WILMINGTON, MA — Longtime Wilmington Police Officer Paul Chalifour retired on Friday, August 30, 2019 after 33 years on the force.
Chalifour recently took a few moments from his still busy schedule to answer five quick questions from Wilmington Apple.
33 years! What were some of the positions you held within the Wilmington Police Department during your career?
I started in August of 1986. I was a month shy of my 23rd birthday. Back then, we actually got to work before going to the police academy. So for a couple of months, I worked out on the road, mostly with an experienced officer, but sometimes by myself. Getting thrown to the wolves right away was how things operated back then. I got to learn and think on my feet pretty quickly. There wasn’t a lot of people looking over my shoulders. Not having that bit of direct supervision at times allowed me and forced me to think about how to do things correctly.
I went to the police academy, beginning in October 1986, with two other officers — Lt. Charles Fiore and Jimmy Hanlind, who left WPD in the early 1990’s for the State Police, where he’s now a captain. We graduated from the academy in 1987. Back then, there was no field training program. When we got out of the academy, we were expected to be ready to go and went straight to the midnight shift. For the most part, that’s where I stayed for a couple of years, until around 1990.
The Department then started a Traffic Enforcement Division. They were looking for four officers. I took that opportunity, which got me onto the day shift. I worked that for several years.
When I got married, I decided I needed a little bit of extra money, so I went to back to working nights, so I could work details during the day, which allowed me to save up for a house and a wedding. I stayed on nights from the early 1990’s until around 2017. I was a night guy, most of it on the 4pm to midnight shift.
I spent a good amount of my career working in the dark. It took some getting used to. It’s a difficult thing scheduling wise. I enjoyed our rotating schedule of 4 days on, 2 days off, but you don’t get weekends off, so when your friends and family have something happening on a weekend, you miss it. Same with holidays and birthdays, depending on how it fell on the calendar. There’s a lot of sacrifice on your personal time, but you know that going in.
I really enjoyed the job. I was a patrol officer for the entire time. Right around the summer of 2018, then Chief Begonis decided he wanted to have a Community Liaison position created. He personally asked me if I would consider doing it. I was contemplating retirement at that time. I told him that I’d give it a try. I wound up on Monday-Friday day schedule for the first time in my career. I ended up staying for a full year. I enjoyed every bit of that experience.
What was it like to be Wilmington’s first ever Community Liaison Officer?
The Community Liaison role is a role that really gets a police officer in touch with the community. It puts the Police Department out there in a proactive matter. I interacted with residents, community groups, social groups, fraternal organizations, and town departments.
I worked very closely with Lou Cimaglia on a huge host of topics. I was very happy to help our veterans. I did a lot with Terri Marciello and the Senior Center’s Memory Cafe. The police is starting an elders-at-risk database with with the Senior Center’s help. I worked closely with Maureen Hickey at Deming Way. I really tried to get the message out about what the Police Department can do for the community.
My replacement is going to be Officer Rich (Butch) Alpers. The job is going to be expanded a little bit. He’s going to be a Community Liaison Detective. It’s not uncommon to be out there in the community interacting with people and not have some sort of crime arise. Instead of me being a middle man that writes a preliminary report that is handed over to the detective bureau, the community liaison detective is now going to be able to handle those on his own. Chief Desmond is all on board with continuing the position.
What were some of the proudest moments of your career?
One of the things I was most passionate about was being involved in the naming of the new Public Safety Building back in 1999-2001. I was looking into naming it in a particular fashion. With my historical research, I learned that a couple of Wilmington firefighters was killed in the line of duty. I did a lot of research into that. One thing followed another and it turned into a warrant article at Town Meeting. The building was named as a memorial for these two fallen firefighters in particular, and also all past firefighters and police officers that served the town of Wilmington.
I also learned how to play the bagpipes while an officer. I played at the first anniversary of September 11. We had a small memorial service outside the police station. I was able to play the bagpipes for that. In my bagpipe career, I led the Memorial Day parade a couple of times. It was a proud moment for me to see my parents there.
The most memorable stories are the stories of the friendships I developed at the station. I’m friendly with everyone there, but I have some real true friends there. Those are the There are a couple of really close friends there — only because of working there do I know these people. It’s a really enjoyable part of what I’d done there — to have those friendship with all the tough times that come along with being a police officer. To look back and say that I made these close personal friendship — I want to carry those with me in retirement.
It goes without saying, but my wife was the one that brought me to where I am right now. It’s difficult to put it into words about how impactful the job can be — there’s a lot of things that I’ve seen that I didn’t want to see, but had to, like death, hurt, destruction and violence — and I’ve been injured — and I’ve had to work on birthdays, holidays and anniversaries — and she supported me through all of it.
Any humorous stories you can share from your career?
I have lots of stories. Some I can share, some I can’t.
One that comes to mind is from my very first week on the job. I went to a call. There was a young gentlemen who was highly intoxicated. His father wanted him out of the house. We placed him into protective custody. He was fine — we put handcuffs on him, placed him in the back of the car, and brought him to the police station and into the cell block. He wasn’t under arrest. Once he sobered up, or a responsible adult picked him up, or he decided to go to detox, he would have been on his way. When we took the handcuffs off of him, something happened. All of a sudden, he turned and got into a scuffle with my partner and I. Nobody got hurt, but he grabbed my badge and pulled it off. With the badge came the portion of my uniform that it was pinned to. For the rest of the day, I was standing there with no badge on, with a big hole in my shirt. I thought to myself — what did I get myself into? The next thing you know, it’s 33 years later. It’s been quite a ride.
Do you have any retirement plans?
I may write another book about Wilmington. I’m definitely thinking about that. I enjoy writing. I enjoy researching. I enjoy the history of Wilmington. In the interim, from my first book until now, there’s been a whole bunch of material that’s been made more easily accessible. When I wrote the first book, the Internet was just beginning. It will be a lot easier to conduct research now.
I have things to do around the house. I’m not a big traveler, but I like to travel. I like to golf. I like to hike. I want to get back to having a big garden in my backyard. I will certainly do those things, but I don’t have any grand plans. I’m just going to relax and enjoy things for a little bit. I’m sure at some point I’ll get a part-time job.
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