PRINCETON — Paul Patriarca has known since he was a young boy that he wanted to serve in law enforcement.
The 46-year-old Newton native was recently sworn in as the head of the Princeton Police Department. He said when the opportunity came up to helm the department, he was inspired to throw his hat in the ring because of “frustrations I was feeling with what I was seeing happen in the law enforcement community recently.”
“Policing needed change, and the public demanded it,” Patriarca said recently. “I started to see how the negative actions of one police officer can affect the world.
Police officers were portrayed negatively, and people were losing trust in us. I watch police officers losing faith in the ability to do their jobs and, more concerning, law enforcement leaders leaving the profession at a time when positive leadership was so important.
“I wanted to put my positive energy to work and try to keep modern policing going in the direction our committees wanted while attempting to inspire police officers to keep their heads up during hard times,” he continued.
Patriarca started his journey at age 12 as a Police Explorer for Newton. When he was 18, he joined the Newton Police Auxiliary. After graduating from Newton North High School, he went on to Western New England University, from which he earned a master’s degree in criminal justice.
He attended a reserve intermittent police academy in 1994, an academy for part-time police officers, and then in 2000 put himself through full-time police academy. Between those two, he moved to Martha’s Vineyard in 1997 to work as a seasonal police officer full time for Edgartown and part time for the Tisbury police. The following spring, Patriarca moved to the lower Cape and worked for the Provincetown Police Department seasonally from May to October in 1998 and 1999.
“I was hired by the city of Newton Police Department full time, where in addition to being a patrol officer I worked with youth interested in a career in law enforcement as an adviser for the Police Explorer program,” he said of the following chapter in his career. “I later worked in the department’s IT division, where I was tasked with all the vehicle procurement, up-fitting, decommissioning, and the department’s two-way infrastructure, programming, purchasing and deployment.”
He transferred to the Framingham Police Department in 2006 because he wantedtobeclosertohis“fantastic”family, his wife Jaime, daughter McKayla, and two sons, Dylan and Nicholas. The family now lives in Grafton.
During his time in Framingham, Patriarca was the department’s first responder and CPR instructor, a Narcan instructor, a member of the motorcycle unit, and a supervisor for the agency’s Emergency Management Team. In addition, he was a field training officer for new police officers for seven years, a member of their honor guard for 11 years, and oversaw the police department’s two-way infrastructure.
“In my last year with the department, I was the department’s property and evidence supervisor, overseeing the integrity of evidence intake and staffing of the unit,” he said.
Patriarca recently attended a swearing- in ceremony at the Framingham Police Department, where a few new patrol officers, two sergeants, and a lieutenant were added to the force there, including Christopher Pisano. Patriarca was Pisano’s field training officer when he first was hired as a police officer in Framingham. Patriarca’s departure from that department opened up a sergeant position that Pisano filled.
Policing runs in Patriarca’s family; his brother Steven is a police officer for Boxborough.
Patriarca said it’s important to him that as the new police chief in Princeton, people are aware that he has their best interests at heart, and he is dedicated to leading the force by following the police motto: To serve and protect.
“I have a vision that the Princeton police will be the best police department of its size in the area,” Patriarca said. “The police department already had a great team, and the community was amazing. The department’s struggles are not unique to Princeton, but we share a concern about having the correct staffing levels to provide excellence in policing.”
He went on to say that “in light of the appalling actions of police officer(s) that lead to the death of innocent people, many don’t want to be police officers anymore,” and condemned police brutality and the often tragic results.
“These indefensible actions of police officers causing the deaths due to a lack of compassion and proper training sickened me and left me heartbroken,” Patriarca said, referencing Tyre Nichols, the young man whose death last month at the hands of Memphis police led to the dismissal of five officers. “The failure of officers to intervene is a disgrace to our profession, and it impacts all who wear the badge. It angers me to see these officers betray their oath. Incidents like this will create further distrust and anger not only in Princeton, but directed toward police across the nation. This agency will never tolerate actions such as that.”
Patriarca said policing has evolved over his prolific career.
“Change is essential for any healthy organization,” he said. “I sometimes feel that our laws have not kept up with the wants of our community and the fast-moving modern world. Policing must always be fluid, evolving with new crime trends, community needs, and community-oriented professional staffing. I watched a time when police information was kept behind closed doors, where now, as we know, that did not work and served no purpose. Transparency and good communication is the only way we can have healthy relationships.”
He added that nowadays, police officers “wear many hats.”
“We traditionally were just law enforcers, but now find ourselves being the servant for the reason we took the job, to help people,” Patriarca said. “Providing support to people during a crisis, implementing emergency medical treatment with modern medicines such as Naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose. Police officers are tailoring our response to the elderly, children, and people suffering from addictions or crises to meet their unique needs. … Police officers are returning to the core of what we need to do, having educated police officers to reduce crime in partnership with the community they serve while always showing compassion and value to the people they serve.”
It’s evident that the new chief is passionate about what he does and how he serves the communities he has policed in, including Princeton. Patriarca said he was pleased to learn that he had “inherited a great team” in town and that the “men and women of the Princeton police are motivated, kind officers who understand their community and the changes needed to keep the department strong.”
When it comes to his welcome to Princeton, he said it has been nothing short of positive and affirming — despite his his being the new kid in town.
The reaction from his family, friends, and the local and greater community to him being appointed chief has assured him that he made the right decision – and that he looped his family into making it.
“I feel very blessed to have the family and friends that I have,” Patriarca said. “My wife and children are always included in any big decision I make. I know that when you make a decision but think of others first, you will most likely do the right thing every time.”
When he got the news that he had been selected to be Princeton’s next police chief in the wake of Michele Powers moving on after several years in the role, he said his wife “cried tears of joy as I watched my phone explode with many positive and motivating comments.”
“I knew I had made the right choice in Princeton, as I have met many residents who are kind, respectful and eager to help. The Princeton community is fantastic. I feel welcome here and know we are a good fit. I have had the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with members of the senior center, the sportsmen clubs, our educational leaders, church clergy, local business owners, and more community members.”
When asked what kind of advice he would give to up and coming police officers, Patriarca didn’t hesitate: “Dreams do come true.”
“I’m living a dream, but it took hard work, dedication, love for people and the job.”
He thanked everyone who has been part of his career journey so far, including his family, friends, “and the Princeton community who had faith in me to be Princeton’s police chief.”
“I still get a big smile when I realize that people believed in me. I stayed strong to my values, and I am now the chief of police for the town of Princeton.”
