“I have always had a desire to be there for other people or be a person that could help in some capacity,” Cloutier said. Karen Leary, the former chief, left the department for personal reasons, said Matthew Bruun, the university’s director of public relations. On Monday, Cloutier was appointed as chief of police for the university’s department. He spent 17 years in municipal police service, including being a sergeant with the Sturbridge Police Department, and five years in investigations and intelligence for Massachusetts General Hospital before becoming deputy chief for the Fitchburg State University police in September 2014. Jennifer Flanagan.įollow Alana Melanson at facebook.FITCHBURG - Michael Cloutier said with each job he has worked there has always been a desire to help people. The legislation was originally proposed by Councilor Joel Kaddy, a former Fitchburg police officer, Bourne said, and was sponsored by Rep. Retired Fitchburg police officers are now able to work until age 70 as appointed special police officers on details instead of age 65 thanks to a piece of special legislation signed by Gov. “It’s only been positive things since they started back on the force,” he said of the retirees. On Thursday, another special officer who is a retired Fitchburg officer, Mitch Kelly, while on a detail helped to corral a stolen car coming out of Leominster and the driver was arrested, DeMoura said. “Having the retirees out there, they’re not just there to fill the little jobs we were unable to - they’re a wealth of information,” Police Chief Robert DeMoura said. “Collectively, they have a couple hundred years of law enforcement experience.” “Each one of these retirees has roughly between 35 and 40 years of law enforcement apiece,” he said of the six officers. Richards was with the Fitchburg Police Department for 38 years before retiring three years ago, while Curry was with the department for 30, went to Lunenburg for six years and then came back to Fitchburg for another four years before retiring in 2001.īourne said these officers are an invaluable resource. “They’re a generation that did, and didn’t brag about it,” Bourne said.Īccording to Bourne, being able to have retired Fitchburg officers come back and stay on longer as special officers gives an additional dimension to policing in the city, because these officers know the city and its people inside and out. Much like Curry, Richards says the event was “nothing spectacular” and that he was just doing his job. “He wasn’t responding until we started pumping air into him, and then he started making a choking sound.” “I tilted his head back while Keith used the Ambu-bag to get air into his system until the ambulance arrived,” Richards said. “Eyes and ears, that’s all I was,” said Curry, reluctant to take any credit. Mark Jackson about the man, and together they stopped and detained him until an ambulance arrived. That man was headed toward the Fifth Street Bridge, Bourne said, and might have jumped off it if Curry hadn’t acted. “I heard the radio give a description, and the kid had just walked by me,” Curry said. Last week, Curry, 66, was working a detail at the intersection of Water and Fifth streets when he heard over the radio that police were looking for a suicidal man who had swallowed several pills. Two days in a row, retired detectives Donald Richards and James Curry were working details when emergency situations arose and they “jumped into action” to prevent the deaths of two young men, according to Officer Keith Bourne, president of the police union. FITCHBURG - It’s only been a few weeks since six retired Fitchburg police officers 65 and older were appointed as special officers until age 70 - thanks to special legislation - and already two have assisted in saving lives in the city.
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