Edgartown has a new sergeant, with selectmen pinning the hard-earned stripes on detective Michael Snowden on Monday.

The promotion came at the recommendation of police chief Bruce McNamee, who said the department was looking for another supervisor with the retirement of sergeant Thomas Smith.

“There was a vacancy with the retirement of Sergeant Smith. We were looking for a supervisor for patrol division on the overnight shift,” Chief McNamee said. “[Officer] Snowden was number one on our list of eligible candidates.”

The chief said Officer Snowden performed well in the assessment center classes that the department held in January, which meant he was next in line for the promotion. He lauded the officer’s commitment to the department.

“He started his career in 2004, was a patrol officer for four years, detective for eight, drug task force for 11 years,” Chief McNamee said. “He received his bachelor’s from Arizona State, which Rolling Stone magazine says is the number one party school in the country. We are very proud.”

Selectman Arthur Smadbeck then made a motion to accept Chief McNamee’s recommendation. It was “happily seconded” by selectman Michael Donaroma and voted on unanimously.

Sergeant Snowden is currently lives in Edgartown with his wife, Allison Fisher, who pinned the stripes on her husband’s lapel after he was sworn in by town clerk Karen Medeiros. He is pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Southern New Hampshire.

“We’re very happy,” selectman Margaret Serpa said.

In other business, town administrator James Hagerty said that he had received concerned phone calls from Chappaquiddick residents regarding a helicopter that had landed on the Island over the weekend. Mr. Hagerty said he was investigating the matter, and that he suspected it was in connection to a 2009 cease and desist order issued to William S. O’Connell regarding a helicopter landings at his property on Sandy Pond Road.

“I was notified by several Chappy residents over the weekend of a helicopter that’s landing in a certain area in lieu of a cease and desist order from 2009,” Mr. Hagerty said. “I just want to notify everybody that the town is exercising . . . the right due diligence and that we should rectify it shortly.”