Without taking a formal vote, the board expressed a consensus around a plan to bring in a long-term interim chief to help the department move forward while the town completes an evaluation of how it wants policing to look in the future. That evaluation is being led by a social work researcher who the town is hiring to study the issue and engage the community about its public safety needs. A local social worker who helped the town hire that researcher told the board that the study will take time. What s being referred to as community conversations is a full-scale research project, Kerri Nicoll said after hearing the board discuss the question for several minutes. It will be conducted by a professional in this field. It s not simply social-workers going out to chit chat with people.