The Lowell Police Department (LPD) has the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation for a population of about 107,000 in the city of

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

. Lowell is the fourth-largest city in the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and is county seat of

Middlesex County, Massachusetts Middlesex County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002, making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and the 22nd most populou ...

. Gregory Hudon 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. 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, Superintendent of Police, 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. In 2006, he left Lowell to become the commissioner of the

Boston Police Department The Boston Police Department (BPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1854, the BPD is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. It is also the 20th largest law enforce ...

. Kenneth Lavallee succeeded him, continuing the community policing approach and reaching out to community and youth groups. In 2013, Deborah Friedl, although appointed temporarily, became the first woman chosen as police superintendent in the department's history.

Training Academy

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 Officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

s, 30

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

s, 13

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

s, 9

Captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, 2 Deputy Superintendent, and a Superintendent. Making a total of 230 sworn officers.

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 In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

and

Disorder Disorder may refer to randomness, a lack of intelligible pattern, or: Healthcare * Disorder (medicine), a functional abnormality or disturbance * Mental disorder or psychological disorder, a psychological pattern associated with distress or disab ...

could be most effectively fought with the presence of a constant officer in neighborhoods. This method also seemed to be the most

logical Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure of arg ...

thing for supervision and

accountability In ethics and governance, accountability is equated with answerability, culpability, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the public secto ...

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 Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

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 A corporate action is an event initiated by a public company that brings or could bring an actual change to the debt securities— equity or debt—issued by the company. Corporate actions are typically agreed upon by a company's board of dire ...

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.

Patrol Shifts

Platoon 1 Late Nights Platoon 2 Day Shift Platoon 3 Early Nights

Sectors

Alpha Acre, Centralville, Downtown, Pawtucketville Bravo Belvidere, Back Central, Highlands, Lower Highlands, Sacred Heart / 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

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 A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 18 December 1941 :* Officer John J. Winn, killed by assault on 3 May 1971Officer's who have Died in the Line of Duty

In popular culture

* The department plays a prominent role in the 2010 film ''

The Fighter ''The Fighter'' is a 2010 American Biographical film, biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and stars Mark Wahlberg (who also produced), Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo. The film centers on the lives of profes ...

'', an Academy Award–winning biographical sports drama about Lowell boxer

Micky Ward George Michael Ward Jr. (born October 4, 1965), often known by his nickname, "Irish" Micky Ward, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2003. He challenged once for the IBF light welterweight title in 1997, and held ...

and his brother

Dicky Eklund Richard Eklund Jr. (born May 3, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1975 to 1985. Known as "The Pride of Lowell", he held the USA New England welterweight title twice between 1979 and 1983. He is the half-brother and ...

. Shot in and around Lowell, Sergeant Mickey O'Keefe played himself in the film. * Multiple episodes of the

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

show '' Cops'' follow Lowell police officers while on duty.

References

External links

Lowell Police Department

History

{, class="wikitable" style="float:right;" , +Superintendents of Police , - , Hugh Downey , , 1925–1935 , - , Michael Winn , , 1935–1949 , - , John Sayers , , 1950–1955 , - , Francis O'Loughlin , , 1956–1963 , - , Peter Gouduras , , 1964–1971 , - , Leonard O.MacPhail , , 1972–1981 , - , John Sheehan , , 1982–1995 , - , Edward F. Davis III , , 1995–2006 , - , Kenneth E. Lavallee , , 2006–2013 , - , Deborah Friedl (Interim) , , 2013 , - , William Taylor , , 2013–2018 , - , Jonathan "Jack" Webb (Interim) , , 2018 , - , Raymond Kelly Richardson , , 2018–2021 , - , Greg Hudon , 2021–present 1830 establishments in Massachusetts Government of Middlesex County, Massachusetts Municipal police departments of Massachusetts Organizations based in Lowell, Massachusetts Organizations established in 1830