ABOVE: Mike Beletti of the Fairmont Police Department stands beside a plaque on his office door. Beletti has recently been promoted to Captain.

FAIRMONT– Mike Beletti of the Fairmont Police Department has recently been promoted to the Captain position. Beletti began his new role, left open by the retirement of Eric Tonder, on Oct. 2.

Originally from the metro area, Beletti began his career as an officer in 2009 in Winnebago after a college friend introduced him to the area.

“It was always appealing to come here. Everyone I talked to in law enforcement said that Fairmont was a reputable department that you’d want to work for. I found that to be true,” Beletti said.

He has now been with the Fairmont Police Department for 15 years, having started as a part-time officer in 2010. He became full-time in 2014 as a field training officer. Shortly after that, Beletti worked as the School Resource Officer (SRO) at Fairmont Area Schools. While it was intended to be a three year commitment, a promotion became available and Beletti became patrol sergeant in 2018.

“From there, still maintaining field training officer roles, I continued to work the streets patrolling and supervising night shifts for a number of years until in 2022, I moved to conduct investigations for the agency,” Beletti said.

With that he not only looked into high level cases, but also assisted with fleet management, ordering supplies and ensuring that everything was running smoothly within the department.

He had that role up until the Captain position became open. It was opened up for internal applicants only and three put in for the role.

“What really drove me to apply was wanting to continue expanding the department with all of the latest technology and investigative tools that are available and to be able to guide and mentor our new officers and veteran officers,” Beletti said. “Just moving forward in the right direction and being a part of that administrative role I think will help that.”

Police Chief Michael Hunter said, “I was very pleased and impressed with the efforts of all three candidates in the hiring process. Their professionalism and preparation reflect highly on the caliber of our local applicants. With the assistance of our local Police Commission in our selection process, Mike Beletti distinguished himself with his positive and objective leadership style. We look forward to his commitment to fairness, professionalism, and a focus on community service he will bring to the position of captain.”

As Captain, Beletti’s main roles will be to ensure that the agency is running efficiently and that communication is being maintained between the department and the public.

“We’re pretty engaged with the public and I’d like to see things stay that way. It really builds trust with the community. We have a good backing by the Fairmont citizens now and I want to maintain that,” Beletti said.

He will also be responsible for scheduling, resolving and conflicts and making sure the department has what it needs.

The role is a pretty big shift for Beletti as his day-to-day duties will primarily be done from an office. While he can assist officers as needed, his main role will be done from the office.

As he just started on Oct. 2, Beletti has only a week and a half under his belt, but he’s excited to dig in and get acclimated to the role.

He believes the department is in a good position now, but noted there have been changes lately as a number of retirements have lead to new hires and younger officers coming in.

“We like to see that. Of course we need people to fill the shoes of retiring officers and I really appreciate that the majority of the officers we’ve hired are from the area. Being able to retain your community members so they come home and work for your agency is a wonderful thing and brings a different aspect of trust in the community,” Beletti said.

He noted that he says that as someone not originally from the community, however, after 15 years of living in Fairmont, it’s certainly home to Beletti and his wife and their two daughters that have been raised here.

Beletti will be formally introduced in his new role to the Fairmont City Council during its meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 13.