The Exchange Club of Greater Newburyport
P.O. Box 31, Newburyport, MA 01950
Meetings 1st and 3rd Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at Starboard Galley
President-Pat Zalewski, Secretary-Stuart Deane, Treasurer-Deb Kennedy, President Elect-Mary Sortal Newsletter Editor-Stuart Deane
New Salisbury Police Chief Commences Next Chapter
By Stuart Deane
In a jammed-packed Starboard Galley on August 21, President Pat Zalewski conducted some brief business and called upon our guest speaker prior to the arrival of our mussels, panko shrimp, sesame fried haddock, or steak tips.
“This assignment brings new challenges,” admitted Salisbury’s new police chief, Thomas Fowler, a native and former deputy chief in Branford, Conn. “Our mission is to re-build the public trust. We need to let people know that there’s some stability. We will need some more staff, some organizational changes, and some improved morale. This will be the beginning of a new chapter and a closing of the old. We will be visible and accessible. We need to talk to people. ‘Come to Salisbury and have some fun, but these are our expectations. We need to communicate.”
As for children, the chief noted that his brother is a police officer in Hartford and that his sister-in-law works with the Department of Children and Families. “It’s part of our family heritage. We will work with mandatory reporters.
We can’t do it all ourselves. We need to partner with civilians and organizations such as yours.”
He mentioned a new area anti-bullying program, a pledge by elementary school students to “be a buddy, not a bully,” in the hope that the cycle will be broken at that level, and acknowledge the roles of both the Michael B. Christensen Family Support Center and our own donations of teddy bears and coloring supplies for police cruisers.
“I’d like to be pro-active and not just wait for the 911 calls,” he concluded, citing the use of “predictive policing” as a way of anticipating problems.
