The Community of Dartmouth:

Our police department may finally have a permanent home. THANK YOU !!!

As we come to what Winston Churchill may have called the “end of the beginning” of the process of creating a new, permanent home for the Dartmouth Police Department, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this project thus far and recognize the hard work of everyone involved.

Our Police Chief’s Advisory Group has been meeting regularly for the past year. When we convened, there were still many uncertainties about this process and what the ultimate result would be. The people of Dartmouth had mixed feelings of our previous station including location, renovation, and design. I am proud to say that each member put their head down and dedicated themselves to establishing a productive dialog that led us to where we are at today.

The entire committee needs to be recognized: Bob Michaud, Lorri-Ann Miller, John Quinn, Lara Stone, Dave Tatelbaum, and Kenny Vincent. I also want to recognize the work of Greg and Meg Carell from The Carell Group, our project manager Rick Pomroy from Pomroy Associates, our communications specialist John Guilfoil for putting all of the raw data together for everyone. I would especially like to acknowledge and thank our Town Administrator, David Cressman, who worked tirelessly with me every step of the way. Most importantly, I would also like to thank the fine men and women of the Dartmouth Police Department for their patience, endurance, and understanding as we moved forward toward this new facility.

Though we still have one more hurdle to clear, as the station still needs approval by Town Meeting members in June, we will continue to work diligently in the design and construction of a new facility at 1390 Tucker Road. Our focus will be to provide the best possible police station for the lowest cost possible.

As a lifelong resident of Dartmouth, I could not be happier with the outcome of this process, and I could not be prouder of the hard work that has gone into it. To the voters of Dartmouth, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your time, patience, and commitment to the men and women of the Dartmouth Police Department.

—Chief Robert W. Szala