SALEM, MA – This morning Mayor Kim Driscoll swore in Salem’s new Chief of Police, Lucas Miller, in a ceremony at the Peabody Essex Museum in downtown Salem. The full text of her remarks as prepared are available below.
Good morning and thank you for joining us as we officially swear in our new Police Chief Lucas Miller and welcome the start of his leadership in Salem at this very important time in this very important role. Welcome as well to the men and women of the Salem Police Department, and our many honored guests, on behalf of the City of Salem – welcome and again thank you for joining us at today’s celebration. I also want to recognize and thank the PEM for hosting today’s ceremony in this beautiful space and because all roads lead to Salem, Chief Miller’s grandmother has a painting in the PEM’s collection – you can’t escape a connection to Salem – that they have put on display in honor of today’s ceremony.
In interviewing Chief Miller for this position, I assured him that he would never be bored. That our city, while much smaller than the Big Apple, has always “punched out of our weight class.”
Salem’s Police Department was formally established nearly 180 years ago, but its roots go back to nearly the founding of Salem, to 1630. We are proud and aware of our city’s remarkable – and for a few short weeks notorious – history, while also being a city that is forward looking.
When Chief Miller officially assumes the role of Chief, he’ll be part of our community. This place we are lucky enough to call home. Where we celebrate our past, but never shrink from looking toward the future. Salem’s police department, just like our city, has never been afraid to innovate, to improve, and to seek out strategies that will make our community safer and stronger – for everyone. The Salem Police Department has made use of technology, training and tactics that help make our police work more effective in nearly every respect. We have had – for years – the use of force policies that most other American police departments are only now coming to recognize the value of. We’ve had the on-staff mental health clinicians, the community policing and engagement programs, de-escalation training – to name just a few initiatives. The Department has positioned Salem to be at the forefront of responsible policing measures, and I believe that Chief Miller possesses the acumen, experience and leadership to continue that work, aimed at helping ensure we are protecting and serving everyone in our community in an equal and just manner.
The fact that we have been a leader in responsible policing doesn’t mean there isn’t work to do and I believe Chief Miller can build trust within our community and within the department and lead with transparency, accountability and safety in mind, safety of our officers and of our diverse array of community residents. In short, I am confident that our commitment to excellence and equity in policing will continue under Chief Miller’s leadership.
As a thirty-year veteran of the New York Police Department, Chief Miller has served as a detective squad commander in both the NYPD Detective Bureau and the Intelligence Bureau, as well as homicide supervisor, patrol supervisor, narcotics investigator, and community policing officer. Chief Miller was also a counterterrorism instructor for the NYPD Police Academy and has served as a task force manager for the NYPD and FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. He has extensive experience with large scale events and with community policing, both especially necessary here in Salem. I certainly do not want to overlook his “on-the-streets” police work, the nuts and bolts of community policing being key in a community our size.
In the years ahead there will be many new issues in Salem that will confront the department, as our City continues to grow and thrive. With these opportunities also come challenges, of course. But Salem has never been a community that could get by with just a caretaker Chief. I’ve had the privilege of working with three Chiefs so far who were far from that. They aspired for continuous improvement, not just for our community but to tap into the full potential of the men and women in the department.
We’re a bustling, diverse, and exciting city (much like we’ve been throughout our history)– and that’s what we want to be. We’re a city that faces our challenges, whatever they are, head on. We’re a city with people – in our neighborhoods and in public service – who are engaged, thoughtful, and collaborative. That’s what makes Salem the special place that it is – a place that works for and welcomes everyone. That spirit is and should be exemplified by our police department: a respect and deference for the past, without being afraid of change. An enthusiasm for new challenges and new ideas. And a deep commitment to our community, its neighborhoods, and its people.
Chief Miller, I am honored to appoint you to this important role in our community. And I know that your dedication and experience will serve you and us well in the years ahead.
