Bruce Cleaver is pinned by his grandfather Tom Will, a 30 year veteran of the Bridgeport, CT police force.
Lexington Welcomes Three New Officers
Bruce Cleaver stood proudly in his blue uniform as his grandfather Tom Will, a 30 year veteran of the Bridgeport, CT police force, pinned the badge Bruce had worked so hard for on his chest during the Lowell Police Academy graduation in November. Bruce grew up in Lexington and is now part of the Lexington Police force. And he’s in good company. Two other new officers with strong Lexington connections graduated on the same day and are now rookie officers here in town. Jeff Chaisson graduated from Minute Man High School and lives in Lexington with his family and Kim Orr is a Lexington native.
That’s no coincidence. Through the Civil Service exam candidates are given residential preference in the selection process. The only group that receives a higher preference is military veterans. So it’s natural, especially in a town like Lexington, to see local faces joining the police force. Chief Mark Corr is a strong supporter of community policing and understands the benefits of having Lexington graduates on the force, “The average student in Lexington has gone on to an Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degree in college. That doesn’t mean you’re going to be a better or worse police officer, but in Lexington which has a highly educated community, having candidates with a college degree is certainly a good match.” And all three of these new officers fit the bill. (see Bios on facing page)
Corr says there’s also a sense of grounding that comes with being known around town. “When you put a badge on a new officer there is the potential of a little bit of superman complex. If somebody is grounded in their own community where somebody can look at you and say, ‘hey, we went to high school together,’ it helps ground people a bit.” It also gives new officers a head start in building good relationships with those they serve and protect. “If you’ve grown up in the community you know the teachers, you went shopping in the stores, it’s a lot easier for the people to be reaching out to the Police Department, and it’s easier for the Police Department to reach out. For me it’s much more fertile ground for building a relationship,” adds Corr.
Chaisson, Cleaver and Corr will get plenty of support and time to build a relationship with both the community and the force. Candidates receive a conditional offer from the town based on results of the Civil Service exam and interviews. But that’s just the beginning. There are background checks and a physical exam. Then they have to successfully complete the 24 week police academy. After graduation they immediately start a 10 – 12 week field training and policy procedure program with the department. They ride along with veteran officers and learn the ins and outs of policing policy in the department. Chaisson, Cleaver and Orr are in the middle of that training now. But it doesn’t end there. “It takes them another two or three years before they are reasonably seasoned. It’s probably five years for an officer to get a sense of the comings and goings and what to expect and to really know what they need to do when, and be very competent in that,” says Corr.
One might say they become part of the Lexington family. And that is just the sentiment Town Manager Carl Valente shared with the new officers and their families at the swearing in ceremony held in late November. “These officers are now part of our family and they’re going to spend a lot of time with us. The Chief and his Command Staff saw a level of integrity, a level of professional commitment, commitment to public service, folks who wanted to continue to learn. Those qualities are not qualities you learn at the academy or going through school. We believe those qualities were learned from you when you raised them. So a large part of the reason they’re here is because of what you’ve done is bringing them to us. So thank you because now we get the benefit of having them here in Lexington. And we hope we have you for a long, long time.”
When you’re around town watch your speed, use your blinkers and cross in the cross walks…but if you do see Officer Chaisson, Cleaver or Orr, take a minute to welcome them to the family.
Officer Kim Orr
New officer Kim Orr with her family.
“Having grown up in town everyone expects me to know all the streets, but I don’t,” admits rooky officer Kim Orr. That’s part of what makes joining the force in Lexington so appealing to her. There’s still plenty to learn. “Everything is so new. Every call you go to you pick up something new. You kind of pick up different things from everyone and design your own way of doing things.”
Kim Orr grew up in Lexington and graduated from Lexington Christian Academy in 2008. During her senior year at LCA she did a three week internship with the Lexington Police Department. She was responsible for the radio log and learned about the department worked. After that she was hooked.
“Before I decided what college to go to I knew I wanted to study Criminal Justice, “ she says. She settled on Franklin Pierce University where she played field hockey and lacrosse and pursued a Criminal Justice major. She transferred to UMass/Lowell where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Criminology. Another internship opportunity had her working with the National Park Service in Boston in their Law Enforcement Division. “ I got a ton of experience. They wanted me to learn dispatch. I ended up with 2 shifts a week every week. In the summer it was really busy, mostly motor vehicle and medical calls. After a while I got used to it,” Kim says it so calmly I can tell it was great preparation for what was to come.
It seems the most nerve wracking part of the process was the almost seven month wait between taking the Civil Service Exam in April 2011and hearing anything back. It was a year ago, in January 2012, that she finally heard from the Lexington Police Department and started the interview process. Once that process began Kim felt she was finally on her way, “The officers that are involved in the hiring process take a lot of time and effort. Every step along the way I was so excited.”
By the time she received her conditional offer and headed to the Academy she was ready to go. And proved herself an outstanding candidate. Kim graduated in the Top 10% of her class and took home the Top Gun Award. Maybe the second most nerve wracking part of her
Officer Jeff Chaisson
New officer Jeff Chaisson with his family.
Jeff Chaisson could have gone a completely direction in his life, and for a while he did. But he never took his eye off the prize – becoming a police officer. Jeff grew up in Cambridge, but he spent plenty of time in Lexington while he attended Minuteman High School where he studied Culinary Arts. “I always knew I wanted to be a cop,” he says, “Minuteman didn’t have criminal justice, so I studied culinary arts. But I took the Civil Service Exam right out of high school.” After Jeff graduated from Minuteman High in 2001 he continued to study Culinary Arts in college and went on to work as a cook and built his career to become an Executive Chef for Sodexo. But when he heard from the Lexington Police Department he ran from the kitchen and into the training process.
You could say he went from the frying pan to the fire.
He says he had an idea of the rigors that awaited him at the academy, “I’d heard from a lot of people that the hardest part was the academic part – learning all the laws, but it was so interesting that I just soaked it up like a sponge.” Jeff proved his to be a very effective sponge graduating in the Top 10% of the graduating class.
That would have made his great father very proud. “He was a police officer in Cambridge, I heard stories about him growing up. My parents had friends who were on the force.” Jeff remembers, “I just had such respect for what they went out and did everyday, the level of community involvement they had.”
Now Officer Chaisson has a growing family that is extremely proud of him. His wife Elizabeth nervously pinned his badge on at the Swearing In Ceremony in late November, not as confident in her role as he appeared to be in his. A good sport, she joked, “It’s a good thing he’s got his bullet proof vest on.” To which Chief Corr replied, “That’s why we’ve got the Fire Department here.” Meanwhile his adorable young son, Dylan, age 16 months practically stole the show. Too young to understand the proud course his father’s life has taken, admiring him just for being a great dad.
For now Jeff is happy to be on the force, soaking in all there is to learn. “I’m getting to know the station, the policy and procedures. It’s only my first week out on the roads, I’m keeping an open mind for all the different fields. I want to see everything.”
Officer Bruce Cleaver
New officer Bruce Cleaver with his family.
Bruce Cleaver grew up in Lexington and graduated from Lexington High School in 2006.
Although his grandfather, Tom Will, had been a police officer on the Bridgeport, CT force for nearly 30 years, Bruce didn’t grow up wanting to be a police officer. “I only really knew him as a cop from pictures and stories he and my mom told about Bridgeport,” says Cleaver, “I really got interested in college – it popped into my head and went with it. Having my grandfather as a police officer certainly inspired me.”
Bruce was attending UMass/Amherst where there was no Criminal Justice major. So he pursued a Sociology degree with a concentration in Criminal Justice. Through UMass he was able to do a full time internship in the Probation Department of Cambridge District Court. That real world experience helped him understand the relationship between the police and the courts, and those they serve. “I realized the courts give people a lot of opportunities to change and make things better. To go to prison or jail you have to screw up really badly. I saw how they try to help you make things right.”
In his own life Bruce was making all the right decisions to achieve his goal. After college he took the civil service exam, worked in related fields and kept himself in great physical shape.
When the call came from Lexington he was ready. Going into the academy Cleaver felt he was ready and had a good idea of what to expect. His biggest surprise at the academy was the amount of paperwork involved in policing. “A lot of people don’t’ realize how much paperwork there is. People think cops just ride around and solve crimes, but for every hour of police work, there’s 1 – 3 hours of paperwork.”
All that paperwork didn’t seem to phase Bruce. He not only finished in the Top 10% of his graduating class, but he found time to stay in great shape and won the “Most Physically Fit” award as well. His father Kip Cleaver remembers, “Bruce would come home from being at the academy all day and go to the gym. Even in the summer.”
Cleaver agrees with Chief Corr that being from Lexington gives him a step up in building a relationship
