LYNNFIELD — For the second time in the last six months, Nick Secatore of the Lynnfield Police Department has a new title.
Promoted to captain last summer after recording the highest score on the captain’s exam, Secatore is now the department’s interim police chief, stepping in for Chief David Breen, who is retiring on February 1. The appointment was announced at Tuesday night’s Select Board meeting.
“I thank the chair and the board for this opportunity,” Secatore said. “This signal of promoting from within is a morale booster from the highest-ranking to the lowest-ranking in the department and is a sign of the leadership of the board and a team we have built together.”
“It’s great to see people like Nick, who grew up in town, be a part of the department, especially in these times to be able to understand the community,” said Select Board member Dick Dalton. “I’ve made many motions over my career, but this one is truly and incredibly special.
Fellow board member Phil Crawford thanked Secatore for stepping up after Breen officially announced his retirement in October.
“I am a big fan of yours after seeing you come up the ranks, and I thank you for stepping up when the transition from Chief Breen began,” Crawford said. “There could not be a better choice than Nick to be our interim chief.”
Secatore is a 1997 graduate of Lynnfield High School, where he was a standout Hall of Fame wrestler. A Marine Corps veteran with national-security clearance, he majored in mathematics at Merrimack College and worked as a financial analyst at Fidelity Investments.
He joined the police department in 2007 where he became a jack-of-all-trades, serving as Internet technology officer, court prosecutor, detective supervisor, training supervisor and the town’s deputy emergency management director, among other duties.
A former veterans service officer for the town of Lynnfield (2009-2014), Secatore is a member of the Lynnfield War Memorial Committee. He was promoted to captain last summer after recording the highest score on the captain’s exam.
Breen’s retirement caps a 37-year career in law enforcement, the final 10 as Lynnfield’s chief.
Board Chair Chris Barrett thanked Breen for his 24 years of “exemplary service” to the Lynnfield Police Department.
“He has been a wonderful public servant and been there at all times to serve, protect and defend our community,” Barrett said. “We have great confidence in his legacy for many, many years to come as he has put together a wonderful team.”
Dalton said Breen is “a great citizen and a great chief,” while Crawford said Breen has been “a tremendous role model, not only for the police force but for the community,” and also commended him for performing his job with integrity.”
Town Administrator Rob Dolan said the search for a permanent replacement for Breen will be a “fair and open process” and will take approximately three months, commending Breen for his leadership.
“There has never been a harder year to be a police officer than 2020 with the level of incidents, and some very emotional incidents you just wouldn’t expect both in a small town and across the nation,” Dolan said. “The professionalism and dignity displayed by our police is a reflection of Chief Breen and his leadership.”
Secatore said one of the most pressing issues on his agenda is the new police reform bill that was passed late last year and he will be working with Sgt. Christopher DeCarlo to implement the necessary changes in policy and procedures.
“Times ahead are going to be challenging,” he said. “We have the new police reform bill that has been passed so we have to move forward and implement those things within a six-month period and within the year.
“Chris and I have spoken about this bill. Not only is he an attorney, he’s our investigation supervisor, so it’s going to be exciting to work every day with him to make sure that Lynnfield maintains its integrity and conforms with the new bill in this interim period and beyond.”
Dolan said that Secatore has made significant contributions behind the scenes, including a total redesign and rebuild of the town’s public safety information technology system and that, between Secatore’s and DeCarlo’s “one-two punch, this is the beginning of a great new chapter in Lynnfield.”
