieutenant or higher, and scored 90. On the open competitive exam, she scored 86, ranking fourth among nine exam-takers with a passing score.

Hurteau, a lieutenant at the time, took the helm of the department in September 2021, upon the retirement of Cummings. She was promoted to captain in December 2022.

She was born in Garden City, and her family had a summer home in Southampton as well. When she was in middle school, her father, Richard Hurteau, retired, and the family, including her mother, Carole Hurteau, and her brother, Mike Neill, moved to Southampton full time. She attended Tuckahoe School and Southampton High School before pursuing a criminal justice degree with a minor in psychology at Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus in Brookville.

Hurteau graduated from college and from the police academy in 1995, becoming a seasonal police officer in the village. She was hired full-time in 1997. She was later assigned to the Suffolk County district attorney’s East End Drug Task Force, where she did undercover work for three years. She was still on the task force when she was promoted to detective, and by the time she left the task force in 2009, she was promoted to sergeant.

After some time as a patrol sergeant, Hurteau was assigned to be the community relations sergeant, tasked with traffic enforcement and quality of life issues. She had a number of administrative duties as well, including being the chief fiscal officer of the village’s STOP-DWI program, which is funded by state grants. As a sergeant, she also worked toward renewing the department’s accreditation with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

She was promoted to lieutenant in 2018.

Hurteau lives to the west of Southampton Town with her wife, Ashley Hurteau, who is a police officer in Westhampton Beach, and their three dogs, Tiki, Kona and Chase.