Familiar faces stepped up this year to lead local police departments, with internal promotions leading to ranking officers stepping into the role of chief in several towns, including Rindge, where former Sgt. Rachel Malynowski became the town’s first female chief.
Malynowski said former Rindge Chief Daniel Anair had been working with her for the last eight months, to prepare her for potentially taking on the role of chief, leaving her “well positioned” for the transition.
In an interview Monday, Malynowski said that preparation has paid off in her first months officially on the job, and she’s feeling comfortable in her new role, despite ongoing staffing shortages at the department, a long-time struggle for Rindge and other local departments.
Malynowski said the department has yet to fill her former sergeant position, or a patrol officer position left empty by the departure of former officer Mike Eneguess, who left the department at the same time Anair retired.
“Staffing is definitely an issue, but the job is settling, and we’ve had a positive first couple of months,” Malynowski said. “It’s certainly not without it’s hiccups and learning curves, but we have a one-year plan, and we recently met as a department to talk about concerns and their individual goals, and we have a good, cohesive, vision for the department going forward.”
In several other departments, the second-in-command was selected to lead the department upon the departure of the former chief. Jason Lepine, who had been on the Bennington Police Department for six years, and previously was the department’s sergeant, replaced outgoing Chief Bret Sullivan in October.
“He’s worked a long, hard time in his career to get here and he’s done very well doing that,” Sullivan said of Lepine at his swearing-in ceremony.
In Antrim, Brian Lord, who had been the lieutenant in the department since 2019, was appointed to replace outgoing Chief Scott Lester. Lord has been with the department since 2008, and took the position of chief May 1.
In September, Michael Abel, who had been leading the New Ipswich Police Department as interim police chief since Chief Tim Carpenter’s retirement in May, was officially announced as his permanent replacement. Abel, who has been a police officer since 2005, had been with the department since 2016, and was serving as lieutenant prior to taking the position as interim police chief.
“He knows the town well, and will be a good fit,” interim Town Administrator Jim Coffey said of Abel. “He’s proven himself to the town that he’s willing to stick around and has a commitment here.”
In Hancock, former Sgt. Thomas Horne is approaching his one-year anniversary at chief of police, after replacing Chief Andrew Wood Jan. 6. Wood signed a separation agreement with the town in August 2020, after the town found cause for termination due to violation of town, state and police department standards, including consistently submitting “inaccurate and false” timecards and employing an uncertified full-time officer who had resigned from a different department after sexually harassing a fellow police officer.
Horne has been an officer since 2010, and has worked for the Rindge, Antrim and New Ipswich departments, in addition to serving as sergeant in Hancock.
In July, former Francestown Police Chief Fred Douglas returned to the department to take back the reins after the resignation of Chief Michael Dowd, who was moving out-of-state. Dowd had taken over from Douglas as chief in 2018, but when family concerns necessitated him leaving his position, the Select Board asked Douglas to return to the role.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.