Bruce McNamee, captain of the administration division of the Plymouth police department with family ties to the Vineyard, has been named the new Edgartown police chief.

The board of selectmen voted unanimously Monday to name Mr. McNamee to the top post out of three finalists.

The motion was made after little discussion at the board’s regular meeting. Earlier Monday selectmen interviewed the final candidates.

“I’d like to make a motion about who would fit the town and the Island, in my opinion,” selectman Michael Donaroma said. “I’d like to move to appoint Mr. Bruce McNamee. That’s my motion.”

“I think we would be fine with any of these candidates but I agree with you,” selectman chairman Arthur Smadbeck said. The board voted and Mr. McNamee received a round of applause from the 30 or so people in the room, including other Island police chiefs and about a dozen members of the police department.

Newly appointed police chief shakes hands with selectman Arthur Smadbeck.

Mark Alan Lovewell

Newly appointed police chief shakes hands with selectman Arthur Smadbeck.

Mark Alan Lovewell

“This is a dream of my family’s and mine,” Mr. McNamee told the audience after he was officially appointed. His wife, Mary (Healy), grew up on the Island and was in the audience. “This makes me really happy. Great community here, great police department, and I can’t wait to work for it.”

Selectmen praised the finalists and human resources director Kim Lucas, who guided the process.

“We had three outstanding candidates,” Mr. Smadbeck told the Gazette after the meeting. “I was very happy. What stood out more than anything [about Mr. McNamee], he was probably going to be a really good fit for the department and our community. And we wanted to be sensitive to that.”

Mr. McNamee shook hands with a stream of well-wishers after the meeting, from members to the community to police officers. He said he anticipates starting in his new position in the next two to four weeks.

Mr. McNamee told the Gazette that the application process was grueling. “They really put us through our paces,” he said. He praised the other two candidates, who he said were “great guys, super smart guys.”

The other finalists for the position were Brian Lauzon, lieutenant-executive officer at the Natick police department, and Robert DeFlaminis Jr., assistant chief of police for the Massachusetts Port Authority in Boston.

All three were interviewed Monday by the board of selectmen. More than 30 people attended the public interview sessions, including more than 10 members of the police department and other Island chiefs of police and the county sheriff. The crowd spilled out of the selectmen’s meeting room, with some gathering at the door to watch the interviews.

Each candidate answered the same nine questions posed by selectmen, which ranged from their skills and qualifications to how they would integrate into the Island community and how they handle stress. Earlier Monday, the candidates met with members of the police department.

The candidates were chosen from a pool of 25 people who expressed interest. An outside firm and a panel of community members narrowed the field down to five finalists, who took an all-day assessment test on the Island last week. The three candidates were the top performers in that test.

Mr. McNamee said he had long wanted to work for the Edgartown police department, and had inquired about applying for the position in 2015, when the town ended up choosing an internal candidate, David Rossi. Mr. Rossi stepped down late last year after he had a heart attack. Lieut. Christopher Dolby has been the acting chief.

“I’d very much like to lead your police department,” Mr. McNamee told selectmen. “I’d like to be a good fit for you.”

Bruce McNamee (far right) with candidates Brian Lauzon (far left) and Robert DeFlaminis Jr. Kim Lucas, human resources coordinator, is second from left.

Mark Alan Lovewell

Bruce McNamee (far right) with candidates Brian Lauzon (far left) and Robert DeFlaminis Jr. Kim Lucas, human resources coordinator, is second from left.

Mark Alan Lovewell

Mr. McNamee has been a police officer for 24 years and has two master’s degrees, he said, and he graduated from the FBI national academy. He has been a captain with the Plymouth police department for almost 10 years, he said, with a background in administration, union bargaining, and budgeting, and experience serving as an accreditation manager. He has also served as the Plymouth police department delegate to the local council on aging, he said.

He is originally from Newfoundland but moved to the United States when he was young and is a U.S. citizen, he told the Gazette.

His wife, a teacher, is from Oak Bluffs and the couple owns a home there. Mr. McNamee said they want to raise their 13-year-old son, Colin, on the Island.

Mr. McNamee said he and his wife planned on moving to the Island eventually, perhaps after his retirement, and his new job "speeds things up."

“I have the professional qualifications that you’re looking for and I very much have the local connection that you’re hoping for as well,” he told selectmen. “I’ve pretty much checked off all the boxes you would want for someone to be chief of police.”

Mr. McNamee said he has been coming to the Island for 20 years and would immerse himself quickly in the community. He said he looked forward to working with the school, too, including children’s programs.

To relieve stress, he said, he takes care of his family’s animals — they adopt greyhounds and raise chickens — and works in his yard. He is also a novice fly fisherman, he said, which “sometimes brings on its own stress.”

In the other interviews Mr. Lauzon described his experience working in stressful environments, including responding to the Boston marathon bombings. Mr. DeFlaminis Jr. said he had ample experience, including working cold cases for the New York Police Department.

After the interview session selectmen briefly discussed the candidates before adjourning until their regular weekly meeting.

“The credentials are amazing," Mr. Donaroma said. “They all presented themselves really well. They all really want the job. One seemed firm and strict, another to me seemed very knowledgeable and very comfortable, and another one seemed like he had a lot of Island ties, would fit in pretty well..they all seemed great.”

He added: “I'm a little bit concerned. What I'm trying to read today is who will really come here and stay here. That's always the problem with getting people from outside. They all seemed ready and willing to do that.”

“I think we're very fortunate in having such a high quality of candidates to come in and test and these are the three top guys,” Mr. Smadbeck said, adding that any of them would do a good job. “Our job as selectmen is to...I think we need to find the best fit. Who fits in to Edgartown.”