History: 1986 - Present

In 1986, Baker resigned to take a job in the private sector, and William Colleary, a long-time patrolman and Sergeant was appointed Chief of Police. Chief Colleary’s dad, William, was also a police officer for this Town. In 1968 Chief Colleary (who was a Sergeant at the time), was shot and wounded during a late night burglary at the Southboro Drug Store. Under Chief Colleary’s tenure, the Department has moved forward with innovative programs aimed toward community policing. Additionally, the Department revamped the dispatch and communications area with modern equipment. The Department now has three separate computer systems to help in the day -to -day operations as well as the enhanced 911 system for emergencies.

A new leader was chosen and appointed for January 2, 2004 when Sgt. William H. Webber became Police Chief. Recently, Chief Webber worked to redesign this site to include a higher level of Intenet technology and important information for the citizens of Southborough.

Interesting statistics to show the growth of the area:
1950....The State Police investigated 33 motor vehicle accidents.
1983....The Southborough Police investigated 383 accidents.
1996....The Department investigated 490 accidents
1996, the officers issued aprox. 2,400 motor vehicle citations. In 2001, this was doubled- 4,900 citations were issued.

Department Patches

It is unknown who developed the first SPD Patch, which was styled in similar fashion like the State Police patch. It had only two colors, black and gold, and was shaped as a triangle with the point at the bottom.

In the 1960’s, Off. Henry Pietrasiak designed a patch while working under the direction of Chief Mattioli. This patch showed the seal of the Commonwealth of Mass and had two shades of blue the state seal in gold.

Then in 1993, Off. Robert Durran working with his own ideas and those from the other officers, designed the current shoulder patch. This patch has more colors, the Town seal, and ‘Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ on the perimeter of the seal. Also, the Department chose to go with the old English spelling: SOUTHBOROUGH.

In 1999, motorcycle officers added the motor patrol patch to their uniform.

On February 1996, the Department truly entered the computer age when a dispatching and records management computer system was turned on. Six years later, in Febray 2002, the Department had built an extensive data base which includes 38,000 master names of people that have come in contact with the Department or who reside/work in Southborough. In 1998, laptop computers were installed in some of the cruisers. They were repalced and upgraded in Fall 2002.

In 1999 the first motorcyle was leased, and then in early 2000 it was purchased ouright through grant funding received from the Exec. Office of Public Safety- a 1999 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Police Special with Fuel Injection.

In September 2002, Off. Kevin Landry was appointed as School Resource Officer, which provides an immediate contact for the school system in dealing with all types of juvenile issues, staff/admin assistance, and education of the students on a myriad of topics.

In March 2003, Chief Bill Colleary announced that he would be retiring at the end of the year. July 2003 brought forth our 5th Junior Police Academy. This unique program started in 1999 with 9 kids and has grown to be a tremendous success.

In July 2003, Sgt. Frank Cain passed away from cancer. He was the 4p-12p shift supervisor. In November 2003, Sean James was promoted from detective to Sergeant.

 

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