Crime & Safety
New Police Capt. Brings Breadth of Experience
Captain Tom Lee officially took over for Captain Bernard O'Rourke on March 3.
Charlestown’s new police captain may not be from the town—or even the collection of neighborhoods known as Area A—but his 30 years of experience with the department have taken him to every neighborhood in the city.
Captain Tom Lee told Charlestown Patch this week that he has had “a number of jobs” while wearing his uniform, ranging form working the front desk as a cadet to commanding the city’s SWAT team.
His work with the SWAT team took him to Charlestown several times to serve warrants, he said. As a detective with the city’s drug control unit, he said, he made more than 1,000 arrests, and some of those occurred in Charlestown.
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“Some people stay in just one area,” Lee said. “I’ve had the privilege of serving across the police department.”
That wide range of experience, he said, should equip him to understand the jobs performed by the men and women under his command as he eases into what he called “one of the most prestigious posts in the department.”
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While Lee brings a wealth of experience to his new post, he said he has little ambition to change the policies left behind by his predecessor, Bernard O’Rourke, who was recently promoted to Deputy Superintendent of the Bureau of Field Services.
“Bernie ran a good station,” Lee said, adding that the officers town residents have grown used to dealing with have remained in their posts.
For those interested in meeting him, Captain Lee will attend tonight’s public safety committee meeting at the district A-15 police department.
Other residents may get a sense of the new Area A leader in a different way, though. Lee said the department is making an effort to use online social media to reach out to youth, and is considering other digital platforms, including online chats.
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