Lowell Police Department

The Lowell Police Department (LPD) has the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation for a population of about 107,000 in the 14.5-square-mile (38 km2) city of Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell is the fourth-largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is county seat of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Raymond Kelly Richardson, a 30-year veteran of the department is the current superintendent of police. The department is a member of the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, which provides specialized units throughout the region.

Lowell Police Department
"Art is the handmaid of the human good"
Common nameLowell P.D.
AbbreviationLPD
Agency overview
Formed1830
Employees320
Annual budget$21.5 million
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionMassachusetts, U.S.
Size14.5 square miles
Population106,519
Legal jurisdictionCity of Lowell, Massachusetts
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters50 Arcand Drive Lowell, Massachusetts 01852
Police Officers230
Civilians95
Agency executive
  • Raymond "Kelly" Richardson, Superintendent of Police
Facilities
Precinct/Substations10
City Jails1
Marked Patrol Vehicles76
Unmarked Vehicles57
Watercrafts21' Boston Whaler
K-9 Units2
Website
Lowell Police Department

History
Superintendents of Police
Hugh Downey1925–1935
Michael Winn1935–1949
John Sayers1950–1955
Francis O'Loughlin1956–1963
Peter Gouduras1964–1971
Leonard O.MacPhail1972–1981
John Sheehan1982–1995
Edward F. Davis III1995–2006
Kenneth E. Lavallee2006–2013
Deborah Friedl (Interim)2013
William Taylor2013–2018
Jonathan "Jack" Webb (Interim)2018
Raymond Kelly Richardson2018–Present

Like other urban American police forces, the Lowell Police Department was founded in the nineteenth century in response to rapid urbanization and industrialization. This brought an influx of immigrants in search of employment, increasing the city's population dramatically.

In the late 1990s, Edward F. Davis implemented innovative "community policing" strategies, which reduced Lowell's crime rate faster than any other American city with over 100,000 residents.[1] In 2006, he left Lowell to become the commissioner of the Boston Police Department. Kenneth Lavallee succeeded him, continuing the community policing approach and reaching out to community and youth groups.[2]

In 2013, Deborah Friedl, although appointed temporarily, became the first woman chosen as police superintendent in the department's history.[3]

Community Policing Philosophy

The Lowell Police Department serves its community in the following ways:[4]

  • Providing emergency responses to crime
  • Working with neighborhoods and businesses to identify and solve problems
  • Sponsoring comprehensive recreational and educational programs for youth, including the in-school SRO program, the Student Police Academy Summer camp, and other collective efforts with community organizations
  • Developing specialized responses to crimes such as Family Services Unit domestic violence Neighborhood Action Unit neighborhood issues and Gang Unit gang activity
  • Ongoing training of police personnel to best address community needs
  • Community-based policing, with neighborhood precinct stations, immersing police into the neighborhoods to most effectively interact with residents
  • Specialized foot, bike, segway and boat patrols to improve visibility of officers
  • Use of technology to enhance the delivery of public safety services

Mission statement

The mission of the Lowell Police Department is to continue building and maintaining strong partnerships with the diverse communities of Lowell. We strive to work with our community to reduce the incidence and fear of crime, and to ensure public safety. We will do this while working to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Lowell.

The Lowell Police Department is committed to the ideals of Community Policing. Those ideals are evident in programs such as Student Police Academy, the Police Volunteer Program and the Community Relations Council. The department's core values are integrity, respect, accountability, community, sanctity of life and knowledge.

Training Academy
Training Division station

The Lowell Police Department's Training Division has been in operation since 1996 and has conducted in-service training for police officers from 48 cities and towns. The Lowell Police Academy consists 50 classes over the course of 21 weeks. Student officers receive basic police training and must meet the standards established by the Massachusetts Police Training Committee (MPTC) to become a police officer. In 2010, the LPD moved its Training Division from the CrossPoint Towers to 99 Middlesex Street.The director of the Training Division is Captain James Hodgdon.

Operations

The Lowell Police Department is made up of 175 Police Officers, 30 Sergeants, 13 Lieutenants, 9 Captains, 2 Deputy Superintendent, and a Superintendent. Making a total of 230 sworn officers.[5]

Rank Structure
Superintendent (1)
Deputy Superintendent (2)
Captain (9)
Lieutenant (13)
Sergeant (30)
Police Officer (184)

Geographic responsibility

Through a strategic planning process known as Geographic Responsibility, as well as input from the people of Lowell, it was determined that Crime and Disorder could be most effectively fought with the presence of a constant officer in neighborhoods. This method also seemed to be the most logical thing for supervision and accountability of each officer. There was frustration experienced by both officers and residents regarding the ability of officers to investigate neighborhood crimes. It was determined that officers who have the knowledge of a specific area and a relationship with the residents were to be assigned there, where they could best police the area. With this assignment method it is hoped that officers and residents will become more readily acquainted and will be more helpful to each other. Geographic assignment, the final phase of the Reorganization of the LPD, commenced on 17 January 1999. The city has been divided into three sectors which is each commanded by a Captain who has overall responsibility for the administration, neighborhood problems and concerns, as well as the success of his/her sector.[6]

Patrol Shifts

Platoon 1

Headquarters

Late Nights

Platoon 2

Day Shift

Platoon 3

Early Nights

Sectors

Alpha

Acre, Centralville, Downtown, Pawtucketville

Bravo

Belvidere, Back Central, Highlands, Lower Highlands, Sacred Heard / South Lowell

K9 Unit

The Lowell Police Department currently has 3 K9 teams: Lt. Steven Gendreau and his Bloodhound named Hope; Officer Chris Hanson and his German Shepherd named Bossi; Officer Michael Bergeron and his German Shepherd Randy. These K9's perform vital functions for the LPD such as: tracking, searching, and apprehension of criminal suspects, searching for missing persons and children, assisting patrol officers with the detection of various types of illegal drugs or contraband in vehicles, luggage, or packages, assisting other officers in crowd control, responding to assist police departments from area communities when they are in need of a K9, as well as many other functions.

Line of duty deaths
Christos G. Rouses memorial statue in Lowell's JFK Civic Center

Since its inception, the Lowell Police Department has lost four police officers in the line of duty. In 1978, Officer Christos Rouses, was shot and killed while responding to a silent alarm at a local pharmacy. In 1980, there was a memorial depicting an officer with his hand on the right shoulder of a young child placed in his honor directly in front of Department headquarters at JFK Plaza. The memorial, which sits in the center of a fountain has the names of:

  • Officer George F. A. Pearsall, killed by gunfire on 24 April 1957
  • Officer Christos G. Rouses, killed by gunfire on 17 November 1978
  • Officer Patrick F. Leavitt, died after a heart attack on 18 December 1941
  • Officer John J. Winn, killed by assault on 3 May 1971[7]
  • The department plays a prominent role in the 2010 film The Fighter, an Academy Award-winning biographical sports drama about Lowell boxer Micky Ward and his brother Dicky Eklund. Shot in and around Lowell, Sergeant Mickey O'Keefe played himself in the film.[8]
  • Multiple episodes of the Fox show Cops follow Lowell police officers while on duty.[9]

See also

References
  1. Lehrer, Eli (2001), "The police behind America's biggest crime drop.", The American Enterprise, 12 (2)
  2. Favot, Sarah (29 March 2013). "BRIDGE BUILDER: Chief regularly reached out to youth, neighborhood groups in community". Lowell Sun.
  3. Scott, Christopher (22 March 2013). "Friedl chosen interim Lowell police chief: First woman to lead department". Lowell Sun.
  4. Community Policing Philosophy Archived 12 February 2011 at WebCite
  5. Number of Officers in Each Position Archived 12 February 2011 at WebCite
  6. LPD Operational Philosophy Archived 12 February 2011 at WebCite
  7. Officer's who have Died in the Line of Duty Archived 12 February 2011 at WebCite
  8. Sullivan, James (22 December 2010). "It's the role of his life: Police sergeant shines playing himself in "The Fighter". The Boston Globe.
  9. "Cops episode 1914". Missing or empty |url= (help)
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