AMHERST — A 22-year member of the Amherst Police Department has been appointed captain.
Gabriel Ting, a lieutenant in charge of the patrol division and center sector commander since October 2016, was promoted to the position last week by Police Chief Scott P. Livingstone.
Ting replaces Jennifer Gundersen, who left in December to become police chief in South Hadley, as captain of operations. He joins Livingstone and Capt. Ronald Young as the department’s administrative team.
Livingstone said Ting is an extremely hard worker, appreciated by his colleagues in the department and, having grown up in Amherst, brings great familiarity with the town.
“He is highly regarded and respected by all the rank and file of the department, and the community,” Livingstone said.
Ting was appointed a patrol officer in April 1997 and, in September 2004, was reassigned to the detective bureau. There he received specialized training in criminal investigation, sexual assault and child abuse, and was a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce and the Hampshire-Franklin County Drug Task Force.
In September 2010, Ting was promoted to sergeant and was assigned as a patrol supervisor, managing the crime scene and bicycle patrol units, as well as the riot arrest team. He was also a member of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office of Child Sexual Predator Task Force.
As lieutenant, he has been in charge of the department’s fleet, scheduling, recruitment, information technology and bicycle patrol unit. He also has served as the accreditation manager for the department.
Ting is a 1991 Amherst Regional High School graduate and was a member of the 28th Municipal Police Officer Class of the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Academy in Agawam in 1997. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts and a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Western New England College.
Ting, the son of Agnes Ting and the late James Ting of Amherst, lives in Belchertown with his wife Chelsea and two children.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
