The town of Winthrop has chosen Steve Rogers as its new police chief, elevating a career officer and lifetime resident with an extensive record of public outreach.
Just two years after he was named deputy chief, Mr Rogers emerged from an internal competition to replace the retiring current chief, John Goodwin. Mr Goodwin took the post in 2024 upon the retirement of Terence Delehanty.
Mr Rogers will take office on Oct. 1, and Mr Goodwin will remain on staff for the rest of that month to assist with the transition.
Mr Rogers has been with the Winthrop police department for more than 30 years and has become known publicly for leading such programs as the Winthrop Police Explorer program, which teaches young adults interested in law enforcement, and the Winthrop Civilian Police Academy, which introduces the public more generally to police work.
Four candidates
His selection was made by Winthrop’s town manager, Tony Marino, who picked from four internal candidates. The choice raised some expressions of frustration among backers of other candidates, in what Mr Goodwin characterized as a normal and professional level of competition.
“In my 32-year career,” Mr Goodwin said of his chosen successor, “I have never worked with a person more dedicated to their community. He has been the driving force of community engagement and establishing trust between the residents and the police department.”
Mr Rogers was the only one of the department’s two deputy chiefs to apply to replace Mr Goodwin at his mandatory retirement age of 65.
Mr Rogers would be eligible to serve about another three years before his own mandatory retirement. Police in Massachusetts and around the U.S. have noted a steady decline in the length of time that police chiefs serve – from an average of about five to seven years down to two to three years – largely dating back to the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and a resulting series of policy changes designed to increase public oversight of police activity.
National recognition
Mr Rogers will take a department that gained national recognition last year for its work on a program, known as Winthrop CLEAR, that combines police and health services workers to help people with issues of drug use and other personal crises. The program’s leader on the police side, Lt. Sarko Gergerian, was among the candidates for the position of chief.
And while Winthrop has seen relatively light crime rates as compared to other nearby communities, Mr Goodwin will be passing along challenges that include the ongoing controversies over Flock and other providers of surveillance cameras, which town officials remain committed to using, and the town’s relations with federal officials waging a crackdown on immigrants in the U.S.
Mr Rogers, a native of Winthrop, has worked in various ways to build relations with town residents beyond policing. He served six years as president of Winthrop Youth Hockey, and for many years beyond that has organized the town’s participation in a series of youth hockey tournaments and competitions.
The outreach efforts led by Mr Rogers, such as the civilian academy, have proven invaluable, Mr Goodwin said in an appearance last year on WCAT. “It really builds a good relationship between the community and the police,” he said.
